Free Aftermath by Casey Hill

thought was there nonetheless, and while Reilly couldn't articulate it, the concept was wedged beneath her thinking, making the investigative process uncomfortable.
    Worse, she couldn't seem to discuss it openly with Chris, so there was no way to know if her suspicions were truly unfounded or not. He, like everyone else seemed smitten by the Morrisons’ celebrity.
    Of course the wife had to be a suspect, and if not the person--the caricature. Maybe Annabel Morrison wasn't the murdering type, but perhaps her caricature was?
    Chris's assertion was correct though--there was no way a woman of Annabel’s stature could have overpowered her husband that easily without displaying signs of a struggle. The guy was a rugby player for goodness sake, nearly two hundred pounds of raw muscle and bone, whereas Annabel looked like she hadn’t eaten a good meal in a decade.
    She needed to remember her training. Forensics investigators were trained to avoid criminal deduction, to ignore traditional motive and opportunity and focus only on what the evidence was saying.
    But her gut rarely lied, and she was mindful that the evidence might well lead to places that would make, not only Chris, but a lot of people uncomfortable.
    Her iPhone rang then and she picked up. “Steel."
    “Hello Ms Steel. This is Dr Corcoran. We had an appointment earlier this afternoon.”
    She cursed under her breath. "Yes, I’m very sorry. I've been pulled onto a case.…”
    "I understand and have been briefed. I do think it is important, however that we meet - soon.” As he spoke, Reilly was distracted by the ding of an incoming message in her earpiece, and the chime indicating new emails.
    "Clearly now is not a good time…”
    "I'm not sure you quite understand, Ms Steel. HR and Detective O’Brien - your superior - has insisted. I'm available now if you are."
    A headache began forming behind her right eye, as once again incoming information began pouring into the device she held to her ear.
    This whole PSTD thing - was it about competency after the whole Tony Ellis thing? If she couldn't handle herself under pressure, what sort of investigator was she? If she couldn't keep it together through the thick and thin, how could the department rely on her? By pushing for counseling, was O’Brien implying she was inept? Not capable? Or was this some sort of sympathy card because of her gender?
    Sure, she’d a nasty run in with a murderer yes, and had put, not only her own, but her baby’s life in danger. Yes, the incident had put her on edge. Who wouldn't be on edge?
    “Give me a couple of days until things calm down,” she told the psychologist, putting him off.
    But would things ever calm down? That was what she’d signed up for though, wasn't it?
    No, Reilly didn't need some shrink pouring over her life, and talking about her shortcomings, or worse her ‘feelings’ about the pregnancy.
    Instead, she’d do what she always did to cut through her demons; concentrate on doing what she did best.

17
     
     
    H anging up on the psychologist , she checked the phone’s home screen and saw that she had a ton of messages and missed calls while she’d been on the line. Though a quick glance through the subject matter of most of them would be enough to make anyone think she did need therapy.
    It was amazing the kind of impression - erroneous or otherwise - you could build up from someone’s….
    A thought struck her. Putting down the handset, she picked up the internal phone and quickly buzzed the lab.
    “Where’s the victim’s phone?” she asked Lucy, who’d answered.
    "Josh's? Not at the scene I don’t think. I don’t remember seeing it. I’ll ask Rory.”
    But no, there had been no mention of the phone when they were itemizing the evidence, and discussing the Morrisons' tech hardware. A PC, iPad perhaps, but nothing at all about a phone. It must have been on Josh’s person during the attack and stored at the hospital with his personal effects.
    She