Free The Watched (CSI Reilly Steel #4) by CASEY HILL Page A

were twitching, one involuntary spasm sending her arm over the edge of the tub. Her hand splashed down into the water, the sound drawing him from his reverie.
    He reached down and grabbed a handful of wet hair. Balancing himself carefully, he pulled her from the water, her body somehow heavier in death.
    The skin was red and blistered, swollen to the point of making the girl unrecognizable. Beautiful . . .
    He carefully lowered her to the floor, n ot wanting to damage his prize.
    He took a step backward and, for a moment, he just stood there, admiring his work. Then reluctantly, he slipped off his gloves and placed them on the floor next to the doorway. They’d never touched his skin so there’d be no trace of him on the fabric, and were common enough that they could be found at any one of a hundred stores.
    No, it would be much riskier to take them with him. The gloves couldn’t be linked to him unless he took them, but they were easily linked to the crime scene, most likely covered with the young woman’s hair and maybe even skin cells.
    Much safer to leave them.
    He slipped his mask into the pocket of his jacket and exited the apartment , all the time keeping his stride even, looking for all the world like someone who belonged.
    Even if anyone had been looking into the grubby hallway at three in the morning, all they would see was an average-looking man leaving a girl’s apartment so as to avoid risking an awkward morning-after conversation. He doubted a single person would have even been able to describe him.
    Soon, though, everyone in the world would know who he was.
     

    CHAPTER 8
     
    ‘Everything all right?’ Bradley handed a bag of takeout food to Emilie, though he was speaking to Todd.
    ‘Fine.’ Todd knew his reply was clipped, but he really didn’t feel like talking about it. He’d already got close to the line by letting his dad notify Mrs Young, but knew he’d overstepped it by explaining to him and Reilly how the victims had died – though Bradley didn’t know the last part.
    He knew that he couldn’t push his luck by sharing any other information about the investigation. Not that they had much to share.
    ‘ I see you decided to look over the camera equipment,’ Bradley said, ignoring the tension in the room as he pulled out a thickly rolled burrito from the bag. ‘Find anything?’
    Todd carefully set down one of the cameras found at the crime scene and stripped off his gloves. ‘This is an expensive piece of equipment, but nothing that can’t be bought at a local Radio Shack. The serial numbers have all been burned off with some form of acid, which is tricky without damaging the equipment.’
    ‘So it’s not his first rodeo.’ Bradley spoke through a mouthful of chili beef. At Todd’s look, he said, ‘Sorry, been watching too many Westerns lately. Go on.’
    Todd continued, ‘All of the equipment’s clean. No trace of the acid used, though I’d guess it’d be nitric. Easy to obtain, hard to track. No prints, no partials or trace. Nothing we can use. He probably wiped everything down, and used gloves when handling.’
    ‘ Did you check for a memory card?’
    He nodded. ‘Clean as well. And empty.’
    Bradley took another bite of food before replying, ‘If the memory card was empty, then there’s a good chance the recording was transmitted somewhere else.’
    Todd swore as the penny dropped. ‘The bastard was watching.’
    ‘ Let’s get a tech in here and see if we can get something that way.’ Bradley tossed his chopsticks back into the box.
    ‘ Is anyone even working tonight?’ Todd asked.
    ‘Actually, I’ve got someone better who owes me.’ Bradley grabbed his cell. A few seconds later, he spoke. ‘Peni? I’m cashing in that favor.’
    Twenty minutes later, a young woman who looked more like a model than a computer tech entered the lab. Nearly six feet tall, with short black hair and obsidian eyes, she was exactly the type of woman Todd would’ve been hitting on