AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why did the man have the journal? Why did he shoot Charlie?” he asked.
“Treasure hunter,” she said, then she started to cry. “The book is us. But something’s missing. No…someone is missing.” She opened her eyes and shoved the book away. “The sad is there, like Granny said.” She looked straight at Cameron. “Read it for us, son. Something terrible happened to our family that’s been left undone.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Ella, but I can’t let the journal leave the premises,” Sonny said.
“Would you let me come here to read it?” Cameron asked. “You could put me in an interview room. I’d glove up. It wouldn’t leave prints. Not even on the pages. It might help,” he said.
“I don’t have an issue with that,” Woodley said. “As long as it stays on site here, and he does what he says, it can’t hurt. We need every break we can get.”
“Then, yes, you have my permission,” Sonny said.
“When can I begin?” Cameron asked.
“As soon as you wish,” Sonny said.
“Then I’ll be back after we get Miss Ella home. I know after we go through that journal that what we read will verify what Miss Ella told us.”
Ella shrugged. “I just see what I see. Don’t anybody have to apologize for me or believe a word of it if it bothers ’em.”
“We aren’t bothered, Miss Ella,” John Cauley said.
“You know what you know,” Betty said. “Everybody on the mountain knows that. The valley people will figure it out soon enough.”
Sonny grinned. “Is that what you call us? Valley people?”
Betty shrugged. “Where is it you live, again?”
Sonny laughed. “In the valley between these mountains.”
“Well then,” she said, and grinned.
“Hey, Sonny, is it okay if I bring Rusty with me? She’s fluent in three languages and has a lot of experience with deciphering old documents. She might make sense of the old script quicker than I can.”
“Yes, I’ll help,” Rusty said.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Sonny said.
“And Ghost? We don’t leave him alone for very long.”
Sonny’s eyes widened. “Jesus, Cameron.”
“He’s just big, not dangerous,” Cameron said.
“Well, hell. Yeah, sure, why not?” Sonny said. “If we have a pickpocket try to make a run for it, you can just set him on the runner like you set him on Danny Biggers when he kidnapped your niece Lili.”
“Deal,” Cameron said.
“Okay then,” Sonny said. “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry I don’t have more news for you.”
“We’re sorry we weren’t more help,” Cameron said. “If our grandparents had still been alive, this might have turned out better. I don’t know how Brendan’s journal got lost from the family, but it’s come full circle for a reason. We just need to find out why.”
After everyone left, Aaron went back on patrol and made a quick pass by Dani’s house. Sean’s car was in the driveway. For the time being, all was well.
But Aaron wasn’t the only one checking up on Dani.
Alex Bing was on the move.
He’d gone into Jubilee to check the timetables at the music venues. He didn’t want another surprise like he’d had last night. Then he swung by the crafts area and strolled through a section where the shops all soldhandmade crafts. He bought a handmade hunting knife, and a woodcarving of a hawk with wings outspread and a rabbit caught between its talons. It was a stunning piece of work, but a brutal depiction of the circle of life. All he could think was how much Tony would have loved it.
