Touched by Death Read online

  "How are you making out?" He peered around the corner of the door. "Dark."

  She stepped out of the way so he could get a better view. "I have lights only they're not very bright."

  He shook his head. "You'll go blind in here over the long term."

  A small laugh escaped. "Good thing three months isn't that long. I was actually hoping to move some of my work outside if I could, only that's not practical. There's no standing room, let alone a large enough deck, or tables out here."

  He backed up several steps then walked around the stairs looking at the simple plywood steps leading to the doorway. "Hmmm…"

  Jade walked down the stairs and joined him, facing the trailer and trying to see what he saw. "Hmmm…? What does that mean?"

  "I have a small portable porch with stairs that attaches to my work trailers – for when we're onsite. It's not pretty and it's really only meant to provide a bit of extra space, but it's handy. I could exchange your stairs for that set." He walked closer then glanced at her. "With a sheet of plywood on top of the railing you'd have a workspace. Not pretty but..."

  Waving her arms around the area, she pointed out, "Do you see anything pretty here? The conditions are rough but our equipment is top notch."

  His face lit with understanding. "That's all that counts. The job isn't nice to begin with so get in, get it done, and then get out, right?"

  She smiled. "Right."

  His gaze stayed on her face longer than necessary.

  She flushed at the naked appreciation revealed in his gaze. It had been a long time since she'd seen that kind of look in a man's eyes. She kinda liked it. Actually she liked it a lot. A shy smile slipped out.

  His gaze deepened, warmed. After a long moment, he cleared his throat. "You should make sure you get out for a walk everyday too. Being inside with poor light like that, well..." He frowned at the dim light showing from the doorway of the trailer.

  "Thanks, Dad."

  Her teasing tone wiped the frown off his face. He laughed. "Ouch. I guess I deserved that, didn't I?"

  "Maybe." She enjoyed the bantering. "Well maybe not. You are closer to my brother in age."

  "Well thanks for small blessings." He studied her face. "I tell you what; I'll forgive you if you let me buy you a coffee."

  She felt her face warm. Inside she was delighted at both the invitation and the idea of a fresh brewed java. "Coffee? Is there a place to get a decent cup?" Maybe staying here for three months wouldn't be such a hardship after all. Her smile brightened.

  "Ahhh. There is if you know where to find it. It would be my pleasure to introduce you to the pleasures of Jacmel."

  She laughed. "I can't wait."

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Jade watched as the truck and trailer, loaded with his machinery, pulled slowly out of the clearing. With the lab trailers parked as close against the rocks as possible, she figured Dane had almost enough room to make the turn in one go. Again, his smooth exit showed his exceptional handling skills.

  She hated to see him leave. At the same time, he confused her, stirred feelings she hadn't expected to feel...at least not here. Not now. The competent air he projected was seductive. That wasn't unusual, power in all forms attracted her. A year ago she'd lost her own power. She was determined to make this trip work. To regain her power. To regain herself. To regain her soul.

  Dane seemed understated, simple, exuded quiet control – a man to have in a tight corner. A man who wouldn't walk out and leave someone hurting.

  The opposite of her fiancé.

  Ex-fiancé. She doubted Dane would have trouble making simple decisions in life. Like what to have on a pizza or where to go for a special meal. Her ex would whine for hours when she brought him in on the little decisions. However when she dared to have an opinion on large things, like the type of vehicle she'd like to buy – watch out. He'd thrown a hissy fit over that and stomped her choice into the ground. She'd shelved the decision on vehicles . Good thing…considering.

  She knew her brother hadn't been impressed with her choice of partner and thankfully, he hadn't dared to comment when that same partner bolted.

  Her mental state wouldn't have withstood the criticism from outside herself.

  How had so much changed in a week? She now sat out in the countryside of Haiti – a place she'd sworn she'd never return to – was active in a job she also thought she'd never have accepted, and had actually studied the muscular butt of one of the most attractive men she'd come across in weeks – make that months. On top of all that, she realized she hadn't cried since leaving home.

  It was hard to admit, but she'd been so ensconced in her private prison, she hadn't realized that the prison had been a safety net to stop her from stepping back into the real world. She had needed that time...in the beginning. But she'd been more than capable of moving on months ago. Instead she'd chosen to stay a prisoner in her own shell rather than face the real world. How long would she have stayed there, if not for Duncan and this job?

  She returned inside to continue her work with the adult male currently on her table. Meg had taken DNA samples earlier, while Jade did dental impressions. The body had been checked and charted, photos taken. This skeleton was complete. The victim had been wearing socks, heavy in nylon, encased in runners of some synthetic material that had helped hold the feet together. This male was young, maybe nineteen or twenty. He'd suffered a break to his right arm a long time ago.

  Jade recorded everything she could see to identify him. There were a few personal effects found near the remains that would go down on his chart but would also be entered into a main database in case they weren't his. The skeletons were so fragile rings fell off fingers and the contents of the pockets could have fallen through to the body below as the material holding them decomposed.

