Free Missings, The by Peg Brantley Page B

crime scene to investigate?
    “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    Chase strode to the taped-off area and walked through. Terri was the closest of his crew to the body, resting on her haunches and observing while Dr. Taylor checked various details and made notes, her camera clicking away at intervals.
    Daniel was talking to a patrol officer, animated and pointing down the road. When Daniel saw Chase he signaled a stop with his hand, ended the conversation, and approached Chase.
    The young detective shook his head. “The Daily is all over this one. I fielded one call and have let three others go to voicemail. We need to control the perimeter.” The Aspen Falls Daily might be a small-town paper but they didn’t miss much. Most of their staff, seasoned on larger city papers, chose to live in Aspen Falls because of the lifestyle. They could kick back when they wanted to, hit the slopes to catch the freshest powder, but could also exercise their olfactory muscles to sniff out prize-winning stories.
    Chase called the patrol sergeant and requested two more uniforms even though this was obviously not the murder scene. Even if the press got every fact right, the rumors and speculation would fly, and their already difficult case would get that much harder. Information containment was as important as anything they’d done so far on this case. Which wasn’t much. Time enough for press releases when they had something to say .
    “What else do we have?”
    Daniel hesitated, peering at the sullen young woman standing behind Chase.
    Chase reminded Daniel who Elizabeth was with an abruptness that invited no questions. “Now, Detective. Tell me. What do we have?”
    “Not the murder scene. Hispanic female, late teens or early twenties—”
    “Seventeen,” Elizabeth said. “Rachelle was seventeen.”
    Daniel turned to Chase, hesitating. The rest of what Daniel had to say would not be pretty, especially for a family member to hear. Chase nodded for him to continue.
    “Her lungs, heart and both kidneys have been surgically removed.”
    Elizabeth sucked in a breath and grasped Chase’s arm.
    “Do we have a time of death?” Chase asked.
    “Doc says it’s been a day. No more than two. She said she’d have a better idea after she runs some more tests.”
    Elizabeth Benavides had shown up in his office on Wednesday. Probably about the same time her sister’s body was being harvested for whatever could be sold on the black market.
    Sometimes life sucked.
    “I want you and Elizabeth to dig for some answers in the Hispanic community,” Chase said. “That’s where we’ll begin to get a handle on what’s going on in this town.”
    “Wait. She’s a civilian—”
    “That’s right. She is. She’s also a civilian who has access we don’t.” Chase watched Daniel. “And you’ll be there to protect her.”
    “I don’t know anything about that part of town.”
    “I know that, but you’re the closest we’ve got. Use her connections, Daniel. Pretend you belong. Go tomorrow during the day. You should catch a lot of people home on a Saturday.”
    Chase walked over to where Terri was still taking notes with Dr. Taylor.
    “Hey, Doc.”
    “Detective.”
    Chase stood over the lifeless body of Rachelle Benavides. The familiar twist in his gut made him remember the personal side of murder. The family’s loss. The life cut short by violence. He’d never met Rachelle Benavides but he’d come to respect her in the few hours he’d spent on her case. He vowed to find her killer or killers.
    He processed the nude body, caked blood on the café-au-lait skin—especially around the slice along her sternum—and the tiny diamond stud earrings in her ears. Seventeen. Not much older than Angela. Damn it .
    “What’s your initial impression?” Chase asked.
    “This girl has had everything removed. All of the major organs. Heart, lungs, kidneys. All surgically excised.” Jax Taylor paled. “If this is a doctor, I want his head on a platter.