What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 4)

by Selena Kitt

  Now if only there was an answer to the on-site security issue.

  Knowing she needed as much computer time as possible, she focused on her charts as the others moved around her.

  “Couldn’t find yourself any better spot to be in the way, huh?” Bruce grinned at her as the bookshelf went on the wall behind her.

  “Nope. Figured this offered optimal irritation.”

  “You’re probably right.” Stephen came over and dumped a large box of binders destined for the bookcase behind her on the floor. “When you get a chance you can put these on those.” He patted her gently on the shoulder before disappearing again.

  She shook her head and entered the information Dr. Mike had added to Rose’s file. Holding the chart in her hand, she puzzled over the handwritten notes. Dr. Mike’s writing was damn near impossible to read. He also didn’t do computers well. But according to all accounts he was a hell of a doctor.

  “Hello, Jade. How are you?”

  Surprised by the strange voice calling out to her, Jade glanced around and frowned. Tony. She should have expected to see him at some point. Still, his arrival on their moving day was a surprise – just not a good one. Though their relationship had been civil so far, she hadn’t been at her best during their first meeting and he hadn’t been enthusiastic about her joining the team. He’d been desperate to complete the hiring quickly and with Duncan’s urging, had finally agreed to give her the position – with a warning he’d be keeping an eye on how she handled the job.

  Still she was here. And that made him her boss. “Hello, Tony. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “I’ll be in and out several times over the next few months.”

  She smiled politely. That made sense. A lot of money was being piped into this recovery. “To be expected.”

  “How are you handling your job?”

  Was there something off in his voice? She studied his face, looking for anything other than general interest. “I’m doing well, thank you. The job is interesting and once we get properly set up, I can see we’ll make a lot of headway.”

  “Are you finding it difficult to be here?”

  Raising one eyebrow, Jade shook her head slightly. “Not at all. Haiti has moved forward – plus the job is very different – not many similarities between the two experiences at all.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Things are good.”

  He appeared to be about to speak then thought better of it – and left. She stared at the empty doorway for a long time.

  Had he told anyone about their first meeting? Maybe not all of it, but someone must know to keep an eye on her.

  She would appreciate it if her problems stayed private. But then Tony had a job to do too. Did he consider her a liability? Or was he just checking in on his investment?

  Retrieving the chart again, she held it under the light to try and decipher Dr. Mike’s notes.

  It took almost as long to do the charts as to process each body. But when didn’t paperwork take longer? She searched through her downloaded picture folder to locate the ones for Rose’s case file. Jade attached over forty, wanting to be thorough in case the police followed up. She finally turned to the last file.

  Where had everyone gone?

  “Are you done yet?” Dressed in a long, brightly colored cotton dress, Meg looked so relaxed, so beautiful, Jade sighed. She wished she could wear dresses like that. But she was so short, they only made her look shorter.

  Then her eye caught sight of the wonderful ice cream and banana concoction in Meg’s hands. Jade straightened, her stomach growling. “Is that for me?”

  “Hell, no.” Meg laughed and took another bite. “Go get your own.”

  “Where? Are you guys eating without letting me know? I’ve been working hard in here.”

  “Huh? It was lunchtime a good half hour ago. Your stomach always lets you know.”

  Jade checked her computer. “Shit. I almost missed it.” She bolted to the dining room, followed by the sound of Meg’s laughter. The rest of the team sat eating and talking around tables. The only spare chair was Meg’s.

  Jade heaped her plate with something that looked like fish again and grabbed Meg’s spot. No one had made a new place for Tony, so he’d picked her chair. Of course.

  Shrugging it off, Jade focused on the food in front of her.

  “Hungry?” Tony asked curiously, watching her eat.

  She couldn’t be eating that much more than everyone else, surely? It only looked bad because she was the only one with food on her plate. She nodded and ate several more bites. She had taken rather a lot.

  “Jade has a healthy appetite.” Bruce smirked. “I think she eats more than me. And where she puts it I don’t know.”

  That started off a major joking fest – with Jade being the brunt of it. She took it good-naturedly. As it was, even with all she’d been eating, she could swear she was losing more weight, or her shorts had stretched. Not good. The weight loss might be because of the high temperatures here. She didn’t know.

  And as long as she didn’t get sick, she didn’t really care.

  “I think she has worms.”

  Shocked, fork halfway to her mouth, Jade stared at Stephen in astonishment.

  “What? That would be the first thing I’d have checked.” He grinned at her. Then forked a large bite into his mouth.

  She gasped mockingly, “Are you implying I’m a bitch?”

  “Well….”

  Snatching up her napkin, she crumpled it into a ball and threw it at him. “Be nice.”

  He held out his hands. “Mercy. I wouldn’t think such a thing, honest.”

  Jade rolled her eyes at him again and finished the food on her plate. Replete, she pushed the empty plate back and sighed happily. Then she finally clued in to the conversation around her. Bruce had stopped in to speak to the authorities.

  “What did they say?”

  “In short, they don’t want to hear about supposition. If we have any proof of a crime then we’re to contact them, but otherwise don’t bother them. I’m not surprised, actually. They’re swamped with more pressing problems.”

