Safeword by AJ Rose

Safeword by AJ Rose

Author:AJ Rose [Rose, AJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Voodoo Lily Press
Published: 2013-06-22T16:00:00+00:00


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“SO I asked around after I dropped Jeanie off,” Myah began as she sat at her desk after returning from escorting Jeanie to a shelter we knew would keep her for a few days, feed her, and get her some grief counseling. “Her daughter did die about a week before we discovered Halloran’s body. The shelter workers said Jeanie herself was very sick. They took her to the hospital to be treated for exposure, and she was there four days with pneumonia. When she got out, the shelter made an exception for her on how long she could stay, and kept her for another week, until her prescriptions ran out. Even if she has a decent motive, she also has a rock solid alibi.”

“What about some of her acquaintances? Would any of them have gone vigilante on her behalf?”

Myah shrugged. “It’s possible, I guess. Several of Jeanie’s acquaintances were at the shelter when I dropped her off. They had plenty to say about the treatment the homeless community receives from St. Louis’ finest. I assured them we were looking into it, but it’s kind of a moot point where Halloran is concerned. None of them seemed at all horrified at his death, but no one seemed particularly gleeful about it, either. It sort of took the wind out of their sails, actually.”

I leaned back in my chair, folding my hands behind my head. “Yeah, they lost the target of their crusade.” We’d seen it before. The disenfranchised homeless got up in arms about nearly any treatment they received from those in authority, but they lacked focus, and after the immediate situation, they were all too quick to disappear back into the ether, never seeing the original complaint through. Many of them huddled in the shadows, hoping not to be noticed in the first place, sliding under authority’s radar and becoming little more than ghosts. The mountain climb to help the homeless in a meaningful way was one that took special, dedicated people who refused to let the helpless shrink into oblivion.

“I asked a few questions, but many of them only knew what Jeanie had told them. One of the two boys she said were with her and Ali the night of the storm was there, but he corroborated only that he and the other guy left the empty store before she and Ali did, and that they were ousted. He couldn’t identify the officer or his companion. Said he and the other homeless guy didn’t know each other and split up right after leaving the vacant storefront.”

“So a dead end.”

“Yeah,” she said, tossing a pen across her desk in frustration. “We’ve got shit to go on.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. We could canvass pawn shops forever and get nowhere. We have this guy’s face, or what we believe he looks like. What if we went to the media with it, something as generic as ‘have you seen this man’ and a number to call?”

Myah shot me a disbelieving look. “Do you know how many false leads that could bring up?”

“Tons.



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