Advocate For The Dead (Complete Novel)

Chapter 13: The Caden Attic

I'd forgotten about Joel Caden. How could I have overlooked him like that? According to Summer's brother, he had been the jilted boyfriend. Not only that, but he was jilted for a girl. That could do something to a guy's ego, but could it send him off the deep end, wanting to kill both the girls who had hurt him? Could he be the killer I'm looking for, or is he just another victim next in line? Either way I knew I had to get to him, find this kid and get one step closer to the truth.

I stopped at a pay phone and got the address for the Caden's. There was only one listed in the book, so it had to be Joel's house. Lucky for me it was only twenty blocks away.

The drive gave me something to think about. I tried to put all the suspects in my head, but I kept thinking, what if there was no murder? What if Summer really jumped to her death? What if Carla really hung herself? Could all this be the after effects of the raging desires of youth? I'd seen angst and anxiety destroy a good many kids in my time, so was I really just chasing at shadows, jumping to conclusions that weren't there? I'd gotten into something deep here and it was hard to tell which was my overworked imagination and which was the truth. Was I missing the glory days of playing detective so much that I was seeing danger everywhere? I know my desire to help the recently deceased comes from not being able to save Lacey, but is that all I'm doing, some strange penance because I failed the only woman I ever loved?

I almost didn't see the stop sign, or the woman and her two small children crossing the street. I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a halt. The woman shook her finger at me as if to say "pay attention you idiot", and ushered her children to the curb. I went on, but she was right, I needed to pay attention to things around me, to the things I could see. Not the ideas that jumped into my head but the hard facts.

I pulled to the curb and looked up to the house with trepidation. I don't know why, but I felt uneasy about this visit. Was it because of what Darnell Dean had said? Did I really think I would find Joel Caden inside, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot?

I patted my jacket to make sure my own gun was there. Sometimes it makes me feel better just knowing I have it on me. And anyway the door to the Caden household was standing wide open. In this neighborhood that wasn't such a good idea. The last time I'd come across an open door, my late wife had been waiting inside. I didn't think that would be the case this time. I wasn't going to like what was behind door number one.

I climbed up the porch steps and stopped just outside the doorway. "Hello", I called out. "Anyone home?" I stepped over the threshold and peered into the house's interior. The front foyer was empty. "Mr. and Mrs. Caden?"

The house was deathly quiet. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. "My name is Cole Winter, I'm an investigator. I'd like to ask your son a few questions." No one was there; I was talking to an empty house.

I walked into the living room. It looked like a twister had landed. Furniture was overturned; books had been thrown from the shelves, their pages loose and torn out. Paper was strewn about everywhere. Somebody had been looking for something and I don't think it was origami instructions.

"Hello," I called again. "If someone's here, it's best to come out now." Nothing. "Before the police get here," I added.

That did it. I heard a shuffle upstairs as if someone was darting from a hiding place and making a run for it. I took off for the stairs, pulling my gun as I went. I took the stairs two at a time and made it to the top just as the figure plowed into me. I wasn't quite expecting it and I lost my grip on the gun. It skidded across the landing as I was knocked down. I looked back over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of my assailant heading for the attic stairs. I saw red hair, a slender shape, black tank top, jogging shorts, long legs...Damn it was a girl.