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

Seventeen

The two detectives talked casually as they made their way to the small coffee shop just around the corner. Dana sat down at a table outside away from prying eyes and ears, while Jared went in to get their coffees. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what she was going to say.

How in the world was she going to explain everything that had been happening to her? She went over it all again in her head, but every time it sounded even more and more insane. In fact, after her little speech back at the morgue about everything having a rational explanation, how could she give any credibility to her feelings at all?

She was a detective and her whole adult life had been about finding the truth, and that truth was always found in the rational world. Even when she was a kid and her parents had taken her to church, she found it hard to believe in something she could not see and reasonably prove. She would never admit this to Jared, but she was not even sure as an adult that she believed one hundred percent that God existed.

Jared returned with two cups. He placed one down on the table in front of her. She looked up at him and saw the concern on his face and blushed. She was honestly touched by it, even though she wished that it meant more than it did. After all, he had been through over the last forty-eight hours, he was making the effort to be more concerned about her than his own pain.

Jared was the first to break the silence. “So… what’s going on?”

She glanced down at the warm cup in her hands. “Well, I guess there is no good place to start, so I will just rip off the Band-Aid and go right to the bad part. I took something from the crime scene the other day.”

“You did what?” Jared coughed, spilling coffee.

She still couldn’t look him in the eyes, not only because of her guilt but also for fear of her strong feelings for him. “I took something from the crime scene the other day,” she softly said.

“Okay,” he said, calming himself. “What did you take—and better yet, why did you take it?”

“It was a locket. I found it lying beside the Asian man whose body disappeared. As far as why I took it, I have no earthly idea.”

Jared was at a loss. Dana was his rock and the one person that always seemed to make the right decisions. It was simply inconceivable that she could have stolen evidence from a crime scene. Something was seriously wrong, and he had no idea what it was.

Dana mistook his silence for anger. “I really don’t have any memory of doing it, Jar. I am so confused.”

Her eyes pleaded with him for understanding. He was sure she was mistaken. Maybe she had dreamed about taking the locket and was confusing real events with fictional ones. But if that was the case, then more was wrong with her than mere fatigue. That scared him more than a simple act of bad judgment.

He noticed her anxiety growing the longer he stayed silent, so he forced a smile. “All right, just calm down. I am sure there is a rational explanation for this. After all, if you have no memory of taking the locket, then how do you know you took it?”

Her eyes gave way to the fear gripping her inside. “Jared, I know I took it, because I’m wearing it.”

Jared was shocked speechless.

She reached into her blouse and pulled out the small locket. The chain was still around her neck and her hands shook slightly as she held it for him to see. She could no longer hide the fear that was slowly overcoming her resolve. Tears welled in her eyes.

“It gets worse.”

“Really? Worse than theft and tampering with evidence?”

She took a deep breath but still could not calm herself. “Yes.”

Jared heard Dana speaking, but what she was saying was barely registering with him. He could not tear his gaze away from the locket. It was as if the rest of the world had faded away and no longer existed. All that remained was this locket. The red jewel in the center of the locket began to glow ever so slightly, its beauty filling his consciousness. He did not know why, but he desired it. In fact, he desired it more than anything he had ever sought before.

“Jared! Are you listening to me?”

He shook his head and blinked like he was waking up from a dream. “Yeah. Yeah, I was. I was just lost in thought.”

Dana misinterpreted his laps as more melancholy about Jasmine, and that made her even angrier. “Seriously? I am spilling my friggin’ guts here and you are still fixating on that woman! Jasmine is gone, Jared. Gone, and she is not coming back. Get over it already. I am here and I need you.”

Jared’s face looked as if she’d just slapped him. “I am sorry, Dana. I...”

When Dana realized what she had just said and done, she was mortified. “Oh God, Jared. I am so sorry. I am just really frightened. I have no idea what is happening to me. I barely slept last night, and I am so tired and confused.”

Jared smiled and placed his hand on hers. He wanted to be mad at her but seeing her like this drove all the pain and sorrow he had been feeling over the past few days from his heart. It likewise broke the strange grip that the locket seemed to have on him. “No, I’m sorry. You obviously needed me, and I’ve been emotionally lost lately.”

His touch and concern took her breath away for a moment.

“It’s okay.”

“No. No, it’s not. Honestly, I thought it was just the nature of the case that had you so spooked, but now I see that it is something else entirely.”

She shook her