Touch of Fate (Bennett Sisters Book 2)
Read Touch of Fate (Bennett Sisters Book 2) Online
Authors: Kate Allenton
Touch of Fate
Kate Allenton
Copyright © 2012 Kate Allenton
All rights reserved.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Discover other titles by Kate Allenton
At
DEDICATION
This is dedicated to my best friend Julie,
who’s strength and determination inspire me.
To her son, Anthony, who was my inspiration of how a loving and protective son would act toward his mother.
To my mother, who molded me into the woman I’ve become.
And
To all of the single mothers and fathers, who struggle everyday
raising children by themselves.
May you find your happily ever after.
I want to thank, DRW for pushing me
to perform the impossible.
And all my readers, who’ve sent me emails requesting more.
You keep me motivated to continue on this journey.
Out of all the gifts she and her siblings had, Abby Bennett got the gift of psychometry. Her family assumed her ability to read objects with just one touch would make her excel in her career as a forensic investigator, but they were wrong. She’d vowed eighteen years before never to use her so-called gift of heightened senses again. Not after the havoc it had already created in her life. No, there would never be any hocus-pocus in her forensic reports, only the hardcore throw-in-your face facts to put the criminals away.
Abby strolled down the long corridor of the investigation unit toward her office. She was early today. Most of her co-workers hadn’t made it in yet, and those from the midnight shift were just packing up to head home.
“The blood splatter was everywhere. You would have loved this one,” Matt Thompson said walking up beside her with a gleam in his hazel eyes.
Matt loved this job as much as she did, and he knew just what to say to grab her attention. There were never any poetic ramblings or promises of a future from the male walking beside her. Only promises of a new criminal to outsmart and another case to help solve. She loved her job, just as much as she hated the murderers who gave her a reason to come into work every day. As long as there were criminals on the street, there were a lot more sleepless nights in her and her co-workers’ futures.
Abby strode into her office and put away her things. She turned and smiled at Matt. “I hope you remembered to take the pictures this time.”
Matt crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. That was a rookie mistake he had made, not easily forgotten. Heck, they all made them when first starting out; his was just more recent than most, making him an easy target.
I should seriously try to be nice, but who am I kidding?
If the officers in her department didn’t pick on someone, that meant they didn’t like you. It had only taken her a week to figure that one out, well, that and having a big brother on the force. She would hate to see how they treated the women they were dating. Would they pull them by the ponytail and thump their chests?
Men
.
Abby couldn’t hide the tilt of her lips when Matt plopped down in the leather chair across from her desk with his shoulder slumped. He looked like he’d just lost his puppy. She knew his wounded look wouldn’t last long; a total a ruse for her benefit. Maybe he hoped she would offer to console him and take back her teasing words. There were several dispatchers and female officers she could call who would jump at the chance to be the center of his attention.
Seconds ticked by as Abby stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, silently wondering when he would grow up. At the age of thirty, Matt was six years her junior and still had a thing or two to learn about women in general, and even more than a few to learn about her. “Well, did you take pictures or not?”
Matt slowly looked up. The twinkle in his eyes confirmed her suspicion. Yep, he was trying to play the sympathy card. Abby sighed and sat down, placing her folded arms on the desk.
He smiled. “Of course I did. What do you think? I’m a rookie?”
Matt had moved into town about six months before and hadn’t been in her department long. Regardless of his short time here, they shared the thrill of the job. Her gaze went up to his face as his traveled down to her chest. His pretty-boy looks of high cheekbones and dimples might work on the other women in the office, but not her. Although, she would have to be dead not to enjoy the six-pack abs she’d seen while working out with him in the department’s gym. He was everything a woman could want. Just not her. She couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t drooling like the rest of the women in the office. No tingly sensations seized her body; only a friendship had started to bloom.
What the hell is wrong with me
?
Matt’s grin got bigger. Just what she needed, another co-worker who thought he was a god. Abby raised her brows and leaned across the desk, holding out her hand. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let me see.”
He placed the file in her hands, and she ignored the slight graze of his fingers against hers. Abby flipped open the file, getting down to business when she leaned over the pictures in front of her, analyzing every single detail of the graphic blood splatter displayed in crimson color.
A knock on her doorframe interrupted her train of thought.
