Free The Dark Rift: Ascension (The Dark Rift Book Series 1) by RM Brewer

finding your friends?" Jodie asked.
    Noah's gaze was trained the ground. Jodie looked at him and said, "Noah, it sounds like the house your friend lived in -- what did you say his name was -- Fester? His house was still locked up. People who aren't coming back don't usually care a whole lot about locking their doors on the way out. I know you're scared, but there might be a very simple explanation for all of this." Jodie watched the boy's face brighten a little.
    "Thank you, Agent ... I'm sorry, what was your last name?" Christy asked.
    "It's Watts, but please, call me Jodie." Glancing back at Noah, she said, "That's one heckuva sore looking arm." Seeing Noah's rash extending a few inches beyond the edge of his bandage, Jodie said, "I've got something like that starting on my hand. Thought I might have run into poison ivy."
    "Yes, and I need to get him to the doctor tonight yet, so I wish this buffoon, I mean, I wish the officer would speed things up a bit," Christy said. "You should get your hand looked at, too."
    Jodie looked down at the growing redness on her hand and arm, wondering what she could've touched. She waited as Christy opened her purse and took out a pen and pad of paper. Christy shuffled through the pad for an empty sheet and wrote down her name, address and phone number. She tore out the page and handed it to Jodie. Jodie wrote her cell phone number on a blank portion of the sheet, ripped it off and handed it to Christy. Jodie could see the notebook was filled with writing. Small pieces of paper were clipped into the book. Noticing the inquisitive look on Jodie's face, Christy said, "I'm an investigative reporter."
    Her initial reaction was that she should be careful what she said, especially after what happened earlier that evening. Then Jodie thought that Christy seemed so concerned about her son that she probably wasn't even paying attention to what else was going on in town. All three of them looked up when Officer Wending hung up the phone. "Well, Mrs. St. John, you can come back here so I can get your statements. Agent Watts, I got some news on your situation, too. I'll be with you in a minute," Wending said.
    News on my situation? What news? The woman was probably dead before I hit her. No shit. Her face looked like a bowl of spaghetti. No kidding. What was he going to tell her that she didn't already know? It was what she needed to tell him that was important.
    Waiting for Christy and Noah to finish their statements, Jodie could overhear them and Officer Wending going through a painful exchange. She watched them for a moment through the large windows lining the conference room wall. Noah had a strained expression on his face and she could see Christy's jaw clenching. Christy signed a form Wending placed in front of her and got up, touching Noah's shoulder, urging him to move. It was clear, from what Jodie could tell, this mother and son weren't happy with the results of their meeting with Wending. Christy and Noah came out of the room. Noah's eyes were filled with tears. As they walked past, Jodie said, "I'll call you as soon as I'm able to tomorrow." Christy nodded and they pushed out the door, silent.
    "Now, Agent Watts, please come back and sit down," Wending said.
    Jodie walked through the swinging gate toward a table behind the front desk. Officer Wending pulled out a rigid-looking chair and motioned her toward it.
    "Seems the woman you hit tonight was dead already by the time you got there. Even though it seems your blood tests came back negative, I should probably charge you with inattentive driving or something. After all, you did say that you fell asleep. I'll wanna see who she is before we do that, though. I might have to charge you with a few other offenses to pacify her family. They might be a little upset that some city girl came up and ran her over, even if she was already dead," Wending said.
    "Officer Wending, from what I could see of the condition of her body, I think she might have