Read Online Murder! (Parker & Knight Book 1) by Donald Wells - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Donald Wells
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child in the eyes.
“Honey, please tell us what happened with Tiffany.”
Allie shrugged.
“She was gonna tell. She was gonna make it so we couldn’t see each other again.”
Alex Kent pointed a finger at his daughter.
“Don’t say another word! They’ll put you in jail, baby.”
Allie shrugged again,
“They know, Daddy, they already know,”
Parker lowered himself onto his haunches and spoke softly to the child.
“Why did you stab Tiffany, to stop her from telling?”
Allie shook her head, her eyes wide and pleading.
“I didn’t mean it. I swear. I was at Becca’s house and realized that I’d left my phone on the table by the front door, so I cut through the back yards to go get it while Becca went to the bathroom again. Becca was going a lot because something she ate at lunch bothered her stomach.”
Parker nodded. When he realized what must have happened, they checked more deeply into the girl’s alibi and discovered that her friend Becca lived just on the other side of the block, barely a minute’s walk away if you went through the yards and squeezed through the hedges, and Becca confirmed that she and Allie had been apart several times.
“Tiffany was just getting out of her car, and when she saw me, she followed me inside the house. Then, she started asking me about Stevie, about me and Stevie, and when I admitted it, she looked so sad, so sad, and then she picked me up and hugged me. I was already holding the letter opener, because I was playing with it as we talked, but I forgot I had it, and when she said that she would tell Mom about Stevie... I started hitting her.”
“But you were holding the letter opener, and instead of hitting her, you stab her,”
“Yeah, and then she dropped me and, and she had this really weird look on her face, but then she fell down, and the blood came, but not much, not really, but she wouldn’t wake up, she wouldn’t wake up.”
Dr. Price caught Parker’s eye and he took her meaning and backed away.
Other than the sound of the Kent family’s crying, the room was silent.
Chief Howard broke the silence and asked Dr. Price to escort Allie to the hospital, where she would be examined. When Kent tried to join his wife and daughter, Mandy gave him such a withering look that he fell back into his seat.
“I’ll come by later,” he mumbled.
Parker sat on a corner of the desk and spoke to him.
“Mr. Kent, your charges are being dropped, and as for your daughter, well, there will be time to decide that after she’s been evaluated by Dr. Price.”
Kent wiped away his tears.
“What about Steve Grace? I swear to you, if I see him I’ll kill him.”
“Mr. Grace has been arrested and charged with several counts.”
“For what he did to my daughter?”
“Yes, and there are other girls, his girlfriend’s daughter for one, and a former neighbor back in Ohio. It seems Mr. Grace made a habit of ingratiating himself with middle-aged women as a means of getting near their daughters. Once I’d met his girlfriend, a woman in her forties, I began to suspect that he might be using her to get near her daughter, and when confronted by her mother, the girl told of her molestation.”
“Middle-aged women, women like Mandy, and I was so busy trying to screw his sister that I wasn’t looking out for my Allie. Oh God, this is all our fault, oh my poor baby.”
“We now believe that Tiffany either knew or suspected what her brother was, and that by babysitting Allie, she was actually hoping to protect her. It’s my guess that when Steve Grace went to your home the other night, he wasn’t there to see your wife, but your daughter.”
A uniformed cop was passing by and the chief waved him into the office.
“Simmons, please escort Mr. Kent to his car, or do you need a taxi Mr. Kent?”
“No, I... I have my car. Mandy and I came separately...apart.”
Kent rose to join the officer, but turned and stared back at Parker.
“Is my baby going to
“Honey, please tell us what happened with Tiffany.”
Allie shrugged.
“She was gonna tell. She was gonna make it so we couldn’t see each other again.”
Alex Kent pointed a finger at his daughter.
“Don’t say another word! They’ll put you in jail, baby.”
Allie shrugged again,
“They know, Daddy, they already know,”
Parker lowered himself onto his haunches and spoke softly to the child.
“Why did you stab Tiffany, to stop her from telling?”
Allie shook her head, her eyes wide and pleading.
“I didn’t mean it. I swear. I was at Becca’s house and realized that I’d left my phone on the table by the front door, so I cut through the back yards to go get it while Becca went to the bathroom again. Becca was going a lot because something she ate at lunch bothered her stomach.”
Parker nodded. When he realized what must have happened, they checked more deeply into the girl’s alibi and discovered that her friend Becca lived just on the other side of the block, barely a minute’s walk away if you went through the yards and squeezed through the hedges, and Becca confirmed that she and Allie had been apart several times.
“Tiffany was just getting out of her car, and when she saw me, she followed me inside the house. Then, she started asking me about Stevie, about me and Stevie, and when I admitted it, she looked so sad, so sad, and then she picked me up and hugged me. I was already holding the letter opener, because I was playing with it as we talked, but I forgot I had it, and when she said that she would tell Mom about Stevie... I started hitting her.”
“But you were holding the letter opener, and instead of hitting her, you stab her,”
“Yeah, and then she dropped me and, and she had this really weird look on her face, but then she fell down, and the blood came, but not much, not really, but she wouldn’t wake up, she wouldn’t wake up.”
Dr. Price caught Parker’s eye and he took her meaning and backed away.
Other than the sound of the Kent family’s crying, the room was silent.
Chief Howard broke the silence and asked Dr. Price to escort Allie to the hospital, where she would be examined. When Kent tried to join his wife and daughter, Mandy gave him such a withering look that he fell back into his seat.
“I’ll come by later,” he mumbled.
Parker sat on a corner of the desk and spoke to him.
“Mr. Kent, your charges are being dropped, and as for your daughter, well, there will be time to decide that after she’s been evaluated by Dr. Price.”
Kent wiped away his tears.
“What about Steve Grace? I swear to you, if I see him I’ll kill him.”
“Mr. Grace has been arrested and charged with several counts.”
“For what he did to my daughter?”
“Yes, and there are other girls, his girlfriend’s daughter for one, and a former neighbor back in Ohio. It seems Mr. Grace made a habit of ingratiating himself with middle-aged women as a means of getting near their daughters. Once I’d met his girlfriend, a woman in her forties, I began to suspect that he might be using her to get near her daughter, and when confronted by her mother, the girl told of her molestation.”
“Middle-aged women, women like Mandy, and I was so busy trying to screw his sister that I wasn’t looking out for my Allie. Oh God, this is all our fault, oh my poor baby.”
“We now believe that Tiffany either knew or suspected what her brother was, and that by babysitting Allie, she was actually hoping to protect her. It’s my guess that when Steve Grace went to your home the other night, he wasn’t there to see your wife, but your daughter.”
A uniformed cop was passing by and the chief waved him into the office.
“Simmons, please escort Mr. Kent to his car, or do you need a taxi Mr. Kent?”
“No, I... I have my car. Mandy and I came separately...apart.”
Kent rose to join the officer, but turned and stared back at Parker.
“Is my baby going to
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