Being Amber Read Online Free Page B

bring up a projection on the board. “Was originally taken at face value as, what we thought at the time, was an obvious suicide by some kind of poisoning.
    “A month and a half later, another fallow came in from the Sapphire Zone, Tanisha Washington.” He projected another photo. “Three weeks after her placement in building nineteen, she was found dead in her apartment by her roommate. Her wrists were slashed. At first glance, this looked like a suicide as well. But after investigation, the evidence didn’t support suicide. It looked more like a murder set up to pass as a suicide.
    “The last victim, also a fallow from Sapphire…” Another picture projected. “…August Zayzinski was found drowned in the Circle City public swimming pool. Again, questionable injuries not consistent with drowning.
    “The deaths were reported on the news feeds as suicides, and accident in the last case. We don’t want this guy tipped off that we’re on to him. We know his MO, which leads us to his obvious next victim. The captain switched the picture on the whiteboard. “Jaci Harmon. We’ve been keeping the female spot in Xander’s apartment open waiting for the next fallow. She was transferred there this afternoon.”
    Xander studied the picture of his new roommate. She was pretty. A small feeling of trepidation washed over him. God he hoped she wasn’t bratty like some of the other women transferred in from one of the more privileged zones.
    “Jordan is covering the apartment now. As of her last check in, Miss Harmon hasn’t left the apartment or let anybody in. According to Jordan, she hasn’t so much as even turned on a light.
    “Xander, along with Rock and Jordan will be responsible for surveillance. You guys have to put together a schedule. See that she’s always covered. Brady will monitor bugs of the apartment as well as incoming and outgoing com activity. I’ll contact the supervisor at her work assignment and place Jordan to work with her there.”
    They all spent the next twelve hours breaking down the previous cases with Wes, hammering out surveillance schedules and setting up the monitoring system that would track the chip in Jaci’s com, giving her exact location as well as bugging her conversations and messages. It was late morning when the group finally left the station. Xander was exhausted by the time he headed out to meet up with Jordan, who’d been doing surveillance all night.
    He sat with her, sweating his ass off, in the police cruiser parked outside of building seventeen. He just finished updating Jordan on the strategy meeting she’d missed and was delighted to be the one to tell her about her new job assignment as painter, when she pointed to the building.
    “There she is. They’re delivering her back home.”
    Xander watched Jaci as the sterilization transport staff pushed her wheelchair into the side entrance of the building. She sat unmoving, her arms wrapped around herself, and her gaze fixed down at her lap.
    “Shit.” His heart broke while he watched her being wheeled inside. She looked spent, like she had nothing left. “I should have been there last night and this morning. She needed me.”
    Jordan answered him with a sympathetic look and a pat on the shoulder.
    A few minutes later, they watched the transport pull away. He sighed. “I’m beat. I’m going to get some sleep.”
    “Me too. I still have to talk with Caroline and let her know that I want to volunteer for the Sit-In Team. They’ll probably show up within the next few hours.”
    “Sounds good. Come on. I’ll walk you up to your new apartment. Oh, by the way, Brady’s your roommate, in case you haven’t figured that out already.” He chuckled as he got out of the car and slammed the door behind him. “He’s finishing up his surveillance setup.”
    “What was the chuckle for?” Jordan shot him a glare.
    “No chuckle.” He smiled down at her. “Brady’s been waiting his whole career to have a case like