“Hey, Abby, we’ve got a case. Grab your gear,” her captain said as he tapped the doorframe once more and vanished down the hall.
A shot of adrenaline pulsed through her veins, something to keep her occupied from what awaited her tomorrow. Her heart raced as she handed the file back over to Matt. Smiling, she stood. “Gotta go catch me some bad guys.”
Matt exited her office with her and walked in step with her short strides down the hall. Her thoughts were solely on what she might find waiting for her. As much as she loved what she did, she sometimes dreaded finding out the facts. Most of these victims had families and loved ones that would miss them, and that sobering thought usually kept her grounded.
Abby and her siblings had grown up in the little lake town of Southall, North Carolina. She could remember a time, back when they were younger, when unlocked doors and playing outside after dark were the norm. Those times were now a thing of the past. The town had grown over the years, filled now with people she didn’t know, and with growth came criminals and a new wave of crime keeping her entire department busy.
“Abby, I was thinking.”
She stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes briefly, letting out a breath. She opened her eyes in time to see his hazel eyes sparkle as they ran the length of her body, drinking her up, eventually landing on her face. His smile held hints of promises she was sure he could deliver.
Here it comes, the same question he’d been asking for the last two weeks. She let out another long sigh. “Yeah?”
He cleared his throat. “How about you let me take you on a date?” His cheeks tinted with a hint of red. Abby didn’t know what she would do with a man so full of confidence one minute and filled with embarrassment the next. His lack of confidence was his only downfall. It was the reason Abby ultimately kept him in friend status, no matter what other assets he had to offer.
“Matt, you know I like you, and we get along great. I don’t doubt for a minute that we’d click in all other areas…” She cleared her throat. “Outside of work, but you know I don’t date coworkers.” Abby gave him a smile and kept walking, hoping he wouldn’t press the issue. She had fallen for his type before, good looking with a killer smile.
Been there done that
. A similar perfect package gifted her with the task of raising a child by herself. She wasn’t naive enough to go there again, at least not without condoms.
Matt hollered after her. “Aw, Abby, don’t make me quit my job. I like it here.”
Abby spun on her heels, turning back to him. Matt winked then walked away, leaving her to stare at his retreating body.
****
Abby arrived on the scene in the old part of town. Crumbling apartment buildings surrounded her as she took in all of the emergency vehicles, cruisers, and the coroner van parked nearby. Onlookers stood in the courtyard, corralled by the crime scene tape trying to get a peek, and she silently wondered if the killer was brave enough to be among them. Keeping the crime scene contained was going to be a nightmare; thankfully, that wasn’t her job. She ducked underneath the crime scene tape and entered the old apartment.
The putrid smell of the blood was the first to assault her senses. She covered her mouth with her hand, hoping not to gag from the smell. That would be a rookie mistake she hadn’t made in years.
Will I ever get used to this?
She swallowed the lump in her throat and passed through the foyer to the living room. She could imagine how the place looked without the broken furniture littering the floor. It wasn’t the best of places, but it wasn’t the worst she’d seen. Trinkets and books covered the shelves. The victim cared about her dwelling and it showed.
Henry, the old grey-haired coroner, was on bended knee next to the body, careful not to touch, observing what he could without disturbing the evidence. His years of experience were invaluable in their line of work, and Henry had seen a lot in those years. There were few people Abby trusted, but Henry was unquestionably one of them.
“What’ve we got?” Abby asked, stepping over the splintered wood pieces from the broken furniture scattered around the room.
She put up a fight
.
“Female, Caucasian, late forties, early fifties, multiple lacerations to her upper torso, bruising on her wrist, and a red mark around her neck.”
“Hand prints? Rope? What do you think?” Abby knelt down to get a better view for herself.
“If I had to guess, rope around the wrists, but I’m not sure about the neck. Not fingerprints, maybe marks from a necklace. The placement of her stab wounds through her major arteries and heart is probably what killed her, but I won’t know for sure until I get her back to the morgue.” Henry was rubbing his grey beard, tilting his head from side to side, as if he were afraid to miss something from a different angle.
“Let me grab my camera, and I’ll get started.” She sat her trusty bag full of equipment down on the floor nearby, slipped on her latex gloves, and pulled out her camera and the numbered markers. She’d processed so many crime scenes; the tasks came second nature to her. Even though the scene was never identical, her methods were.
