Advocate For The Dead (Complete Novel)

Chapter 9: Houses Of The Fallen

There wasn't much left of Jeff's house. The explosion must have been larger than I thought. Could gas alone have done this or had there been explosives in the house to add to the blast?

I was hoping there would be more rubble to sift through, maybe a wall safe, or a previously hidden alcove beneath the floor. Someplace a secret could be hidden, but there wasn't much at all left and the floor itself was buried far beneath brick and plaster. The area was roped off with yellow Police tape, but I crossed it anyway. I kicked a few rocks around with my foot, knowing I wouldn't find anything like this.

Summer just stood there watching me smugly as if to say 'I told you there was nothing here.' I knelt down and picked up a loose brick. I hefted it in my hand as if the weight of it could tell me something. But brick and mortar can't speak. Sometimes I wish it could. Then maybe I would know why someone felt the need to destroy all this, along with Jeff Dennings life..

"Someone's coming," Summer said, bringing me out of my reverie. I looked up. It was a man with graying hair and a handlebar moustache. Tall and a little imposing, he managed to muster a small smile in greeting. I noticed his clothes looked a little disheveled as if he'd slept in them.

"Hello Winter," he said.

I stood up. "You know me. Do I know you?"

"It's Jacobs. Steven Jacobs."

I did know this guy, but my slack jaw must have betrayed what I was thinking. The Jacobs I knew had been a cop. He'd been young, eager, a real firebrand. This guy looked old and tired. The last I seen him was when I resigned. I had walked from the captain's office and by all my fellow officers, most who tried hard to understand my pain and loss. And why I couldn't be a cop anymore. Steven Jacobs had looked at me then with the same look he had on his face now. A look that said 'it never ends, the loss goes on forever.'

I finally smiled and held out my hand. His grip seemed weak. "I'm sorry, Jacobs, I didn't recognize you."

"I haven't slept much lately," he confided. "Especially since I heard you almost got killed."

I nodded. "Yes, it was a close one."

"You know, Brian Capps died two weeks ago."

"No, I didn't know that." Brian had also been on the force with us, a good, decorated officer.

"Yeah, he was cleaning his gun and the thing went Pow! They say he went instantly."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Brian was a good man."

Jacobs nodded. "After you get a certain age you begin to see all your friends going, and it does something to you. I'm afraid of how I'm going to go."

I put my hand on the man's shoulder. "That's a natural fear everyone has. I guess the thing to do is to try not to worry about the end, but what you're going to do today."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Sometimes," I confessed.

Jacobs looked around as if to see if anyone else was near. He didn't see Summer who'd been standing behind him ever since he came up. Maybe he felt her presence and that was why he was being cautious as to how he said the next thing.

"I heard about what you do now," he said. "And I was wondering if you could tell me, what waits for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if we've done bad things, what comes after?"

I didn't quite know what to say. Do I tell my old mate the truth, or do I try to soothe his apparently tortured spirit? Finally I settled for the latter.