Russian Hill (Abby Kane FBI Thriller - Chasing Chinatown Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free

please?”
    “My name is Katerina Yezhov,” she said, straightening up in her chair.
    The name matched the accent. “Are you the owner?”
    “No. I work part time, and the owner lets me stay for free.”
    “How long have you been working here?”
    She tilted her head towards the side as she gathered her thoughts. “Maybe three or four weeks. In two weeks, I leave for Los Angeles and meet up with some friends.”
    “So you travel alone?”
    “Yes, for almost one year now.”
    “Isn’t it dangerous for a young woman to travel by herself?”
    She shook her head, and her hair followed. “No, it’s fine. One only needs to be responsible and use common sense.”
    Gee, which one was Piper lacking? “You have a guest staying here, Piper Taylor.”
    “Yes, Piper. I know her. She’s great fun. She’s been here for four days.” The receptionist tapped a few keys on the laptop next to her. “She’s scheduled to be with us for another two days. Is everything okay?”
    “When did you last see her?”
    “Saturday morning. She had plans to see the redwood trees in Muir Woods. I tried to sign her up for one of our tours, but she is very independent. She said tours are silly and limiting.”
    “Did she tell you anything else? Was she planning to meet anyone or travel there with another guest in the hostel?”
    Katerina took another moment to think. “No,” she said as she shook her head. “She was going alone. It’s not that difficult. She planned to take the ferry to Sausalito and visit the town as well—you know, kill two birds with one stick.”
    “Stone.”
    “Huh?”
    “The saying is, ‘kill two birds with one stone.’”
    “Ooh. I always mess up these American idioms,” she said, her cheeks flushed red. “Agent Abby, all these questions… Did something happen to Piper? Is she hurt?”
    No sense beating around the bush. Now she has me saying them. “We found Piper’s body near a hiking trail on Mount Tamalpais.”
    The girl inhaled before slapping her hand across her mouth. “No. It can’t be. I just saw her. Are you sure you have the right person?”
    I took out my cell phone and pulled up a picture of the victim’s face. “Is this the Piper that is staying at your hotel?”
    “Yes, that’s her.”
    “I’m assuming her belongings are still in her room.”
    Katerina still had her eyes locked on the picture when she nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ll take you to it right now.” She groped around the desk, searching, until she finally opened a drawer beneath and pulled out a ring of keys.
    She led me down the short hall and up two more flights of wooden stairs until we reached a large room with eight bunk beds.
    “This is the women’s dormitory. Over there,” she pointed. “I assigned the lower bunk to Piper.”
    Under the bed was a built-in locker. “Is her stuff in here?”
    “Yes, but that is her lock. We don’t have a key.”
    “What do you do when the occasional person loses their key?”
    “I’ll be right back.”
    While she was gone, I poked around. A blue towel had been draped over the framing of the bunk. Other than that, nothing else signified Piper’s presence.
    A few seconds later, Katerina returned with bolt cutters. “I’m not sure how these work. I’ve never had to use them before.”
    I took the cutters from her hand, and in one snip, the lock fell to the floor. “It’s that simple.”
    Inside the locker was a large backpack. I rummaged through it and found no surprises: clothes, toothbrush, a few travel books. Nothing out of the ordinary—except I didn’t see a camera or a mobile phone. I did, however, find a laptop.
    “Katerina, do you know if Piper had a camera or a cell phone?”
    “Yes, she had an iPhone. It was doubling as her camera. You know, two birds.”
    “Got it. I’ll be taking the laptop right now.” I wanted to get one of the Information Analysts started on it. “Another agent will stop by to collect the rest of her belongings. Until then,