Wrenching Fate Read Online Free Page B

headed down a long corridor, jostling other employees who rushed by, tapping clipboards against their hips as ID badges bounced on front pockets.
    When they reached a door adorned with warnings and authorized personnel signs, Holmes pushed a few buttons by the handle. A laser scanned his retinas before the door opened with an unassuming click.
    The lab was pristine with its gleaming stainless steel tables and gurneys. Several computers lined one wall, white cupboards and file cabinets stood against another. The far end contained drawers right out of a morgue. Holmes pulled a file and went to a computer, fingers flying across the keys, looking far too cheerful in such sterile surroundings.
    “Where was the body found?” Milbury asked when the scientist began whistling.
    Holmes didn’t look up from the screen. “In a ditch, off a road near I-90, just outside of Bozeman.”
    “She was last seen in Colorado, almost twelve years ago.” Milbury said, shaking his head in wonder. “I thought she’d have gone further by now.”
    Agent Holmes eyed him intently, waiting for him to continue. When Francis didn’t speak, he shrugged and got back to business. “I think I’ll show you the crime scene photos and files first, before we move on to the bone and tissue samples.”
    Holmes laid glossy photographs on the desk. The body was depicted at every possible angle, with a close up on each part of its anatomy. The colors were bright against the lab’s white and silver background.
    At first it was difficult for Francis to make sense of the images. It was as if his brain wouldn’t accept what his eyes were seeing.
    Eventually the colors and shapes came together. In place of the victim’s head was a shapeless blob of bone shards, brains, blood and skin. It looked like his grandmother’s goulash. He made out what might have been a nose. Bile rose up in his throat. He forced his gaze down to close-ups of other parts. The torso and upper arms looked strange, like deflated balloons. The corpse’s pants were down, revealing a flaccid penis coated with dried blood.
    Francis gagged and wiped his brow, turning away from the grotesque photographs. The room seemed hot despite the low hum of the air conditioner.
    “Fascinating, isn’t it?” Holmes seemed to enjoy his discomfort. “This girl must have had immense strength to cause such damage to a man that size.”
    Milbury quivered in outrage. “Haven’t you any respect? This was a human being!”
    The AIU agent shook his head, expression sobering. “Not this one. Despite his species being homo sapien , this man was a monster. His DNA was linked to twenty-seven murders. His victims were brutally raped; some were children. And with all the hymeneal blood and tissue we dug out of his pubic hair, I’d say the bastard got what he deserved.”
    “God that’s disgusting!” Milbury could feel his face turning green.
    “That’s forensics, and it’s how we catch bad guys.” Holmes retorted.
    Hymeneal blood…. Francis tensed. “Wait. You mean he raped the girl? She would have been about sixteen.”
    Some of the pity Milbury felt for the man drained away. He had a niece that age. Still, he wondered if anyone deserved to die like that. And the evidence in front of him proved how dangerous this girl could be when provoked. With a traumatic thing like rape happening to her, who knew how unstable her state of mind could be?
    “How did he overpower her immense strength?” The thought leapt in his head.
    “We found a gun nearby with the victim’s prints on it. He must have threatened her with it. She likely disarmed him while he was pulling up his pants.”
    Milbury’s mind raced as he made plans on how to subdue the girl once he found her. “Tell me more.”

Chapter Four
    BANG-BANG-BANG! The deafening noise made Akasha jump out of her chair, knocking the plate of remaining birthday cake to the floor.
    Her eyes snapped to the window.
    A shower of bullets assaulted her parents.