Shelby's Secret (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 4) by Kori David Page B

but the door swung silently open. Mike was clearly thinking the same thing since he had his light shining on the jamb. He pointed.
    Daniel could see a small dried pool of fluid, probably one of those spray lubricants, on the concrete stoop.
    Without a word, they made entry.
    And the smell hit Daniel. Just no mistaking the odor of a decomposing body. The metallic copper scent of blood hung heavily in the air as they swept the corner of the room. Daniel swallowed hard, attempting to ward off nausea. The room they were in was empty, but there was a door on Mike’s side.
    In the semi dark, Mike’s serious face took on a sinister quality. Daniel was glad the big man was on his side, because he’d hate to go up against him. They were through the door into a maze of smaller rooms. Half-assed cubicles that were only partially dismantled. He could hear tiny rodent nails scraping across the floor, avoiding the light he swept through each area.
    One more door in the back stood wide open and led into the large warehouse behind the offices. And there she was. Exactly as the video depicted.
    “Good job, Daniel.”
    “I’m just glad this wasn’t a colossal waste of time. We needed to find this scene.”
    “And now we need to call in the troops. I want this kept as quiet as possible.”
    Daniel nodded. “You think it was one of us? That news leak.”
    “Hell no,” Mike said, walking slowly around the pool of shiny red liquid that coated the floor. “One of the rookies on patrol was probably thinking with his dick, and let slip the details of the scene to a reporter. Hope he got laid because if I find out who it was, he won’t ever be able to use it again.”
    “I’ll go and make the call,” Daniel said. The job was his, but he couldn’t deny getting away from the overwhelming stench of the room was his goal as well. The sight of blood was fine, but the smell was something else.
    He turned at the door to ask if Mike wanted anyone in particular to respond, but he stopped when he got a look at his face. The high windows let in the moonlight and partially lit the room. Mike stood at the edge of the pool of blood, staring down at the woman on the bed. Pure rage was written on his face, as if the woman was known personally, and he’d been unable to prevent her death. There was pain as well. But where that emotion came from, Daniel couldn’t fathom a guess.
    Then Mike moved and his face was once again in shadow.
    Turning from the sight, Daniel could feel the menace. All from his boss. He hurried from the room and pulled out his cell once he was free of the building. He dialed dispatch, thinking to himself that the man he’d just left wasn’t a present-day homicide detective, but a throwback to another age where revenge and retribution was handled at a personal level.
    Permanently.
    Daniel would have to work harder to find this perpetrator, because if Mike found the killer first, there might not be anything left for the courts to prosecute.

    ***

    That Casey Henderson was more excited about getting called to a crime scene than she’d been about the date she’d had that night was a sad state of affairs. And the fact she was still strapped into a tight leather dress with five-inch heels, adding much-needed height, wouldn’t stop her from heading straight to the scene. She carried a fairly large collection kit in her trunk, as well as an extra pair of her favored coveralls for work, just for these incidents.
    There was nothing she could do about her favorite heels but try and not get blood on them. She’d have to remember to stash an extra pair of work boots in the trunk next time. And since this perp was the same sickie that set up the first scene, this one would more than likely be a doozy.
    She parked her Charger on the street next to a big F-250, grabbed her camera from the case she carried and got out. She wanted to photograph the scene first before she had to suit up and take samples. And she hoped one of the on-duty guys