A Lover's Pretense by Altonya Washington

Author:Altonya Washington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kimani Press
Published: 2006-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Detective Red,” Jill answered the call absently, while riffling through paperwork at her cluttered desk.

“Miss Red, Sawyer Reynolds. Head caretaker and proprietor of Serenity Memorial Gardens.”

“Yes, Mr. Reynolds?” Jill greeted. Inwardly, she groaned at the sound of the man’s heavy Southern drawl and nasal tone of his voice. Clearly, Mr. Sawyer Reynolds was accustomed to respect and reverence when he announced his lengthy title. “How are you?” she asked, hoping to set an easy tone to the conversation.

“Not good. Not good one damn bit,” Sawyer shared, with no interest in pleasantries. “I got an order here for exhumation. Sera Black.”

“Yes, sir.”

“This is a scandalous thing you doin’, missy. I don’t know how thangs go in Chicago, but down here we don’t think it’s Christian-like to make people relive painful mem’ries.”

“I don’t think that way either, sir,” Jill said, rubbing her tired eyes as she spoke.

“You coulda fooled me, young lady. Reopenin’ that case, diggin’ up that girl’s body just gonna wound that family all over again.”

“And just for my own clarification, Mr. Reynolds, would you be referring to Sera’s family or the Ramsey family?” Jill probed, not bothering to hide her disdain.

“Now you listen here—”

“Mr. Reynolds, Sera’s mother wants this done. And that’s the only family I’m concerned about.”

“You dabblin’ with powerful folks,” Sawyer Reynolds warned. “Don’t matter a bit if they black or not.”

Jill rolled her eyes. “Mr. Reynolds, this case is far from over and until it’s solved, I’m on it,” she vowed.

“Be careful, young lady,” the older man advised, then slammed down the phone.

Jill followed suit, looking across her shoulder when she heard Greg Youtz laughing in the distance.

“Told you so,” he gloated, leaning back in his desk chair.

Jill turned, her dark eyes filled with a glare that removed the humor from Youtz’s face. “If it hadn’t have been for the Ramseys working to cover their asses, no one would’ve taken a second look at this case, but hiding evidence, making payoffs—including one to the girl’s own mother—have simply caused tensions and regrets to simmer. They’re about to boil over, Greg, with Sera Black’s murderer coming out in the runoff. And I’ll damn well be there to see it,” she swore, and then shoved her chair away from her desk and stormed out of the office.

Greg’s expression held a look of foreboding. “Be careful, young lady,” he advised.

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