She Who Watches (10 page)

“Any messages from Nate?” Dana asked.

“No, you?”

“Nothing, so I assume he's still coming.”

“Yep. He's married, you know,” Mac teased.

“Yes, I know.” Dana flashed him a smile. “Too bad, though. He's pretty cute. The good ones are always taken.”

I'm not.
Mac ignored the jab or tried to.

“Any word on the fire?” she asked.

“I haven't heard. I'll call RDC and see if they have something.”

Mac dialed dispatch to get an update. He spoke with the floor supervisor for less than a minute. He'd expected the fire to do damage, but hearing it firsthand left him feeling disappointed and angry. He hung up with a little more force than necessary. “You want the bad news or the bad news first?”

“Oh, how about the bad news?” Dana leaned against his desk.

“The fire jumped containment lines to the east and crossed the Deschutes River and is burning toward Maupin. Sounds like a U.S.

Forest Service employee was hurt by a falling tree about the time we were on the scene.”

“Oh, no. How bad?”

“They didn't know for sure, but I'm sure having a tree fall on you would do some serious damage. That's the first part; ready for the second?”

Dana nodded.

“The fire jumped the White River, and our body dumpsite is ablaze. With the fire burning the earth several inches down from the surface, that land will be sterile for months. On top of that, we'll probably have fire retardant and who knows what else dumped all over the place. It's a good thing we processed the scene and took what we did last night.”

“I guess so. I hope we didn't miss anything.” Dana sipped her iced coffee through a straw in the plastic lid. “We should tell Kevin.”

“I was just going to call him at home and update him.”

“Good. I'll let you do that while I get back to my paperwork.”

After calling Kevin to brief him on their progress, Mac worked on writing his reports and documenting their actions from the crime-scene evidence processing.

NATHAN ARRIVED AT THEIR OFFICE shortly after ten and was led to the detectives' office by a uniformed trooper who'd seen him drive into the lot.

“Hey, Nate.” Mac shook his hand.

“Good morning, Mac. Hey, Dana,” Nate said as she emerged from her office.

“Find the place OK?” Mac asked.

“Yeah, I found the place just fine. Good directions once I got into town, although I had to drive into The Dalles and come in on I-84 due to the fire. Highway 26 is closed right now. Did you know the fire ate up the White River campground about three hours ago?”

“We heard.” Mac sighed. “Are you sure it went over the body dumpsite?”

“Positive. I was in contact with the smoke jumpers who flew the area. It's a half mile from the White River now, so that's well past our crime scene.”

“I can't believe we were just there,” Dana said.

“Look on the bright side,” Nate offered. “If that kid's dog hadn't unearthed that piece of leather, we might have never found the body.”

“I guess that's one way of looking at it,” Mac replied. “How's your family?”

“Doing good. They're safe and sound in Madras this morning.

They'll be heading back to the farm later today. The fire is staying well away from us. I keep a pretty clean place, so there wasn't a lot of fuel for the fire to eat on. I was mainly concerned about the smoke and how it would affect our livestock. We have a new paint colt that's only a week old, so I didn't want her getting a lungful of smoke. She's doing great, though.”

“That's a relief. You sure you're OK to be gone today?”

“No problem. The chief said he couldn't pay overtime, but he's going to let me trade days and take another day off.”

“No pay? Now that's dedication.” Dana smiled.

“What can I say?” Nate turned to look at Mac. “If we solve this, you're still working the place with me.”

“I know, but I'm bringing Dana. She's my partner, and we stick together, through thick and thin.”

“That would be the
thin
, partner,” Dana laughed. “And you're on your own with this one. You shouldn't write checks you can't cash.”

“Well, Dana.” Nate chuckled. “If you change your mind, we'd love to have you visit.”

Mac introduced Nate to Philly and Russ before showing him around the station house and giving him a key to the building so he could access the office during the time they were working together.

While Mac briefed Nate, Dana finished logging in the evidence, primarily the soil samples taken from the dumpsite. She kept the leather scrap with the beadwork out for the post, in the event the medical examiner wanted to see the evidence. She also made arrangements with the State Police forensics lab to process the soil evidence for additional trace items that could lead them to their killer. The soils would have to be sifted, with any small items analyzed under the microscope.

