Singularity Read Free Page A

in the neighboring town of Brighton and said that Alvarez had been torn apart.”
    Silence invaded the room, cut only by the low hum of the single fluorescent overhead. Sullivan glanced over at Stevens before shifting his gaze back to Hacking.
    “He was torn apart? Like, dismembered?” Sullivan asked.
    Hacking nodded. “From what I can gather, it was a bloodbath. The guard was pretty shaken up. Apparently this was his first week on the job. A Sheriff Jaan called it in shortly thereafter. He said the crime scene was too much to deal with for their local staff and requested our help.”
    “Forensics already been dispatched?” Stevens asked.
    Hacking nodded again. “They should be getting there in about a half-hour.”
    Sullivan studied the overview of the case before looking at Stevens. The older agent also was re-reading the text, and when he looked up and shrugged, Sullivan asked the question that had been on his mind from the moment Hacking called him about the murder an hour earlier.
    “So we’re thinking it was one of the staff?”
    “Everything points to that, but I want you two on your toes on this one. There’s no room for fuckups here. The warden over there is highly respected and runs a tight ship. If we go into this directly accusing his guys of something like this, there could be ramifications that might throw a wrench into the investigation. We want all the help we can get, so let’s be diplomatic.” Hacking looked back and forth to each man. “Anything else?”
    Sullivan lifted a hand, and then set it back on his leg. “The internals on the Lemanski case will be—”
    “Taken care of,” Hacking finished as he flipped the folder closed on his desk. “You’re cleared for active duty, Shale.”
    Sullivan nodded, and both he and Stevens stood and made their way to the office door. Before they could exit, Hacking spoke again without looking away from his computer screen.
    “And Shale? Can you do me a favor on this one, and shoot after the questions have been asked?”
    Sullivan gritted his teeth, then nodded as he shut the door behind him slightly harder than necessary.
     
    ==
     
    The soft swish of the wipers was the only sound in the vehicle as they swept the light rain away from the windshield. Sullivan tapped an idle finger against the top of the coffee he’d bought at the gas station and watched through the drizzle for the form of Stevens returning to the car. The drenched landscape around the car resembled a page from a black-and-white graphic novel; each object lost its color and faded into a semblance of itself. The rain began to fall shortly after they’d left the bureau, and had only increased in intensity since then. It was Barry’s idea to get more coffee, since there weren’t many stops before they reached Singleton.
    Sullivan rubbed his forehead and glanced at the digital clock in his dashboard: 6:15. The forensics team would be arriving at the crime scene in a few minutes and the investigation would begin in earnest. He could already sense the familiar feeling building in the pit of his stomach: the anticipation of catching someone who had done something very wrong. It was the same every time he went on a death investigation, and he felt relief when he noticed the earlier unease was gone. He held his fingers to his nose and breathed deeply. Cordite. He could still smell it. Even after washing his hands over a dozen times, it was still there. Death incarnate. The only smell that was synonymous with firing a weapon.
    Movement in front of the windshield caught his eye, and he saw the hunched outline of Stevens as he rushed to the Trailblazer in an effort to stay relatively dry. The door flew open and slammed shut as Barry threw himself into the passenger seat. Water glinted in his light hair and rolled down the sleeves of his oxford shirt.
    “Cats and fucking dogs,” he muttered and placed his coffee into the vacant spot in the center console.
    As Sullivan began to guide the SUV