Free Dark Veil by Mason Sabre

gone far out this evening. Or that Harvey did know, but he was training Cade’s mind to see everything.
    “She was probably thrown into the water when the tide was high.” He remained crouched down next to Stephen as he examined the girl’s appearance. “Doesn’t look like she has been in the water long, though.” He glanced up at Harvey. “I’ll check when the last high tide was. It will probably give us time of death, or at least the date. Maybe there is some kind of missing person’s report around that time, too.”
    Harvey nodded. “Very good.”
    The girl didn’t seem to have any outward causes of death. There were no marks on her, no cuts or wounds—nothing that looked to be fatal. Cade did notice, however, that there was a puckered hole on her arm, in the crook of her elbow. She had been injected with something, and maybe more than once. A junkie, perhaps? Cade stood and dried his hands on the legs of his jeans as best as he could before taking back his forms from Harvey and beginning to fill them in. He turned to Stephen, who was now standing and stretching out his aching arms. “I don’t need to call Society, do I? You can sign off on this.”
    The girl by Stephen’s feet was a no one, a nobody—probably a stray. It wouldn’t matter if he signed off on it or not. Her death would probably never be solved, not being important enough to bother with. “It isn’t Council worthy.”
    “No, but it is Society, and you’re here so what is the point in dragging anyone out?”
    Stephen uttered an oath. He should have stayed at home. Surely having to listen to Evie sulk around the house and dealing with Gemma’s foul moods would have been better than this. He looked back down at the girl, and the thought that it could well have been one of his sisters suddenly rose unbidden to his mind. Junkie or not, pity flooded him for the young life lost.
    Cade was right—someone had to sign off. It was procedure to protect the DSA. The Society signed off on all cases, ensuring that they were done correctly. It was needed in case the perpetrator was Human . Best not give them some kind of hook that was easy to get off. Of course, Stephen had no doubt, signed off or not, they would find a way. They always did.
    Cade rolled the girl onto her side, looking for anything that could help solve this case sooner. He examined down her back, her arm and neck and the rear part of the head, then rolled her over the other way and froze. “Shit,” he murmured, and leaned in to take a closer look. “Another one.”
    Harvey stepped closer and Stephen crouched back down again, frowning. “Another what?”             
    Cade pushed the girl’s ear so that it folded over. “See this?” There was a tattoo behind her ear with a number on it.
    Stephen nodded and Harvey swore.
    “Five so far this year. They have all turned up dead and with numbers like this.”
    Stephen leaned in to get a closer look and ran his finger over the tattoo. “It’s a proper one?”
    “Yeah. All of them are like this.”
    Stephen looked from Cade to Harvey. “Why doesn’t Society know about this? Or my father?”
    “It does,” Harvey said. “But so far, these kids …”
    “Kids?”
    Cade’s expression hardened. “All of them have been kids.” He scrutinised the girl’s face. “I think this is the oldest one we have found.”
    Stephen’s jaw clenched in anger. “What’s the youngest?” Even as he asked, he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to hear the answer.
    “We guess at about seven, but they’re always strays. No one has ever reported them missing. I bet when I check this girl, no one will have reported her missing, either.”
    “We don’t bother the Council with it. Usually it is just signed off and done with,” Harvey added with a resigned sigh.
    Five children missing and no one noticed? Stephen couldn’t fathom it. One, maybe, a runaway. But they couldn’t all be runaways. “How were the others