Page 88 of Lost Kingdom

“Cato,” he snickers. “Boy can’t keep secrets from me. His loyalties are solid. Where are you?”

“Uh…” I peer out at the next intersection we pass. “Corner of Seventh and Straight. Working. You?”

“Airport. I’ve got shit to do today. Wanna get dinner tonight?”

28

AUBREE

THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

“This is Doctor Aubree Emeri, stepping into Autopsy Room Three to follow up on the Bayside Murders. DBs Three and Four were Doctor Flynn’s patients, but Chief Mayet has requested a second-round opinion.” I reach back and tie my apron, slowly wandering past a silent Minka who only watches me watch the dead.

She leans against the floor to ceiling window, her hands behind her back, and her focus entirely and intrinsically centered on me.

She became the youngest and most revered Chief Medical Examiner in the country for a reason.

Maybe she doesn’t understand it yet. Perhaps no one else does either, but I know. It’s because she speaksforthe dead. She speakstothe dead. She does it with her heart, her gut, and at the end of the day, her actions.

“DB Three is Diego Dominguez. Thirty-seven-year-old male.” I check his toe tags to confirm, then I move to the next. “DB Four is Castiel Terry. Also thirty-seven, also male.” I drag on a pair of gloves and snap down my plastic visor to cover my eyes. Finally, I stop between both tables and consider who to go to first.

“What do you see, Doctor Emeri?”

Instantly, I look at Castiel’s forehead. “I see two men with bullet wounds to their skulls. Single shots, close range. Probably nine-caliber rounds. Diego’s skin was burned by the muzzle of the gun. Castiel’s wasn’t.”

“Which implies?”

“Castiel was shot before Diego. But Diego was shot at closer range.” I drag Castiel’s sheet down to expose his Y cut, then brush my pointer finger along the sutures Flynn put in. “This was reported as a drive by shooting.”

Pleased, Minka drops her chin. “Yes, it was.”

“Can’t be a drive by, andalsoclose-range shots. My two DBs caught their bullets from a distance. These men were executed.” I draw a heaving breath, filling my lungs and preparing myself for more. More information. More horror. Then I take his hand in mine and nibble on my bottom lip. “Booth was at the warehouse with his men the day they died.”

Curious, Minka brings her hands around to her front. But she doesn’t reach out, though I know she wants to. She doesn’t push away from the window, though I know she’s begging to take over.

She does, however, take the recorder and switch it off. She makes a production of hitting the button and showing me the device. “How do you know Booth was there?”

“Because he just…” I swallow. “He was.”

“Why wasn’t he killed?”

“Because he set the trap for his own men.” I place Castiel’s hand down again, unimpressed with what I glean from his touch, only to turn to Diego and repeat. But this time, it’s like a bolt of electricity bursting into my veins, stinging every nerve ending it passes through. “Ah! Shit!”

“What?”

I toss his arm down, a fire-able offence, probably. But I let it fall, then dangle over the side of the bed, while in my mind, I see Felix Malone. Dying. Dead. Bleeding from the corner of his mouth, and with eyes that stare. Seeing, but not.

“Aubree?”

“I’ve gotta go.” I spin on my heels and peel my gloves off on the run, skidding through the autopsy suite door and tearing my apron off while I move. “Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.” My heart thunders, an aching, burning pain as I sprint to my desk.

Minka stomps out of the autopsy suite. “Doctor Emeri!?”

I slam my thigh against the corner of my desk, crying out at the blinding pain that ricochets up into my hip and out again in the center of my chest. Right where Felix is shot. Right where he bleeds from and soon after, dies.

“I have to call Felix!” I drop into my chair and yank my drawer open, searching for my phone and shouting my frustration when I can’t find it. “Where is it?” I slam the drawer and move to the next. “Where is it?”

“What?” Minka stomps, when I ran. She growls, while tears stream down my cheeks. “What are you looking for?”

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