Suspense 06 Picture Me Dead by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham [Graham, Heather]
Format: epub
Publisher: Heather Graham
Published: 2010-04-21T10:09:17.250000+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Ashley should have felt a deep sense of accomplishment and pride. Gannet, Nightingale and Murray had applauded her artistic efforts with a great deal of satisfaction—even smug satisfaction, on Murray's part. Well, his job was personnel. He was supposed to know people, their talents, their weaknesses and just where they could best serve the public interest. Mandy Nightingale was also wonderful, telling her not to worry, all the other skills she needed would come, but that she'd already performed a very important service—and her paperwork hadn't even gone through. Even Dr. Gannet had been extremely kind, shaking his head with a little bit of awe that she had been able to create such a plausible likeness from the pathetically damaged face of the corpse.

The corpse.

Oh, Lord.

Yes, she'd seen a lot, most of it on video, but she'd been to an autopsy. She'd never come near to passing out or vomiting. She had stood her ground; knowing that no matter how something made her feel, it would be her job to do the best for the injured and the dead.

But she hadn't seen, or even imagined, anything close to the horror of seeing a body like that of Jane Doe. She had felt bile rising in her throat. The air had gone still around her, and for long moments she had felt as if she couldn't breathe. Somehow she had swallowed the bile, then pinched herself to keep from seeing the spots growing before her eyes. She had forced herself to think as an artist, to find the features that would lead her to the true vision of the woman as she had been in life. But all the time, every minute of it, she had longed to throw the sketch pad down and run screaming from the room.

She hadn't run, though. She had done the sketches, and they were good. She was good, and she should have been pleased by what she had accomplished. But as she drove away from the morgue—desperate for a shower and fresh clothing before picking up Karen and Jan—she grew angry with herself for not feeling a greater sense of achievement. The hell with him.

It hurt to feel that after last night. No. That had been nothing more than a moment's insanity, almost like coming up for a gulp of air after being under water too long. He certainly felt nothing toward her. It was almost as if he still disliked her.

She pulled into the parking lot, grateful that her own space was available, still so deep in thought that she hardly noticed her surroundings.

"Hey, Ashley, congratulations!"

Startled, she looked up. She'd seen the single man seated at one of the outside tables—before. Probably in his mid-thir-ties, he had a stocky build, dark hair and a pleasant, squarish face. She was sure he could see her mind working as she tried to remember just how she knew him. He'd been in before, of course. But she'd also seen him with Dilessio, she realized. He was Jake's partner.

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