Read Online I'm Watching You by Karen Rose - Free Book Online

head. „It doesn’t make sense.“
    Mia jogged up behind them, her breath turning to fog in the air. „What doesn’t make sense?“ Then a quiet, „Oh, God.“
    Kristen shook herself. „You’re right, it doesn’t make sense. Besides, if something had happened to even one of these three women, I’d have been informed.“ By one of their irate boyfriends or husbands who had so bitterly blamed her for dragging their women through the hell of testifying only to suffer again when Ramey was acquitted. She still felt the sting of their anger, of the accusations she hadn’t tried to defend. She pushed back the guilt and stared at the marker at her feet. „It’s for remembrance,“ she said. „For the victims.“
    Abe nodded to Jack. „Let’s start digging. Be careful with the marker. The dirt under it might have retained some trace evidence. Are there markers at the other sites?“
    „I’ll find out“ Jack gestured them back, out of the way of the team. „This is going to take a little while. The ground is pretty frozen.“
    They backed up, still standing under the tarp which provided shelter from the light rain. And they watched as the team carefully dug.
    „I made a list of the victims, their families, anyone associated with the three cases,“ Kristen said as a shovelful of frozen earth landed in the growing mound close to her feet.
    „Another bad night?“ Mia murmured, her eyes trained on the diggers.
    „You could say that.“ She’d tried to go to sleep, but visions of him staring in her window kept her far too tense to sleep. Every creak and whine of her old house just made it worse. Finally, she’d given up. „I also ran a list of all the defendants I unsuccessfully prosecuted and separated them out by the ones who got off on technicalities versus legitimate defenses.“
    „How many were there?“ Reagan asked.
    „I had to replace my printer cartridge midway through,“ Kristen answered dryly. „Did wonders for my professional self-esteem.“
    „So how many could you have won?“ Reagan asked, his tone practical. She’d wondered the same thing herself and had been compulsive enough to do the math. „Twenty-five percent, maybe,“ she said honestly.
    „Twenty-five percent with the benefit of twenty-twenty hindsight.“ Reagan made a humming sound in his throat.
    „That means on seventy-five percent you wouldn’t have changed a thing. That sounds pretty significant to me.“
    Her first instinct was to take his words as lightly as he’d likely meant them. But she glanced up, found his blue eyes trained on her face, and knew he’d been quite serious. Awkward pleasure warred with a nagging feeling of deja vu. And because dealing with the deja vu was far less uncomfortable than accepting his praise, she focused on his face with a frown. „I know we’ve met. Last night you said my hair was up. What did you mean?“
    His mouth opened, but his first words were drowned out by Jack’s shout.
    „We’ve got something. Come and see.“
    Reagan and Mia lurched forward. Kristen’s approach was a little more tentative, hindered by her skirt even in her sensible shoes. She rounded the pile of dirt and gingerly stepped to the edge of the three-foot-deep hole. And swallowed hard.
    He was right , was her first thought. We’re lucky it’s winter . Had it been summer, the flesh would have been so decomposed it would have been unrecognizable. But being winter in Chicago, the body was fairly well preserved. Enough that she could provide a positive ID.
    „It’s him. Anthony Ramey.“ Her voice was shaky, but she doubted anyone would fault her for it. Jack’s men wore identical grimaces that said they’d rather be fingerprinting anything anywhere than be here, in the hole with a decomposing body. Mia pressed a handkerchief to her face and walked around the hole to get a view from a different angle.
    „Most of him, anyway,“ Mia said through the handkerchief. „Hell, Kristen, your humble servant sure did