Death in the Afternoon (A Freya Hemingway Mystery Book 1) by Ava Mallory

Author:Ava Mallory [Mallory, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

My knees gave way. I used the refrigerator door to hold myself up.

“Freya?” Jacob rushed to me. “Why don’t you sit?” He wrapped an arm around my waist and practically carried me to the kitchen table. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that.”

“He killed my mom?” I could feel hot tears building up in my eyes. “Are you sure? How do you know this?”

He glanced over his shoulder as the boys ran into the kitchen. “The case is still open. It’s unsolved. No one ever stopped looking for her killer. Every now and then, I peek at the case files.” He sighed. “Don’t tell anyone I told you this. I could get into a lot of trouble. This must remain between us. Recently, like a month or so ago, I noticed the files had been moved.”

“Moved to where?” I asked.

“To a room.”

“And?”

He looked around as if he was afraid someone was eavesdropping on us. “It looked like someone was reexamining the evidence. There were photos and names up on a whiteboard.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

He hung his head. “This is my job. Our friendship makes things complicated. I can’t tell you everything that happens at work. That’s work. That’s how I pay the bills.”

“But you just told me that. Why?” I challenged him.

“Because that body you found at the bar is one of the names on the list of suspects. That might be a problem for you.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think straight. How is it that a man who may have had something to do with my mother’s death be allowed to roam freely all these years later?

Jacob got the boys settled while I gathered my thoughts. So much had happened and all of it hit way too close to home for me. I didn’t know what to do with all the information. As far as I knew, no one had touched my mother’s case. At least, no one had said as much. I ran into detectives every day in town and not once had anyone mentioned my mother’s case to me.

“Hey, listen. I know this is a lot to take in. You’ve been through a lot,” Jacob started as he pulled a chair next to mine, “I need to get back to work before they send the troops to look for me.”

“Yes. Go ahead. I’m fine. I’m always fine. That’s what I do. I get by. All by myself. You know since some monster murdered my mother and the man who is supposed to be my father couldn’t be bothered with me. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” My passive-aggressiveness wasn’t something I was proud of, but sometimes I couldn’t control it. It was my defense mechanism. My crutch. The reason why I preferred to keep my circle of friends tight and my list of enemies always in the back of my mind.

He arched a brow. “Are you really? You don’t sound fine. You sound like someone I should be concerned about. Do I need to be concerned?”

I couldn’t make eye contact with him.

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