Lethal Legacy Read Online Free

dressed in khaki slacks and a
cable-knit sweater.
    “If I go with you to the hospital, does it mean
I’m pressing charges?”
    “Not at all. You have weeks to make that decision,
if we catch the guy. This is all about your health, about trying to figure out
what he did to you. If you aren’t examined now, the tests will never yield the
same results in two or three days, when you might have second thoughts about
all this.” I knew that if she had been penetrated by her assailant, the natural
forces of gravity would eliminate any fluids that could be tested for DNA.
Whatever she had been drugged with would be gone from her bloodstream, too.
“It’s your own best protection.”
    “I’d prefer to take a cab, Ms. Cooper. I can do
this myself.”
    “There’s an ambulance waiting near the building. We
were all so worried about you. I can cut through a lot of administrative red
tape if I’m along.”
    She hesitated again, then went back inside and
returned with a small tote. “I’ll go with you. Just don’t ask me any more
questions, okay?”
    “Let me call the detectives, so the ambulance is
right in front.” I pressed Mercer’s speed dial on my cell.
    “You need me?”
    “Ms. Barr and I are coming out. I’m going to ride
to Sinai with her in the bus. Maybe you can meet us at the ER. And get rid of
the guys with the heavy equipment.”
    “Done, Alex. Will she let crime scene in to
process the apartment?”
    I turned to ask her. I wanted the bed linens and
bathrobe, the tape and the pantyhose, as soon as possible. I wanted to know if
there were any more rags inside, whether he had applied the substance to her
face more than once. “Tina, would you mind if the detectives got to work on
looking for evidence in your bedroom? Fingerprints, possible DNA sources—”
    “Nobody comes in here while I’m gone,” she said.
“I don’t want any other strangers inside my home tonight. Do you understand?”
    “Of course I do.” I knew Mercer had heard it, too.
I shut off the phone.
    Tina walked behind me on the staircase, bracing
her hands against the wall. When we reached the stoop, I was relieved to see
the police cars and trucks were all gone, and that two EMTs were standing at
the rear door of the ambulance, with the gurney between them.
    I offered her my arm and she accepted it for the
short walk. I introduced us to the EMTs, and they asked Tina to sit down so
they could lift her inside after I climbed up and wedged myself into a jump
seat.
    “How you doin’?” the medic asked Tina as his
partner got into the driver’s seat. “You okay?”
    “I’m sick to my stomach, actually.”
    “Take it slow, Howie. Don’t bounce in any potholes,”
he called out to the driver. “My name is Jorge Vasquez. I’m just gonna get your
vitals, miss. Gotta do that.”
    Tina reclined on the gurney and pushed up her
sleeve for the blood pressure cuff.
    “How old are you, Ms. Barr?”
    “Thirty-three.”
    “Date of birth?”
    She gave the year first, then told him March 14.
    “Your height and weight?”
    “Five-four.” She was six inches shorter than I,
and weighed almost the same. “One thirty-five.”
    “What kind of insurance you got?”
    Tina covered her mouth with her hand, as though
she was going to be sick again.
    “You got insurance?”
    “No.”
    The EMT looked over her head at me and I nodded.
The hospital would get its money from the crime victims compensation board if
Barr didn’t pay. This wasn’t the time or place to dicker about who’d foot the
bill for the expensive sexual assault examination.
    “How about your occupation?”
    “I’m—uh—I’m a librarian.”
    “Nice. You like books. Me, I don’t have time to
read.” Vasquez was filling in the blank spaces on his form. “Who’s your
employer? Would that be the city?”
    “I’m not working at the moment. I quit my last job
just a week ago.”
    “City’s got good benefits. You should think about
it. Which branch, Ms. Barr? It’s