Touched by Death Read Online Free Page B

in the group, Susan, but Jade had forgotten the details.
It wouldn't take long to get to know each other. She hoped. Meeting
new people wasn't normally an issue for her, but this last year of hermit
living hadn't been good in that sense. She was nervous. And that was
stupid. She was good at what she did. She wanted to help on this project.
She could do this.
    And she'd almost convinced herself.
    Taking several deep breaths, she allowed herself to
really look at the area. The last time she'd flown in with the army.
She'd been whisked in and whisked out and had worked most of the time
behind tight security. This time they'd taken a commercial flight. When
they landed there was no army, no police – no security of any kind.
    Intense blue skies smiled down on her. She almost
believed everything was going to be alright.
    Almost.
    Her gaze wandered the surrounding areas as they made their way to the rental vehicles.
Some things hadn't changed. Collapsed buildings still dotted the terrain;
abandoned vehicles had been dragged off the main roads to clog fields
and side roads. The biggest differences were the lack of bodies decorating
the landscape and the roads were now passable.
    It took a good ten minutes – with her eyes
darting from side to side searching for bodies and hoping not to find
them – before she finally believed that death wasn't going to
plague her every step. She breathed a sigh of relief feeling the almost
unbearable tension draining from her system.
    Haiti was obviously in recovery mode.
    Thank God.
    They planned to stay outside of the city center for
the night to wait for gear, supplies and mainly the paperwork. They
would continue on to Jacmel in the morning.
    "Come on Jade, stop gawking. We'll get time to
sightsee later." Meg, one of the forensic anthropologists on the
team, grinned at her. Tall, slim and energetic, Meg's initial friendliness
had enfolded Jade, easing the uncertainty of her decision.
    Meg waved toward the three SUVs leased for the duration
of the job. The team climbed into the vehicles and within an hour were
booked in at a small and homey hotel. It appeared to have survived the
earthquake unscathed. Complete streets were ripped apart in other parts
of the city. Some portions were buried under collapsed buildings while
others were perfect. So much of the city had been leveled but there
were pockets, like around the hotel, that appeared untouched.
    The tent cities were new. They'd been tin cities the
last time Jade was here. The garbage lining the streets, the alleys,
the sidewalks was still the same. It was as if many people were stuck
in a time warp, unable to move forward and leave the disaster behind.
    Mother Nature had a hit-and-miss hate thing going
on.
    After dinner, Meg and Jade stood outside the hotel and surveyed
the streets for signs of progress. Stores were open, and doing brisk
business. Port-au-Prince had been a thriving metropolis at one time.
Jade didn't think recovery had restored that level of economic progress
and stability. But poverty had always been a major part of life here.
It looked to be the same. Not that she'd spent any time sightseeing
on her last trip. There'd been nothing nice to see.
    "Wow. Looks like the area still needs time to
recover economically. Although I guess it's better than it was a year
ago." Meg sat on the stone fence, her long, jean-clad legs swinging
loose. She ran a hand through her short dark blond hair. She glanced
over at Jade. "Are you ready for this?"
    "Ready for what?" Jade asked absentmindedly,
her focus on the surrounding scene so similar and yet so different than
before. She leaned back against the stone fence and looked at her colleague.
    "The job we're here to do. It's not likely to
be much fun." Meg pointed to the wreckage of cars heaped off to
one side, surrounded by tall weeds. "I didn't expect to see this
level of refuse strewn about. It's easy to be unaware of what's required
in a