Alana Candler, Marked for Murder by Bruce Joanie

Author:Bruce, Joanie [Bruce, Joanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Ambassador International
Published: 2013-01-20T07:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-NINE

JAYDN MET BRAD ON THE street in front of his office and smiled.

“Hello, my friend,” he said as he shook Brad’s hand.

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Too long.”

“Yep.” Brad nodded. “Talking with you the other night brought back good memories, Jaydn. I really enjoyed the fun we had in school together. How did we let ourselves drift so far apart?”

Jaydn shrugged. “Going to different universities didn’t help. Then I guess we both got caught up in our jobs and responsibilities. It happens.”

Brad tilted his head and grinned. “Best I remember, you were the best quarterback the school ever had. I sort of figured you’d get a free ride to college on a football scholarship.”

“Nope,” said Jaydn proudly. “I ended up with a master’s degree in business administration.” His sheepish grin peeped out of his reddening face. “To be honest, the only reason I played football in high school in the first place was because of the cheerleaders.”

Brad laughed. “Yeah, you were pretty popular with the ladies.”

They both laughed, and Jaydn’s eyebrows rose in a teasing sort of way. “I remember a couple of interesting facts about you too—like you being named ‘King of the Wrestling Team.’ And, I think those toned muscles of yours seemed to draw a few flies of your own.” He rubbed his mouth with his hand, and Brad could tell he was hiding a grin.

It was Brad’s face that reddened this time. “Touché. I won’t mention your past if you won’t mention mine.”

They both shared a laugh.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jaydn said suddenly. “Instead of following my car back to the apartment, why don’t we just take yours? That will give us more time to catch up.”

With that settled, they climbed into Brad’s car and pulled away from the office. They shared a few more laughs on the way to the apartment. Laughing was rare for Brad these days, and it felt good. But the humor in his heart quickly morphed into sorrow when Chet’s death invaded his memory. Brad stilled.

Jaydn notice the change. “Alana tells me things have been rough for you lately.”

A long sigh was Brad’s only answer for the space of a minute. Then he said, “Alana doesn’t know the half of it. We found one of my men murdered yesterday. Whoever did it tried to make it look like suicide, but we’re pretty sure from the evidence we’ve compiled . . . he was murdered.”

Jaydn sucked in his breath. “Man, I’m sorry. Do you have any idea who did it?”

“We think it might have something to do with the serial murders we’ve been investigating. The murdered man’s partner told us Chet suspected his neighbor, but we haven’t been able to find him to question him.”

“Do you have any leads in any of the murders?”

Brad shook his head. Defeat polluted the air like a cloud of gas.

“Nothing.”

He banged his fist on the steering wheel. “You would think after seven murders, they’d leave something! A cigarette butt, fingerprints, or a small bit of DNA—something! These people are good.

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