Pledged To Protect Complete Box Set: Three Romantic Suspense Romances by Vella Day

Author:Vella Day [Day, Vella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Silverton, Utah

“We appreciate you meeting with us,” Derek said, as he shook Officer Mariani’s plump hand. The deputy worked for the Sheriff’s department in Silverton, a small suburb an hour outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mariani motioned to the two chairs in front of his worn desk. A large evidence box sat on top, the frayed edges and many markings testifying to its age.

“After I received your fax, I pulled the Novaro case. It’s been closed for almost twelve years.” He tapped the box.

Derek nodded. “When we spoke on the phone, you mentioned Justin Bladen had been arrested for the murder.”

“That’s right. The murder occurred before my time, mind you, and before DNA testing. We weren’t very sophisticated back then, but we did our best.”

No apology in his eyes. Good. “What can you tell me?”

Mariani twisted the ends of his long, black mustache, then glanced up as if reading the report off the ceiling. “We knew that Justin’s daddy had hanged himself the week before the murder. The suicide note said he lost his promotion to Novaro. Naturally, we suspected revenge from the Bladen family.”

Neither Justin nor Rayne had mentioned his troubled background. Derek did some quick math. “Wouldn’t that put Justin at around seventeen or eighteen?”

Mariani tapped the first page of the report. “Just had just turned eighteen. Such a shame for a boy that young to be involved in such a messy affair.”

How true. “The department must have found some evidence to make the arrest.”

“We found evidence all right—his high school letter jacket, but Justin had an airtight alibi. He was at a party that night. The Mayor’s daughter happened to be there too, though I don’t know why. She normally didn’t hang out with his crowd. She confirmed he was there all night.”

The airtight alibi sounded too familiar. “Is his jacket in the box?”

Mariani pulled out his desk drawer and gloved both hands. He lifted the lid on the cardboard box that sat like a Christmas present on his desk. Extracting the jacket from a paper bag, he placed it face up on the lid. “Look here. The blood has faded over time, but the victim’s blood was spattered all over the letters.” He tilted the evidence to give Derek a better view.

“I read about that. You sure this jacket belonged to Justin?”

“Yup. His name was embroidered on the back.” Mariani flipped over the jacket. “We found it in the garbage can outside his trailer. Lucky for us the trash man hadn’t picked up yet.”

Derek leaned forward to get a good look at the item, but he didn’t touch the evidence. “Rather careless don’t you think to leave something so incriminating next to his own house?”

“No one said murderers had to be smart.”

Derek smiled. “You have a point. I trust you’ve done a DNA test on the jacket since then.”

“Yes, a few years back. The blood belonged to Novaro all right, but we couldn’t get any other evidence off the jacket. We spoke with the mom who swears no one came near their place either before the murder or afterward.

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