Trial by Fire by Taylor Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

with his lips and body. Instead he slipped out quietly for what was certain to be a hell of a long day. Any day that starts with a 6 a.m. meeting was bound to be brutal. They’d agreed to meet at the morgue. Jim had promised to at least do a preliminary, at least try to get a time of death.
    When he arrived, Dan, Jim and Charlie were already in the conference room. Nate threw his folder on the table and joined them.
    “What do we have, Jim?”
    “Not a goddamned thing, Nate. At least, nothing definitive. I put a rush on everything at the lab, but hell, they don’t even get in until 8 a.m. We flew the specimens up to the Cities, with a demand for priority. That’ll help. Christ, I hope they doped the poor bastard with something. Mike was a prick, pure and simple, but I wouldn’t want to wish that kind of pain on anyone.”
    Nate nodded. “How close are you on time of death?”
    Jim glanced down at the sheaf of papers in front of him. “Again, nothing definite but we do have the liver temp reading which puts the actual time of death about two hours before Laura called it in. Of course, there are so many other variables that we could be off by a couple of hours.”
    “Who took Laura’s call? Which dispatch?”
    Charlie broke in, “Toni Anderson, Nate. We have the recording. I had it transcribed for you. I also interviewed Toni. To see if I could pick up any vibes. The transcript is in your folder – third tab down.”
    “And who interviewed her besides you, Charlie?”
    “Tim Martin, the probie. He was pretty excited. Can’t say as I blame him. Not every day you see an aggravated murder and the first witness on the scene is a fucking lingerie model. He practically pissed himself when she unwound herself from that recliner on—” Charlie stopped mid-sentence, his florid face flushing an even brighter red. “Fuck, Nate, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t….”
    Nate leaned back in his chair and eyeballed each of the men around the table. His voice was dangerously soft.
    “Let’s get one thing straight. Laura Peterson is/was the wife of our vic. She is our primary witness at this point. We will be interviewing her multiple times. The fact that I had the misfortune of being married to her is of no concern. When I interview her this morning, it will be the first time in three years that we have spoken. Please keep that in mind.”
    Charlie raised his hands in apology. “Sorry, Nate.”
    Nate narrowed his eyes and glared at each of them landing on Jim.
    “Overview, Jim. Your impressions after a night to sleep on it.”
    The little man’s deeply furrowed brow creased further. “Can’t say as I got much sleep. We worked most of the night. Overall, I don’t have much more than what we discussed last night, Nate. If anything, the prelim underscored what the poor devil went through. Some of those slashes are bone deep. If I didn’t know better, reminds me of my days in Chicago. This kind of whip play is what you’d see among the gangs, or more likely the syndicates. A little too neat for the gangs. Definitely professional. Way beyond what you’d see in a normal sex scene, or worst of the BDSM clubs. Those cuts were meant not only to maim. They were meant to kill.”
    Nate added laconically, “Ya think? The fact that they cut off his off his dick and his balls is a bit of clue to their intent as well, wouldn’t you say?”
    The men around the table all laughed nervously, several of them adjusting their pants with a muffled groan.
    Nate mused. “Ya know, as many times as I’ve threatened some low life piece of shit that I’d cut off his dick if he didn’t answer my question, can’t say I’ve ever seen it done.”
    He snorted and shook his head. “Charlie, for the benefit of the members of the team who weren’t there last night, do a quick recap of your interview with Laura.”
    Charlie looked down at his notes and rattled off a series of declarative sentences. “Got the call from dispatch at 12:01. Toni