Скачать книгу

waiting on news for someone they hardly knew? “What are you two still doing here?” she asked. “Visiting hours have been over for quite a while.”

      “We brought something for Marcus, only that Patrolman Dwight won’t let us see him to give it to him.”

      “Well, he’s not really allowed any outside belongings.”

      “But surely his Bible isn’t included in that,” Marie proclaimed. She reached into her bag and pulled out a large, well-worn, leather Bible. “I know for a fact he reads from it every night without fail. Maybe you could get it to him?”

      The pleading in the woman’s voice was something Bethany couldn’t ignore. “I suppose I can.”

      “Thank you,” she said as she handed it over.

      Bethany watched the couple load into a pickup, wave and then drive away. She stared at the Bible in her hands. Was this really Marcus’s Bible? When she’d known him, he hadn’t been religious.

      She flipped through the pages and noticed writings and markings with notes in the margins. Whoever this belonged to had used it, studied it. She shook her head. Another thing about this entire situation that didn’t seem to make any sense. As she turned to go into the jail, a piece of paper slipped through the pages and landed on the ground. She knelt to pick it up. The paper, too, was well-worn, but it wasn’t a page from the Bible. It was a napkin with a drawing of a woman’s face...a woman with long hair and full lips, in head garb. She recognized it immediately.

      The drawing was of her.

      Anger burned through her. He claimed not to remember her and now she’d found something like this? But if his feelings for her hadn’t been real, then why the ploy to pretend he cared about her?

      The events of the day had left her confused and frustrated. Nothing about all this made sense and she was beginning to wish she’d never discovered Marcus was still alive.

      Bethany walked inside, past the on-duty officer—the skinny guy named Dwight who wouldn’t allow Marie inside with the Bible. He was the only one on duty and was engrossed in something on his computer.

      “This place really shuts down at night, doesn’t it?” she asked him.

      He nodded her way. “We don’t have much activity downtown at night. We usually only keep one or two officers in the precinct while the rest patrol.”

      She thought about what Marie and Milo told her about Marcus’s attempts to discover his identity but hesitated asking Dwight about it. Finally she voiced the question. She did need to cover all her bases. “Officer Dwight, before I arrived in town today, did Marcus ask anyone around here to fingerprint him?”

      “I heard he asked the sheriff about running his prints because he said he couldn’t remember his name, but I don’t think anything turned up.”

      “Do you know if they ran his prints through the military system?”

      “I don’t know. I wasn’t on duty at the time.”

      She thanked Dwight then walked down to the jail area and pressed the automated button that opened the door. Marcus was the only prisoner. The hall was dark but she spotted a small light in the back cell so she knew Marcus was still up. When she approached the cell, she was shocked to see him on his knees, by his cot, head bowed and praying.

      The image caught her off guard and she suddenly felt like an intruder. Through the bars, she placed the Bible on the shelf then turned and left, leaving him alone in the private moment.

      A feeling of unease coursed through her. She should have been resting easily having proved once and for all that Marcus Allen was alive and that all the suspicions she’d had were true. But her mind was working overtime, trying to process everything, but the events of today were like pieces of different jigsaw puzzles. Was it possible Marcus was telling her the truth? That he’d suffered amnesia and had no idea what had happened to him the night of the ambush?

      Bethany closed her eyes and sighed wearily. She’d thought when she’d found him, everything would finally make sense.

      Now, nothing did.

      She walked back into the bull pen and approached Dwight. “I’d like to go through the evidence gathered today on the rooftop.” She’d watched Dwight bag and tag each item earlier and place it inside the locked evidence cabinet for safe keeping.

      “It’s kind of late, isn’t it?”

      “Not for me.”

      He shrugged, pushed to his feet and headed for the evidence locker, keys in hand.

      Bethany followed behind him and watched as he pressed the key into the lock. It gave without turning and she immediately saw him tense.

      “The lock is busted.” He pulled open the cabinet door.

      The shelves were empty.

      The sniper’s rifle and all the evidence of the rooftop shoot-out were gone.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QOHaHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0i aHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1w PSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bXBNTTpPcmlnaW5hbERvY3VtZW50SUQ9 InhtcC5kaWQ6OWY5MmJkNWUtMGRlYS1hMDQ3LWIyZmYtOGJhNjQ5NGFmZGQ5IiB4bXBNTTpEb2N1 bWVudElEPSJ4bXAuZGlkOkNDRUQxQkVEQjczNTExRTdBM0M0REFFNjAxNjRERUY1IiB4bXBNTTpJ bnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOkNDRUQxQkVDQjczNTExRTdBM0M0REFFNjAxNjRERUY1IiB4bXA6 Q3JlYXRvclRvb2w9IkFkb2JlIFBob3Rvc2hvcCBDUzUuMSBNYWNpbnRvc2giPiA8eG1wTU06RGVy aXZlZEZyb20gc3RSZWY6aW5zdGFuY2VJRD0ieG1wLmlpZDpENDU5ODE0NkVFMjA2ODExOTJCMENE RERENjREOTg5RiIgc3RSZWY6ZG9jdW1lbnRJRD0iYWRvYmU6ZG9jaWQ6cGhvdG9zaG9wOmJiNTk2 NzNjLWJmMGEtMTFlNy05MDBlLTgwMmFiYzA1ZmIwZCIvPiA8L3JkZjpEZXNjcmlwdGlvbj4gPC9y ZGY6UkRGPiA8L3g6eG1wbWV0YT4gPD94cGFja2V0IGVuZD0iciI/Pv/iDFhJQ0NfUFJPRklMRQAB AQAADEhMaW5vAhAAAG1udHJSR0IgWFlaIAfOAAIACQAGADEAAGFjc3BNU0ZUAAAAAElFQyBzUkdC AAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAD21gABAAAAANMtSFAgIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEWNwcnQAAAFQAAAAM2Rlc2MAAAGEAAAAbHd0cHQAAAHwAAAAFGJr cHQAAAIEAAAAFHJYWVoAAAIYAAAAFGdYWVoAAAIsAAAAFGJYWVoAAAJAAAAAFGRtbmQAAAJUAAAA cGRtZGQAAALEAAAAiHZ1ZWQAAANMAAAAhnZpZXcAAAPUAAAAJGx1bWkAAAP4AAAAFG1lYXMAAAQM AAAAJHRlY2gAAAQwAAAADHJUUkMAAAQ8AAAIDGdUUkMAAAQ8AAAIDGJUUkMAAAQ8AAAIDHRleHQA AAAAQ29weXJpZ2h0IChjKSAxOTk4IEhld2xldHQtUGFja2FyZCBDb21wYW55AABkZXNjAAAAAAAA ABJzUkdCIElFQzYxOTY2LTIuMQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEnNSR0IgSUVDNjE5NjYtMi4xAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABYWVo

Скачать книгу