Curl Up and Dye - Liliana Hart Page 0,8

reached out for Hazel, and they all gathered in front of Coil’s truck.

“Listen up,” Coil said to everyone. “This is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. We had two weapons fired. One of the bullets hit its target, but the other could be anywhere. Look for casings, skid marks, skin, or blood. And anything else that we can take as evidence. We’ve got a man with a bullet in him running around somewhere. I want updates on hospitals with anyone who was admitted with a GSW. Let’s get this done before traffic picks up and people start throwing stuff at us.”

While curious motorists crawled by in the opposing lane, Deputy James clicked pics, and the other deputies combed the area. Hank wasn’t optimistic, but he took a second look at a set of skid marks.

“There we go,” Hank said. “I think I’ve got something here. Skid marks.”

“How can you tell?” Agatha asked.

“See the continuous line of rubber left on the road?” Hank pointed.

“Sure,” Agatha said.

“Now see where the line stops for about a foot and then starts up again?”

“Oh,” Agatha said, understanding the space was where the body had gotten stuck.

“Good thing he was dead first,” Hazel said. “Otherwise that would’ve hurt real bad.”

“Okay,” Coil said. “We’ve got a point of origin. Hazel, can you show us the locations of the men and the hearse from here?”

“I’ll try,” she said.

On Hazel’s instructions, Springer laid down markers so everyone could get a clearer picture.

The heat was brutal, and Hank wished he’d thought to bring a bottle of water with him. The pavement was steaming and the scent of asphalt was nauseating. Little spots were dancing in front of his eyes, and he leaned against the truck when his knees started getting weak.

“You okay?” Agatha asked.

“Yeah,” Hank said. “Just hot.”

“Summer hasn’t even started yet,” Agatha said. “That Yankee skin will eventually toughen up.”

“Thanks,” Hank said. “Very helpful.”

“It’s been a long morning,” she said. “You’ll feel better once we get something to eat.”

“Got it,” Lieutenant Rodriguez said. “Hearse skid marks.”

Hank stood upright, and he and Agatha walked to Rodriguez.

“Yikes,” Rodriguez said, “You don’t look so good. I didn’t realize a person could get that pale. Give it another ten years or so, and you’ll get used to the heat.”

“Everyone’s a comedian today,” Hank said. He looked down to give his eyes a break from the bouncing glare of the sun, and something glinted in his periphery. He walked over and saw the brass half buried in the roadside dirt. It was a bullet casing. From the size of it, possibly a 9mm semiautomatic.

“Hank?” Coil called out.

“Yeah?” Hank asked.

“You’ve been staring at the ground a long time. You about to fall over, or did you find buried treasure?”

“Both,” Hank said. “Grab an evidence bag.”

Coil handed him a bottle of water and bent down to look where Hank was pointing.

“Is that a bullet casing?” Coil asked.

“Dollars to donuts,” Hank said. “What are the odds?”

“Maybe our luck is changing,” Coil said. He placed his ink pen inside the brass casing so he wouldn’t contaminate potential fingerprints before dropping it into an evidence bag.

“I got blood, I got blood,” Patsy called out, bouncing in her thick-soled shoes.

“You sure, Pats?” Hank asked.

Patsy put her hands on her hips and glared at Hank. “I know blood when I see it. I took an online class.”

Hank looked down at the spot on the road where Patsy was pointing, and he was pleasantly surprised to see Patsy’s online class had paid off. How it had survived the traffic was a miracle, but so was the fact that his sisters had survived a gunfight with body-snatching outlaws.

“Nice work,” Agatha told Patsy, but Patsy ignored her.

Hank saw Agatha deflate, but he couldn’t say he was surprised. He’d been through this before, but Agatha was innocent to his sisters’ jealousy and pettiness. She didn’t deserve to be treated that way, and it made him angry that Agatha was the one getting hurt in all this. Hank had learned a long time ago that his sisters were what they were. They didn’t want to change. They didn’t want a real family that included all the spouses. They’d even treated their own spouses like outlaws instead of in-laws, and he’d vowed back then not to put up with it.

“Springer,” Coil said. “Let’s get samples of the blood and get it sent over to the lab. And have this casing tested for prints.” He passed over the evidence bag.

“I’m not sure what