Free The Mystery of Jessica Benson by C.K. Laurence Page A

from her mind
and translate it to him in words. “I’m sorry. Being here with you
is harder than I had anticipated.”
Yeah, it isn’t much of a picnic for me either, kid , he
thought. He wanted to say something clever, maybe lighten the
moment a little for both of them, but he was unable to find the
right words.
A tiny scar just above her right eyebrow caught his
attention and he flashed back to the afternoon she had tripped
over a bat lying in his backyard. She had fallen hard and gashed
her head on the sharp edge of a tiny rock. She was a tough kid,
always trying to show Brett and him she could go toe to toe. But
whether from shock, embarrassment, or pain, that day she was
just a little girl with a boo-boo, and had broken down and cried.
And the two of them had taken turns hugging her and trying to
make it all better.
“So even after all these years you’re still wearing that
gash over your right eye, huh? It’s looking damned sexy now
though.” He had a fast thought that he was out of line big time
now.
But Karen’s mouth dropped open and she laughed out
loud.
“You haven’t changed a bit, Kyle Sands. Someone’s
been killed, your life is at stake, and you go making a joke. What
are you thinking?”
“Well, for starters, it wasn’t a joke. It does look sexy…”
“Thank you, then. No one’s ever put it to me quite that
way. And I’d love to go on sharing sexy scars with you, but we
really ought to save it for some time when the balance of your
life isn’t hanging over our heads.”
And that sobered them both for the moment.
“I hear what you’re saying, but I wish you could see it
from my view. I wake up one day and the world as I knew it
ceases to exist. People who aren’t accusing me of murder are
telling me I should be able to figure out who did kill her. One of
the homicide detectives wants my ass well done, not rare. I’ve
got my coach telling me to shake it off or lose my starting job.
Two games left and he’s hassling me about keeping my mind on
the fucking game…” He stopped suddenly and took a deep
breath, letting the air slowly out. “Wow. I guess that’s more than
you needed to know, huh?”
Kyle held her eyes with his for a moment and an
undeniable spark of electricity passed between them. He realized
that although three years had been an insurmountable difference
in age when they were kids, as adults it was nothing. Jessica had
been only twenty-five , he thought. Then he looked away from her
and the spell was broken.
“I’m sorry, Kyle. I can’t even begin to imagine what this
has done to you. It’s the most vicious murder I’ve ever
investigated, probably one of the most sadistic ever on the
Beach. The killing has ‘passion’ written all over it, and her last
night with you plays out like a ‘B’ thriller. That’s the reason
you’re at the top of the list of suspects. And the reverberations of
your break-up that night seem to have hit everyone in town one
way or another.”
He croaked a humorless laugh. “And I’m a passionate
kind of guy, is that the deal? I hear what you’re saying, but I
have no way to prove I didn’t kill her. Christ! The evidence is so
damning that I wouldn’t believe I hadn’t done it if I didn’t know
for sure. I’ve lost my life right along with Jessica’s. They just
haven’t thrown the last shovel of dirt over me yet.”
“Cooperate with me, Kyle. Someone killed her in a mad
rage, If not you, then who?”
“God, Karen! Don’t you think I would answer that
question if I had the first clue? It seems everyone I speak to
knew Jessica better than I did. It’s as though I’d been dating a
vision of my own creation.”
Karen saw the torment in his face and heard it in his
voice. She fought the urge to hug him, and the implications of
her feelings shook her to the core. Objectivity in this
investigation was cloudy for Karen, and if that became public,
she’d be a homicide detective without back up. Will Kaufman
was not the