Page 3 of The Jade Stone Sleuth

“Thank you,” Rulon said again. He brushed a hand through his bristles of gray hair. “It will give my wife some much-needed peace if we can resolve this. She thought Malik walked on water. He was the focus of her life, and she’s lost without him.”

Brex thought of his own mom again. He felt compassion for Pamela and also a sting of concern. She would be devastated if he couldn’t find any evidence of foul play. Every report and character witness attested to Clara Gem’s innocence. With boots on the ground he’d uncover anything the police and FBI had missed, but these cases were cold, years cold, and Ms. Gem might be as innocent as she was charitable and beautiful. If she was, he would be the jerk that wormed his way into her life under false pretenses and he’d lose out on a million dollars. He almost wanted the grieving parents to be right about her guilt. Even better would be to find someone else guilty of the murders. He’d still get the million dollars he longed for and Ms. Gem could bee-bop through her innocent, happy, faith-filled life.

“I’ll keep in touch,” Brex promised.

He shook the man’s hand one more time and strode off the classically decorated front porch past xeriscape rocks and desert-friendly bushes and to his silver Range Rover. He owed more than the vehicle was worth thanks to financing that gave him six months of no payments, but he loved this ride.

He’d driven the six hours from his condo in San Diego and liked having his own vehicle and all the weapons and surveillance equipment organized in the cargo space that he might need for this job. He appreciated many benefits of working with the famed Aiden Porter. Access to weapons and gadgets more specialized than even the military could boast about was one of them.

After he settled in the leather seat, he pulled up a photo on his phone of Ms. Clara Gem. She was a breathtaking and pure-looking beauty, nobody could dispute that, with silky dark hair, smooth tanned skin, and those startling jade eyes. A little smoky makeup and eyelash extensions would make those eyes pop and her lips would stand out better with some liner and gloss. He’d dated a makeup artist three girlfriends ago and had learned a lot as she criticized other women’s makeup routines.

The pictures he’d seen of the Gem family showed the dad was large and fair, a reddish-blond boasting the jade-colored eyes that the valley was apparently named after. How many of the extended Gem family had them? The mother was a second-generation American; her grandparents had relocated from Bolivia. Mrs. Gem was dark and beautiful like her sons and daughters. Three of the children had dark eyes like their mother; the other three had inherited the jade eyes. Six children and Clara was the second oldest, running church mission trips in conjunction with her father’s ministry. Six children. As a brother of one sister, he could not relate to a family that large.

“What are you hiding, Miss Clara?” he murmured, studying her smooth tanned skin, regal nose, full lips, and those captivating jade eyes. Not captivating to him personally but pretty nonetheless.

Clara had been the one to point out the jade-colored gem found close to each of her boyfriend’s bodies. Was she playing some kind of twisted game, or innocent enough to believe shewas helping police find whoever caused the accidents? If they were accidents or if each of the men had indeed been killed. Nobody knew at this point.

It would be intriguing to get close to her and find out her secrets.

Three boyfriends dead.

Harrison Jones had died eleven years ago when Clara was nineteen. Mountain biking together in these red rock mountains, Harrison had launched off a rock and flipped, apparently showing off for his girlfriend. He’d only made it two-hundred and seventy degrees instead of three-sixty. He’d broken his neck and died instantly.

Kyle Tanner died six years ago when Clara was twenty-four. He’d been rock climbing with Clara not far away in Snow Canyon State Park. Clara had reached the top of the unpredictable sandstone rock cliff, but Kyle’s harness had frayed and given out. He’d fallen over two hundred feet.

And the latest, Malik Hendry, had been killed almost a year ago when Clara was twenty-nine—slipped off a cliff on Zion National Park’s famed Angel’s Landing hike on a rainy and windy spring day.

Clara was now thirty. He wondered if she was still adventurous and mountain biked, rock climbed, or hiked. Was she traumatized from her boyfriends’ deaths or had she caused them? Only time would tell.

Brex looked forward to going into investigative mode on a case long cold and with no leads. He didn’t look forward to pretending to be interested in Ms. Gem and tricking her to gain her trust and get the answers he needed. But he’d played roles as a detective to save lives and take down criminals for the police. Now he was going to flourish as an op for Aiden Porter. He loved everything about Aiden’s organization—the focus on taking down drug lords and traffickers, the unlimited budget, the fameof being associated withtheAiden Porter, and the potential to make a lot of money. A million dollars was plenty of motivation to find a killer and an incredible bonus for his first job.

Was there any risk of Brex falling for Clara’s kindness or beauty?

He scoffed.

Looking at Clara Gem’s photo again, he could understand how men could be drawn to innocence and beauty that leapt off the device like that, but not him.

No matter what role he had to play or how alluring Clara’s jade-colored, jewel-like eyes were, Brex didn’t need or want any romantic entanglements. He would never let down his guard on a job. Especially not his first job that promised to make him a cool million dollars.

Chapter

Two

Clara Evangeline Gempep-talked her exhausted legs up the incline of Zen Trail. She was on the steepest incline she would face this morning. There was no view of Jade Valley as the massive boulders she’d been skirting were currently boxing her in, and the sun wasn’t quite up to give her the radiant vitamin D she craved.

Since her boyfriend Malik had plunged off the side of Angel’s Landing and died over a year ago, she’d ‘lost her sunshine’ according to her family and friends and been terrified to hike by herself. She’d gone hiking, but only with a friend, a cousin, or one of her siblings along for moral support. She’d also led hikes and bike rides for her brother Vance’s fitness retreat when he was down an instructor.

For the past few weeks, though, she’d been conquering her fears and putting Malik’s memory to rest. Malik had been a fabulous guy—fun, successful, and thoughtful, a podiatrist out of Phoenix who she’d met while he was visiting his parents here in Jade Valley. His only drawback had been that his parents were livid about their only son dating a ‘head in the clouds’ Christian with no financial means, sense of style, or drive to be successful.Malik had appreciated how down to earth she and her family were and had felt welcome and at home with them. He’d told her it was the only time in his life he’d truly felt comfortable and accepted.

She couldn’t claim that she and Malik had loved each other or that they had been headed for marriage. They’d had a fun time together and a lot of hobbies in common though. Malik had been easy to converse with and easy on the eyes.

She could say the same for Harrison and Kyle.

Her steps slowed as the familiar heaviness shrouded her. Three boyfriends. All great guys. All dead.

Because of her? The police had ruled out any foul play in each of the cases. Accidental deaths. But Clara had been there each time. She didn’t know how someone could tamper with Harrison’s bike, couldn’t explain Kyle’s harness fraying and splitting, and she could swear she’d heard someone talking to Malik before he fell off the cliff but she hadn’t been close enough to distinguish the voices or see anyone.

She’d also found a jade-colored stone next to each body. Nobody could explain that coincidence. The police had analyzed the stones but found no fingerprints or anything suspicious about them besides the fact they were at the scene of each death. They were inexpensive and could be bought online or in any souvenir shop in the valley. They were fairly certain Harrison’s stone had fallen out of his pocket.

---