  Dr. Mike interjected. “I think their resources are stretched to the max. They have their hands full dealing with current crimes instead of possible crimes from a year ago – if not longer.”

  Bruce agreed. “Exactly. They did say that chains are not part of any Haitian burial tradition – to their knowledge.”

  Surprise lit Susan’s face. “Here I was so sure it was an after-death ritual.”

  “Apparently not.”

  “Do we proceed as if this is a crime scene?” Stephen asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

  Studying him, Jade realized she’d enjoyed Stephen’s company these past weeks. He was her age, and unlike Bruce and Dr. Mike who were her superiors, he was easy to talk to. She could see a nice friendship developing here.

  “Why is one way different than another way?” Tony interjected, not at all happy with the situation. “We’re not here to solve crimes. We’re here to find the remains of this man’s family members and take them home. Quick and simple.”

  Jade had been on the verge of saying something but closed her mouth. She didn’t want to rock the boat. Tony was right. CSI personnel they weren’t – and he paid the bills. She winced. True, they couldn’t justify spending more time on the manacled bodies than on the others, but if they didn’t, who would?

  “Someone needs to consider these people.” Wilson lounged back in his chair, his face a study of exasperation and anger. He glared at Tony. “We understand that you and your clients are footing the bills for this job, but from the first, our understanding was that we’d do what we could for the others in the grave as well. Surely, being as meticulous as possible isn’t beyond the scope of our job? Reporting a crime scene and possible victims shouldn’t be either.” A small tic played at the corner of his mouth. Jade held her breath, waiting.

  “As long as they are given the same consideration as everyone else
and not costing additional monies to process, then there is no problem,” Tony said stiffly.

  “And if a little more money is required to properly process these people, then what?” Wilson challenged.

  Jade winced at the aggression but agreed with her team member.

  “I can’t okay any expenses that aren’t within the parameters we first set out,” Tony responded primly. “Bruce knows exactly what those are. I expect him to enforce those limits.”

  Bruce grimaced. “Thanks for passing the buck.”

  Tony stood up. “I have no intention in doing that. Just make sure you don’t either. You are all here to do a job for my client. That is all. Nothing more and nothing less. The other people in that grave are to be processed, entered into a database and reburied in the same grave if no one claims them. Finished.”

  He strode out of the room, leaving the rest of them to stare uncomfortably at each other.

  Wilson snorted. “That went well, didn’t it?”

  Dr. Mike shook his head. “Or not.”

  No lights. No guards. No brains. So much gear and equipment left for the taking. He knew many men that would have cleaned out the trailers in no time. Although, if he told them about the dead bodies, he wasn’t sure anyone would touch a thing. His people had respect for the dead.

  The hills cast long shadows though the moon offered him lots of light for walking the clearing. Not that he needed it. He’d spent his life here. The darkness held no secrets from him.

  Avoiding the big reefer truck, he wandered to the lab trailer, quickly picking the lock as he had the night before. The women fascinated him. He’d never had a white woman. Their skin was so silvery, and looked so soft. In the sun, they almost glowed. At first he’d checked out the little blonde more closely, but decided to back off – figured one woman for the boss and one for him was good enough.

  Besides the bigger one would offer more fight. She was older, more experienced and a little less likely to be controlled… and that was fine with him. He wasn’t his old man.

  As his boss didn’t like fighting, the quiet one would suit him. He always walked away when Tasha and John got into it. Tasha was not going to let a day go by without letting everyone around know exactly how she felt. She’d always been like that. Easy and fast on opinions and bossy to boot – only she was family. There was only so much he could do to change her attitude.

  He wandered around the inside of the trailer, intrigued and repelled at the same time. How could they do what they did? They didn’t see it as wrong – he understood that. But to stand there day after day and touch dead people? No, that just wasn’t right. He walked over the entrance to stand on the small porch.

  He couldn’t understand the women working in here.

  Tasha would never touch a corpse. Then she did only what she wanted to anyway. Their father had tried to rein her in a long time ago, but with the death of their mother, she’d gained the upper hand and look at his father now. Christ, Emile rather jump off a cliff than finish like his old man. Speaking of which… He stared off in the direction of Peppe’s cabin. Chances were the old man hadn’t had anything to eat all day. Damn Tasha for passing that job to him.

  He hated having to deal with his father. Sure Tasha was pregnant, but women had been having babies since time began and other women managed to get their work done. Why couldn’t she?

  Because she refused.

  Well, he straightened – enlightened. Then so would he refuse. Damn weakling, John could do it. He never refused Tasha anything. He could take care of Peppe too.

  Grimacing, he remembered Peppe from last night. The old man had been sitting in soiled clothes. Emile had thrown down the food and walked out. He wasn’t going to clean the old man’s ass again. Once had been too much for him.

  Damn women’s work.

  Well he wouldn’t do it anymore. And if Tasha or John wouldn’t take care of it… His eyes glowed with inspiration as he stared at the grave. Then he’d find someone who would.

