DEATH (The Justice Cycle Book 1) by J Kiefer (best classic books to read TXT) 📗

down and slumped into the chair at the kitchen table. How could this be happening? What a nightmare. One day everything was fine, and then, poof. In one fell swoop, it was all gone. It was amazing how your entire life could be thrown into complete and utter chaos in one moment’s time.

The phone rang again, startling him out of his lethargy. He quickly picked it up, hoping it was Jasmine. It was Dana, however, and he did not try to hide his disappointment.

“Jared?”

“Yeah,” he responded gloomily. “What’s up?”

“Are you up and around?”

“I just woke up,” he replied with a yawn. “Is something wrong?”

She did not respond immediately, and he could hear her talking to someone else in the background. When she returned to their conversation, she sounded tired and a bit distraught. “Yeah, we got another one on our hands, and the captain wants you here ASAP.”

“Another what on our hands?” he asked. “Can’t you handle it on your own just for today?”

“Jared, get your head out of the gloomy cloud it’s trapped in and listen to me for two seconds,” she snapped. “We have another dead girl on our hands, and the FBI has shown up. Since we were the presiding detectives on the other case, the captain wants us both here at the crime scene to assist them in any way necessary.”

“Oh man!” he said excitedly, his own problems beginning to seem small in the light of what Dana had just said. “They think we have a serial killer on our hands, don’t they?”

“The FBI being here is a good indication, don’t you think? We can discuss the details when you get here. Just hurry, okay?”

“I will,” he said, getting up from the table and grabbing a piece of paper and pen. “Where are you right now?”

“Twenty-One Falkirk Ave. Do you know where that is?”

“The name sounds familiar.” He frowned in thought. “I’m pretty sure it’s in our jurisdiction.”

“Just on the edge of it. It’s not too far from the Number Six restaurant.”

Jared’s face went pale when he remembered why that street sounded so familiar to him. That was the name of the street he had crossed on his little adventure last night. He was surprised that he remembered it since he had only glanced at the sign once. He could see the sign in his mind as clearly as if he were looking right at it.

“Are you still there?”

“Yeah,” he stammered, deciding not to tell Dana until after he had a chance to think it over. “What was the time of death?”

“They are not sure yet,” she said. “The crime scene was only just recently secured, and the medical examiner has not yet looked at the body.”

“All right. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes or so.”

“Okay, see you then,” she said and hung up.

His head swooned, so he reached out and grabbed the table using it to steady himself. Maybe if he hadn’t been so preoccupied with his own worries, he might have been able to help that girl. Of course, he was not sure of what time he had been there. But the knowledge that he might have been able to save her would probably haunt him for the rest of his life.

Jared was still dressed from the night before, so he decided to skip going to his apartment to change before heading directly to the murder site. As soon as he had gotten down the stairs and opened the door to leave, he remembered that he had left his car at the Number Six.

Gritting his teeth, he rushed to the stairs and called up to his brother but received no response. He called again and received the same result, so he decided to go find Steve and wake him up. Upon reaching the guestroom, he found it empty and the bed made. A note was lying on the nightstand and he picked it up and quickly scanned it.

The note was from Steve. It said that he had left early to do some errands and that he would be at Mom and Dad’s later in the day if Jared wanted to see him before he returned to the city. He crumpled the note and threw it into a corner.

“Well, I guess I am going to have to call an Uber,” he grumbled as he stomped back down the stairs.

Jared went back into the kitchen, and upon realizing again that he had left his cell in his car, picked up Dana’s phone and called a taxi instead. Before long, a beat-up old station wagon painted yellow with a large sign that said “Yellow Cab” on it pulled up in front of the house. He jumped in and had the driver take him to the Number Six restaurant to retrieve his abandoned car.

When they had arrived, he grimaced as he handed more money than he had wanted to the cabby. It was a bit chilly this morning so the first thing he did after getting in his car was put on his black coat. He started up the engine and blew on his hands as he waited for the car to warm.

Jared knew it was a long shot, but he checked his cell phone to see if Jasmine had left him a message. Just as he suspected, she had not, and he tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, disgusted. It bounced twice and then dropped down into the crevice between the seat and door. He ignored it, too annoyed to care, and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

Jared reached the area around Falkirk Ave forty-five minutes after his conversation with Dana. He had to park a couple blocks away, thanks to the usual mob of bystanders and journalists gathered there like vultures.

Hurrying, he fought his way through the dense crowd to the taped off area at the corner where he’d met Steve. The officer on watch, an old veteran with short gray hair and a bushy mustache, was a close friend of his