Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Read Free Page B

I’ve been told it’s a pretty brutal murder.”
    “All right,” I answered. “I’ll get out there as soon as I can.”
    “Thank you.”
    After the line went dead, I immediately called my brother and hoped he wasn’t out drinking. Thankfully, he was also asleep. “Jake?” he barely spat out.
    “Clive, get your ass over here,” I quickly shot back. “I’ve been called into work and it’s pretty serious.”
    “How fucking serious could it be?” he asked, grumpy and clearly unhappy he was being disturbed so early.
    “I’ve been called to Cassie’s campus,” I quickly answered. “Get your ass over here, now!”
    There was a short pause. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”
    Clive was actually over at my place in less than three minutes, and I appreciated his hustle. I hadn’t heard from Cassie in over a week, so to be called to her campus was making my heart race a little. Clive could tell and didn’t fuck around, scooting over to my place as quickly as he could. He always crashed on the couch and made pancakes for the girls whenever I was called to work. They loved their uncle and knew he only subbed in when things were tense and required my help. It rarely happened, but I wasn’t going to turn my back on them this time, not when the location of the crime scene was so personal.
    As I drove, the worst case scenario kept flashing through my head: Cassie was dead and I was being called in to identify the body. It was always my worst nightmare, to be the officer on the scene only to find out it was my own girl underneath the black canvas.
    For some reason, my subconscious loved to torment me with the worst possible scenario, ever since the girls had been babies. I’d often had nightmares about leaving the babies on the bus and running after it as it drove away with my kids inside; then, I’d wake up in a pool of sweat. As the girls got older, my dreams became scarier. From getting into a car accident whenever one of them was learning to drive, to coming upon a crime scene and finding that my own child is the victim.
    My brain just wasn’t willing to cut me some slack. I’d been a dad for over 21 years and the girls were alive and well. All fingers and toes were still attached and none of them even sporting a tattoo; so deep down, I had to admit that I must have done something right.
    That never stopped the dreams, though, and I was reminded of them as I drove to the East Campus, hoping that I was not driving towards my worst fear. As I pulled into the main parking lot in front of the Arts building, I could see what the Captain was talking about. There were several cop cars there, lights flashing and people being kept at bay. Reporters, students, and various onlookers wanted to know what was going on. As I pulled in, I could see Flo in the distance talking to a few medics. They were most likely forensics or from the coroner’s office, ready to pick up a fresh body.
    But I got an even bigger surprise, as much to my relief, I saw Cassie waving. She recognized my car and must have had a feeling I’d be here. It was likely that she, and many other students, had all walked over from the dormitories to see what the hell was going on. Once I got out of the car, I walked over to where Cassie was and gave her a big hug. I had feared the worst and it was so good to see her. “What are you doing out here?”
    “I’m with my friends, I’ll be fine,” Cassie answered. “I also thought you might be out here, too. I didn’t want you to panic.”
    Cassie was one smart girl. She knew I would have been panicking on the inside, especially if no one had told me what was really going on. I put a hand through her long hair and smiled. “Stay back and don’t get too close. I want you guys to head back to the dorm in 10 minutes. Understood?”
    “Yes, sir,” she replied with a hint of sarcasm. I could tell she had no intention of listening to a single word I said. She was 21 and living on her own. She called the