Gallagher Justice. Amanda Stevens

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ was the real thing at first, but if you look closely you can see where the edges are blurred into the pores.”

      “You used to work in Gang Crimes, Doggett.” Krychek’s tone held an edge of resentment. “You recognize that symbol?”

      “It’s a trident,” Doggett said. “The Gangster Disciples use it, but they mostly operate on the South Side. This is a long way from their home turf. Besides, I don’t think this is a gang hit.”

      “I agree,” Skip Vreeland put in. “Look at the hoochie-mama threads she’s wearing. That girl was out for a good time.”

      “Hoochie-mama threads with a Michigan Avenue price tag,” Krychek, the fashion expert, muttered.

      “We need to get a picture over to Rush Street and start canvassing as many of the nightclubs as we can hit.” Doggett stood and walked back over to the other two detectives. “If she was there tonight, someone’s bound to remember a girl like that.”

      Krychek stuck his hands in his pockets, jingling his change. “So what’s the deal here, Doggett?”

      Doggett frowned. “What do you mean, what’s the deal?”

      Krychek shrugged. “Skip and I were the first detectives on the scene so that makes this our case.”

      “Quinlan called me at home and told me to get over here ASAP,” Doggett said. “It’s my understanding this is my case.”

      Krychek gave a nervous laugh. “No way.”

      “Then looks like we’ve got a problem.”

      The two men eyed each other warily until Meredith muttered behind them, “Oh, great. A pissing contest between two cops. How unusual.”

      Skip said gruffly, “Hell with this shit. Let’s just get on with what needs to be done and let the boss figure out whose case it is later. Right now, somebody needs to go check on that phone number.” He started to walk away, then turned back to his partner. “You coming?”

      Krychek held his ground for a moment longer, his gaze faintly menacing, before he stalked off behind Vreeland.

      Doggett moved back to the body. He was glad they were gone. He needed a moment alone here, needed time to think. He frowned as he studied the dead woman. He was missing something.

      Carefully he cataloged her features, trying to commit every detail of her person and the crime scene to memory. He’d go over it in his mind a dozen more times before this night was out.

      He rubbed his chin. Something was bothering him about that mark on her left shoulder. Doggett had the niggling feeling that he’d seen that symbol before, that it should mean something to him, but he didn’t know what.

      He was troubled by her appearance, too. The dress and shoes screamed for attention, but everything else, her makeup and jewelry, were understated. His gaze rested on her fingernails. They were neatly trimmed and squared off, but unpolished, as if this were a detail she’d forgotten because she wasn’t used to getting all dressed up. Or as if she’d been in a hurry to go out.

       You know what I think? I think you were pretending to be something you’re not. You were trying to fool someone, weren’t you? But who? And why?

      And suddenly, in asking those questions, Doggett found what had been missing for him, the connection he needed with the victim.

      I’m going to find out all about you, he silently told her. And then I’m going to find out who did this to you. You have my word on that.

      CHAPTER THREE

      “SO THIS IS WHERE YOU LIVE,” Milo Cherry commented as Fiona climbed into his car, a vintage ’69 Corvette Stingray beautifully restored. “Nice neighborhood.”

      “Thanks.” She sank comfortably into the bucket seat and glanced around. “Is this new? I’ve never seen you drive it before.”

      “I’ve been working on it in my spare time for a couple of years now. Cars are kind of a hobby of mine.”

      She ran her hand over the leather. “I’m impressed, Milo. I had no idea you were so mechanically inclined.”

      He gave her an enigmatic smile. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

      “It would seem so.”

      Fiona was certainly witnessing a whole new side of him tonight, and it wasn’t just the car. She was used to seeing Milo in his conservative, slightly geeky, lawyer persona—dark suits, sedate ties, brown hair neatly combed. Tonight his hair was gelled and he wore slim black pants and a black shirt opened at the collar.

      But the change went deeper than just the surface. Milo was usually one of the most laid-back people Fiona knew, but tonight he seemed restless, almost wired. His fingers tapped a nervous tattoo on the steering wheel as he waited for her to settle in.

      “I don’t mean to alarm you,” she told him as he pulled away from the curb. “But I think something may be burning in here.”

      “It’s just incense. I put it out earlier, but the smell is still kind of strong. Sorry.”

      “No, it’s okay. But would you mind if I rolled down the window a little?”

      “You can’t.” He shrugged another apology. “The power windows don’t work. Some kind of glitch with the wiring I haven’t been able to figure out.”

      Fiona smothered a sneeze. “You’ve got the address of the crime scene, right?”

      “You said the corner of Bleaker and Radney. That’s a few blocks west of Rush Street. Speaking of which.” His fingers continued to drum on the steering wheel as they headed down her street. “I had no idea you lived so close to the party zone. Do you go there much?”

      “To Rush Street?” Fiona shook her head. “Rarely.”

      “There’s a nightclub on Division Street called Blondie’s. Have you ever heard of it?”

      “No, but I don’t get out much,” she said dryly. “And besides, I’m not really the nightclub type.”

      He shot her a glance. “I think you might like this place.”

      “Is that where you were tonight when I called?” she asked curiously.

      He studied the road. “What makes you think I wasn’t home?”

      “Oh, I don’t know.” She stared at his clothes. “Maybe because you don’t look as if you just woke up.”

      “I never said I was asleep.” An intriguing little smile played at the corners of his mouth, and it occurred to Fiona that he had the look of a man with a secret he was just dying to tell. She wondered if, like a lot of males she’d known, he was preening over a recent conquest and couldn’t wait to brag about it in the locker room. He glanced at her again. “You want to go sometime?”

      “Go where?” Her mind had drifted, СКАЧАТЬ