Page 40 of Dark Obsession
Chapter 14
Jenna
It rained before Darek's funeral, leaving the ground wet, and the smell of clean in the air. It was a vast difference from inside the stuffy church where it smelled like mothballs and old books. My mother was beyond decked out in her finest funeral garb and my father looked like a knight, standing beside her as if he would guard her with his life, and he most likely would.
Kayla held my hand through the whole service, and Denise sat on the other side of my sister, crying loudly the entire time. Some part of me wanted to believe in the emotion behind her wailing, but I couldn't.
The trip to my brother's apartment with Grace on Saturday was cut short by a group of cops stopping by. We barely slipped out the back door without getting caught. I needed to give it a few more days and then I could go back over there.
My understanding was that the police department had assigned several detectives to my brother's case if nothing else, to honor who my father was and all he'd done for the city.
"I can't believe we're doing this," my sister mumbled as some of our cousins and some of Darek's good friends got up and moved toward the casket with my father.
"It's so horrible. I feel like I'm in a fucking nightmare." Denise glanced over toward me as she reached out and gripped mine and Kayla's hands as they lay intertwined together.
Bullshit. Lying bitch.
I leaned around my sister and narrowed my eyes at her. "My brother wouldn't have taken a drug without either being forced or promised something of great value for it. You don't know anything about that, hmm?"
Her eyes widened and she reached up and pressed her hand to the base of her throat. "Are you saying that you think I had something to do with this?"
"Not now, Jenna. Shit," Kayla mumbled and glanced between the two of us as the guys carried my brother's casket out the back of the church.
"You're fucking right I do." I leaned over and laid my free hand on top of hers, squeezing softly. "And when I find the evidence that says you were in the middle of this, get ready, Denise or Candy or Martha. Whatever your fucking name is because I'm coming after you. And you'll never feel the knife slide in between your shoulder blades, but when it does... just know that it was me."
She yelped and jerked back, feigning fear. "I can't believe-"
"Ignore her. It's part of the act." I turned back to the front of the church and forced myself to stare straight forward as Denise left the church wailing even louder.
No one had the balls to threaten the widow of a dead man, but someone should have. Nothing added up, and as far as I was concerned, all signs pointed to her. I just needed to link the signs together and lock down my story before going to the cops or to Erik. I hadn't decided which route I was going with. Time was changing my mind. If that was good or bad, I wasn't sure just yet.
* * *
"What are you doing here, kiddo? You really should be with your family." Sam lifted his hands in the air and let out an exasperated sigh. "I told you to take off a week, Jenna."
"I know." I reached up and worked my hair into a ponytail. "And where I appreciate that a lot, I need this right now, okay? It's the only place I feel like I belong. Don't take that from me. Please?"
He reached for me and studied my face before nodding. "All right. I would never do that to you. You know we love you up here. I'm just worried about you." He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. "Leave when you're ready and show up when you want for the next little while, all right?"
"You promoting me to manager?" I moved back and smirked.
"No, not today, but soon, I'm sure."
"I heard that," Cynthia grumbled playfully as she walked from the other side of the shop and gave me a quick hug. "I'm glad you're here. It's boring without you, and Mr. Hottie Tattoo man doesn't stop by when you're not here. Has he got eyes on you or something?"
I laughed and glanced around the shop. "I hope not."
"I wouldn’t mind him having eyes on me. Or anything else if we're being open."
"We're not." I lifted my eyebrow playfully and enjoyed the sound of her laugh. "I'm okay, really. Just needed to be around you guys."
"I totally understand." She squeezed me one more time before heading back to the pick-up side of the counter. "Sorry for your loss, Jenna."
"Thanks," I mumbled and bent over to grab my apron from below the cabinet. I put it on and tied it around my back as a group of college kids walked through the door, laughing loudly.
They moved up to the counter, and the cute guy in front leaned toward me and smiled. "Hi, pretty girl. I'm Pete. What's your name?"
"It's Barista to you, sir." I smiled as his friends laughed. The smile on his face was sweet, kind. He was the kind of man I should have been watching for to come into the shop and steal my heart, not the thug I was after.