“You ready, Dana?” Mac asked when he and Nate returned to the detectives' office.

“All set, guys. We're lined up with the crime lab to process our soil. Angela will give us a call when and if she can send some techs out to the office. She made it pretty clear that sifting through the dirt was not a job for CSI unless we located some trace evidence. I guess she figures we could handle the task.”

Mac didn't especially like the idea of sifting through all that dirt, but they had no choice. “All right, then. Let's head to the post and see if the M.E. can put an official name to our victim and tell us how she died.”

ELEVEN

M
ac walked down the hall and through the squad room with Nate and Dana, wading through the crowd of SWAT team members who were making preparations to serve the warrant with Russ and Philly. The officers were assigned all over the state, most working uniform patrol when not involved in tactical team duties.

“Hey, Mac.” One of the troopers in the black-and-gray camouflage utility uniforms looked up from his automatic MP-5 rifle.

“Danny? Daniel Revman?” Mac peered into the face covered in ash-colored paint.

“In the flesh.” The young trooper shook hands with Mac. “Hey, Mac. I haven't seen you since the academy. Looks like you're doing pretty good for yourself.” Daniel eyed Mac's sport coat. “You look like the brass.”

“Not hardly. Been working detectives for some time now. I just moved to violent offenders crimes about a year ago. You still working the road?”

“That's right; don't plan on leaving it either. I'm down in Medford, and I've been on the SWAT team for about four months.” Daniel motioned around the room at his stonefaced peers. “You married, Mac? Any family?”

“Not yet. Working on it, though.”
Now why had he said that?
He glanced up, relieved to see Dana and Nate walk out the door.

Daniel grinned. “The family or the wife?”

“Both, actually,” Mac admitted, though he wasn't sure why. Wishful thinking, Mac decided.Was he still seeing Kristen or had he made a mistake getting close to her too? “The woman I'm seeing has a little boy. How about you?”

“Been married for four years now, and we have one in the oven. I'll be a daddy in about two months. A little girl.”

“Congratulations.” Mac shook Daniel's hand again. “So are you and the team hitting that biker house this afternoon?”

Daniel nodded. “We're waiting on the paperwork and the detective briefing.”

“OK, people, let's get started,” the barrel-chested SWAT sergeant barked from the front of the room. “Get your weapons and equipment check going.”

“We already checked, Sarge,” a trooper yelled from the back of the room.

“Then check it again!” the sergeant yelled back.

Daniel gave Mac a nod and fell in line with his squad. Mac handed him a business card. “Give me a call when you get a chance so we can catch up.”

“Will do.” Daniel placed the card in his breast pocket while keeping a close eye on the sergeant.

By the time Mac got to the door, Dana had pulled her car around which was now back in service, and Nate was sitting in the backseat.

“You don't have to sit in back, Nate,” Mac offered. “I could have jumped back there.”

“No, I'm good. Besides, you're taller. I fit back here just fine.” Nate smiled. “And I wouldn't want to break up the team.”

Mac folded himself in and snapped on the seat belt. “Sorry I kept you waiting. Ran into an old friend I went through the academy with. We ended up working a few hundred miles apart, and I lost track of him. He's on the tactical team now, has a baby on the way.”

“That's nice.” Dana feigned interest. She didn't have much to do with the guys on the SWAT team. Those guys were the jet pilots of the outfit, enjoying the fast pace of their assignment. Dana found them to be a little too fast for her liking, having been the object of taunts and inappropriate jokes while she was in their company. They were pretty good one-on-one, but together they could be a little over the edge with their frat house antics.

When they arrived at the M.E.'s office, Dana grabbed her plastic evidence tub from the back of the car and handed her camera equipment to Mac.

Nate offered to carry the evidence kit for Dana.

“Finally, a gentleman in the bunch.” Dana grinned at both men, softening her insult.

“Don't get used to it,” Mac teased.

