Fatal Intimacies (Romantic Suspense) Read Free Page A

shock. She closed her eyes and then a thought hit her.
    That couldn’t have been a real call. It had to have been Sarah, or maybe even Michelle. She was always fighting for attention. Maybe she thought this would be funny? Jessica picked up her phone and googled the Seattle PD’s homicide division and their phone number. She dialed and asked for detective Thomas Garcia.
    “I’m sorry, Detective Garcia is out on a call. Would you like his voicemail?”
    “Um, no. Thank you.”
    She hung up. Laying her head down on the desk , she wanted to cry. To get it over with now and get all that emotion out so that it wouldn’t be inside her anymore. But she couldn’t. It just sat in her belly and in her throat and wouldn’t let go.
    Jessica rose and went out to the front room. The kids were watching some show with a dog puppet on the Disney channel. She sat next to them, staring blankly at the screen.

5
     
     
     
     
    Jessica sat on the porch with the tea cup lightly burning her fingertips. She took a sip and stared out into the street. Sarah sat next to her. To her credit, she had come over, made the tea, and sat out here with her without saying a word.
    “You’re waiting for me to talk,” Jessica said. “But I don’t have anything to say.”
    “I only met Michelle once. She was… spunky.”
    “That’s one word for it. She was reckless. She would walk into a party and strangers would give her drugs and she’d take all of them. Not one or two hits. She’d take everything that was offered to her. My parents thought she would become a junkie.”
    “Was she?”
    She shook her head and took a sip of the tea. “I don’t think so. We hadn’t talked for almost two years, so who knows for sure.”
    “Why didn’t you talk?”
    “I don’t know. It just felt like we weren’t clicking. Like we tolerated each other but we couldn’t see eye-to-eye on anything. The last time I spoke with her, we got into a fight. I don’t even remember what it was over now.”
    Sarah thought a moment and then took a deep breath. “Did you call your parents?”
    “Not yet. I don’t even know what I’m going to say to them.”
    “Tell them the truth.”
    “I don’t know the truth. I called and spoke with another detective and they asked me a bunch of questions, but they didn’t really have any information for me. They don’t know why she was killed.” She placed the tea down on the table next to her. “Do you want to know the worst part , Sarah? I know I should be devastated. She was my only sister. We should have been closer than anybody. But I don’t feel anything. I’m just numb.”
    “It’ll come. Our emotions control us, Jessica. And they work at their own pace. It’ll come when it’s ready. You loved her.”
    “I feel bad that I’m not taking this harder.”
    She placed her hand over Jessica’s. “It’ll come, trust me.” She leaned back in the seat. “So what are you gonna do? Are you going out there?”
    She shook her head. “She’s already gone. I don’t know what that would do. Besides, who would I leave Jacob and Ruth with?”
    “They can stay with me.”
    “No, foster care rules are pretty strict. They have to stay with another state approved foster family if I’m out of the state.”
    “So they’ll be fine. And I’ll check up on them. I think you need to go out there, Jess.” She rose. “I’ve gotta go. Meeting Ty at the Circle Lounge. Call me later?”
    “Sure. Thanks, Sarah.”
    When she was gone, Jessica went for a walk. The neighborhood she lived in was upscale with only a few minor drawbacks. One was the family that lived across the street from her. They were a middle aged couple that had been married too young in life. They fought at all hours and everyone in the neighborhood could hear them. The police had been called at least half a dozen times. More than once, Jessica had seen the husband being dragged out in handcuffs. Despite the black eyes and mysterious bruises, the woman never