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

Hands clawed at his clothing, pulling him in every conceivable direction at once as the mob attempted to drag him to the ground. But he managed to stand his ground and he kicked another attacker’s feet out from under him. The man fell backward and was consumed by the horde.

Jared heard a loud crash. Jeremy was shouting. Behind him, the motel door had given way.

Jeremy!

With a flurry of punches, Jared sent his attackers tumbling to the ground like dominoes.

Crashes and grunts came from the broken window of the hotel room as Jeremy fought for his life. Jared turned and ran in the direction of the fighting, but he did not get far before a drone reached out and caught his foot. He went sprawling to the pavement. He hit the ground and flipped himself over, but it was too late.

The drones piled on him grasping at him with hands far stronger than any human. He felt himself being pinned to the ground; his sword hand forced out to the side by three possessed people. They grasped at his fingers, pulling and tugging trying to remove the sword from his grip. As the horde covered him, he could hear Jeremy screaming. He would never get to him in time.

Thirty-Four

It took her about fifteen minutes to arrive at the apartment complex where Jared had lived. As she got out of her car and headed toward the officers at the edge of the crime scene, she wondered if anyone had removed his stuff yet. She’d been so out of it, she didn’t know.

The officer at the edge of the tape saw her coming and he raised it for her as she approached. It was Officer Hernandez. She thanked him for the assist, and his eyes were soft when he looked at her, filled with pity and remorse. Oh, how she hated that look. She headed up to the crime scene as quick as her feet would go.

When she reached the third floor, she was greeted by yet another officer. This one was younger than Officer Hernandez and he did not recognize her at first. He leveled her a stern look. “Sorry, ma’am, but no one is allowed down this hallway unless they are police personnel.”

Barely restraining an eye roll, she mustered up all her professionalism and flashed her badge. “I am Detective Campbell, so I guess that qualifies me as police personnel.”

The officer gazed down at the badge. “Sorry, Detective. You can go through.”

“No problem. Has CSI arrived yet?”

“Yes, ma’am, they are in the apartment waiting for you.”

“Thank you, Officer...” She paused to read the man’s name tag. “Steveson.”

Dana pushed past the man and made her way down the hallway to where the other officers were congregating. As she passed Jared’s door, waves of emotion surged over her. She could imagine that this was all just a bad dream, that Jared could come barreling out of his door carrying a cup of coffee for her and asking about the crime scene. But that would never be.

The door to the crime scene was open. Inside, CSI technicians searched the room for evidence. The smell hit her before she even stepped into the room and she immediately knew why everyone was wearing masks. The stench of death permeated every nook and cranny of the small apartment. She grabbed her mouth to keep from gagging. The girl must have been dead quite some time for the place to smell so bad.

One of the men quickly came over to her and handed her a white dust mask. “Here, take this. It does not completely keep out the smell, but it does help a little.”

She took the small mask and quickly put it over her face. The officer was right about it helping to lessen the strength of the stench of death. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” the man replied. He was a Caucasian man of about forty and of average height with short dark brown hair that had a bit of salt in it. She could not see his entire face, as it was hidden by the mask he wore, but his eyes were bright blue. Since his face was covered, it took her a minute to recognize that he was Dr. Hudson the coroner.

“Doctor Hudson, where is the body?” she asked. “Does it look like a homicide?”

“Yeah, third one tonight actually.”

“Third one?” she asked curiously. “Where were the other two?”

“Across town. It’s been a busy night. Hell, it’s been a busy last few weeks. I feel like I haven’t slept in a month. The other one appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. The clerk was shot and killed, and the young man we think was the robber was found dead outside the store.”

“That’s strange. Does it appear to be gang-related?” she asked as they made their way to the bedroom.

“Not sure. All of the money was still there, so whoever killed him was not interested in the money. He was stabbed by what appears to be a sword or edged weapon of some kind. Detectives Handley and Winder are there. Once the body gets to the morgue, I will examine it more fully. This one here was also stabbed to death.”

“By a sword?” Dana asked incredulously.

“Looks like something smaller, a hunting knife possibly. Of course, I won’t know until I get the body back to the morgue and examine it.”

The stench of the decomposing corpse made it through her mask, and she gagged again.

“You okay?” Doctor Hudson asked.

She waved his question away. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really strong.”

He nodded. “The body has been here for a while. From the rate of decomposition, I would say at least five days, possibly a week.”

Dana approached the small bed. The entire area was covered in dried blood and she could make out quite a few nasty looking wounds on the girl’s body. The young woman was naked and intertwined in the bedsheets as if in