Read Online The Day Before by Liana Brooks - Free Book Online Page A

the stream over there where the truck driver found her arm and hand.” She pointed out the copse of pines to MacKenzie. “The rest of the body was in the middle of the field, but we didn’t find rope or anything.”
    â€œPlane?” he guessed.
    â€œThat’s what I thought originally. The only case I’ve seen with that kind of facial trauma was a parachute accident we looked at in the academy, but the nearest airport is over forty miles away. It’s a major metro airport, high-­security, no baggage allowed. Strictly commuters to Atlanta and Birmingham.”
    â€œCrop duster?”
    â€œNo crops in this area, this whole place is marked for natural renewal through 2107. No planting, farming, gardening, or harvesting of biological materials allowed.” Sam raised an eyebrow at his impressed expression. “What? I did do my homework after I read the full autopsy.”
    â€œSport diving?”
    â€œSkydiving?” Sam shook her head. “I haven’t heard about anything like that out here, but I can check to see if there are any companies that use this area.”
    They walked through the field twice more in search of more clues, but their hopes were in vain. Discouraged, they retreated from the baking heat to the cooler confines of the car.
    â€œI see three possibilities,” Sam said as she turned the car on and started driving back to town. “The most likely is that Jane Doe was killed by someone she knew, they dumped her, and they are the only ones who would have reported her so, no missing person file. Domestic dispute is the top of my list. There may have been elements of bondage play.”
    MacKenzie stared out the window. “No.”
    â€œIt’s a possibility.”
    â€œNo evidence of rape.”
    â€œMaybe her husband was a psycho killer. It’s happened before. The second variation there, which you keep trying to rule out, is that Jane is a clone. Her owner didn’t want her, and she was dumped. Or maybe we’re looking at a case of heavy self-­aggression: if you can’t commit suicide, you can kill your clone. The ultimate-­sacrifice style of thing.”
    â€œKilling a clone is not the ultimate sacrifice,” MacKenzie cut in vehemently.
    Sam looked over at him. His face was white, and his jaw clenched. Message received: no-­fly zone. “Right. Sorry. Moving on.” She waited to see if he would relax. Mackenzie did, a tiny bit, and she nodded. “Scenario three, Jane isn’t listed as a missing person because no one knows she’s missing yet but her killer. Maybe she was the artistic type who liked to hike through the hinterlands, and her family wasn’t expecting her back for a few weeks.”
    â€œDoesn’t fit the timeline,” MacKenzie said with a shake of his head.
    â€œWhat was the time of death?”
    The ME shifted in his seat. “Hard to determine. She was a . . . a prisoner for over a month.”
    â€œOver a month? How much over a month?”
    â€œFrom the rate of healing and the sores? Maybe . . . maybe three months? Maybe a little less.”
    â€œSo Jane went missing in February?”
    Agent MacKenzie nodded.
    Sam crossed herself. “Missing for three months changes things a little. I suppose Jane could have moved, then gone missing during or just after the relocation. Her old friends wouldn’t be looking, and there would be no one locally to sound an alarm.”
    MacKenzie shrugged.
    â€œThere were no hits on her dental records?”
    â€œNot in the public files.”
    â€œYou have third-­degree clearance—­check the private citizens, government workers, and run a check on missing-­presumed-­dead from around when Jane was born. I’d hate for this to turn into another Torture House case, but it’s looking like we can’t rule it out.” She chewed on that for a minute. “Marrins will start salivating.