I Have a Secret (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Three)

Read I Have a Secret (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Three) for Free Online Page B

Book: Read I Have a Secret (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Three) for Free Online
Authors: Cheryl Bradshaw
It was made on flimsy paper and reminded me of the kind of token gift passed out at banks each year.  On it were a series of various appointments for the month.  Under today’s date there were three words written so small I could hardly make them out.  I leaned over and pretended to stare at a floral arrangement on a pedestal next to the calendar and then snuck a peek at the writing in the square box.  It said: AA 7 p.m. 
    Interesting.
    “You said Rusty was stabbed—once or repeatedly?” I said.   
    “Once in the chest from what I heard.”
    We sat in silence for a moment, then Trista said, “What are you thinking?”
    In my experience, when a person died as a result of being stabbed, the motive was always personal.  The knife created a type of one on one with the victim, and often, that type of attack carried a lot of pent up rage with it.  But, I wasn’t ready to speculate with Trista.    
    “Whoever attacked him had to be precise for him to die from a single wound.  Doug and Rusty were pretty chummy in high school, right?”
    She nodded.  “They played football together, and for a while Rusty dated my best friend.  But after we graduated we didn’t hang out much.”
    “What happened?” I said.
    “Life.  Doug became a family man, and Rusty opened a tattoo shop.  He tried to come around, asked Doug to come to a few poker nights with some of the other guys, but Doug was weird about it.”
    “In what way?” I said.
    “All I know is, he didn’t want anything to do with those guys.”
    Two deaths within days of each other, both men stabbed.  Doug and Rusty may not have been close anymore, but there was definitely a connection—there had to be.
     

 
    The parking lot at Flex It was empty except for a few vehicles and one squad car minus the presence of any officers.  I exited my rental car and was yanked backward by someone who shielded both my eyes with his hands like I was the counter in a game of hide and seek.  
    “Well, well…Sloane Monroe.  You’ve managed to stay away so long I assumed I’d never see you again,” a male voice said.  The voice was rough but had an unmistakable high-pitched squeak that rounded out the end of his sentences.
    “You should remove your hands so I can see who I’m talking to,” I said.
    “Awww, come on.  You don’t recognize my voice?”
    “How’d you know I’d be here?”
    He laughed.  “It’s not like there are millions of people in this town.”
    Beads of sweat beneath his fingers seeped an oily moisture that melded with my skin and spread, and I had the sudden urge to scrub every layer until the layer of grime he transferred peeled off.  He was too close, and I didn’t know how long I could withstand his advances.
    “Seriously, Jesse.  You can let go now.”   
    Most girls at some point in their high school years always had what I liked to call  ‘restraining order guy’—the one who never went away no matter what you did or how hard you tried.  Jesse was the equivalent of that to me.  He was the kind of person who seemed harmless but followed me around like a hitchhiker in need of shelter in the middle of a snowstorm. 
    Jesse peeled his hands off me and spun me around, but before I could get a good look at him, all I could see were his moistened lips attempting to acquire a landing position on mine.  As his tongue protruded out of his mouth in an attempt to pass first base, I whipped back and swung my hand in his direction. 
    He rubbed his cheek and frowned.  “What the—why’d you do that?  I was just trying to say hello.”
    Hello?  Is he serious?
    “We’re not eighteen anymore, Jesse.  You don’t try to suck the life out of a person you haven’t seen in twenty years.”
    He took a step back and muttered something under his breath that sounded like ‘you haven’t changed much.’ 
    “What was that?” I said.
    “Nothin’.  It wasn’t anything.”
    “What kind of cop behaves like that anyway?”

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