Free Breaker's Reef by Terri Blackstock Page A

we could match it to the bullet. If there was a match, it would be a slam dunk. Butto get the gun, we’ll need a search warrant, and the DA won’t issue it
until
we show probable cause.”
    “Kind of a vicious cycle, huh? Maybe you could just question him and ask for the gun.”
    Cade’s phone rang, and he heard someone in the outer room answering, then Alex came back to the door. “For you, Chief.”
    Cade picked up the phone. “Chief Cade.”
    “Hello, Cade. I hope life is well for you today.” He recognized the Pakistani accent of Zaheer, the jeweler in town.
    “It is, Zaheer. How about you?”
    “Very, very good,” the man said. “And I wanted to tell you that the ring is ready. It is quite radiant, if I do say so myself.”
    Cade glanced up at Crown, wishing he’d leave. “Thank you. I wonder if you could do one further thing for me.”
    “For you, anything.”
    Crown kept standing there, straining to see the report. Cade put his hand over the receiver. “Close the door on your way out, will you?”
    Crown nodded and, since his hands were full, pulled the door closed with his foot. It didn’t close all the way, but it would do.
    Cade lowered his voice. “Could you somehow put it in an oyster shell?”
    “An oyster shell?”
    Cade knew the jeweler thought he was crazy. He glanced at the doorway again. “It’s part of my plan, Zaheer. I was thinking that I might take her snorkeling at Breaker’s Reef Grotto. It’s one of our favorite places. I wanted her to find it there, in the cavern.”
    A deep, low rumble of laughter rolled in the Pakistani’s throat. “Ah, very romantic. Yes, I will see what I can find. I enjoy being your confidant in this matter. I will call you as soon as it is ready.”
    Cade hung up the phone and sat staring at it for a moment. He hoped he wasn’t jumping the gun. Marriage was something he and Blair had not yet discussed. All he knew was that she was the one he wanted to wake up next to every morning for the rest of his life. And he didn’t see any reason to put that off any longer.
    He only hoped Zaheer could keep a secret.

CHAPTER 14
    E mily’s funeral service was both tragic and celebratory, a memorial to her life even as the mourners wept over the suddenness of her death. Her family stood strong from eulogy to burial, breaking Sadie’s heart with their courage and faith.
    As the graveside service broke up, Sadie saw her friend Matt, standing across the crowd. He’d been crying, as she had, and somehow that moved her.
    “Hey, Matt,” she said softly as he came toward her.
    He reached down and gave her a hug, something he’d never done before. She suddenly felt close to him, bound by a common thread.
    “You going to the prayer service the youth are giving?” she asked when he let her go.
    He glanced in the direction most of the students were heading, into the church next to the cemetery. “Am I too old?”
    “Of course not. It’s for anyone who wants to come.”
    “Okay, I guess I will.”
    He walked with her into the big room where the youth held their Bible studies, and they took seats near the back. As the kids quietly filed in, talking in low voices, Matt leaned his elbows on his knees and closed his eyes, shaking his head. “This is horrible. Her death is so senseless. I can’t even believe it. What could he have been thinking?”
    “Who?” she asked.
    “The one who did this. She was just a kid. She never hurt anybody.”
    She saw the tears in his eyes behind his glasses, and she touched his back. Slowly, he sat back up, took her hand, and held it in his. He looked down at it, as if contemplating it. “Sorry. I’m just having a hard time with this.”
    “Me too.”
    He drew in a deep, ragged breath and let her hand go. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes. “I’m so angry I don’t know what to do.”
    “At who?”
    He shrugged, shoved the glasses back on. “God, maybe. He should have protected her. Watched over her.”
    Sadie