Every Fear Read Online Free Page A

parking lot, Jason doublechecked the address in his notebook, then charted the fastest way to the scene.
    Elliott to 15th, north over the bridge to Shilshole and bang—you’re there. Pushing his 1969 red Ford Falcon twenty miles over the posted limit, he couldn’t leave the newsroom politics behind. Spangler had no sense of the depth of his staff. He regarded everyone in Metro as backwater bumpkins, compared to reporters in New York.
    Jason rubbed the scar carved under his jawline, his prize for getting too close to a story. Confirmation of his investigative skills, but it meant squat to Spangler, who probably had him in his crosshairs. Just like Astrid.
    To hell with it.
    Crossing the Ballard Bridge over Salmon Bay, Jason thought it was too bad about Astrid. But the fact was, she constantly missed stuff on the scanners and at scenes, always charging in with demands, failing to find real news.
    Observe, absorb, and squeeze gently for information, that’s the way to operate, he reminded himself ashe pulled up to the scene. Yellow tape cordoned off the street in front of Kim’s Corner Store. Next to it there was a growing knot of bystanders, press, and police cars. Cross talk spilled from radios as emergency lights splashed the buildings with red.
    Jason parked half a block back. Heading toward the reporters clustered near the tape, he came upon an unoccupied patrol car—and an opportunity. Like most major forces, Seattle police used the Computer-Aided Dispatch system to transmit information to cars equipped with Mobile Data Computers. No one was around to see him bend down, steal a glimpse of the MDC monitor to check it for any data.
Maria Jane Colson.
104 Shale St.
    Lee William Colson.
104 Shale St.
    There was more but he couldn’t see it clearly. Memorizing the information, he moved off without anyone noticing. He stepped between two news vans then wrote everything down. Shale was close by. Before he could consider it further, a commanding baritone voice distracted him.
    “There he is, a legend called Jason.” White teeth flashed from the tanned, chiseled face of David Troy, WKKR’s veteran crime reporter.
    “What’s shaking, Dave?”
    “What I’m hearing is the mother and her baby wererun over by a truck that fled the scene. Mom’s not going to make it.”
    “Yeah, I got that.”
    “We’re waiting for a detective to talk to us. They’re in the store.”
    “You got a name on the mother?”
    “Not yet.”
    Jason took comfort in the hot lead he had in his notebook.
    “What about witnesses?”
    “Nobody so far.”
    “You’re sure about that?”
    “I’m sure you’re not going to beat me, Skippy. By the time your rag reports this, it’s yesterday’s news.” Troy watched the dish on WKKR’s satellite news van position for transmission. “We’re going live in minutes. Look at the images. Picture’s worth a thousand damn words. Impact news.” Troy pulled out a compact and began applying makeup for his stand-up.
    Cameras were trained on the crime-scene people who were suiting up. Jason focused on the aftermath a few yards away, on the other side of the tape. The overturned baby stroller, the pool of blood near the curb, skid marks on the pavement. Was that a windshield wiper? He tried imagining how it had all happened. On the far side of the tape, he saw more TV and still news cameras, including Nate Hodge, a photog with the Mirror, who nodded.
    As Jason studied the little he had, he got an idea. He slipped from the press pack and walked across the street to the vestibule of Arnie’s Hardware. Out of earshot, he called the paper.
    “ Mirror library, Kelly Swan.”
    “Hey Kelly, Jason Wade. I’m at a hit-and-run in Ballard, which could turn out to be a homicide. I need your help.”
    “Sure, Jason.”
    Jason dictated the spellings for Maria Jane and Lee William Colson.
    “Run the names through our archives see what comes up.”
    “Stay on the line.” Kelly’s keyboard clicked. “Nothing on