Sudden Death by Allison Brennan Read Free Book Online Page B

an AWOL soldier when his death most likely had nothing to do with his being AWOL.
    Unless the other two victims were AWOL.
    She called Richardson back.
    “Sir—”
    “I’m about to shower, since you woke me. Can I have ten minutes?”
    “Did you find out about the other two victims? If they were veterans?”
    “No. I sent an alert to headquarters about the possible connection.”
    “I’m going to follow up on that. Maybe there is another connection—”
    “That they were all AWOL?” he guessed what she’d been thinking. “Let me know.” He hung up.
    Texas was two hours ahead of California, but it wasn’t even seven a.m. there. Still, she called and left a message for the detective in charge of the Duane Johnson homicide. She did the same thing for the Dennis Perry homicide in Las Vegas. Then she called Matt.
    “I need—”
    “Good morning to you, too, Meg.”
    “Sorry, I—”
    “I know. I’ve had an earful from CSU. I got you a temporary restraining order, but I don’t expect it to hold up. It’ll just delay them, and probably not for long.”
    “Enough time for me to convince them that they don’t want to take our victim and evidence.”
    “Good luck. I’m not holding my breath.” He hung up.
    Megan appreciated the legal system. Laws were there for a reason. Even military laws. But she wanted to solve a murder. Find a killer, build a case, and hand it over to the U.S. attorney for prosecution. She wanted to punish the bad guys. She only wished she was better versed in such situations like dealing with CID, but she would wing it. After all, they were on the same side.
    When she pulled up in front of the morgue, there were two army jeeps and a black sedan with military plates. A soldier in uniform stood sentry. She drove around back and saw the crime scene unit’s van. An ambulance was bringing in two corpses from a local hospital for processing when Megan walked in. She didn’t see Simone, but heard her voice echoing in the sterile building. Megan cringed. She flashed her badge though the intake pathologist didn’t pay much attention, or so Megan thought. She started walking toward the voice when the gal behind the desk snapped “Grab some booties,” and pointed to a box on the wall.
    “Thanks.” Megan slid them on her flats and continued to walk toward the voice.
    “What about ‘restraining order’ do you not understand?” Simone said, hands on her hips, as Megan rounded the corner into the cold storage room. Rows of bodies on steel gurneys, most of them covered with sheets with only their feet showing, lined the huge refrigerator.
    Megan was surprised to see that Matt had beat her to the morgue. She nodded to her brother, and to the pathologist who was standing next to Simone.
    All eyes went to her. Megan quickly assessed the situation and realized that she was likely the ranking opposition, for lack of a better word. She extended her hand to the man in the suit—military lawyer, she pegged. “Hello, I’m Supervisory Special Agent Megan Elliott with the FBI. I think we can work something out where we all get what we want.”
    The lawyer said, “Lieutenant Paul Stork. Your victim is our primary suspect in an attempted murder case. Private First Class Price has been AWOL for five years. And, as I was explaining to the district attorney, section—”
    Megan cut him off. “I understand, Lieutenant. And I respect your need to investigate your own crimes. May I suggest that we find common ground so we—”
    Stork interrupted. “There is no common ground, Agent Elliott.”
    Megan appealed to his sense of justice. “Price was the victim of a serial murderer who has killed two other men—in Texas and Nevada. The evidence is crucial not only to this investigation, but to those investigations. We need to make the link—”
    Stork put his hand up. Megan realized the gesture was the same one she often used when she wanted someone to stop talking, and it irritated her intensely. She vowed