Scarlet (13 page)

The desert sand blurred in her peripheral, swirling into a mix of tan and red. The temperature was already on the rise, and it would turn into a scorcher by midday.

The road stretched on for miles. Red stared out the window
at the endless wasteland, letting it shift before her eyes. The
knot in her stomach had grown to the size of a laser cannon
blast. What were the chances that a body would be found in the same area she trained in? Sure, she trained there every night and knew the place like the back of her hand. And yes, she'd dreamed about the site before, but she hadn't dreamed about it last night.

She reached a nondescript ridge and pulled over to the side of the road, cutting the engine on the hydrogen car. According to the coordinates, this was where the body would be found.

Red climbed out of the vehicle and grabbed her canteen. It didn't take long to scale the small hill. From the rise, she could see the valley below. She stared at the spot in the distance where she'd been standing last night when the change refused to embrace her.

It was a bitter reminder of her failure—or so she'd thought at the time.

The body was lying on the ground seventy-five feet from the boulders. Red slipped her laser pistol out of her holster and ducked behind a nearby rock. She pulled out her binoculars and scanned the hills. There didn't appear to be any movement, but that didn't mean anything. She hit a button on the side of the viewer and the heat-sensing mechanism kicked in. The only thing she was able to pick up was the heat in the rocks. That was good. Maybe the death had been by natural causes or exposure.

Red kept that positive thought in mind as she walked over to where the body lay. The dark-haired corpse was facedown, but she could tell it was a man from his size. A brown suit rumpled around his outstretched limbs. Something about him seemed familiar, even though she couldn't see his face. Red moved in for a closer look, scanning the area for DNA traces as she went.

Blood stained a ten-foot radius, telling her that an artery had been hit.
At least he went fast,
she thought. She took out a drop of glove seal from the pouch on her holster and put it on her hands. Ten seconds later, her hands were protected with a thin polymer that would allow her to touch the body without leaving trace behind.

At first glance, his injuries appeared to be from a laser blast. Relief flooded her. Thank goodness this was a normal murder. Not that it made a lot of difference to the victim, but it made her job easier. She could turn the case over to the International Police Tactical Team.

Red couldn't tell if the blast was from close range and wouldn't be able to until Jim arrived. The scanner in her hand beeped. She looked at the screen. There had to be a mistake. She looked around mentally retracing her steps. She hadn't touched the body until her hands were sealed. Red turned the scanner off and restarted it. She did another slow sweep of the area, but came up with the same reading.

Why was her DNA on the body?

Red reached down and turned the man over. An ugly slash bisected his throat. She grimaced. Thanks to the dirt he'd fallen in, dried blood caked the wound. His eyes had clouded turning milky as death descended, and his body was already starting to desiccate in the hot desert air.

She was lucky the predators hadn't gotten to him. If they had, cause of death would've been difficult to determine. She reached down to open his mouth and a cockroach crawled out from between his lips. Red shrieked and jerked back.

"Damn, I hate those things," she said, toeing it away with her boot. She took a shot of the victim's face with her navcom. She looked at the image to make sure it was clear and frowned. He seemed familiar. She glanced back at the body. where had she seen him before?

Red stepped closer so she could get a better look at his face. "Oh no," she said, retreating a few feet away. It was the man from the food dispensing station. The one who'd hassled her yesterday.

No, no. no, this couldn't be happening.
Her lungs squeezed, cutting off her breath. She looked around as panic set in. For a split second, Red considered hiding the body. It wouldn't take much effort. She could slip it between the boulders and dispose of it later. She could say it had been a false report. The Nurians would never know. But Red would.

She couldn't break the law. She'd spent her life upholding it. It wasn't as if she had anything to do with his death. She glanced over at the rotting corpse. At least she didn't think , so. Red looked at his neck and thought about the claw she-could produce. It was sharp. Razor sharp. Certainly sharp enough to cause that kind of injury. And from its appearance, the wound was consistent. It could've been caused by a claw or a knife. Maybe even teeth. Was the blood spray from the neck wound or the gunshot? Did it really matter?

Her stomach lurched. She was going to be sick.

How would she convince Maggie that she wasn't involved? Convince the new recruits? Heck, how would she convince the people of Nuria when she wasn't entirely convinced herself? They already distrusted her. What would they do when a body was hauled back to town? She knew she hadn't shot the man. Was absolutely certain. But the other wound...

This was bad. Really bad.

Before she could decide her next move, Jim Thornton arrived on scene and sealed her fate.

chapter ten

From a distance, Nuria looked quaint and historic. It wasn't until people neared the town that they noticed the broken windows and the boarded-up businesses that made up the outskirts.

Red ignored all that as she drove straight to the dissecting lab.
Jim would have the body laid out on a stainless steel gurney
by now, ready to be examined. The dissecting lab was located five blocks from the center of town and a block away from the sheriff's station. The concrete-and-lead-lined building
didn't look like much from the outside, but it was the most efficient dissecting and recycling center in the southwest quadrant.

