Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) Read Online Free Page A

for a run before her ass got any bigger. Recently, the thing that loomed largest during a moment of quiet was a dull ache, a growing loss that she attributed to the absence of her sister.
    Lately, though, it was becoming apparent that it was something more than that and once again her thoughts drifted to home.
    Moving to Dublin had been an easy choice initially: the promise of a new challenge. Her father had already made the move and she had nothing to lose – or so she’d  thought.
    Now things had changed. The truth was that Reilly missed the US. It had taken her a while to recognize the fact, mostly because the workload left little time for California dreaming.
    ‘That’ll be Thompson or your crew,’ said Chris, looking into the headlights.
    Another white van parked behind the police car. The doors opened and two GFU technicians in boiler suits emerged.
    Temporarily setting aside all thoughts unrelated to the here and now, Reilly sprung into action. ‘OK, let’s get this scene cleared – I’ll need all these cars backed up, and all non-essential personnel out of the way.’
    Chris smiled, by now well used to her direct manner. He turned to the watching officers. ‘That means you lot – get your cars moved back at least a hundred yards either end of the road, and stay back there with them until she calls you.’
    ‘Who’s that and how come she’s in charge all of a sudden?’ grumbled Davis.
    ‘Reilly Steel from the GFU,’ Chris informed him, ‘and she’s the one who’s going to figure out what happened to our fallen angel over there.’
    Reilly strode over to the advancing techs.  ‘We’re going to need to move the van back at least a hundred yards, then we can start to have a proper look at what we’ve got going on here.’
    Gary had an open friendly face with a scruffy half-beard that made him look far younger than his thirty years. ‘Will do, boss,’ he said, in a typically upbeat manner. He turned on his heel and headed back to the van, the keys jangling in his hand.
    Lucy, the other tech, was in her mid-twenties.  Her blond hair was cut into a stylish bob, and she wore dark-framed glasses –  an attempt, Reilly always thought, to make herself look older.  But despite her best efforts at promoting a more serious persona, Lucy was the energetic, enthusiastic member of the team, the spark plug who kept them going over long shifts when energies were flagging and spirits were falling. 
    Lucy hurried over to Reilly, who noticed she couldn’t keep her eyes from the body lying in the road.  ‘Where do you want to start?’
    ‘Someone hit that girl, and we need to try and figure out who. Let’s concentrate on the area immediately around the body for starters.’
    Lucy’s eyes remained on the dead girl.  ‘Do they have any idea who she is?’
    Reilly shook her head.  ‘We’ll deal with that later. Right now let’s focus on trying to figure out what happened here.’
    Lucy reluctantly tore her eyes away from the body. ‘Sure.’
    While they were talking, the surrounding vehicles were moving away. As their headlights receded, the scene took on a different air, the fainter lighting giving it an almost artistic look – a fine, misty rain falling through the beams of the police cars’ headlights, the girl lying on her side, almost peaceful looking, the angel wings visible through her thin nightgown. 
    It almost looked as though she could get up at any moment and fly away.
    With the area cleared, the forensic techs set to work, combing the road for anything that might be of interest, like road debris that could have come from the vehicle that hit the girl or any sign of recent skid marks.
    It was painstaking work, crouched over scanning the road with a flashlight, trying to ignore the damp that settled on the back of their necks. Every time one of them found something of interest – a scrap of forensic trace that might be relevant – they put down a numbered marker, took a photo of the