AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gray called back, but Vandal didn’t answer.
Bryce and his supervisor from the fire marshal’s office walked Gray and Thornton through the scene and explained their observations. Based on what he could tell from a visual, the victims had been dead before the fire started. They wouldn’t know for sure, though, until CSIs swept the scene and the ME got a look at the bodies.
A ring found next to the largest body indicated that it was Andreas. But there weren’t any obvious clues to help them identify the others.
Gray hadn’t gotten sick at a crime scene since he was a rookie, but the sight—and smell—of what was most likely the remains of three young girls did him in.
As he tried to recover his equilibrium, he wracked his brain for an explanation. Gray could understand Andreas being murdered; there were plenty of reasons for someone wanting him dead. But how could someone believe these girls deserved such a fate? Had the girls witnessed something? Was it punishment for their sins? As if the sins of those who pushed them toward such a life weren’t worse.
“You don’t look so good,” Bryce said when Gray stepped out of the structure with Thornton.
Gray grimaced. “It will be a while before I’m over that.”
“Yeah, that was a hard one.”
Gray glanced toward the crime scene tape where the street was full of onlookers. “What a circus.”
“Did you ride in with Thornton?” Bryce asked.
“Yeah.”
“You want me to give you a ride?”
Gray nodded. No matter what Captain Russell might have to say, he was not talking to the fucking media hounds tonight. What he really wanted to do was go home, pretend he’d never had a fight with Jack and Mason, and drink himself into oblivion. Of course, if Jenna actually did call, then he’d need to be sober. After what he’d seen, he wasn’t going to sleep, at least not peacefully, not even if he downed a whole bottle of whiskey.
When Bryce had negotiated his way through the crowd, he said, “Which way? I can take you home, back to the precinct, or we could get a drink?”
Gray should just go home, but he hadn’t gotten any braver since that morning. Next to the media, the thing he wanted to avoid most was groveling to his partners.
Not wanting to run into a crowd of people they knew, Gray and Bryce avoided Nathan’s and went to Undertow, where Gray agreed that some bacon-wrapped dates were just what he needed despite his stomach’s reaction to the crime scene.
Gray got their beers while Bryce found a table.
“Sunday is Toby’s birthday. He wants to have some people over. If you and the guys are free, he’d love to have you there.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. If I’m not working. I’ve got to find a direction on this case.” Before Bryce could respond, Gray’s phone buzzed. He pulled it from his holster and glanced at it. Jack. He couldn’t deal with him now. He stopped the phone from ringing and put it back on his belt.
“Nothing urgent?” Bryce asked.
“It’s just Jack. I’ll talk to him later when I get home.”
Bryce’s look was far too knowing. “What’s wrong?”
Gray tried for an are-you-kidding-me expression. “The body count on my cases is up to six. I’ve got no solid leads. The guy everyone hoped to pin the first two murders on is now dead, and I just had to see four charred bodies.”
Bryce wasn’t the least ruffled by Gray’s tirade. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You aren’t trying to get me to talk about my love life, are you? If I’d known this was girl-talk hour, I would’ve gone back to the precinct.”
“Do you need to talk?”
“What’s with you? I used to count on you not to get mushy on me.”
Bryce laughed at him. The bastard. “Ah, as defensive as always. And I hate to remind you that you’re the one who forced me to see how much I love Toby and Matt.”
Gray scowled. “That was an aberration. I was clearly having an off day.”
“Uh-huh.”
