Read Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] for Free Online Page B

multiple
donors. Solomon probably wandered too close to the woods. Many people like to
come to places like this and reminisce about the 'good old days.' God only
knows why," he scoffed, running a beefy hand over his buzz cut.
    Red ignored his explanation. "Don't you think
there's something strange about this crime scene? I don't believe this woman
would come into the woods alone without at least carrying repel spray."
    "Sorry, but being stupid isn't a crime,"
Bannon said. "You may not like it, but
the evidence rules out foul play having been committed here. You're the
only person who has a problem with this scenario. I suggest you let it go.
That's an order. You know, one of those things you refuse to follow."
    Red's gaze narrowed. "I can't let it go."
She took a step forward and stared down at the remains of the woman. "She
deserves better than to be a feast for a moving pack of
predators—not that I believe for a sec ond
that's what happened here. Her family deserves the truth."
    "You don't even know if she has a family. According
to the navcom—" He pressed another button. "— she's single."
    Red's fists clenched again as she fought the urge to
bloody Bannon's nose. "That doesn't mean her parents aren't wondering
where she is."
    "Parents? Hell, a labor farm could've created
her. Without the bar code, you can't tell the difference these days. I came
this close." he pinched his thumb and forefinger together for emphasis,
"to fucking one of those clones and didn't even know it." Bannon
shuddered in mock horror.
    "She has family," Red whispered,
rubbing her hands along her arms and ignoring his asinine comment.
    "We'll know soon. If we hadn't been able to identify
her by her registered DNA, we would've re moved
her and tagged her as an unknown. More and more are turning up these
days, the filthy little beggars. Worse than cockroaches if you ask me. That's
what they get for sneaking past the boundary and re-fusing to register
with a republic. There's a reason we have
rules for everything." Bannon turned and bellowed an order to an underling to do a background check on Lisa Solomon to see if she had any connection to the
unknowns.
    "She's not affiliated with the unknowns,"
Red said.
    "Funny, I never took you
for being an unknown sympathizer ."
    "I'm not and you know it." She snarled.
    'There's no room for crusaders on this team," he
said.
    "You and I both know this
isn't right." Red crossed her arms
over her chest. "You're burying this case so that you don't have to do any real investigative work."
    "There's nothing to investigate. The facts refute your theory," he said, tapping orders
into his navcom. "Give me one strand of evidence. Anything at all
to back your claim."
    She remained silent.
    "That's what I thought," he said.
    Red reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping his
movement. His muscles flexed and heated beneath her fingertips. "You're not being fair," she said softly.
    He glanced down at her hand and
something flared momentarily in Bannon's pale blue eyes. Shocked by what she’d seen, Red released him abruptly.
    Bannon's expression cooled. "Life's not fair, but what are you going to do? If you want to
stay, suit your self. You'll have to
look into this on your own time. I'm not
wasting the team on a wild animal chase."
     
    chapter
four
     
    Situated in what used to be grasslands , the gold dome of the International Police Tactical
Team (IPTT) Headquarters rose like a 150-foot-tall leviathan out of the dead
prairie. Massive concrete dormitories, which housed a thousand people each. jutted out like spokes on a bicycle wheel from a
cen tral hub. Living quarters were broken down between officers,
trainees, and team members, with officers receiving a spacious twenty-by-twenty
private living area.
    The dome protected the entire complex from the brunt of the sun and
regulated the ambient temperature.   Carefully cultivated plants
dotted the landscape within the biosphere to give life inside the bubble a
semblance of