Free Till the Break of Dawn by Tracey H. Kitts Page B

made me laugh. As he got in he asked, “What’s so funny?”
    “Nothing. I just figured if I ever rode in a cop car it wouldn’t be in the front seat.” We shared a smile before I said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be making jokes right now.”
    He cranked the car. “You’re wrong. Now is the best time to remember you have reasons to smile.”
    The car smelled like a mixture of Darrell’s cologne and coffee. The combination was surprisingly pleasant. It helped to put me at ease though I couldn’t manage to relax completely.
    “We were here to drop off the catering menu for her wedding.” My voice sounded far away, lost. I knew that Darrell had already taken our statements and knew why we were there, but I needed to talk. “I’ve never seen a dead person before.”
    He reached over and turned his police radio down. “Hopefully, you’ll never have to again.”
    “Had you seen one before today?”
    “A long time ago, before I moved here.”
    Darrell seemed to be concentrating harder than was necessary on his driving. Finally he said, “There was nothing on her.”
    I was confused. “What do you mean?”
    “No fingerprints. The coroner is gonna check for DNA and that’ll take a little time, but as far as we could make out there were no fingerprints on Mandy or the room. Even hers and Bill’s prints had been wiped clean. The only thing we found was the greasy print on her wrist where Bill checked her pulse.”
    “What does it mean?”
    “It means that someone planned this, at least to a certain extent.”
    Who would have planned to kill Mandy? She was one of the nicest people I knew.
    “Who the hell would kill a pregnant woman?”
    Darrell looked even more surprised than Bill had been. “She was pregnant? Why didn’t you say something earlier?” His tone sounded accusing and I took offense.
    “Because I’d just found the dead body of my friend lying on the floor. It did not occur to me to share a secret she asked me to keep to myself.”
    “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice softening. “I didn’t mean it that way. Did her family know?”
    “Not until I blurted it out like a jerk. She only told me and Jamie.”
    He was quiet for a minute. “Is that why she was getting married?”
    “That’s why she was getting married right now, yes. But it sounded like she and David loved each other. This is all so horrible. I keep thinking that I’ll wake up and it will all be a bad dream.”
    “This is definitely nightmare material,” Darrell agreed.
    As we pulled into the parking lot of Our Place my thoughts were filled with Marcus. Just the mention of his stage name, however accidental, reminded me how alone I was. I thanked Darrell for the ride and went straight to the back office. While I pulled out the emergency makeup kit in the bottom drawer I dialed Jesse’s number.
    “Dawn, what’s wrong?”
    His question startled me. “What makes you think something is wrong?”
    “Because it’s the middle of the afternoon. You’re usually busy during this time and you always tell me if I call that it’s a bad time. So, what’s wrong?”

Chapter Nine
     
    I had just finished telling Jesse everything that had happened and was waiting for his response. During the pause in our conversation I stared at the eyeliner and mascara in front of me and wondered if I should even bother.
    “I’m so sorry, Dawn. I wish I could come back now, but Dad’s condition hasn’t improved.” His voice was so soft and kind that it brought tears to my eyes again.
    “I understand.” Really I did. I didn’t expect him to leave his father who was in bad health to come to someone’s funeral that he barely knew.
    “When is the funeral?” he asked.
    “We don’t know yet, but probably this weekend if I had to guess.”
    He sighed heavily. “That’s so awful. I wish there was something I could do. Will you be all right tonight? Maybe you should stay with Jamie.”
    “I’ll be fine.” I was lying. Bill’s idea of