Read Online Blood Rubies by Jane K. Cleland - Free Book Online

pointed to a small, irregularly shaped gray resin stone tucked under a bush near the porch steps. From any distance, it was indistinguishable from the real rocks nearby.
    Ellis snapped on plastic gloves, picked it up, and used the eraser end of a pencil to slide open the bottom panel. He wiggled his finger in the opening and extracted a gold-toned key. He dropped it into a clear plastic evidence bag he took from his jacket pocket, then slipped the fake rock into another. As he sealed them, a crime scene technician came up the pathway alongside an older police officer I knew named Griff. The technician carried a big square black case, the kind pilots use.
    Ellis stood. “Good timing,” he said, dangling the bag with the key, then the one with the rock. “This key was hidden in this fake rock. With rain coming, I need you to take care of the soil pronto in case there are any footprints or debris.”
    The technician, a slender young woman who looked more like a farm girl than a scientist, said, “Sure.”
    Ellis explained where the rock had been positioned, then rattled off orders to Griff to secure the scene and block the driveway. As he went on about how many officers he wanted on the case and what he wanted them to do, I stopped listening. I turned back toward the water. The ocean surface was darker and wilder now, closer to black than green and covered by roiling ridges of churning white froth.
    The technician started taking photographs of dirt. Griff went to his car for a roll of yellow caution tape. Detective Brownley left with Ana and her dad. Ellis turned to me.
    â€œYou want to run your hands under water from the faucet? Or I have some moist towelettes in my vehicle.”
    â€œThat’s better.” I followed him to his oversized black SUV.
    He raised the rear hatch and dragged a black camera bag forward. “I want some photos of the blood before you clean up. In case it comes up for some reason.”
    I didn’t argue. I didn’t care. I held my hands up, turning them as he instructed while he snapped away. When he was done, he thanked me and pulled a handful of individually wrapped towelettes from a mesh pocket built into the vehicle’s side panel. He ripped one open and handed it to me. I rubbed my hands, but it quickly ran out of juice. He had a plastic trash bag ready, and I tossed it in. He tore open another one. It took six towelettes to get the blood off. Between the harsh alcohol-based cleaner and my strenuous rubbing, my skin ended up chafed and red. It looked as if I had a rash.
    â€œAre you okay to drive? To follow me to the police station?”
    â€œYes.” I started walking to my car, then turned back. “Thanks for letting me clean up.”
    â€œSure,” he said, his expression somber.
    I glanced in the rearview mirror as we pulled out of the driveway. Griff was placing orange cones along the sidewalk.
    Once we were on the interstate, I slipped in my earpiece and called Ty. I got his voice mail. I couldn’t think of how to explain all that had occurred, so I only said that I had bad news, that Jason had died, that I’d been with Ana when she found his corpse, and that I was en route to the police station to give a statement. And that I loved him.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
    Ellis asked me to wait in the lobby, promising not to be too long. I used the time to sit with my eyes closed, thinking, trying to shake off the deep sadness that had taken hold of me. My phone vibrated, startling me, and I dug it out of my tote bag. It was Wes Smith, the local reporter for the Seacoast Star. I knew he’d call. He always called. I knew I’d talk to him, too, since he always had information I had no other way of getting, but I didn’t want to talk to him now. If there was one thing I could count on, it was that Wes would call back. I hit the IGNORE button and tossed the device back into my bag, leaned back against the unforgiving wood, and closed