Read Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) for Free Online

Reilly sighed. It was all too easy to jump to conclusions.
    Of course, Reilly thought as she rolled the girl onto her stomach, any assumptions she might make about the girl’s background based on her immediate appearance needed to be tempered by the one unmissable feature that now stared out at her.
    The wing tattoo was, in its own way, quite beautiful. Each feather was elegantly drawn with tiny, delicate lines – it was a work of art, a labor of love.  With the help of the bright lights she could see now that the ink was not black, but rather a blueish shade that hinted at hidden depths of color.
    She was always struck by how much more vivid a tattoo was on a corpse. Reilly’s thoughts automatically turned towards Jess and the day she’d come home from school with the DIY crucifix tattoo on her upper arm. Her sister had been so proud of it, and so surprised by Reilly’s horror when she showed it to her.
    Jess and a classmate, bored at the back of math class, had used a compass and some pen ink to brand themselves. Jess had pleaded with Reilly not to tell Mike, but there was little point in alerting their father as by then the damage was already done, and thankfully far enough up Jess’s arm to be easily concealed. Unlike dim Dom, whose three-inch crucifix was no doubt today still visible on the back of his hand. Instantly, a memory of that same tattoo on her sister’s death –cold flesh crept into Reilly’s conciousness, and banishing the image, she focused once again on the corpse lying in front of her.  
    Reilly took photos of the wings close up from both sides, trying to capture every detail, every nuance. She knew that the tattoo represented the best chance of identifying the girl, so it was essential that she captured it properly.
    By the time Reilly had finished her examination it was almost 3 a.m.
    She shook her head wryly. There was a time when seeing 3 a.m. on the clock meant a great night out in the company of friends, but these days it only signified nights like this in the company of the dead.  Lately, she had more interaction with them than the living, especially since Mike had gotten all loved up and Chris had turned cold.
    Carefully packing her things away, she called down to the duty guard to let him know she was finished.  She had done everything she could for now; next it was up to Karen to see if a post mortem could uncover anything else of interest.
    She flicked off the lights and massaged her neck to try and relieve the tension in her shoulders. She was tired – exhausted in fact – but she knew that at least she might actually be able to sleep now. She had done enough to allow her mind to switch off and grab an hour or two before starting all over again in the morning.
    In the morning?  It was already morning, she reminded herself. By the time she reached home and got into bed it would be well after four.  No matter, a couple of hours’ sleep would have to do.  By now, Reilly was used to running on empty.
     
     
    Too few hours later, Reilly was at the GFU lab, finalising a report on her findings from the McGavin house.
    She then turned her attentions to processing the evidence from the hit and run scene, and from the victim herself.
    Lucy greeted her arrival in the main lab with a groan. ‘You owe us big time,’ she complained, as Reilly entered the main lab, buttoning her labcoat as she walked.
    ‘I always do,’ she replied, ‘but why today in particular?’
    ‘Those ditches,’ the younger girl groaned.  ‘Cold, wet and nasty.’
    Gary nodded.  ‘They weren’t a lot of fun.’
    ‘Perks of the job. Did you find anything?’
    ‘Quite a lot actually,’ Lucy told her, indicating the workstation. ‘Whether or not it’s of any use I can’t say yet.’
    Reilly looked at the items spread out across Lucy’s bench, a collection of broken plastic, empty soft drink cans, a coffee cup, all the kinds of detritus that inevitably collected in a roadside ditch. Gary’s table was