Read The Murder of Janessa Hennley for Free Online Page B

people were there, a secretary and a man replacing a water cooler.
    “Can I help you?” the secretary said , putting her glasses on.
    “I’m looking for Sheriff Clay.”
    She adjusted her glasses as though she couldn’t see him. “And who may I say is here?”
    “Mickey Parsons with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
    “Oh. One moment.” She picked up her phone and whispered, “The FBI is here to see you,” before hanging up. “She’ll be out in a jiff.”
    “Thanks.”
    Mickey studied the walls. A poster displayed a glass of beer and a prescription medicine bottle with the title “HONEY, WE JUST AIN’T MEANT TO BE TOGETHER.”
    “Special Agent Parsons?”
    Mickey turned around. The sheriff wore jeans and a blouse, her hair pulled back with a clip. She appeared too young for the position she held, but her face disclosed confidence, whether real or faked, that she deserved it.
    “Just Mickey,” he said, shaking her hand.
    “I’m so glad you came. I was expecting someone else.”
    “Wanted to get out of the office for a bit.”
    “Well, welcome to Kodiak Basin. Um, do you want anything to eat or drink?”
    “Coffee would be great.”
    “Oh, ah, well, we don’t have a coffee maker here, but let’s go over to Nick’s and grab a cup.”
    Mickey climbed into the passenger seat of Suzan’s black Chevy Tahoe. She pulled out of the lot and headed down the road.
    “You ever been to Alaska before?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “There are a few things you should see if you got the time. The oil fields outside of town are kinda interesting. Some of the biggest in the state. And any of the canyons or lakes are just a sight.”
    “I don’t think I’ll be staying that long.”
    They parked on the street and entered a café with booths lining either side. Suzan said hello to the cashier and one of the waitresses and sat down. Mickey sat across from her, facing the windows. They ordered one coffee and one hot water with lemon.
    “So the FBI, huh? That must be really interesting. Flying all over the place.”
    “I’m sure it’s no different than what you do.”
    “I doubt that. Ninety percent of my job is busting pot smokers and drunk drivers. You wanna know something weird? I’ve never left Alaska. Not once. Never been to California or anything like that.” She smirked. “How pathetic is that?”
    “There’s nothing pathetic to sticking with what you know. My mother lived in the same house for fift y-seven years and never left town. A small place in Jackson, Mississippi. She was born in that town and died there without having known the outside world, but she was the happiest person I knew.”
    “ I don’t know. I feel like an ant,” she said. “See, an ant can live its whole life on a lawn. It thinks the entire universe is nothing but grass, and it dies thinking it’s seen everything.”
    The coffee came. Mickey put some cream in it and sipped it . He lifted his eyebrows. “That’s damn good coffee.”
    “Everything’s good here. You sure you’re not hungry?”
    “I’m fine. But thanks. I’d actually like to see the body, if it’s still available.”
    “It is. The family wants to bury it as quickly as possible , but I kept telling them to hold off. I wanted you guys to look at it first. It’s at the morgue down in Anchorage. We don’t have one here.”
    “Do you have any idea who could have done this?” Mickey asked.
    “There is one guy. He’s a registered sex offender, the only one we have in town. He raped a fifteen-year-old some six years ago. He’s the only one I can think of.”
    “Did you speak to him?”
    She squeezed the lemon into her water. “Yeah, but he’s no help. He’s drunk and high so much, he doesn’t really talk. The night of the murders he was on ankle monitor and wasn’t anywhere near the Hennleys’. I sent a deputy to search his trailer just in case, but there wasn’t anything.”
    “Tell me about Janessa.”
    “She’s a nice girl, never had