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

she could sink into the ground and disappear, and he helped her to her feet.

After seeing the dead body, Johansson had taken off to get someone to secure the area. He returned shortly with half a dozen local blues and soon had the entire area taped off.

“Are you okay?” Jared asked her.

“Yeah, fine,” she replied, disgusted at herself.

“Sorry. I’ve just never seen you so uptight before.”

“I know,” she grunted. “I don’t know why it freaked me out like that. Just took me by surprise, is all.”

Johansson walked over to the two after he had made sure that everything was in order. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just spooked,” she replied with a forced smile.

“It’s very strange that no one noticed the body lying here,” Jared said.

“It’s just like everything else that is linked with this guy, bizarre!” Johansson murmured. “It’s like these people were murdered by a ghost or something.”

Jared shook his head in acknowledgment but said nothing. Dana was suddenly very aware of the locket in her hands, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, she decided to keep it hidden from the others. She dropped it into her pocket before either of them noticed it.

She stretched and yawned. “There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, so if you don’t mind, I think I’ll get back to it.”

“You two both look exhausted,” Johansson said before she had a chance to leave. “I can handle it from here if you two want to take a break or something.”

Dana and Jared exchanged glances and he smiled at her. She returned his smile weakly and he reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

“That would be great,” he said. “Give us about an hour and we will be back here to help you clean things up.”

“No problem, take as long as you need.”

The three parted company, but none of them could shake the uneasy feeling that haunted them. Even though homicide was their job, they somehow knew that this time it was different.

Thirteen

The rest of the day went off without a hitch and Jared soon found himself parked out in front of his parent’s house, exhausted and drained. He had made sure that Dana arrived home safely and was now able to relax.

The small town of Greene, where his parents lived, had not changed at all in the years they had resided here. There was still only one grocery store, and in true New York fashion, four different pizza places. Greene was known for its antiques, and people came from all over to shop in the little stores that lined the small downtown area.

There was one large factory that provided most of the economic stability in the town and gave the people jobs and the few retail stores customers. Greene was small town America at its best, the type of community you’d search for when looking for a place to settle down and raise a family.

Like most of upstate New York, Greene abounded with Colonial and Revolutionary War history. It was said that General Nathaniel Greene of the Continental Army had founded the town during the American Revolution, and the town was named after him. One of the small houses at the end of his parent’s street had once been the residence of the Iroquois princess Go Won Go.

It was near impossible to walk down the small streets of Greene, New York, and not find some government marker designating a historical location. Jared, being an avid history lover and fancying himself a novice historian, admired the area for its vast historical richness.

Yesterday he had vehemently rejected the notion of coming here, and he didn’t know why. His parents’ house had always been a place of refuge, and now that he was here, the familiar feelings of warmth and security flooded back.

The Caddret house was white with black shutters, of average size with a small garage to its left and a pool in the backyard. Like many American yards, the Caddrets’ was in desperate need of mowing, but otherwise, everything looked homey and inviting. It seemed to Jared that the yard was always like this. Now that the two brothers had grown and left the house, no one kept up with the usual lawn care. Pastor Caddret never seemed to have enough time.

He walked up to the small front porch, running his hands along the black ironwork rails. He winced as the porch light suddenly came on when he got close enough to trip the motion detector. Not wanting to go in just yet, he closed his eyes and stood motionless on the steps, allowing the familiarity of it to wash over him.

The familiar smells of his mother’s cooking hit his senses and his stomach growled. He knew his mom would most likely have prepared a feast in honor of his brother’s unexpected visit, but despite his stomach’s protests, he didn’t feel like eating. So instead of going in, he sat down on the concrete steps.

He couldn’t count how many times he’d sat in this very spot contemplating the universe’s mysteries. This house was filled with many such memories, mostly good, and he couldn’t help feeling like he was a child again.

It was strange that being here affected him so much. The last time he had felt this way was when he’d left for college. They say that you can never go back again to the innocence of youth, that once a person has left it behind, it’s gone forever. The profession he had chosen had certainly taught him that if it had taught him anything at all.

“Rough day?” a familiar voice asked, startling him out of his reverie.

He jumped and turned, squinting into the shadows to search for his brother, but saw nothing. Jared realized that he had been sitting outside his parents’ front door for quite some time. The motion detector, which automatically turned the porch light on, had apparently shut off again due to his inactivity. But the soft gentle glow of