Read Online craftfield 01 - secrets untold by brooklyn shivers - Free Book Online Page A

“Hello?”
    “Are you okay?” Jarred’s voice came over the line.
    “Yes, just got the evil eye from one of my professors. What’s up?” Had they found out something about her mom’s killer? She clutched the phone tighter.
    “I wanted to share the findings with you.” His voice was neutral, almost business-like, and a rustling of paper sounded over the line. “Do you want to meet for coffee?”
    Her heart hammered against her throat. “Sure.” She started walking to her car in the student parking lot. “Jazzy’s Café is between us. Want to meet there in half an hour?”
    “Sounds good. See ya.”
    Lily clutched her arms around her. Damn, she’d run out of the classroom without her coat. Oh well, she had a spare jacket in her truck. What had the police found? Did Jarred want to meet with her in person and tell her it was Camie, or even Mr. Griffin, who’d killed her mom? She’d testify or whatever else they needed her to do.
    Her truck backfired as she started it, but quickly hummed to life, and she barreled down the road. She made it to the café in fifteen minutes and dug through her glove box for a mint. Hell, she probably looked terrible after not sleeping, and taking Amanda’s sleeping pills didn’t help. She put on some lipstick and dabbed on mascara. The idea of Jarred thinking she was pretty or liking her sent a thrill she didn’t expect surging through her. But he was here for her mom’s case, not to date. Besides, she wasn’t ready to see anyone anyway. At least that’s what she told herself, as she exited her vehicle and ran through the drizzling rain into the café.
    She ordered a hot green tea with honey and picked a table near the back. Cops liked to sit in the back of places, didn’t they? So they could watch the people coming and going and not have their back to the door? Taking a seat diagonal from the entryway, she sipped her tea. A few minutes later, Jarred walked in wearing a raincoat, with his dark hair was matted to his head.
    After he ordered, he sat down next to her, his back to the wall.
    “Hi. How are you?” he asked.
    “I’m good.” She stirred her drink.
    “You’re dry. So you must have missed the downpour.” He nodded toward the window which revealed sheets of rain pounding against the street.
    “Thanks for helping me the other day…you know when my mom—”
    “Any time.” He smiled.
    Now that she’d gotten some sleep and the initial shock of her mom’s death not as raw and cutting, she looked at him. His face was unfamiliar. Surely she’d have seen him around town. “Sorry are you new here?” Her face burned. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve seen you before...”
    He chuckled. “No, I transferred here from Chicago. Got into a motorcycle accident while pursuing a suspect.” He held up his pant leg showing a white jagged scar down his calf. “I was lucky. But decided to leave the city and find a nice small town and here I am.”
    “Welcome then. I wish we could’ve met on better circumstances.”
    “It’s okay.” He took a drink.
    Underneath the table, her foot tapped restlessly. “You said you had news?”
    “Yes.” He gave her a half smile and took her hand in his. “We ruled you out as a suspect yesterday.”
    She stiffened and let go of his hand. “I didn’t know I was still as a suspect after our meeting with Wells.”
    “We can’t play favorites and had to check out everyone’s story.” He shifted, his expression softening. “Especially since you called the Sherriff saying for them to go to the shop and check on your mom.”
    What could she say? He wouldn’t believe she’d had dreams and later a vision. “When I couldn’t get ahold of her, I called the police. It was just a bad feeling I had. Like I said before.”
    He nodded. “We’ve interviewed the two individuals you suggested, as well as anyone we could find who might have been in the area at the time of the murder.”
    “Have you had any luck locating my aunts?”