The Dead of Night (True Crime Junkies Book 4) by Christy Barritt

Author:Christy Barritt [Barritt, Christy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Heights
Published: 2023-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

Mariella swung her head around as she heard someone approaching.

Her eyes widened when she saw Chief Dunne heading their way along with another officer.

Based on the way she was walking, she was definitely here for a purpose.

“Oh no . . .” Jason muttered.

“What is it?” Mariella rushed.

“It’s the chief. She doesn’t like me.”

“I gathered that. But why not?”

“Because Hannah’s her niece. Chief Dunne never thought I was good enough for her. Neither did the rest of her family. They were the first to accuse me when she went missing.” His voice sounded strained.

Mariella’s heart beat harder.

Chief Dunne paused in front of them. “Jason . . . someone said I could find you here.”

“You were looking for me?” Surprise lilted Jason’s voice.

“You need to come down to the station with me.”

Alarm filled Mariella. “What? Why?”

But the police chief either didn’t hear her or ignored her.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” she said instead.

“I don’t understand . . .” Jason shook his head, making no attempt to stand or move.

“You really want to talk about this here?” Chief Dunne briefly glanced at Mariella before looking back at Jason.

“I want to know what’s happening before I go with you. Am I being arrested?”

“Not yet.”

Mariella sucked in a breath. Not yet? What did that mean? “You don’t have to go! You don’t have to answer any questions either. My friend Andi is a lawyer. I can go get her. She can—”

Jason almost didn’t seem to hear her. Instead, his gaze was on the police chief. “What’s this about?”

Chief Dunne scowled. “If you insist . . . we have a credible witness who says she saw you with Zoe Hamlin on the night before she disappeared.”

Mariella’s heart throbbed in her ears.

Wait . . . that couldn’t be right.

Jason had never said he knew the missing woman.

Surely, he would have told her that.

Mariella waited for Jason to deny it.

He said nothing.

The breath left her lungs.

It was true, wasn’t it? Jason had been seen with Zoe. Otherwise, he would have denied it.

“Jason?” She stared at him waiting for him to explain.

He frowned, his eyes suddenly hollow and listless. “I’m sorry, Mariella.”

His statement was all the confirmation she needed.

What the chief said was true.

Had Mariella gone to bat for a murderer?

Her thoughts wound and twisted inside her, trying to head down various roads all at one time only to collide.

Before she could ask more questions, Chief Dunne took Jason’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “I won’t cuff you. But you need to promise to walk beside me and not make a big fuss.”

Jason nodded. As he walked away he looked over his shoulder and called, “It’s not what you think. I can explain.”

But part of Mariella thought it was too late for an explanation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.