  He'd had no wallet, watch, keys, cell phone or MP3 player. Then again, most bodies had been stripped of anything useful. She'd seen that on her first visit. Pillaging had been rampant.

  Straightening, she reached for her checklist and marked off the last few items. Everything would help family members when they were trying to recall identifying marks and characteristics of loved ones.

  As she slowly packed the remains back into the black bag, she carefully checked the bones for other breaks or marks she might have missed the first time and added those to the chart. Once everything was back in the bag lying on the cart, she rolled it over to the door for safe keeping until someone else came to help move it to the reefer.

  In this way, she could operate on her own for a long time.

  She had a second bag ready and waiting on the other side of her table. After opening the bag wide, she pulled the ends of it down over the stretcher sides and started laying out the bones of a small girl on her table. She grabbed a new numbered checklist and wrote that same number in white permanent marker at the top of the body bag.

  And started anew.

  It wasn't just a slow job. She'd also call it a careful one, particularly when she could be looking at one of the three people destined to return to Seattle. A child's skeleton lay in front of her, the bone clean and bare.

  She quickly determined the child was female and the skeleton was relatively complete. She'd been wearing a sundress in a red to orange color. Jade grabbed a magnifying glass and used it to identify stars on the material. She made a notation of it, added a quick sketch to her page before beginning the slow job of cataloguing the details of the child. Her left leg was broken, most likely as a result of the earthquake, and her skull showed a small fracture on the left side. Jade spent the next hour learning every detail she could from the small skeleton. There was a piece of plastic between the largest toes on the one right foot and not on the other. The best deduction based on the bright blue color was the child had been wearing flip-flops at the time of her death. Testing for details wasn't an issue on this
job. No money. No time. No need.

  Footsteps approaching the open door were followed by Meg's cheerful voice. "Hey, how's the work going?"

  Jade smiled at her. "It's moving. Not too quickly; I'm trying to be really thorough so I won't have to do this twice."

  "I hear you there. The smell isn't too bad in here." Meg dropped her purse over by Jade's on the corner of the counter. Her light sweater was dumped on top. "Have you done the dental impression?"

  "Nope." Jade looked down at the body on her table. "That's next."

  Scooping up gloves on her way, Meg walked toward her, her work boots clumping on the thin floor. "Right. Then I'll work on the DNA while you do that. Is the rest done on this one?"

  "No." Jade reached for the silicone then walked over and made the dental impression. "I'm not sure why we're doing dental. How many of the kids here would have been to dentists?"

  "Lots of them. Especially our girl. She had X-rays done when she visited her grandpa last time. They'll be used to confirm identity."

  "Makes sense." The two women worked together until each finished the job at hand.

  Jade grabbed her checklist for the little girl and marked off the completed steps. "Okay, she's done too." Writing out a toe tag, she attached it with an elastic band around the bottom of the small tibia and zipped the bag closed. She'd deliberately placed the bones at the top end of the bag and rolled the excess plastic up at the bottom. Working with bags was different than with boxes. When she could, she laid out the remains properly and folded the spare plastic under. It felt better to her. More respectful. Plus this allowed for immediate visual confirmation of a child.

  Not everyone's system…but this worked for her.

  Meg gestured to the body bag. "Not using toes?"

  Grabbing the cart, Jade pushed the stretcher toward the door. "Not on the kids, too small. Leg bones are easier."

  Meg walked behind her. "Let's move her first."

  Lifting gently, they transferred the two sets of processed remains to the reefer truck. Inside the truck, they shifted the little girl first. Jade had added a simple system to let them know, without opening bags or searching for charts, that this was a female child. They were going to try and keep females on one side and males on the other, with children separated off as much as they could – given they didn't know how the population would break down into each demographic until they were done. Lifting the second body bag, they placed it on the male side of the refrigerator truck.

  Like everything here, their system had to be flexible. The conditions were rough and they didn't have the amenities they'd like to have. As Jade checked her marking system to make sure it conformed, she asked Meg, "How are the men doing?"

  "Dr. Mike is ranting that he needs to get into the labs but he's been busy securing more equipment for us. Bruce and Susan have been in town all day, and Stephan and Wilson were at the site, shoveling to remove more of the top layer."

  "Good. Stephen's going to be doing the database too, isn't he?" Jade was quite good with databases. In fact, she half expected those skills to be called into service soon.

  Meg frowned, brushing a hand through her curls. "Hmmm." She rearranged the body bags until she was happy with them. "Are you ready? We can take one back now, if you want."

  Jade looked at her watch. "When, what and how are we getting lunch today?"

  "I think there were supposed to be bagged lunches here. If there isn't any food, I can bring something back for you when I run the morning's samples to the refrigerator Bruce had delivered to the hotel.

  They checked but couldn't find anything edible on site. Once Jade realized it would be at least an hour before she could eat, she suggested, "Let's move another body bag into the lab. I'll keep working until you come back to feed me." She patted her tummy, a big grin on her face.

  Meg shook her head. "You and your stomach."

  Jade's flashed her big grin again. "Hey, I lost a ton of weight when I was here last time. I can't afford to lose any more."

