Don't Touch

Chapter 1

The holiday season had arrived in Florida and
the weather finally decided to act like winter. Ryan pulled the
sweater a litter tighter as the wind picked up. Being a native to
the Sunshine State it was cold to her. She spotted Susan Denton
smoking with her short sleeve scrubs barely chilled. Yankee cow.
“Hey Susan, you’re freezing me to death. The least you could do is
pretend to be cold.”

They shared a laugh then Ryan asked, “Need a
ride home?”

The other woman put out the offending
cigarette. “Your blood’s too thin Cracker. I’ll take that offer, my
car is down again.”

As they hopped in the car Susan called her
husband and let him know she had a ride. Dropping her phone in her
pocket “He says thank you for letting him stay in his warm bed. You
ready for Christmas? I’ve still got tons of stuff to get for the
kids.”

Ryan smiled feeling kind of grateful she
didn’t have that problem yet. “You spoil them too much. I only have
my sister left; she’s one of those that have everything. I have no
idea what to get her.”

After a moment they both say. “Gift
card.”

The women laughed as Ryan turned the corner
only to find an oversized pickup truck sliding into her lane. The
women didn’t even have time to scream before the collision echoed
into the night. Blinding light metal scraped against metal, Ryan’s
car being drug over the asphalt.

When the vehicles finally slid to a stop Ryan
picked her head up gingerly. Everything was blurred, pain pounded
in her head. All the sounds, people were shouting, something
creaked, were as if they were inside a tin can. Susan was leaning
against the passenger window, unmoving. “Susan?”

Ryan felt the cold air rush in as someone
opened her car door. She tried to turn to see who but the throbbing
in her head accelerated and the world just faded away.

Ryan opened her eyes when she felt the bed
move as her sister sat on the edge. “Ryan? Hey sis, can you say
something?”

Ryan glared at her annoyed. “Something. What
happened?” Then she remembered the staff party at the Lake County
Coroner’s office was in full swing. Dr. Ryan Reign took a sip of
punch her assistant had brought her and grimaced.

Naturally some wisenheimer had spiked the
once delicious sherbet punch. Dumping it in the unsuspecting potted
palm next to her Ryan decided it was time to go home. Especially
before her college Dr. Barney Flak decided to do a striptease again
this year.

Barney was the one who noticed her pull on
the light sweater and grab her purse. “Hey! Ryan you can’t leave
yet, Doris is setting up the Karaoke.”

Ryan smiled at the pathologist who reminded
her of Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue, only not so grumpy. “Thanks
Barn, but I’m pulling a double tomorrow. Sing some Elvis for me
okay.”

Curling his lip Barney struck a King like
pose. “You got it little lady. Thank you, thank you very much!”

As Ryan walked out as he called. “Ladies and
gentlemen Dr. Reign has left the building!”

Susan, she was giving Susan a ride home from
the office party. Then the bright lights, the scrapping of metal,
being tossed around like a rag doll. With the memory came the
blinding headache. Slowly she brought her hand to her head and
groaned as her sister called for the nurse.

“Dang all Ryan you had us scared to death!
You have no idea how bad it could have been. Thank God you were
wearing a seat belt. Susan’s going to be alright too. She had a
broken rib and collar bone and a nasty whiplash. Where is that
nurse?”

Ryan just let her babble. It must have been
bad for Amber to run off at the mouth. Her younger sibling was
chatty but never just a motor mouth. The nurse finally arrived and
put a dose of pain meds into the IV. She quickly checked Ryan’s
vitals.

Ryan closed her eyes while waiting for the
meds to do their work when she had a glimpse in her mind of the
nurse with a blue stick. “How far along?”

The nurse paused in her task looked at Ryan
with a shocked expression. “What did you ask?”

“Sorry to pry, I asked how far along you
are.”

The nurse looked from Ryan, to her sister,
and then quickly gathered her things. “I just found out this
morning that I am pregnant. How did you know?”

Ryan couldn’t answer her. She couldn’t have
known. The woman didn’t even look pregnant. “You have the glow. You
know.”

The nurse gave a nervous nod and left her to
rest. Ryan didn’t buy that answer either. Maybe she heard the nurse
mention it when she was out. The nurse may have been showing the
positive to another nurse and Ryan glimpsed it in a brief moment of
consciousness. The subconscious is a mystery. Who knows what you
pick up when you’re knocked out.

Finally, the day came when she got to go
home. Amber became a total mother hen fussing over her big sister.
“Be careful going up those steps.”

Ryan nodded as she trounced up the porch
steps to the front door. When she grabbed the knob to unlock, she
caught the scent of her neighbor’s cherry cigars. She turned
thinking he was close by. The only person there was Amber. “You
alright?”

Looking across the street Ryan found the
neighbor mowing his lawn puffing a cigar. The smell must have
drifted on the breeze. “Yeah, Amber, I’m fine.”

It took hours for Ryan to get rid of her
sister. “Amber, go home I’m fine. I’m not an invalid. I can cook
dinner when I’m ready for it.”

Amber relented and listed every phone number
she could possibly think of for an emergency as she relented to
leave her sister to her own devices. “Call me immediately if you
need anything! I mean anything, Ryan.”

Closing the door behind her sister she felt
as if she was finally able to relax. Ryan turned on the CD player
and Johnny Cash started to filter through the room. A quick fix
meal in the microwave and a good book were next on the list.

