DEATH (The Justice Cycle Book 1) J Kiefer (ebook reader .txt) 📖

and guiding her back toward the precinct. “Of course, my new nickname for you is going to be Klepto.”

She stuck an elbow in his ribs. “Like heck it is.”

“Oh, you are never living this down, partner,” he said with a mischievous grin.

As the two detectives slowly walked away from the coffee shop, they were unaware of the man scrutinizing them from the shadows. He chuckled to himself, ignoring the people passing by.

“So Tzedakah has already chosen another bearer,” he said, “and so soon after the death of the Shogun. Well, he always was a fickle master, but to have chosen the detective, now that is an interesting development, no? Perhaps we shall stay around for a while and see how this develops. Maybe I will have the pleasure of killing two bearers before my time is done.”

The Musketeer smiled a wicked smile and preened his mustache as he watched the two detectives. When they were gone, he sighed. “I think I will get a croissant, or at least what passes for one in this century,” he lamented and faded into the busy crowd of people around him.

Eighteen

Upon arriving back at the precinct, Dana and Jared were met immediately by Agent Johansson. He was leaning up against the wall directly next to the front door, smoking a cigarette. He smiled and waved them over exhaling through his nose as he did. He casually flicked his cigarette away as they approached.

“Crazy day, huh?” he asked with a slight groan. “It’s not every day you get a serial killer and a missing corpse all in one swoop.”

Jared nodded and Dana casually avoided Johansson’s gaze. She noticed Johansson glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, and she tensed up a bit, clearing her throat. He grunted but gave no other indication that he had noticed the anxiety she was trying to hide.

“Well, my fellow gumshoes, the Bureau has officially come up with squat. It’s like the guy simply popped into existence to die and then, bam, he’s gone again. Honestly, it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. Sucks too because this was the first real possible clue that this bastard left behind. Every other victim has been a woman, and upon further investigation, there’s always evidence of the killer stalking them before he finally murdered them. But this guy, he was definitely more of a wrong place at the wrong time kind of killing.”

“Well, hopefully, the CSI guys can find something that will help break this case open,” Jared replied. He yawned and his hand drifted to his pocket and to the locket he had hidden there. Dana noticed the movement and her face went pale. Jared was going to tell Johansson about the locket before he had time to secretly put it in with the other evidence they had collected.

Jared removed his hand from his pocket and she visibly relaxed. No, he wouldn’t do that to her, and she knew it. Regardless of whether he felt the same way she did, he was still her partner, and he would not betray her trust that way. She knew, however, that someone had to tell Johansson about the locket, even if it got her into trouble. Particularly if the locket was the key to this case.

“We have some new evidence,” she blurted.

She blushed and Jared stared at her incredulously.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Just show him already!” she snapped. “We need to just get everything out and on the table in order to get this guy before he ruins someone else’s life. And besides, it was eating me up, anyway, and you know full well I would not have made it more than a few more minutes before I confessed.”

Johansson smiled. “You two are like a friggin’ TV show over here. Seriously, have I stepped into prime time or something? Anyway, all drama aside, let me see what you got.”

“Okay, but just so you know,” Jared said watching Dana out of the corner of his eye, “I forgot to log something in yesterday. No one was trying to hide anything from you or anything like that, it was just a brain fart on my part.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Dana huffed. “Just show him the stupid locket already.”

Jared scowled at her and removed the locket from his pocket and held it out for Johansson to see. Johansson reached out to take it from him, but Jared flinched back. The FBI agent noticed the movement but reached out and took the locket.

For some strange reason, everything inside Jared was screaming for him not to let Johansson take the locket. It took every ounce of discipline he had to not snatch it back from the man before he’d had a chance to examine it.

The agent scrutinized the small piece of jewelry curiously. He flipped it over a few times, taking in every inch of detail, before finally pushing the small button and opening it to reveal the portrait inside. He stared at the small faded picture.

“This is our missing John Doe.”

“Yes. That’s why we thought it might be the missing piece of the puzzle that could break this case open for us,” Dana said.

“I am not going to ask why this is not in evidence right now,” he said, his brow furrowed, “but from now on, no more surprises, okay?”

Both detectives nodded.

“I have decided to trust you here, and I need to know that you two are going to afford me that same level of trust. If not, then you two can go back to your desks, and I will find some other schlep that will. Got that?”

They both nodded again.

“Okay. Now that we have got that unpleasantness out of the way, what do you two think about this little trinket you found?”

“Well,” Jared said, his eyes still fixated on the locket, “it is definitely a picture of our missing victim and we thought that maybe it could help us to identify him. We assume that the two children that