Read Online Dying Scream by Mary Burton - Free Book Online

blue jumpsuit and her hair in a loose ponytail.
    Vega stared at Tess, his admiration clear.
    “She moves like an athlete,” Gage said.
    “She was a swimmer in college. Division one. Qualified for the U.S. Olympic team.”
    “Impressive.”
    “Smart as hell, too, but don’t tell her I said that. I try to be obnoxious. I want her to think I don’t like her.”
    “Vega, this isn’t middle school.”
    Vega shrugged.
    Tess moved toward them with purpose. She had a straightforward attitude that had won her a good deal of respect. Meticulous, she protected her crime scenes like a mother hen.
    “So what do we have?” Her voice was husky. “I hear you have a skeleton.”
    Vega nodded. “Maybe two.”
    Gage always knew where he stood with Tess. It was black and white with her. He didn’t always like what she had to say, but he respected her. Adrianna Barrington was a different matter. She was awash in grays and he suspected kept many secrets locked away. “Let me show you.”
    Tess grabbed her camera from the van and snapped pictures as she closed in on the site. “I’m gonna need a list of people who’ve been around the grave.”
    “Can do,” Gage said.
    “That includes shoe imprints, fingerprints, maybe even hair samples.” She snapped more pictures and then peered into the hole. “Human. Who dug it up?”
    Gage gave her the recap.
    Tess frowned, her displeasure clear. “That’s too bad.”
    Vega folded his arms over his chest. “If not for them, we’d not have anything.”
    “Yeah, I know.” But she didn’t look appeased. “I’m not an expert on this but I do know that excavating a body is a slow process. Hand shovels and small brushes kind of slow. God only knows what they’ve wrecked with their boots and shovels.”
    “You think you can handle this job?” Gage said.
    Tess shook her head. “Honestly? No. I’ve never done it before and you’re better off with a forensic anthropologist like Dr. Alex Butler.”
    “He works in the medical examiner’s office,” Vega said.
    “Yeah. But he’s got more degrees than I can count and worked in Hawaii with the government identifying the remains of U.S. soldiers. Long story short, he knows this kind of stuff.”
    Gage reached for the cell clipped to his belt. He dialed the medical examiner’s office and within minutes was connected to Dr. Butler. He explained the situation, heard the rustle of papers and finally Dr. Butler’s commitment to be there as soon as he could.
    He closed his phone. “I’m anxious to get the body excavated. It might connect to a missing persons case I worked a couple of years ago. And if not mine, someone else’s.”
    “We’ll move as fast as we can.” But she didn’t look the least bit rushed. “As soon as I shoot the area and check the immediate crime scene for anything out of the ordinary, Dr. Butler should arrive. But I’ll warn you again, it’s going to be a slow process. I don’t know what we’ll find when he starts stripping away the dirt. Better to treat this like an archeology site.”
    Gage thought about the bandana and held it up for her. “This was found hanging on the fence by the grave.”
    Tess’s lips flattened. “And handled by how may people?”
    “Just the foreman, Billy Miller, from what I can tell.”
    “Great.” She took the plastic bag.
    Tess shot dozens of more pictures from multiple angles. She pulled out her sketchpad and did a rough drawing of the area.
    Gage scanned the crowd of construction workers. His gaze landed on the slight man who stood hovering by a tree. Dr. Heckman, who had a keen interest in the whole process. Gage moved toward him. “What are you still doing here, Dr. Heckman?”
    Dr. Heckman flipped a silver coin in his hand. “I wanted to be sure I didn’t miss anything.”
    “Like what?”
    “I want to make sure those graves stay in the ground.”
    “That so?”
    “Andrew Thornton, who is buried in that cemetery, was a colonel in the Confederate Army. He died