Free The Omega Team: Hot Target (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Jordan Dane Page B

his scrubs and tightened the drawstring. “What’s the shelf life for a human popsicle?”
    “I really don’t want to know.”
    “Good point.”
    She saw a man inside the autopsy chamber, dressed like a doctor. The limo driver had instructed them to expect Dr. Luis Galvez would perform whatever procedures they would require. Galvez was the official head medical examiner for the Ministry of Public Health. Ruiz had seen to it they got the best.
    “There’s our guy. Let’s go.” She stepped into the examination room, through a set of automated sliding glass doors that hissed when they opened. “Good morning. You must be Dr. Galvez.” Athena introduced the man to Rafferty.
    The medical examiner stood solemnly by the body, dressed in blue scrubs and purple latex gloves. Age spots dappled his face and wrinkles cut deep into his forehead and cheeks.
    “Can I offer you any coffee before we get started?” the doctor asked.
    Rafferty only shook his head. He stared down at the body, completely engrossed.
    “No, thank you,” Athena said. “Proceed when you’re ready, doctor.”
    She had seen many autopsies during the course of her detective career in Homicide with the Tampa Police. She knew what to expect, but Rafferty was another story. A former Navy Seal, he would’ve worked covert missions and seen combat. He would know death intimately, but autopsies could be a challenge, depending on the condition and putrefaction of the body.
    The smell of old death and the pungent aroma of dirt hit Athena as she stepped closer to the stainless steel gurney where the body had been laid out, uncovered. Skin had turned brown and looked like leather. It shrank over the bones like a drape and exposed the shape of the skeleton underneath. The victim’s misshapen head had a shattered skull. The fracture was consistent with the point of entry for the sniper’s round—from what Athena had witnessed at the crime scene and the fractured driver’s side window of the vehicle.
    “You requested this autopsy,” the doctor said, as he slipped on his protective headgear. “As you can see, the body is badly decayed. Tell me what you will require for your investigation.”
    “Let’s start with the fingers.”
    Not being in a trusting mood, the first thing Athena asked the medical examiner to do was cut off an index finger and thumb from the corpse and secure them in a sealed evidence jar. She’d have the skin rushed to the United States and rehydrated in order to positively identify the fingerprints.
    “Next we’ll need the bullet. If there is anything to retrieve, I’ll send it for analysis.”
    Athena hoped the bullet could be found. Given the shoddy police procedure in this case, she couldn’t be certain the bullet hadn’t dropped from the body as it was handled.
    Dr. Galvez grabbed an instrument from his stainless steel cart and inserted it into the skull. With a grimace, he tugged at bone until it gave up its prize. Athena grabbed an evidence jar from the side cart and held it open for him.
    “We’re in luck.” The doctor dropped the bullet into the jar. “You are a fortunate woman.”
    “Compared to this poor man?” She nudged her head toward the body on the table. “Yes, I guess I’ll take my luck over his any day.”
    Athena had been careful not to identify the name of the victim to the good doctor. She didn’t know how much Ruiz had shared with the man. In the case of a dead drug lord, she preferred the fewer people who knew of his exhumation, the better.
    After the autopsy was concluded—and the body of Hector Borrego had given up any last remaining secrets—Athena thanked Dr. Galvez and left the autopsy room. She and Rafferty stripped off their protective coverings and dumped the scrubs in a receptacle at the exit.
    “Well, I was hungry. Now, not so much,” Rafferty said. “And I’m swearing off beef jerky ‘til the end of time.”
    “Thanks for the visual,” she said. “We’ll hit an overnight delivery