Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) Read Online Free

having some stomach problems, they ran some tests…there’s something not right…’ He looked sideways at Chris, worry etched across his features.  ‘You always fear the worst, though, don’t you?’
    Chris nodded.  ‘Human nature.  And the more the person means to you…’
    Kennedy stared out across the dark field once more for a few moments, before turning abruptly back to Chris. ‘You hear that?’
    Chris listened.  He could hear the faint sound of another vehicle approaching. ‘Car? So what?’
    ‘That’s not just a car, that’s a gearshift cranking one-eighty.’  He reached over and started straightening Chris’s leather jacket. ‘Miss Baywatch is on the way. Here, let me smarten you up a bit.’
    ‘Give it a rest.’ Chris immediately recognized the sharp switch in mood as a cue to drop the subject. It was characteristic of Kennedy to not let his guard drop for very long. Still, Chris made a mental note to keep an eye on his partner. Such concerns were potentially a dangerous distraction from the job, something he himself knew only too well.
    ‘I keep telling you,’ Kennedy was saying, ‘one of these days you might catch her in a weak moment, when she’s desperate and lowers her standards…’
    Unlikely, Chris thought, especially now. Right from the beginning, he and Reilly had had some kind of connection, and while at one point there might have been something brewing between them, he’d done something which disappointed her, and he knew it.
    Back to his usual blustery self, Kennedy guffawed as the  headlights swept around the curves and Reilly Steel approached the scene. ‘Here comes trouble.’
     

     
    Chapter 4
     
    Reilly’s eyes widened. ‘Angel wings?’
    ‘Impressive, eh?’ Chris crouched down beside her as they studied the extensive tattoo on the dead girl’s body.
    ‘It’s beautiful…and so intricate.’  She pulled out her own flashlight and ran it slowly up and down the corpse.  ‘So what do we know?’
    ‘We thought you were going to pull out that iPad thing of yours and tell us.’  True to form, Kennedy was always the smartass.
    ‘Ah, don’t mind him,’ Chris chipped in lightly. ‘He’s having one of those days – must be his time of the month.’ But Reilly noticed the subtle yet meaningful look Chris gave her, suggesting that something else was at play with the older detective. She wondered what it might be. ‘She was spotted by passing motorists, they called the emergency services and a local patrol car was first on the scene. Seems she was already dead,’ Kennedy told Reilly. ‘No ID as yet, and as you can see she’s barefoot and in her nightgown.’
    ‘But her skin … it seems very wet?’
    ‘Well, it’s been drizzling most of the evening.’
    ‘I know.  But her clothes feel soaked right through.’  Reilly leaned down and sniffed at the hem of the dress.
    Kennedy looked at Chris.  ‘Here we go,’ he groaned. ‘She’s going all weird on us again.’
    Ignoring him, she straightened up. ‘There's something … I’m not sure but I don’t think it’s just rain.’  She stood up as the lights of another approaching vehicle illuminated the scene.
    The drive out on the quiet country roads that evening had been her first chance to unwind after an already hectic day – and with another scene to process, it was likely to be the only time to herself before collapsing into bed some time after midnight. If she was lucky.
    Unwinding for Reilly meant something different than it did for most. She had opened the windows of the van, allowed the cool, damp air to rush past and given her mind the freedom to wander. It gave her a tiny window of opportunity to dwell on things other than work. Random thoughts and promises. The organized nature of her brain would not allow for too much pointless daydreaming though; inevitably she would start to make mental to-do lists, like inviting her dad and his new partner over for dinner, or finding time to get out