Jamie Garrett - Riley Reid 01 - Jesters and Junkies Read Free Page B

me. In the picture was a handsome young man with short blonde hair and brown eyes. He had one arm around a shorter female with long brown hair and big grey eyes. Both were in swimsuits and tanned. It must’ve been taken at the beach. There was so much joy in it.
    “Things continued to go well. Dennis stayed clean. He got a job delivering packages. Then, a couple of months ago, he told us that Holly was pregnant.” Mrs. Clark started to cry. “We were so happy for him. It really felt like everything was going right, you know? All the drugs and the stealing were behind us. Then, two weeks ago, he was found outside of Saint Mercy.” The crying got more intense. “The doctors said he was dead before he even got there. They said he OD’d.”
    “On heroin?”
    Mrs. Clark nodded.
    “And what did the police say?”
    “They told us that it was a clear-cut case of accidental suicide. There were no signs of foul play.” Grief turned to anger on Mrs. Clark’s face and in her voice.
    “You don’t believe that he did it to himself?” I knew the answer, but I asked anyway.
    “My boy didn’t kill himself, accident or otherwise. He had so much to live for, so much to look forward to. It just … it makes no sense.”
    I closed my notepad. “Okay, Mrs. Clark. I’ll take the case.”
    Mrs. Clarke looked surprised. She had every reason to be. Most people would assume that the police were right in this case. But there was something in her eyes, in her voice and, yes, in her tears, that convinced me it was worth looking into.

Home Away from Home
     
    I’m very familiar with the Stone Harbor Police Station. I say “the” because there is only one station in the small town. It was a small brick building with only enough room for two holding cells and a handful of desks. The only office belonged to Police Chief Mark Owens.
    After Detective Richard Greyson took me in, I spent a lot of time in the Stone Harbor Police Station. It wasn’t because I did anything wrong. Perhaps it was the feeling of safety within those old sturdy walls. Perhaps it was the staff, who always treated me well. Perhaps I was just a weird kid.
    When I walked in that evening, I was greeted by the motherly voice of Loretta Dawson. She was sitting behind her desk in front of the chief’s office. Loretta was a kind, seemingly ageless black woman. Her personality was such that I couldn’t help but love her.
    “How you doing, baby?” asked Loretta as I entered through the glass front doors.
    “Can’t complain. You?”
    “I could complain for days. But who’d listen?”
    I smiled at Loretta. “Is the chief in?”
    “No, he went home for the day. You need something?”
    “Not from him. Is Sam here?”
    Loretta gave me a wry smile. “He’s around here somewhere.”
    I continued through the station. It was not a fancy place. The walls were painted off-white and topped by rows of deteriorating drop ceiling tiles. I’d always suspected that above those tiles was insulation made of asbestos. Fluorescent lighting lit up the building and gave everyone an unflattering glow.
    There were only twenty officers employed by the county of Stone Harbor. One of the newer hires, Officer Amy Paxton, met eyes with me as I searched among the desks for Sam Greyson.
    “What kind of trouble are you getting into, Riley?” asked Amy. It was hard to tell with her sitting down, but Amy was a small woman. She was no bigger than I am. And I’m only five foot six on my best day. What she lacked in size, she made up for in attitude.
    “Solving your guys’ cases, as usual,” I joked.
    Amy laughed. As hard as she may have tried to hide it with her short haircut and intimidating personality; when Amy laughed you could see the lovely young woman underneath.
    I kept looking for Sam. He wasn’t in the main area of the station. I would have seen him. The six foot two detective stood out. Not only was he tall but also in great shape. At thirty-five, only four years older then I was,