Blood and Justice Read Online Free Page B

authority, and he was going to get this guy.
    Benny heard the siren and glanced in the rear view mirror. He swore. He cursed the cop, and then swore again.
    He pushed the gas pedal to the floor. He didn’t care about stop signs now.
    He shouldn’t have taken the car. Why’d I take the car! I’ve got to get away from this guy.
    The vehicle weaved back and forth across the narrow street as Benny did his best to control it. His best wasn’t good enough. The engine whined. The car seemed to skid out from under him, spun around, and planted itself into a row of well-manicured hedges.
    Benny rolled from the car and sprang to his feet. He wasn’t a big guy, or brawny by any means, but he spent most of the day on his feet, so he had strong legs. Those legs helped him jump over the hedge, and carried him past the house, through the back yard and away. He was gone.
    Officer Spiegle couldn’t do much of anything. By the time he was able to remove himself from the cruiser, Benny was out of sight.
    He swore, jumped back into the cruiser, and called dispatch.
    “Let them handle it. I need to finish my coffee.”

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
     
     
    Tuesday, August 9th, 5:25 PM
     
    DETECTIVE Hank Corning was slouched at his tired desk in the precinct, surrounded by a steady buzz of activity. Officers moving to and fro, footsteps clattering on the well-worn hardwood floor. Complaints being handled, phones ringing, and constant chatter of all kind. A photocopier quietly whined.
    He hit the message button on his cell phone.
    “Two new messages,” the machine informed him.
    Corning listened to the first message. It was from Amelia James. He smiled as he listened to the soft, pleasant voice. He couldn’t help but picture her face. Her long blond hair framing her beautiful features. Her gentle manner, and graceful walk. But then, he felt guilty for thinking about her that way when she was going through so much pain.
    She had called to keep in touch. “I know you’re not actively pursuing this anymore,” she had said, “but I want to just see if anything had turned up.”
    Corning returned her call. When she answered, he explained there was nothing new.
    “I’ve contacted Lincoln Investigations as you suggested. They sound confident they can help,” she said hopefully.
    “I’ve known Jake and Annie for many years,” he assured her. “They’re good at what they do.”
    “Thank you Detective. They promise to let me know if anything develops. I just feel so helpless and wish there were something I could do.”
    “Mrs. James,” he said suddenly. “I have some vacation time coming. I want to help you and I’m going to contact Jake Lincoln and offer to assist them in any way I can. Officially I can’t do anything unless there’s a solid lead, but unofficially . . . well, that’s a different matter.”
    “And please, Mrs. James, call me Hank,” he added.
    “Thank you again Hank. You may call me Amelia.” Hank could feel her sadness as she sighed deeply.
    After hanging up, Hank’s chair groaned and squeaked as he leaned back. At a little more than five years away from retirement, he was ready for it. Maybe he would do a little fishing for a while, maybe some hunting. Just generally, take it easy. Then, do something less stressful, like a security guard, or consulting of some kind.
    But right now, something had drawn him to this case. Maybe it was Amelia feeling so helpless. Maybe it was the thought of a missing girl, or maybe it was because his own daughter would’ve been about the same age as Jenny.
    He knew the captain would cut him a bit of slack on this. This wasn’t just a spur of the moment decision. He’d been thinking about this all day. Maybe he would take some time off, he needed it anyway, and see what he could come up with.
    He hit the “Next Message” icon on his cell, and listened intently to Jake’s message.
    Leaning quickly forward, he tossed his phone on the desk and thumped a few keys on