No Good Deed Read Free Page B

pointing to said tie.
    â€˜You gave it to me.’
    â€˜I did not.’
    He took her elbow, pulled her toward a knot of technicians – two she recognized.
    â€˜What are you eating?’ Sonora asked.
    â€˜Starbursts.’
    â€˜Give me a pink one.’
    â€˜I ate the pink ones. I’ve got red ones. Cherry okay? Want to see the blood?’
    She nodded. ‘Yes I want to see the blood, and yes I want a red one.’
    He handed her a Starburst. ‘Over here.’
    She unwrapped the candy, thinking that as bloodstains went she’d seen better. But this one belonged to a fifteen-year-old girl, and Sonora sighed deeply and stepped closer. She bent down, squinted. Blood had pooled thickly, soaking up loose dirt and making a puddle like black-red gelatin in an area about the size of a football. A worn black riding boot, knee-high, English, lay sideways about four feet away.
    â€˜More here, on the fence. We figure she fell off her horse, hit her head good, and went down.’
    Sonora stepped sideways and looked at the top of the fence line. The wood had an indentation, and the top was soaked with blood and clotted with bits of tissue and long brown hair.
    â€˜Just to confirm, but Joelle Chauncey is a brunette?’
    Sam jerked a finger toward McCarty. ‘He says so.’
    â€˜What does the father say?’
    â€˜He was in the office with the shakes and McCarty was handy, okay?’
    â€˜Fine. Okay. He just seems to be wandering pretty freely around my crime scene.’
    â€˜It’s my crime scene too.’
    â€˜Yeah, Sam, but it ain’t no party. He ID the boot?’
    â€˜Not definite. You notice shoes?’
    â€˜Sure.’
    â€˜Yeah, but you’re female.’
    Sonora looked over her shoulder at Mickey, strong, squat, working moulage impressions of something about a hundred yards away. Tire tracks? She flicked a finger at the fence line, the clots of hair, blood and tissue. ‘CSU get samples of this?’
    â€˜Gosh, no, Sonora, nobody does any work till you get here.’
    â€˜Fine, but we got a track, Sam, and I don’t see Shepherds. You call Canine?’
    Sam put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Please don’t be hurt when I tell you I took care of that already.’
    â€˜How long till they get here?’
    â€˜Not coming. The Shepherds look for broken grass, anything to tell them where the trail goes. This place is full of tracks – horses heading every which way. Impossible for the Shepherds. We do have a chopper on the way. Infrared heat sensors and NVGs. They might spot something.’
    â€˜And they might not.’ Sonora looked up at the sky, thinking about rain. A lot of acres here and it was coming dark. The child could be anywhere.
    She heard the horn of a train, the background roar of wheels on tracks. It sounded a long way away.
    â€˜We need Bella, Sam.’
    â€˜That’s a hell of an idea. Doesn’t Mickey have an in with her handler?’
    â€˜Related, I think.’ Sonora looked at the downed section of fence, trying to imagine the scene. A young girl on horseback. Something had crashed through the wood. Spooked the horse, maybe, causing the fall. She looked at Sam, inclined her head. ‘What caused that, do you think?’
    Sam shrugged. ‘Big enough for a pickup to go through. The ground’s pretty soft from the rain we had over the weekend. Mickey’s got tire tracks.’
    â€˜Any chance the horse kicked it through? I bet a horse could break a fence down, if it really wanted to. If it was scared.’
    Sam looked at her. ‘If a horse could break a fence through, then why are all these horses still penned up?’
    â€˜I think a horse could kick a fence down if it was really scared, Sam.’
    â€˜Okay, girl, come see for yourself.’ He headed for the fence and she followed. He handed her another Starburst. Lemon.
    â€˜You got tire tracks leading up to the break here