He turned toward the brick building and noticed Kristen's silver Volvo in the parking lot. Had she come home, or had she just left her car there? The thought of seeing Kristen brought a measure of excitement pulsing through his veins. The idea of seeing her shouldn't have him reacting like a teenager with raging hormones.

Careful,
he told himself.
She just went to Florida to see her ex. She might not even be interested anymore. Besides, she's not your type.
Mac had been telling himself that for months, but it didn't wash.

Appearances aside, she was very much his type. He just hoped she hadn't opted out of their tenuous relationship.

The three signed in at the back of the morgue, setting their supplies on the exam room floor and evidence shelf. The two-table autopsy room was warm and humid—probably from all the hot water running through the exam tables to wash the stainless steel equipment. Condensation clung to the small outside windows, evidence the room had been used earlier this morning for autopsies.

“You ready for Doc Thorpe?” Henry asked, poking his head inside the room. Henry, a medical assistant at the morgue, had worked there for years and was one of the best.

“You bet, Henry. We're the only ones coming,” Dana answered.

Mac wanted to ask Henry about Kristen, but he didn't trust himself to speak just yet. Too many emotions had his heart rate doing double-time.

“All right, then; I'll get our customer. Doc Thorpe is on her way down.” Henry entered the cooler and, seconds later, wheeled the gurney with their victim on it to the examination room. The body was still covered with the rubber and plastic body bag that they'd enclosed it in last night, the red body tag giving evidence that the zipper had not been tampered with.

Mac made note of this formality in his notes, in the event a defense attorney tried to claim the body had been accessed and evidence planted. The tag was clipped around the special zipper with metal tabs to ensure the body would not be disturbed until the post. He snipped off the tag and secured it for evidence. As he was bagging the item, Dr. Kristen Thorpe entered the room. His stomach lurched.

“Hello, gang.” She gave each of them a friendly smile, her gaze skimming from one to another without meeting Mac's eyes.

“I thought you were in Florida,” Mac said, ignoring Dana's questioning look.

“I was.”Without elaborating, Kristen grabbed her rubber apron from a hook on the wall and tested her dictating system.

Mac's stomach felt as though it had been filled with lead. She clearly didn't want to talk about her trip, and she didn't seem pleased to see him. Mac wouldn't press it. Not here, and certainly not now.

With none of her usual gallows humor, Kristen pressed the metal foot pedal on the floor and gave a test count into the microphone hanging from the ceiling. Once she was satisfied it was in working order, she jotted the time and date on the grease board to use for a reference while dictating her autopsy. As she progressed, she would add elements to the board: height, weight, age, and eventually the weight and mass of the organs she removed from the body.

“Who might you be?” Kristen turned to Nate, offering a wooden smile.

“Sorry. I should have introduced you,” Mac answered as Kristen moved in to shake Nate's hand. “This is Officer Nathan Webb from the Warm Springs Police Department. He's working the murder with us. Nate, meet the infamous Dr. Kristen Thorpe.”

“It's a pleasure.”

“I'm pleased to meet you, Nathan.” Instead of regaling them with a grin, she turned back to the body bag. “Is this a tribal member?”

“We don't think so,” Dana answered. “We have a visual identification, such as it is, and believe our victim is Sara Watson, Senator Wilde's niece.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”

“Us too,” Dana sighed. “We recovered her body up by the Warm Springs Reservation, and due to the proximity of the body dump to the tribal lands and in case there is a tribal connection, Nate has agreed to help us out.”

Kristen nodded and unzipped the body bag to reveal the corpse, still coated with dirt and apparent lime residue. She collected several samples of the soil from the victim and from within the body bag before requesting Henry's help in hoisting the body onto the examination table.

Dana and Mac secured the possible evidence items as Kristen handed them over, while Nate photographed the autopsy. Kristen somberly dictated her findings, or lack of them, into the micro- phone. Sara's case had been in the paper for some time now, and it always made it a little more difficult on all of them when they knew something about the victim and the family. She made note of the caesarean scar on the victim's abdomen, consistent with what she expected to find on Sara from childbirthing. Kristen also documented a substantial scar on the left knee from a previous surgery. Mac confirmed from the reports that Sara had knee surgery after a skiing accident.