Disinfectant filled the air as Red strolled into the lab. Stainless steel gurneys dotted the room. Lights hung above each
gurney, illuminating the dismembered bodies. Cabinets lined one wall, while disposal chutes took up another. Large drains pocked the floor, ready to catch fluids from the dissecting process. Nothing was wasted on this dead world. Humans made up 70 percent of the liquid mulch used for growing plants in hydroponic chambers. In the end, everyone got juiced.

Burials were considered antiquated and had been done away
with years ago. On a planet where human and animal survival hinged on the ability to recycle, burials were wasteful. Mourning the dead occurred behind closed doors, not over a hole in the ground.

Red grabbed protective gloves and an apron. She didn't bother with the headgear, since she had no intention of standing near the table when Jim started cutting. The scent of rot hit her as she neared the table. It seemed strong despite the disinfectant wafting through the air.

Jim looked up as she finished putting on the protective clothing, his brown eyes exuding compassion. "I've just started my initial examination. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," Red said.

Jim arched a brow. "Really?"

So he was back to being her friend. At least for a little while. Red sighed. "As good as can be expected. This isn't going to help my situation," she said, nodding at the body. "I'll have to notify IPTT."

"Actually, you won't." He paused, the laser cutter in his hand poised above the dead man's bare chest.

"I can't let a body go unreported," she said. She'd like to, but Red knew in her heart she couldn't break the law.

"You can with this one." He pointed at the body. "From what I can tell, he's an unknown," Jim said. "He doesn't have a chip and there are no signs that one has been removed. His prints aren't on file. Neither is his DNA. As far as the republics are concerned, he doesn't exist."

That didn't make any sense. Why would an unknown stroll into town? They avoided anyplace that could identity them as unregistered. Red looked at the table and frowned. "If he's an unknown, I won't have to report the incident to IPTT, but there's another problem."

"What?" Jim looked at the dead man as if he'd somehow missed something in his initial exam.

"He's the man who hassled me yesterday at the food dispensing station."

Jim's brows furrowed over his thick glasses. "I heard about that. Quite the news. Wasn't he shouting something about you abandoning him?"

Red snorted. "Yeah, which is a neat trick, considering I've never laid eyes on the guy."

"That doesn't make sense. Why would an unknown do that?" Jim asked, wiping a beefy hand on his dissecting apron. "You sure that you've never seen him before?"

Not you, too,
she thought. Something in his expression changed. It was so subtle that Red almost missed it. He was still the same old Jim Thornton, but now there was suspicion in his gaze. So much for being her friend.

"Do you have anything else to tell me about the body? Anything that would point to the individual responsible?" she asked, ignoring Jim's question. She'd already given him her answer. If he didn't believe her, then that was his problem.

Jim coughed. "Just making small talk."

"Well don't," Red snapped.

His chin dropped a notch, whether in disappointment or anger, Red couldn't tell and didn't care. She had a job to do. The sooner she had the answers she needed, the sooner she could get back to work.

"As you wish," Jim said. "The man was shot in the chest from at least a couple hundred yards away. The burn pattern looks like a rifle blast, but I can't be sure since it's not like any I've seen before."

Sniper?" Not many people could make that kind of shot. A handful at best.

"Perhaps, but that's not the important issue." Jim fiddled with his glasses, before pulling them off to clean them. "The only people who own weapons capable of doing this are International Police Tactical Team members or
ex
-IPTT members. Didn't you bring some of your weapons with you when you left IPTT?"

"Yes, and they're all accounted for, including the pistol Morgan gave me." She patted the gun on her hip. "If you're going to accuse me of something, Jim, then just come right out and do it. Otherwise, stop wasting my time."

He colored. "I was simply stating my medical determination."

"You've stated it. Now move on." Red leaned over the body on the gurney. "Is there anything else that stands out about this killing?" she asked.

"Besides the fact he was in town asking after you?" he retorted.

"Yeah, other than that." Red's lips thinned. "Have you seen any other strangers in town?"

Jim scratched his head. "Well, there are a lot of new recruits floating about. I don't know all their faces,'" he said.

Red thought about the interviews she'd conducted. None of the men had sniper skills in their background other than possibly Demery Wilson, but he didn't seem a likely candidate. He and the other recruits hadn't been aware of the altercation at the food dispensing station. This left the Nurian people. Several had been present when she drew her weapon on the unknown. Were they dealing with someone on the inside again?

"I don't think it was any of the new recruits, but I'll look into it," she said.

"Whoever did it wanted to ensure he was dead," Jim said, twisting the corpse's neck around to get a better look at the cut. "They slashed his throat to be sure."

So he'd been shot first. That didn't mean she hadn't sliced his throat, but at least she didn't kill him. Red hid her relief. "Seems like overkill to me."

Jim nodded in agreement. "I've detected no foreign DNA besides your own. How did it get on the body, by the way?" He kept the question neutral, but Red didn't miss the speculation in his brown eyes.

"He grabbed me in the food dispensing station yesterday. I shoved my pistol into his ribs. It must have occurred then."