Forgotten Place Read Online Free

familiar number and offer an apology for
inadvertently screwing up Orion's cover.  If I had waited for
backup that night... if I hadn't been so reticent with Briscoe and
Conall and made a stupid decision to sneak off and close the case
my way... if, if, if.
    At the door of the Exposition, I found the
iPhone in hand instead of the car keys.  If I were a religious
girl, I'd have seen it as a sign that it was time show a little bit
of the empathy I recently discovered.
    Or, not.
    Voices tickled the periphery of my
awareness.  Sweet and feminine preceded low and deep. 
Then the shriek bounced through the concrete structure.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
    For ten years, I carried a semi-automatic
pistol on my left hip.  Even though I denied working in the
field as an agent on a regular basis, the habit of reaching for the
gun was ingrained as much as waking in the morning and trudging
into the shower for the morning routine.
    I cursed softly and ducked.  Since the
shooting, I was no longer in the habit of leaving the house, let
alone wearing the gun.  I ducked beside the Expedition and dug
through the purse for the .38 snub nose revolver I carried since
moving to the land of lax gun control.  Cell phone was already
out.  I dialed 9-1-1.
    "This is Detective Eriksson from Downey
Division, badge number 48125.  I'm in the parking garage at
MSUH on level six.  A woman is screaming.  Send backup,
I'm going to render aid."
    I shoved the phone back into my purse and
left it tucked under the car.  Carefully, I dodged from
vehicle to vehicle.  Voices continued in urgent tones. 
His carried menace.  Hers dripped pleading.
    I darted to the concrete pylon that
separated this row of parking from the center aisle.  Pressed
against the cold surface, I wondered if my range of motion would
permit me to raise the gun high enough to fire safely. 
    A grunt of pain, a low
snarl of bitch conveyed that I didn't have time to debate my skills at the
moment.  I stepped out from my cover and took aim while my
brain processed what the eyes saw.  Head to toe in black, a
man with a wicked blade hissed into the ear of the girl he held
against him.
    "Darkwater Bay police!  Drop the
knife!"
    He didn't of course.  Instead, his
right hand slashed, blood spurted and my victim crumpled to the
concrete.  Sirens in the parking garage signaled the rapid
approach of backup while my perpetrator took off at a dead run.
    "Dammit!"  I shoved the gun in the
waist of my jeans and rushed to the girl on the garage floor. 
Blood pooled around her head.  I tore off my jacket and
applied pressure to the left side of her neck.  An unmarked
car save for flashing lights in the front window screeched to a
halt only a few feet away.
    MSUH is perhaps a mile, maybe two from
Downey Division.  During my brief tenure in the city, even I
knew that the approaching assistance was from the division I
technically called home.  "She's got a knife wound to the left
side of her neck." 
    "Ma'am, step back and let us do our
job."
    I looked up, stunned that someone from
Downey hadn't recognized me.  "I'm –"
    "Goddammit, get out of my way!"  The
swarthy detective who immediately reminded me of a pirate (without
the gold earring) shoved me aside. 
    I lost my balance and teetered left, caught
myself with the bad arm and groaned.
    "Get her statement, Ned."  Rude guy
scooped the victim off the floor and ran for the elevator.
    Ned Williams offered a hand up.  "Hey,
Eriksson.  Sorry about that.  Are you all right?"
    I flinched and rubbed my shoulder. 
"Who was that jerk?"
    He grinned.  "New guy that Darnell and
Orion recruited from Montgomery.  His name is Devlin
Mackenzie."
    "Great," I muttered.  "The Neanderthal
squad grows.  What's his problem?"
    "You've avoided your brothers and sisters in
blue for so long, he knows the name but not the face." He looked at
the pool of blood on the concrete and shook his head.  "Does
trouble naturally find you