Something Wrong (A Lauren Lamb FBI Thriller—Book Three) by Bold Kate

Author:Bold, Kate [Bold, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2023-08-22T05:00:00+00:00

***

“The poor girl,” Father Emilio said.

“Yes,” Lauren agreed.

This time, the body was still on the cross, upside down, pale and cold, with thin lines of blood running down its wrists and legs and a sunburst of blood on its chest, a thick streak leading from the wound and pooling on the ground beneath.

Lauren could see even from a distance that the girl was petite with brown hair and a pretty but not breathtaking face. Just like the other three.

Lauren and Father Emilio started to leave the car. When Antoine made to follow suit, Lauren whirled on him and said, “You stay. If this door opens without my say-so, I swear to God, you are off—”

“Lauren!” Father Emilio scolded. “Language!”

Lauren took a deep breath and said with forced calm. “Just stay inside the car.”

Antoine grinned and nodded agreeably.

Lauren slammed the door shut and stalked toward Francois, forcing Father Emilio to catch up to her, which he did with frustrating ease.

Francois awaited them at the crime scene. His eyes met Lauren's, and for a brief moment, they showed the weary-to-the-bones dejection of a veteran law enforcement agent.

You spend your entire life trying to stop this, her former boss had told her. But you never do. It’s like using toothpicks to stop an avalanche.

The look disappeared, replaced by his typical stoicism, and he turned back to a uniformed policeman and issued instructions while Lauren and the father approached.

The uniformed officer nodded and left just before they arrived. Francois turned to them and nodded. “Who is in your car?”

Lauren reddened slightly. “A passenger.”

“Why have you brought a passenger?”

“He’s…” Lauren reached for words.

“He’s a part of our investigative team for this case,” Father Emilio interjected. “We’ve asked him to remain in the car for the moment. He has a somewhat abrasive personality, so we prefer to be the ones to converse with him. We’ll happily pass along any information you feel is important.”

Francois glanced at Lauren. He clearly didn’t buy the father’s line, which, odd as it sounded, was the truth.

She wouldn’t have believed it either.

Francois didn’t say anything for a moment. She figured he was probably debating whether to push the issue or not.

He decided not to. “Very well.” He gestured to the body. “Celie Villeneuve, twenty-two. Unlike Laura and Marie, she was not a student at Aix-Marseille. She worked as a cashier at a local flower shop. She was a transplant from Lyon and moved here four years ago after graduating high school. She had a modest trust from her grandfather that supplemented her income enough that with her job, she was able to rent a decent apartment in a nice neighborhood and live comfortably. I think it’s safe to say our killer was not after her money, however.”

“When was the body found?”

“About three minutes before I called you.”

“When did she die?”

“About ten hours before that.”

Or around the time she was talking to Enrico. That meant nothing, but the coincidence disturbed Lauren nonetheless.

“Has CSI checked the scene yet?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Meaning, of course, nothing that differs from the previous three cases.

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