Page 38 of Heat of Justice

“Where?”

“Next to the pillar on the far side. I can’t tell what it is, but the vision in this particular spot… The feeling right here, it’s—” Again, Kim shuddered. “It’s bad here, Cody. There’s fear.”

“Okay.” It was Cody’s turn to lay her hand on her cheek in a gentle, steadying gesture. “Show me.”

chapter 13

Cody waded in up to her knees to confirm that a large garbage bag, caught around the base of a piling, contained a human body wrapped up in bits of rope. She made the necessary calls then, requested backup units, a forensics team to process the scene, and the medical examiner. Soon, the area was shut down and crawling with police. Any junkies in the vicinity either fled or retreated into their living holes. She was confident that her men would find them and extract any relevant information.

“I can ID her.” Pale and shaken, Kim insisted on doing so. “She has a little flower tattooed on the inside of her left wrist. Please, let me look and see.”

“Alright.”

Because she understood how much she would need to take this final step now to see for real what she had only previously caught glimpses of in her visions, Cody allowed her to approach the gurney on which the body had been transferred to a thick bio-hazard bag. Kim took one look at the bloated face, winced, and shook her head. A long time spent in the water had done its work on the flesh, obviously.

“I think it’s her,” she stated. “But I need to see the tattoo.”

“Inside the left wrist, please,” Cody asked the ME’s tech.

As he exposed the arm of the lifeless victim and twisted it so that she could see the spot on her wrist, Kim was instantly able to confirm.

“Yes, this is Cassie. Oh, God...”

Cody ripped off the gloves she had pulled on to help secure the scene and retrieve the body. She clasped her hand in hers as Kim turned away and pulled her aside, deliberately moving in front of her to shield her from the rest of the scene.

“I’m okay,” Kim snapped. “It’s not my first dead body.”

“No, but this one is personal. Right?” Cody prompted.

“Yeah.” Kim blew air out again. “Yes. Very.”

Cody could see what it cost her to maintain her composure. She understood and admired this kind of courage. It was neither the time nor place for an emotional display, so she held back from pulling the woman into her arms. It costher.She did allow herself to brush a curl of her hair behind her ear, and to cup her face in both hands. She looked deep into her eyes.

“We are going to need to take your statement.”

“Of course.” Kim smiled without humor. “I know how this works.”

“Someone else will do it while I finish up here. Okay with you?”

“It’s fine.” Kim raised her hands to hers, held there and her gaze briefly for a second, then let go. “You do what you have to, Cody.”

“Okay.”

Cody had a uniform escort Kim back to her car with orders to record her statement and keep an eye on her. She wanted to do things by the book here. Not only because it was the way she always dealt with her job, and the victim deserved her absolute best, but also because Kim challenged her in ways she had never expected to feel again after Emma. She could not let her feelings affect her performance on the job. As it was, Cody could imagine what her lieutenant might say following their last conversation if she knew that Reed had led her straight to a dead body. Shetook a deep breath to clear her head and went to join the ME’s assistant.

“Right off the bat, what can you tell me?”

“Couple obvious things.” He nodded. “A: someone put the body in that bag and tied the rope around it. B: she’s got a hole the size of a golf ball at the back of her skull.”

Cody exhaled. “So, she was killed first, then thrown in the water?”

“Or severely incapacitated, then thrown in, yeah.”

“Either way, we’re looking at murder in the first degree.”

“Correct. I’ll be able to tell you more about the manner of death once we autopsy her.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”

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