Page 35 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Fuck. Nightmare did not cover it. They would get attention from the mainland on this one, and they always sent the local press into a frenzy.

“Okay.”

They walked side-by-side down to the scene.

With each step they took, he felt the weight of the oncoming investigation.

This was going to be a bitch—and more than anything, he wanted to do right by the woman.

Her poor family had been so sure they would find her alive, and now they would forever be without one part of the whole.

No one deserved to die like this.

“Hey, Elle, how’s it going?” Del asked.

Dr. Elle Middleton was an English transplant, and one of the best in her field. He knew he was damned lucky she had been assigned to his team when she had arrived in Hawaii.

“Hullo, Del. Not good, especially for this young woman.”

She stood up and wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. Since she’d cut her light blond hair, the fringe of it appeared just above her blue-green eyes. He read the horror in her gaze. This was not going to be pleasant for anyone.

“You got a time of death?”

“Within the last six hours from the liver temp. I would say less than three when she was actually found. She was left here after the rain stopped.”

“Yeah?” Carino asked.

Elle nodded. “The impressions of shoes are there and there,” she said pointing to the ground.

“Drew is going to take a cast of them, but I am not sure we will find anything particularly important in that. They look pretty common. So, I’m assuming he waited on purpose until the rain was done.

That ended about half past eleven last night here in Honolulu. ”

Del sighed and shook his head. “Poor woman.”

“Indeed. I can tell you more when I get her on the table, but this woman went through hell.”

“Show me what you have right now.”

“Hey, I have a meeting with the brass at the top of the hour. They wanted an update. Call me if you need anything.”

“Sure. Give my love to Maria,” Del said as Carino slapped him on the shoulder and walked away.

He turned back around just as Elle moved and he finally saw the body.

The memory of the smiling picture did not even seem like the same woman.

Her eyes were closed, but he knew they were dark, always twinkling in all the photos.

She was short in stature, five three if he remembered correctly, with short hair, and probably weighed no more than one hundred pounds.

At least she had. If she had been posed, she had been moved, probably by Elle.

“We have pictures of her body before she was moved?”

“Yes,” she said irritated.

He looked up and offered her a smile. “Sorry about that. Just thinking things through, and I didn’t know who was here first. You know I am still new at all of this.”

Elle sighed. “Sorry. Knowing just how bad it was…it hurts.”

He heard the memory in her voice. “I understand.” And he did. Elle would comprehend what Grace Singh had endured more than most others.

She straightened her shoulders, then squatted down. “If you look here, she was tied up.”

She held up the hand of the woman and pointed to her wrist. He saw the burns on her wrists. Some light, some dark, and with different patterns pressed into her flesh.

It was done with some kind of rope, and probably impossible to narrow down.

“Her ankles are in the same condition.”

“And the different shades of the bruising?”

“Repeated injuries. And with different ropes from the burns. So, he kept her like this for some time. Probably the entire time she was there. I’m pretty sure of sexual assault, but I will verify that in the lab. There are also burns on her body.”

He squatted down beside her and looked over the body. There were small cylindrical burns over her flesh. Scabs had formed over some of them, while others were fresh.

Jesus .

“Looks like a cigarette lighter from a car.”

“Yes. Bastard really hurt her. This isn’t just about power. This is more about pain, and getting off on it. He should not be allowed in public.”

Her voice wavered at the end, and he knew what it cost her.

“We’ll get him, Elle.”

She nodded, but said nothing else as he stood and looked over the crowd.

It was early, but there was always some kind of hum in the early morning there—especially on a Monday.

Hell, that’s probably why the sick fuck had left her there on that particular day.

More coverage, with a frenzy that would last for the entire week.

He saw one of the detectives taking pictures, and he wandered over to him.

“Did you get the crowd?”

“Yeah,” he said. “But I was going to take a few more because it is really gaining attention.”

He pulled out his card and gave it to him. “Could you make sure you get those to me as soon as possible?”

“With pleasure,” he said, grim determination filling his voice.

Del paused, then the detective said, “I knew her. We went to the same school, a few years apart. A real sweetheart. Always had a smile for everyone.”

Del nodded. That was the thing about Hawaii. Everyone had about six degrees of separation, or less. Either they knew Grace, or they knew someone who knew her. Her disappearance had been the focal point of the Hawaiian news shows since she had disappeared. And now, their focus would be on a killer.

The crowd was growing by the second, and he knew it would only be minutes before the news crews showed up.

As if on queue, they appeared, screaming to a halt.

He saw Jin Phillips, one very irritating newswoman, jump out of the van.

Damn, the woman got on his nerves. She stood by, waiting for her crew before she attacked.

And it would be an attack. The woman didn’t know how to deal with news any other way.

Del looked away from her and up the canal toward Diamond Head. The scent of plumeria hit him, and he realized he was standing by a bush filled with them. It was usually something he liked to smell, but now, he knew he would always associate it with Grace Singh and her last night on earth.

The sun was just starting to peek over the crater. The brilliant streaks of orange and yellow lightened the sky. Even after a year, the beauty of it still stunned him. Del didn’t think he would ever get used to the sight.

He looked back at the scene as Drew helped Elle put Grace Singh in a body bag, then lift her up onto the gurney. The buzz of the crowd was growing, and he could already hear Jin asking annoying questions.

Just another day in paradise.