Some Gave All by Nancy Holder Read Free Book Online Page A

CSU,” Tess recapitulated. “But I agree that you need to get inside as soon as you can. It’ll take the lab a while to process all of the evidence, even if it’s designated highest priority, which it will be. But we don’t have any insiders in the medical examiner’s department the way we used to.” She meant Evan Marks, who had gotten entangled with Muirfield, and died at their hands. “So whatever you can get for just us, that would be awesome.”
    Second strategy session completed. Vincent nodded.
    “Okay, then I’ll—”
    “Shouldn’t one of us have gone in the ambo with the witness?” Wilson queried, interposing himself between Vincent and Tess. “What if she snaps out of it and starts talking?”
    Wow, he sounds like a real police officer now
, Vincent thought dryly.
    “Then we’ll rely on Mrs. Kuhl’s statement,” Tess informed him.
    “But the prosecution could argue that that’s hearsay.”
    “Mrs. Kuhl is a mandated reporter,” Tess riposted with a hint of irritation. “I don’t want to harass our witness. That could taint her statement, too. She’s got enough going on, don’t you think?”
    “You’re absolutely right, of course,” he said, smiling at her. His teeth were so white and even that they looked artificial. And his eyes were preternaturally blue—contacts, Vincent realized. Maybe his tan was the spray-on kind. “If we all send out our energy, maybe we can reopen her channels of inner peace.”
    “Yes, go do that,” Tess said quickly. “Go do it now.”
    “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Catherine said to Wilson. She was smiling her little mush-mouth smile, the one that signified that she was feeling a little prickly. Vincent translated: She didn’t much care for Detective Swami, either.
    “Sky Wilson,” he said expectantly, extending his hand. When it was clear that his name wasn’t registering, he added, “Your new partner.”
    She blinked at him. Tess grimaced, then put on her boss face and said, “Wilson’s transferring in. I thought assigning him to our most seasoned detective—”
    “
What?
” Cat said shrilly.
    “—on a temporary basis—” Tess added. She appraised Wilson. “Very temporary—”
    “I promise not to get in your hair,” Wilson said easily. “Smooth and shiny though it is—”
    “Hey, watch it, no sexual harassment,” Tess blurted, then she wiped her hand over her face, dropped her arm to her side, and said, “Wilson and I’ll be in my office. I’ll brief you and show you around,” she told the new guy.
    “Yeah, you’d
better
run,” Catherine muttered in a voice so low Vincent knew only he would hear it.
    “Captain Vargas?” A uni approached. “May I speak to you a moment?”
    Tess huffed and walked away with the foot soldier. Wilson trailed after Catherine. “So can you fill me in, partner?” he asked Catherine sotto voce as she began to stomp toward her desk. “I get the vibe that you and Captain Vargas and
you
…” He paused a moment as he looked at Vincent. “I didn’t catch your name, actually.”
    Over her shoulder, Catherine said, “That’s Dr. Vincent Keller. He’s my boyfriend.” She picked up a stack of “while you were out” notes and paged through them.
    “Darn the luck.” Wilson clucked his big white teeth and gave his head a shake.
    Catherine slammed the stack of messages back onto her desk blotter. “Excuse me. I have to go speak to the
captain
for a moment.” She whipped out her phone and thumbed a text. To Tess, Vincent assumed.
    Catherine blasted past Wilson and him and headed for the office that had housed the precinct captain, Joe Bishop; then Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Lowan, a beast and multiple murderer; then Captain Ward, who had been Lowan’s stooge until near the end of his tenure at the one-twenty-fifth; and now Tess. A revolving door, indicative of the ripples that Catherine’s discovery of Vincent’s existence had caused on so many levels in so many