Storm's Cage by Mary Stone (uplifting novels .TXT) 📕

company, but at that moment, she missed his ability to keep her grounded in reality when her thoughts wandered toward experiences she’d rather forget.

Amelia gritted her teeth.

The sooner she and Joseph were done with their work and could return to the relative comfort of the FBI building, the better. At least when she was stuck with Joseph in the field office, there was an occasional friendly face to lessen the sense of impending doom.

She and Joseph turned the same corner where they’d watched Carlo disappear. Two crime scene techs were busy on the scene. One of them nodded at Amelia as she draped a camera around her neck.

Amelia waved as she ducked beneath the yellow crime scene tape.

Joseph followed close behind.

“You must be Agents Larson and Storm. I’m Bailey Howison, one of the team leads for the CSU. I’d shake your hand, but you know…” she held up a gloved hand, “crime scene.”

“Completely fine.” Amelia nodded and pointed to herself and then Joseph. “I’m Agent Storm, and this is Agent Larson. Security cameras were a bust, and we were wondering if you’ve found anything.”

Glancing to the tall, dark-haired man at her side, Bailey let out a resigned breath. “Nothing so far. Norman and I are getting close to finishing up the scene, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to come away with much of anything.”

By now, the drying blood along the wall and floor had turned the color of rust. A wide smear on the right side of the hall marked the spot where Carlo had fallen to the ground, but evidence markers indicated a few droplets on the left side as well.

Amelia gestured to the streak of dried blood. “Is there anything you can tell us about how the vic was attacked? Looks like he must’ve been against the wall when it happened.”

Bailey fidgeted with the camera. “He was, as best as we can tell. All the spatter on the other wall seems to have been from the motion of the killer’s arm. The marks aren’t far off the ground, which makes me think the assailant stabbed in an underhanded motion, like this.” She turned to the side and dropped one hand level with her waist. Fist clenched, she swung her arm upward, miming the motion.

Joseph rubbed the side of his face. “Prison shivs are usually pretty short, so the person wielding it doesn’t have to pull the blade back far to stab again.”

As the second tech sealed the evidence bag in his hands, he tilted his chin at the handful of droplets on the other side of the hall. “You’re right, Agent Larson. Over there, that’s low velocity spatter. We haven’t seen any of the medical reports yet, but we know the blade cut through the vic’s liver. There are a lot of blood vessels in that part of the body. Like Bailey said, those droplets over there are from him pulling his hand back.”

Amelia unlocked her phone and pulled up Donovan Gillem’s contact card. “Then the perp would’ve been covered in blood, don’t you think? His hand and arm at least.”

The two techs exchanged glances as if having a silent conversation before Norman finally agreed. “Yeah. I think that’s a safe bet.”

Joseph pursed his lips and stared toward the ceiling, looking deep in thought. Something was rattling around in that head of his. Amelia hoped he could keep that kind of focus for the rest of the case.

“Then they would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb when the prison went into lockdown. Unless.” After a few moments of pensive silence, Joseph snapped his fingers and pointed toward the heavy gray door, just beyond the edge of the yellow tape.

Norman and Bailey’s attention followed.

“A guard, yeah, that would make sense.” Bailey’s gaze shifted back to Joseph and Amelia. “We need to get that door open and seal off the area inside so we can process it as a crime scene.”

Joseph nodded. “Yeah. We’d be looking for the usual. Blood, fingerprints. We think it’s possible that a guard used an inmate to commit the stabbing, so we’d want to look for any signs that an inmate was behind that locked door.”

“Right, specifically the fingerprints of an inmate or droplets of blood that can be linked to Enrico. Something to prove that a prisoner was in a room where they shouldn’t have been. I’ll call the warden.” Amelia held up her phone, hesitating a moment before dialing Gillem’s number. “If we’re expanding the scene like this, we might want to get a couple more people out here to help with it.”

As she stepped away from the blood-smeared wall, Bailey’s expression soured. “I can do that. This isn’t the first time I’ve processed a crime scene at a prison, and I doubt it’ll be the last.”

Though Amelia wanted to chuckle at the woman’s sarcastic tone, she still hadn’t recovered from the earlier conversation with Joseph. His lessened proximity could’ve been a figment of her imagination, but she swore he’d made a point to stand closer to her since they’d arrived at MCC Chicago.

The next few days promised plenty of tedious work as they slogged through security camera footage and personnel records, and Amelia could only hope that Joseph was more inclined to do his damn job than he was to push her boundaries.

She swallowed against the rage stirring in her belly.

This case couldn’t end soon enough.

12

As Zane stepped into the waiting elevator, he barely stopped himself from holding the door for Amelia. Ever since they’d been paired up on the Leila Jackson investigation a few months earlier, he’d grown so accustomed to her presence at the FBI office that he was thrown for a loop when she wasn’t around.

Not just gone, but stuck on a case with Joseph Larson.

Zane had his own reasons for disliking the agent, and his disdain for the man had only increased after Amelia told him about the sleazy advance the asshole had made one night when they’d grabbed a couple beers after work.

Apparently, Joseph