Romantic Thriller: Only Time Will Tell – A Romantic Suspense and Romantic Mystery Book: (Thriller Romance, Suspense, Mystery Romance, Suspense Romance) Read Online Free Page B

to her, the telephone rang. It was Pierce. Quickly disengaging herself from the circle of Dean’s arms, she picked up the phone.
    “Got something for me about the case?” She asked.
    She listened as he brought her up-to-date. The girl in the park was Ashley Thompson, a twenty-one-years-old student attending the University of Arizona. She was in the RN program and also worked at the University Medical Center as a Nurse’s Assistant. He had managed to contact her mother and had arranged for Chelsea to pay her a visit. He gave her the name and address and suggested that she got there within the hour.
    “I’ll be there and I’ll bring Weston, he’s still with me.” She glanced shyly at him.
    “Sure, he needs to learn how we operate. Thank you, Chelsea,” He hung up abruptly.
    “That was Pierce and we’ve got to go, they’ve identified the victim and we have to go see her mother.”
    “All right, I’ll go get my clothes and then we’ll go solve the case.”
    As he left the room, she remembered what Cara had said about finding a man to cure her sleepless nights. Was this about to happen?

Chapter Three
    Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. ~ Arthur Miller
    The roads were slightly more congested but since the address was within a five mile radius they did not take long to find the place. They pulled into a suburban neighborhood where Ashlee Thompson lived for her entire life. It was quiet and seemed to be family-oriented as there were strollers on some porches and swings in several yards.
    The rain stopped for a moment as they pulled up at the Thompson residence. It was a modest bungalow compared to the rest, with a green lawn behind a white picket fence.
    Chelsea had done some background check of the Thompsons. Alexis never had a real home until she met and married David and they had been together for nearly thirty years until he passed away four months ago. Then for her to lose her daughter was tragic. Now she was all alone.
    As Chelsea eased out of the car, Dean asked, “How should we handle this? – I have never had to tell anyone that their child has been murdered.”
    “Well, it is never easy talking to them, and we tend to word it so it does not seem as if their death was all that horrific. However, let’s take it gently and see how it goes. This woman has had so much loss in her life.”
    They went up the walkway lined both sides with evenly cut shrubs. Apparently Mrs. Thompson was on the look-out for their arrival. She opened the door immediately. Her blue eyes were puffy and her cheeks slightly red. She appeared far from well and that could be easily understood. She had just lost her only daughter.
    “Hello, Mrs. Thompson, I am Detective Chelsea Madden and this is Detective Dean Weston. May we come in?”
    They stepped into an immaculately kept house with everything in its place. Mrs. Thompson motioned them toward two comfortable and stylish olive green arm chairs.
    “We are sorry about the death of your daughter,” Chelsea said. She noticed how the old lady winced on hearing that.
    She continued. “I can assure you that we are doing all we can to bring to justice the perpetrator of this crime. This is why we need to speak to you. Sorry we couldn’t wait until later…but time is of the essence.”
    The old lady nodded.
    “Right now we are not sure if your daughter knew her attacker or if he was a total stranger. So we are trying to get a list of all her friends and acquaintances. This is one of the reasons why we wanted to talk to you. Maybe your daughter said something to you or you might know something that can help us.” Chelsea finished and looked expectantly at Mrs. Thompson.
    Mrs. Thompson struggled to maintain her composure. She looked at the laughing pictures of her daughter on the mantel piece and sighed heavily.
    “Ashlee used to be so outgoing,” she began. “Very involved in the community as she believed in trying to make the world a better place. But