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“It tells me I have a place in this world, that I wasn’t a random mistake, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I guess. It’s important to Danni, and I just don’t get it. I have a hard time believing in a Supreme Being controlling everything.”
“No one controls me, Gabe. However, I serve a Lord I wish to please. Do your parents control you?”
“I’m an adult. Of course not.”
“Yet my guess would be you try to do right by them; you don’t want to hurt them or embarrass them. And likewise, they want the best for you, correct?”
“Yes.”
She tapped the Bible. “This book tells me about my Father in heaven. He only wants the best for me, and I want to do right by him.”
The coffee machine beeped.
Gabe stood and poured his coffee, then brought the pot to the table to pour hers, all the while pondering her words. “Thanks, you’ve given me something to think about.”
“My pleasure. Do you have a Bible?”
“I do. My ex-mother-in-law gave me one a long time ago. Not sure where it is.”
“Find it. Read the book titled John. It will explain a lot.”
He put the pot back, sipped his coffee, gave her a nod. “I will.”
+++
Gabe considered Natasha’s request, and what she had said about the Bible, as he slowly walked back to his office.
He picked up his list of cases but couldn’t concentrate on any of them. Setting the list aside, he reviewed the rest of his mail, deleted the useless, responded to requests, and then Natasha’s message came through. It wasn’t something assigned to him, but it might be more interesting. Glancing over his assignments, he decided procrastinating was not a bad thing. He opened her message.
Hey, cold case investigator, here’s the file: case number 95-00654.
Gabe frowned. The number looked like a legitimate LaRosa PD case number from twenty-seven years ago. Even Madden hadn’t sent him so far back. Natasha sure was cleaning out old stuff. He drummed his fingers on the desk and opened the file. It was a fuzzy, scanned-in, old-time face sheet.
Incident Report #95-00654-23152B-23153 CVC
Gerald M. Curtis, DOB 8/03/1950, male white, 5’9”, 180, brown hair, brown eyes, identifying tattoos—none
On 6/05/1995 subject CURTIS was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence. On that date, CURTIS was involved in a traffic accident resulting in the deaths of three individuals: Marian POPE, aged 35, Darren POPE, aged 36, and Jeffry POPE, newborn.
CURTIS was uninjured in the accident and subsequently failed a field sobriety test. Responding officers administered a Breathalyzer test to CURTIS shortly after the accident, and the results indicated .23 blood alcohol content. Further investigation revealed CURTIS was operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, his license having been suspended for driving while under the influence. CURTIS was charged with three felony counts of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury or death, driving on a suspended license, running a stop sign, and failure to provide automobile insurance.
Like she’d said, there was no disposition sheet. Nor was there an attached accident report. His curiosity was piqued. Gabe scratched his head, wondering why this tidbit was floating around all by itself. Maybe accident investigation could help.
He still had friends in the PD and knew the detective in charge of accident investigation. He shot off an email to Detective Heflin and then resigned himself to the fact that he had quite an extensive list of cold cases to review and a long seven hours left with which to do it.
