Page 90 of Tough as Steele

“Could be.” Nate’s eyes narrowed. “The person in charge got his money and began tying up loose ends.”

Londyn shook her head. “If Wigg isn’t the boss, then we might be finding his body soon too.”

Dr. Albertson got out her bone saw. Londyn gritted her teeth for what she knew was coming. It sounded like an intense version of a dentist’s drill. She already wasn’t a fan of the dentist, and now whenever she heard that drill at her appointments, she thought of the morgue. She’d once told her dentist that, and now he acted afraid of her. She decided, even if she was talking to a medical professional, that she should keep her morgue stories to herself before she had to find new medical professionals.

Dr. Albertson started making the cut on Jessica’s skull, and Londyn stood next to Nate and tried not to show any emotions, though her stomach was roiling with acid. Londyn averted her focus and looked down at Nate’s feet. He still wore suede boots with the same jeans, but long gone was the crispness he’d pressed into them before he’d dressed.

They’d been together for little more than a day, and she’d fallen for him. Already, she felt more for Nate than she had for Brad. But their connection was happening way too fast to make it credible. She’d only scratched the surface of what she knew was his very complex personality.

Her mom and gran seemed to approve of him, and their approval wasn’t easily won. He possessed all the qualities of a fine man, but he also had a very difficult history to overcome.

A clink of metal on metal sounded, and she looked up to see Dr. Albertson hold out a small metal pan containing the bullet.

Nate stepped closer to the pan. “Bullet’s in pretty good shape.”

“Agreed. Especially since it was lodged in her occipital bone.” Dr. Albertson set the pan down and got out an evidence bag. With a tweezer, she dropped the slug into the bag and used a marker to fill in information that identified where the evidence was recovered, date, time, and who recovered it, among other things.

She held it up. “Who wants it?”

Nate shot out a hand before Yost could claim it. “Thankfully, the firearms examiner was still working when I called him, and he’s waiting on us.”

“You might as well leave,” Dr. Albertson said. “I don’t expect to find anything else. If I do, I’ll give you a call.”

Nate turned to Londyn. “Let’s go.”

He stood back and waited for her to lead, but she got the idea that he would rather run over her to get to the examiner faster. If he did, he’d have a fight to the finish because she wanted the information too.

22

Outside the autopsy suite, Nate tore off his protective clothing and looked at Detective Yost.

The man had gone green around the gills during the autopsy, but his color was fast returning. Nate didn’t like autopsies, and he probably should like even less that he didn’t get queasy during them. The obvious evidence of murder did turn his stomach, but the Y-cut and the exploration of the body fascinated him more than anything.

“Not sure why we have to attend these.” Yost shoved his protective suit into the disposal bag. “Especially ones like this that don’t tell us anything new.”

“You can’t know what you might learn.” Nate stuffed his suit into the bag too, and took his jacket from the hook. He waited for Londyn to do the same.

They headed down the hall to the connecting door to the State Forensic Lab. He didn’t wait for Yost. If the guy wanted to know what was going on, he could come along.

Nate had texted Rick Paxton, the examiner, the minute they exited the autopsy, and he now came to meet them at the door.

Paxton’s thick head of black hair was messed and sticking out at odd angles. He was a beefy and brawny guy for a tech, but then firearms guys didn’t usually fit the scientific geek mode. He was dressed in jeans and a polo shirt covered with a thick button-down plaid shirt.

Paxton opened the door, and Yost caught up to them. Nate made the introductions.

Paxton held the door. “I can look at your bullet right away and give you the results if you want to wait.”

“Sure,” Nate said, thankful for the quick response.

“Then right this way.” Paxton released the door and headed straight to the firearms lab.

Nate, Londyn, and Yost followed Paxton to a desk in the back. A woman wearing a white lab coat waited by a table holding fingerprint brushes and other print supplies.

Paxton sat behind his desk. “I took the liberty of calling in Sasha to examine the bullet for DNA and prints before I look at it.”

“Thank you,” Nate said. “I should have thought of that.”

“We both should have,” Londyn said.

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