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

their territory and might take offense at her intrusion into their investigation. Even though she was a police officer, she couldn’t expect them to allow her to look at any evidence they may have collected from the scene.

If she was going to do this, she needed to find a way around all the bureaucratic red tape. Since she had turned on her phone, it had blown up with missed calls and new messages and texts. Her most recent voicemail was from… Agent Johansson. What was he calling her about? Maybe he’d found out something about the family in the locket picture. She cued up the voice mail and put the phone on speaker.

“Hey, Dana. I just wanted to call and see how you are doing. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I wanted to give my condolences and let you know that if you ever need anything, I am there. Anything, that is, except the truth about who really killed JFK. That I just can’t tell you about.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I was sorry. Jared was a good man. Well, take care of yourself, and hopefully, we will run into each other again. Oh, wait, before I go, we got nothing on that John Doe you guys got up there. It was a dead end. Looks like he was an immigrant or tourist or something who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, you take care of yourself, Dana.”

Well, the John Doe was a dead end. That was not surprising with all of the people immigrating to the US of late. It was nearly impossible for the government to keep track of everyone coming in, and a lot of those people slipped through the cracks, with no electronic or paper trail. He most likely belonged to someone who was afraid to come forward and claim him due to their fear of being detained or deported.

Wait a minute, she thought. Johansson worked for the FBI. If anyone could get her around the proverbial red tape, it was him. He might even have information about the case the NYPD did not. The incident was, after all, very similar to the killings by the Eastside Stalker. Maybe it had been red-flagged by the FBI and he was already on it. If so, then he would have access to the crime scene and any evidence discovered. Of course, he’d not mentioned anything about the case in his message, so maybe she was just grasping at straws. But what did she have to lose by asking?

She ignored the countless text and messages from condolence givers and pulled up Johansson’s contact information. Just as she was about to dial the number, her phone buzzed to life with an incoming call.

It was her captain.

Curses.

He knew she was still on leave, so why was he bothering her? She almost ignored it, but then thought he wouldn’t have contacted her during leave unless it was important.

“Hello, Captain, what can I do for you?” she asked.

“Dana,” the man said in his deep baritone voice. “Sorry to bother you during your time of grief, but I have a case that I thought you might want to look into.”

She gritted her teeth. It took everything in her not to snap at the man. She did not need this right now. She needed to talk to Johansson and get to the city as soon as possible. The longer she waited, the colder the case would get. “I am sorry, Captain, but I am very busy. Perhaps you can give it to Handley and Winder instead.”

“Dana,” he said, “I am not telling you to come in. I wanted to give you the opportunity to come in.”

Dana closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her free hand. “What could possibly be so important about this case that would make me want to come in right now?”

“The body of a young woman was found in her apartment this evening by a maintenance worker. The apartment where she lived was the unit directly across from Jared’s.”

Dana was stunned into silence. What did he just say?

“They have not moved the body yet, but the officers on the scene said, by the look of the body she has probably been dead for quite some time. In fact, the only reason she was found at all was that the maintenance man was responding to a complaint about a bad smell. Of course, he cannot be ruled out as a suspect, but the management has backed him up on why he was in the apartment. I thought you might want to be in on this case since it hits so close to home. I don’t think it is related to what happened to Jared, but with all of the homicides lately, you never know.”

Dana was already halfway up the stairs. “I will be there as soon as I can. Who is on the scene right now?”

“Officer Small and Hernandez. The medical examiner is on route and should be there momentarily. Do you need the address?”

She threw her phone onto her bed and stripped off her pajamas. “No, I know where it is. Thanks for the heads-up, Captain.”

“Of course. Let me know what you find, and Dana, let me know if you need anything else. We are all here for you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“Any time. I’ll let the officers on the scene know you are on the way and to wait for you before they do anything. Let me know what you find. Bye, now.”

Dana pulled on her shirt and a pair of jeans. She looked at herself in the mirror and realized that she appeared a bit rough. But there was no time for a shower or makeup, so she just threw her hair up in a ponytail, grabbed her phone, and practically ran down the stairs.

What is the world coming to? she thought. Being a homicide detective, she dealt with death on a daily