  Chapter Ten

  Dane’s dusty black truck sat in front of the lab trailer when Jade arrived the next morning. He leaned against the box, waiting. Her heart smiled. She was such an idiot. Yet she couldn’t deny he made her feel like a woman again.

  Good thing. Her self-absorption and self-enforced seclusion had shut her hormones down as she’d allowed anger and hurt to dominate. No longer.

  “About time you got here.” His big grin warmed her heart. Dane opened the door of his truck, and reached in. “What do you think you’re on, Haitian time or something?”

  She laughed. “Nah, boss checked in yesterday. Meetings with him put us behind schedule.”

  With a regal dip of his head, he pulled out two cups of coffee. “And as a boss, I understand the benefit of keeping workers happy. So one is for you.” He presented her with a one.

  “Woohooo. You are a definite keeper. Thank you.” She shuffled her bags, so she could take it.

  His eyes darkened. “Glad you’re so easily pleased.”

  She grinned. “Often the simplest things in life…” She dropped her bags at the door and brought out her keys. She inserted the key into the lock but realized when she turned the key – she’d actually locked it. The door had been unlocked. She frowned and pushed it open.

  “Problem?”

  “The door wasn’t locked. It should have been,” she said shortly, her gaze sweeping the interior. The equipment was all there, at least what she could see at first glance. Nothing appeared disturbed other than what could be attributed to Meg or Dr. Mike who worked here the afternoon before.

  “Someone forget to lock up?” Dane stayed on the porch, poking his head inside. “It looks the same.”

  “I don’t know. The equipment is set out slightly different. I didn’t close yesterday so can’t say if the others moved things or not.” She wandered to the back and then down the far side. She shrugged her shoulder. “I can’t see anything missing. It just feels off again.”

  “Again?” His voice sharpened. “This has happened before?”

  She gazed back at him over her shoulder. “Yes. This is the second time. I can’t pinpoint what’s wrong. It’s more a sense of things not being quite right.” She shrugged and walked back out to the small porch. She took a sip of coffee.

  “I thought they were going to bring in security guards?”

  Blowing the steam off her cup, she nodded. “I did too. Might have something to do with our moneyman, slash boss who’s here now. I don’t think he likes the added expense.”

  “Then maybe he should be told about this to make sure security funding does get approved.”

  She gave him a sideways look. “I’m not sure that would make a difference.”

  Dane’s cheeks hollowed out, his jaw jutting forward. “It damn well should. You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

  He was worried about her. She smiled. It had been a long time since anyone other than Duncan had given a damn about her safety. “I’m not, normally. One of the others will be here in an hour or so.”

  “That’s not good enough. It’s not that this part of the country has a higher crime rate than the rest, but you’ve opened a controversy with this grave, you’re foreigners and you have expensive equipment and facilities. That makes you and these trailers a target.”

  She grimaced. “I know. I’ll talk to them.”

  His jaw squared, he planted his legs slightly apart. “Today.”

  She glared at him, liking the power of his personality, just not so much when it was turned her way. “Fine. Can we leave it for now, thanks?”

  Studying her face, he gave one decisive nod. “Sure, I have to go to work anyway. Unless you want me to stay around until someone else arrives?”

  “No. I’ll be fine.”

  He smiled and turned to leave. “Thanks for bringing the coffee,” she called out as he descended the steps and got into his truck.

  With a wave, he drove off.

  Her good mood restored, Jade head
ed inside. After making sure nothing was missing, she went to the reefer to double check the chart numbers. She left the reefer door open to allow for more light as she wandered the rows of dead. So far the numbering system appeared to be working.

  “Jade? Are you in here?”

  Startled, Jade bolted upright from her bent-over position and spun around. “Jesus, Stephen you scared me.”

  “What are you doing?” He peered around the door and grinned at her as she walked toward him. “There you are.”

  “Hey. I was cross checking the numbers on the bags.” Jade hopped out of the reefer truck and waited while Stephen closed and locked the door.

  “Wilson went to town with Dr. Mike instead, leaving me free to get back to work. I’m going up to the gravesite.” Stephen patted the metal handle. “Bruce is heading this way in few minutes.”

  She smiled. “I’ll go back to the lab and wait for him.”

  He took off, whistling and Jade busied herself around the lab for the few minutes she had alone. Before she had time to puzzle through the feeling she’d had in the trailer, she heard the sound of yet another vehicle. This one an SUV.

  Bruce.

  He waved as he drove to the lab trailer. Jade walked to the railing to greet him. “Hey.”

  Hopping out, he climbed the stairs and walked around the new porch. “I like the new addition. From Dane I understand?”

  She wandered around the small space appreciating the simple two-by-four construction. “Yes, a simple switch for a few weeks.”

  “It looks good.”

  “Any word on overnight security for this place?”

  “Tony has vetoed the idea for now. Why?”

  Oh shit.

  She explained about the unlocked door and the weird feeling. “Did he give a reason?”

  “Not in the budget.” Bruce gave her a mocking look. “We’ll need to make sure we follow protocol as we shut down every night. To know that we’ve locked up properly.”

  “Why is everything all of a sudden about money?” She watched as Bruce walked the tiny porch, still grinning approval.