Body Rides Read Online Free Page B

said.
    Neal raised his head. The body had disappeared under a cover of foliage.
    ‘I’m still missing one shell,’ Neal told her.
    She came over. On hands and knees, she helped him search. ‘What happens if we don’t find it?’ she asked.
    ‘The cops will.’
    ‘Does that matter?’
    ‘It might. I’ll have to get rid of the pistol, anyway. But the shell might have my prints on it. Partials. Maybe not, but I’d feel a lot . . .’
    ‘Is this it?’ Elise picked an object out of the weeds. She held itup between the tips of her thumb and forefinger.
    ‘Let’s see.’ Neal held out his hand. She dropped it into his palm. ‘That’s it. Good going.’
    ‘The least I could do.’
    The four brass casings jingled in the pocket of his shorts as he got to his feet. Beside him, Elise stood up. She bent over and brushed off her bare knees.
    ‘What about you?’ he asked. ‘We can’t leave anything of yours behind.’
    ‘Nothing here. He just brought me.’
    ‘You weren’t wearing anything at all?’
    ‘Nothing.’
    ‘How about jewelry? Earrings? Anything like that?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Okay, good. Did you touch anything around here?’
    ‘Just the rope, I think.’
    ‘That’s all right. I don’t think they could lift any sort of decent prints off that. What about him? Did you touch him? His pants?’
    ‘With my hands?’
    ‘Yeah. They’re leather. That goes for his gloves, too. Any chance your prints might be on them?’
    ‘I doubt it.’
    ‘There wasn’t any sort of struggle?’ Neal asked.
    ‘He got me from behind,’ she explained. ‘All of a sudden, I had this arm across my neck. It lifted me right off my feet. I didn’t have a chance to struggle. Next thing I knew, I was in the back of his van with my hands tied behind me.’
    ‘Okay. Good.’
    ‘Good?’
    ‘Just that we don’t have to worry about his pants and gloves. Anyway, even if you did leave some prints, all that stuff we piled on him’ll probably mess them up pretty good.’ He frowned down at the oblong, bushy mound.
    ‘What?’ Elise asked.
    ‘I’m just wondering if we should go ahead and take them anyway, just to play it safe.’
    ‘Take what, his pants?’
    ‘And gloves.’
    ‘Are you kidding?’
    ‘You could wear his pants,’ Neal said.
    ‘Not a chance. It’s awful enough having his shoes on. If you think for one second . . . no way. Not his pants. Let’s just go.’ She took hold of Neal’s hand and pulled him along beside her.
    ‘Are you sure you aren’t leaving anything behind?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m sure.’
    ‘You didn’t have a purse, or . . .’
    ‘No purse. Some blood, that’s all. I guess I’m leaving some of that behind. Along with some sweat and tears.’
    ‘Nobody can identify you from any of that.’
    ‘What about DNA and that sort of thing?’
    ‘They might be able to match you to it, but first they’d have to know who you are. You’d basically have to be arrested and indicted before they’d ever run tests like that.’
    ‘You seem to know a lot about . . . crime things.’
    He shrugged. ‘Not that much. I see a lot of movies, read a lot of books. Watch some trials on TV. That’s all.’
    Before stepping out of the trees, they stopped and scanned the field, the nearby streets, the sidewalks and yards. They saw no one. A couple of porch lights. A few lights showing through windows. But no headlights.
    Elise let go of Neal’s hand and started to run. More of a quick jog than a dash. Neal guessed that she might be afraid to go all-out wearing the large shoes.
    He rushed along beside her.
    At first, he had almost objected to running. We’ll look too conspicuous . But he realized it would be a silly argument. At this hour of night, coming through this no-man’s-land, they were so out of place that running wasn’t likely to draw any additional attention.
    Better to hurry and reach the street as fast as possible. They’d be far less conspicuous there.
    Except she’s not wearing anything but