She sat on the couch engrossed in the latest
thriller novel. Mistakenly she grabbed Amber’s coffee cup from
earlier.

“Don’t overdo it, Ryan. Take it easy for a
couple of days.” Her sister scolded as she had earlier. Ryan spit
the hideously cold brew back in the cup and stood up to give Amber
the what-for. Sister or not she had some nerve just barging back
in.

There was no one but Johnny headed to the
gallows with twenty-five minutes to go. Didn’t she hear Amber’s
voice? Looking out the front window, there was no car in the drive
and a couple of teenage girls chattered and giggled as they walked
by.

“Must have been them.” She said to
herself.

Three weeks went by and she couldn’t take
another day stuck at home. It was her first day back to work.

“Thank God. “ She thought, as she pulled into
the parking lot. Maybe now things could get back to normal if there
really was such a thing as normal.

Barney met her at the door. “Welcome back
beautiful!”

Ryan smiled and skillfully evaded the hug.
“Thanks, it’s good to be back.” She walked into her office with
expectations of a ton of paperwork. Instead, she was greeted with a
nice surprise. The baskets were empty. She wanted to do a happy
dance.

Kessler the facility director popped his head
in the door. “Thought it best you have a fresh start. You really
cleared to come back so soon?”

Ryan flopped into her chair. “I’d kiss you
but we don’t need anymore gossip around here. I’m good Dr. Kessler,
ready to get back in the groove. I swear not to sue you if I stub
my toe.”

He nodded and tossed a folder on her desk.
“I’ll hold you to that. Besides, without you around we didn’t have
anything to gossip about. Start slow, do this one autopsy, help out
in the lab. Then go home early.”

She promised as she picked up the file. Ryan
knew better than to argue with Kessler. When he got mad his Nazi
ancestry came to the surface.

After a glance through the case file, she
thought this one should be a snap. Female, Caucasian, multiple stab
wounds. There were photos of the crime scene; a big kitchen knife
lay beside the victim. Not a lot of blood though. Could have been
killed somewhere else. Then brought back home? Weird.

With a final sip of her tea Ryan headed for
the autopsy room. Hopefully since Kessler was the one who handed
her the case the body would be halfway prepped.

Sure enough, someone was there, processing
trace samples on the body. The little brunette smiled. She was new.
You don’t just smile over a possible murder victim. “Dr. Reign, I’m
Lydia the new tech.”

Ryan nodded then went to the girl on the
table. That’s who deserved her attention at the moment. She was a
pretty girl. Not tiny but not overweight, just built like a real
woman, with curves.

The knife wounds looked as if they may match
the weapon in the photos. They were fairly deep. It was odd though
the seven wounds looked like they almost formed a circle. She
wondered if this was done on purpose or just a random effect.

Everything else was run of the mill until she
checked the eyes. The cornea of the left eye was missing. An exam
of the right she found it was intact. “Make a notation to check her
past medical records for a keratectomy.”

It was odd to come across someone so young
with such a procedure. The girl had fought back there were cuts and
broken nails from trying to block the blade, defensive wounds, all
over her hands and arms. “Lydia, help me get her undressed.”

The tech came over and they tugged the jeans
off. Ryan always felt like she was playing dress up with an
oversized doll. It would have been easier to just cut the clothing
off but it might compromise possible evidence. So they undressed
the bodies the old fashioned way.

Ryan caught her glove on the edge of the
table tearing it from her right palm. “Damn.” Seeing the tech cast
a worried glance she added. “I’m alright, ripped my glove.”

Lydia nodded and folded the jeans and a tube
of lipstick fell from the pocket. Out of instinct Ryan reached for
it and caught it in her unlatexed palm. She swore angry that she
had just contaminated possible evidence.

Suddenly images started to flash, the victim
in a room, screaming. The girl crying as she applied the lipstick
looking in a mirror. The feel of something being forced into her
body. Ryan screamed in agony as she felt the knife being drawn out,
knowing it would be plunged again. Falling to the floor Ryan
dropped the tube but continued to scream until shock made it all
fade to black.

Chapter 2

The detectives walked onto the scene to the
usual jibes. “Make way for the royal couple! Somebody roll out the
red carpet.” Detective Jackson Prince and his partner Thomas Lord
just ignored the calls until some idiot asked if his highness would
like his coffee in a gold chalice. Prince turned on the man ready
to put him through a wall but his partner put a hand on his
shoulder.

Forcing a laugh Lord told the offending cop.
“Don’t you know that’s a good way to lose your head? Or at the very
least end up in a dungeon somewhere.” Once they were inside Thomas
shook his head. “Too much caffeine? What was that about?”

Jackson shrugged in return, he couldn’t
explain it but something here put him on edge. The scene of the
crime, a nice little restored 1920’s cottage, had been cleared for
their entry and they were armed with booties and latex gloves.

Stuffing the booties in their pockets of
course, it was standard issue but no one ever wore them. Unless it
was a really messy scene and you didn’t want to ruin your
shoes.

The house was tidy everything had a place, a
family home. Prince walked over and looked at the woman lying on
the living room floor. There were several knife wounds to the chest
and gut.

The poor thing didn’t look big enough to
fight back but there were a few deep cuts on her hands and arms.
The stab wounds looked deep as well. Guy must have been strong to
fight her off and plunge the blade to the hilt over and over.