Read Online Pushed Too Far: A Thriller by Ann Voss Peterson, Blake Crouch - Free Book Online Page A

woman was clearly a living being. And it was impossible to look at what he’d done to her and not feel overwhelmed with hopelessness for the whole, stinking species.
    She called up the autopsy report, each defilement the poor girl had suffered recorded in black and white.
    Hess had told her to look hard at the evidence, that she would then see things didn’t tie together. But as hard as she’d stared since these files had arrived, she hadn’t come to any kind of magical revelation.
    Harlan had suggested he send Jane Doe to a forensic anthropologist at the University. A fabulous idea. Surely an expert could see something she couldn’t. But that could take weeks or even months, and if there was one thing she didn’t have, it was time. She needed to talk to an expert ASAP.
    As luck would have it, she had an expert in mind. She just had to convince him to speak to her.

     
    Lund knocked the dusting of morning snow off his boots and stepped into the police department’s box-like entrance. Not much bigger than a sally port between doors, the space held a window on one side with a slip through space under the thick glass, like a ticket window. On the other side, he could see part of the tiny dispatch center, essentially a countertop jammed with keyboards and computer monitors.
    The Lake Loyal PD was tucked into a corner of the village hall. Even though the department employed fewer than a dozen officers total, the space was so small, it would be overcrowded at half that. Nothing about the place was intimidating, but after teetering on the edge of being locked up for murder every time he’d stepped in the doors, his chest felt a little tight.
    “Be right with you, sir.”
    For a woman who shared a name with one of the Native American tribes in Wisconsin, Oneida didn’t look at all Native American. Blond streaked with gray, big boned and more than a little heavy, she was quite the opposite, and was known through town for wearing green and gold to work on Packer game days, and red when the Badgers suited up.
    Lund had known Oneida for years, had even gone to school with one of her sisters, but the woman still bunched up her brow every time she saw him, as if she didn’t have a clue who he was.
    A small thing compared to the indignities he’d suffered in this place.
    But this time it was supposed to be different. When Chief Ryker had called, she’d said she needed his opinion as fire inspector. He wasn’t sure he believed it, but just the chance of being able to do something beat sitting around staring at a wall.
    Oneida bustled to the door and pulled it open. “You’re here to see the chief?”
    So she remembered him this time. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “She asked me to come in.”
    “She’s busy right now. Can you wait?”
    “I’ll come back another time.”
    “It won’t be long. This interruption … it was unexpected.”
    If he wasn’t mistaken, she seemed flustered. “What’s going on?”
    “I’m sure she’ll be able to see you soon.” She scurried around the corner, remarkably fast for a large woman. The lock buzzed, and she pulled the door open. “Follow me. Please.”
    Her insistence made him nothing but uneasy, nevertheless he stepped inside.
    The station was tiny, like the department, like the town. The chief’s office was just inside and to the left.
    “Follow me.” She took off past a collection of four cubicles, their ancient cloth walls having lived through better days. Her shapeless skirt swished with each sway of those serious hips.
    Lund moved more slowly, trying to get a glimpse through the glass panel running adjacent to the chief’s door. She was inside, as Oneida had said, talking to a man in a suit.
    “Are you coming?”
    He moved on, following Oneida into a room the size of a closet.
    “Have a seat. Cups. Coffee. Help yourself.” She whirled and hurried out of the room.
    He followed orders, taking his coffee with a dash of powered creamer to soften its