  "I'll say. You're too thin now. Are you sure you don't have worms?"

  The discussion degenerated from there as they laughed and teased each other. But they transferred another bag onto Jade's table using the portable stretchers. Right now, it looked like the reefer truck system might work out fine.

  Stephen and Wilson had taken over looking after the reefer trucks – with a maintenance guy at the end of the phone should they have trouble. There was a backup generator large enough to handle any issues, should a problem arise. On top of their temperature concerns, condensation was becoming a problem.

  As she walked out, Jade checked the temperature gauge outside the reefer truck. It was normal. Good thing, considering the daytime temperature of Haiti. She frowned. "Have to make sure we keep an eye on the temperature."

  Meg stepped over. "True. But it's fine now."

  They returned to the lab. "If you want to grab those samples, I'll get to work on the next one."

  "What you mean is I should go grab you lunch. The samples could stay here a little longer for all you care." Meg shook her head. "As if I don't get your ploy."

  "I imagine Stephen and Wilson have to be starving, too?"

  "Not likely. You're the only one starving around here." She looked toward the gravesite. "I suppose I should check with them." She shook her head. "Ten years of post secondary, another eight years of valuable experience and I'm doing lunch runs."

  Jade laughed. "And just think of the wage you're pulling in to do them."

  "Good point." Meg strode down the path, her tall slim frame disappearing quickly out of sight.

  Jade turned back to her lab, wishing they had the databases set up already. Database work was Stephen's domain. Still, she had to write and enter each chart and she found she missed her email access out here. The computers with Internet were at the hotel. She'd seriously considered upgrading her electronics before leaving Portland and then decided that the reception could be hit-or-miss on location, so had decided not to bother.

  Frowning, she stood at the door to the lab and surveyed the long narrow room. The room would do fine for the now. Just as her return to Haiti was working out fine.

  Surprisingly.

  She'd been busy enough that she hadn't had to worry about depression or grief overwhelming her. The team had been overwhelmingly accepting. Jade no longer worried about her placement here. She belonged. This had been the right decision. If she'd realized a change in focus would allow her to heal, she might not have wasted the last six months of her life.

  Jade grinned. She missed Duncan. She'd make time to send him a long email tonight. He had to be worrying about her. She'd come a long way toward recovery. Sure there'd been some back and forth with emotions. They could flare at the odd times – but she was fine right now.

  He deserved to know that.

  ***

  Emile had called in sick for work today and damn near shit his pants when Dane pulled in at the gravesite. Damn good thing he'd hidden behind the trees close to his father's cabin. This end of the property was heavier in vegetation than the rest, being part of the original plantation. He'd planned on just checking out the place, seeing what they were doing.

  He'd spied two men working on the grave with shovels. He shuddered. There's no way he'd be doing that job.

  Then he'd seen the tall brunette drive off, leaving the little blonde to work all alone in a small trailer with only one door.

  Alone. In Haiti – where the normal trappings of civilization had been stripped clean and animal instincts laid bare by destruction. Sure some of those trappings had been quickly replaced, but only by some. Others had reacted wildly to the chaos – like during war times – raping the women they could and killing others over food. Life had gone animalistic in those first few weeks. They'd calmed down some – actually a lot. But that didn't mean any of the men
had forgotten that feeling of being what they truly were. Predators.

  Leaving young, pretty white women alone and unprotected, now that was asking for those predatory instincts to go on a rampage all over again.

  From what he'd seen, it looked like Dane had his eyes on the little one. He'd watched the two of them when they were talking outside the trailer. The little one was skittish, but Dane was making all the right moves, moving slowly, staking his claim.

  He could appreciate that. Besides Dane was the boss. He should have first pick.

  That left the tall one for him.

  He couldn't help himself; he licked his lips and watched as she walked along the path and clambered over the rocks to where the two men were shoveling. Both greeted her as he'd hoped. Just casually friendly. Good. No sign of propriety ownership. Idiots. They worked beside two single women and hadn't he seen a third the other day? He cast his mind back, sure he'd seen a darker-haired woman with them too. Although, he didn't know that any were single. Not that it mattered for his purposes.

  Honestly, if a man couldn't protect what was his, then he deserved to lose it.

  And the woman? Well, according to his father, she didn't get to have a say in the matter.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The next morning, Jade decided there was no use putting it off any longer. She needed to work on their 'prisoner girl.' The authorities had come, had a long talk with Dr. Mike, taken a few notes and pictures and then left.

  At that point, the woman had been removed from the grave as carefully as glass slivers from skin. Jade had documented every step, taken photos at each stage. It was only right she continue the job. She knew how to follow procedures but she wasn't a forensic anthropologist like Dr. Mike. Someone told her he'd also worked for a dozen years as Chief Medical Examiner in Dallas. She doubted there was much he hadn't seen in his career.

  Taking a deep breath, she pulled the cart over to her worktable and gently unzipped the body bag. The remains had been wrapped in something at one time – a sheet maybe. There was almost nothing left now.