A Faint Cold Fear Read Free Page A

with a look of warning. Lena had been a detective - one of them - up until seven months ago. Jeffrey had not forgiven Lena for leaving, and he was bound and determined to make sure no one else under his command did either.
    'Damn,' Chuck said, taking the last few steps at a jog. There was a light sheen of sweat over his lip despite the cool day, and his face was red from the effort of walking down the bank. Chuck was extremely muscular, but there was something unhealthy about him. He was always perspiring, and a thin layer of fat made his skin look tight and bloated. His face was round and moonish, his eyes a bit too wide. Sara did not know if this was from steroids or poor weight training, but he looked like a heart attack waiting to happen.
    Chuck gave Sara a flirty wink, saying, 'Hey, Red,' before jutting out his meaty hand toward Jeffrey. 'How they hanging, Chief?'
    'Chuck,' Jeffrey said, reluctantly shaking his hand.
    He gave Lena a cursory glance, then turned back to the scene. 'This was called in about an hour ago. Sara just got here.'
    Sara said, 'Hey, Lena.'
    Lena gave a slight nod, but Sara could not read her expression behind the dark sunglasses. Jeffrey's disapproval of this exchange was obvious, and if they had been alone, Sara would have told him what he could do with it.
    Chuck clapped his hands together, as if to assert his authority. 'Whatcha got here, Doc?'
    'Probably a suicide,' Sara answered, trying to remember how many times she had asked Chuck not to call her 'Doc.' Probably not nearly as many times as she had asked him not to call her 'Red.'
    'That so?' Chuck asked, craning his neck. 'Don't it look to you like he's been fiddled with?' Chuck indicated the lower half of the body. 'Looks like it to me.'
    Sara sat back on her heels, not answering. She glanced at Lena again, wondering how she was holding up. Lena had lost her sister a year ago this month, then gone through hell during the investigation. Even though Sara could think of a lot of things she did not like about Lena Adams, she would not wish Chuck Gaines on anyone.
    Chuck seemed to realize no one was paying attention to him. He clapped his hands together again, ordering, 'Adams, check the periphery. See if you can sniff up anything.'
    Surprisingly, Lena acquiesced, walking downstream.
    Sara looked up at the bridge, shielding her eyes from the sun. 'Frank, can you go up there and look for a note or something?'
    'A note?' Chuck echoed.
    Sara addressed Jeffrey. 'I imagine he jumped from the bridge,' she said. 'He landed on his feet. You can see his shoe treads punched into the dirt. The impact pulled down his pants and broke most if not all of the bones in his feet and legs.' She looked at the tag on the back of the jeans, checking the size. 'They were baggy, and the force from that height would be pretty substantial. I imagine the blood is from his intestines detaching. You can see where part of the rectum was turned inside out and forced from the anus.'
    Chuck gave a low whistle, and before she could think to stop herself, Sara looked up at him. She saw his lips move as he read the racial epithet on the bridge.
    He flashed a bright, obvious smile at Sara before asking, 'How's your sister?'
    Sara saw Jeffrey's jaw lock as he gritted his teeth.
    Devon Lockwood, the father of Tessa's child, was black.
    'She's fine, Chuck,' Sara answered, forcing herself not to rise to the bait. 'Why do you ask?'
    He flashed another smile, making sure she saw him looking at the bridge. 'No reason.'
    She kept staring at Chuck, appalled at how little had changed about him since high school.
    'This scar on his arm,' Jeffrey interrupted. 'It looks recent.'
    Sara forced herself to look at the victim's arm, but her anger caught in her throat when she answered, 'Yes.'
    'Yes?' Jeffrey repeated, a definite question behind the word.
    'Yes,' Sara said, letting him know she could fight her own battles. She took a deep, calming breath before saying, 'My best guess is it was