Free The Wedding: A Faces of Evil Short Story by Debra Webb

 
1
    Birmingham Police Department
    Birmingham, Alabama
    Friday, December 18, 4:00 p.m.
    Lost in thought, Deputy Chief Jess Harris removed the crime scene photos from her case board. Her team had caught a double homicide early in the week. The case had appeared cut-and-dried at first. An intruder had entered the home and murdered the homeowner and his best friend. The house had been ransacked and any items of cash ready value such as jewelry had been taken. Sadly, the wife and two teenage daughters had arrived home later to find the awful scene.
    Jess studied the photo of the wife and daughters before taking it down. The case had turned out to be anything but a random break-in. The father had been leading a double life that included drug dealing for extra income. The slow economy had driven him to make bad decisions. He and his friend had paid the ultimate price for his mistake.
    Within forty-eight hours Jess and her major crimes team had uncovered the truth. None of it was pretty and finding justice for the murdered father and his friend hadn’t made any of them feel one iota better. The wife was still a widow and the two daughters were still without a father.
    “You know,” Lori Wells moved up beside Jess and took the photos from her hands, “this was an unfortunate case to catch this week.”
    Jess smiled at the detective who was her good friend as well as her maid of honor. “Everyone has secrets, some are just worse than others.” Jess removed the final photo. “Tomorrow I’m marrying the man I’ve been in love with for most of my life. I know him better than most women know the men they marry. More importantly, I trust him completely. That said, it’s impossible to know everything.”
    “She knows all my secrets.” Sergeant Chet Harper grabbed the eraser and started removing the written timeline from the board.
    Lori narrowed her gaze and issued a warning, “I’d better.”
    From his desk, Lieutenant Clint Hayes tossed in his two cents worth. “That’s why I’m never getting married.”
    Jess laughed as she turned to the lieutenant. “Because you won’t trust anyone with your secrets?” She’d long suspected he had a few.
    “I’ll never tell.” He grinned. “Some secrets should stay that way.”
    Chad Cook, newly promoted to detective, joined them at the case board. He still walked with a bit of a limp, but he was doing great. His up-close encounter with a follower of the depraved serial killer Eric Spears hadn’t kept him down.
Thank God
. Chad had been back to work for a month now. Jess imagined those eight weeks of recovery and physical therapy had been the longest of his life.
    “By this time next year,” Chad said, “I plan on having a wife of my own with a baby on the way—if I’m lucky.”
    Jess grinned at him. Chad and Dr. Sylvia Baron, who was Jefferson County’s associate coroner and closer to Jess’s age than Chad’s, had decided they were better at being friends than lovers. Jess was immensely grateful the break-up had been an amicable one. Chad was wise beyond his years. Having just turned twenty-four he had plenty of time. His recent brush with death had obviously made him decide not to waste a moment of it.
    “That’ll make you the only bachelor, Hayes,” Harper challenged as he set the eraser aside. “You might want to rethink your strategy.”
    Chet Harper and Lori Wells were engaged. The two were getting married next June. Jess still counted her blessings they had been able to pull off their personal relationship without it interfering with their work on the team. Jess didn’t want to lose anyone on her very specialized major crimes team. The Special Problems Unit had proved its worth in Birmingham as well as all of Jefferson County. So much so that the Sheriff’s Department and the BPD had decided to make the SPU permanent. Jess and her team would be fighting crime throughout Jefferson County for a long time to come.
    “Not a chance,” Hayes declined. “I like