Page 45 of Justice for Daesha

“I’m glad I’m here too.”

“Have a good day?” she asked as she broke away and went back to the stove.

“Yeah. Pretty productive. Found out a case I was putting together is being brought to a grinding halt. The state’s attorney’s got evidence to indict the guy, so depending on whether he pleads guilty or innocent, it may be over without much help from us.”

“That’s good, yeah? I’d think so anyway.”

He nodded. “Very good.”

“Make any progress on Dorinda’s case?” she asked, her back to him. He was glad she couldn’t see his face. Talking to her about it was on his to-do list, but he wanted to have a relaxing dinner first.

“Oh, I dunno. I’ve been looking at it. Alex and Jesse have too. I didn’t get a chance to ask them today if they found anything.”

“Well, at least you’re looking, and I appreciate that.” She stirred something again, then laid the spoon on a spoon rest. “Dinner will be ready in about five minutes, so if there’s anything you need to do, you’d better do it.”

He headed to the bathroom, closed the door, turned on the fan, and sat down on the lid. The app he’d downloaded had been running in the background, and it had been recording continuously since he left it. Opening it, he turned down the phone’s volume, then moved the slider past the part he’d already heard to new conversations. What he heard chilled him.

“Yeah… Yes, he did. And I… No! I didn’t tell him anything! You know I wouldn’t do that! Besides, I can’t tell him anything because I don’t know what… No, but he figured out mine, so get ready.”

He stopped the recording. What did he mean, get ready? The ring’s design floated through his mind. What if the rest of the design was someone else’s logo? But whose? His five minutes were up, so he flushed the toilet, opened the door, and turned off the light and fan.

Dinner was already on the table, and it was some kind of curry that Daesha had concocted. It was positively scrumptious, and he ate two big bowls full. She’d also had a loaf of homemade bread, and he used it to get all the curry out of the bowl. “Babe, this is delicious.”

“Thanks! My mom taught me to make it.”

“You know, you’ve never told me?what was her name?”

“Alice. I miss her so much. Sometimes I can’t believe she and Dorinda both are gone.”

“And your dad?”

“Lawrence. He’s a great guy. I remember when he was working on donut recipes. I was tiny, and I was eating the donut holes as fast as he could fry them. ‘Daesha,’ he said, ‘you’re gonna turn into a donut hole!’ And I said, ‘Then nobody will be able to find me!’ And he laughed and laughed.” She stopped for a second, then said, “He doesn’t laugh much anymore.”

“Is he in Anchorage?”

“Yeah. Big house. I offered to move in with him when Dorinda died, but he said no, that I have my own life to live. He’s very selfless like that.” The first thought that flew through Amos’s mind was,Like father, like daughter.

They had to get the kitchen cleaned up before he started talking to her about what he knew would be a very difficult conversation. “I want to meet him. Soon. Now, let’s get this cleaned up so we can relax.”

As soon as they sat down on the sofa, he pulled her to him and gave her a big kiss. She laughed when he broke it. “What was that for?”

He sucked in a big breath and blew it out. “Because I’ve got something very difficult to talk to you about.”

A look of horror spread across her face, her eyes huge. “Oh? About us?”

“God, no, babe! Not at all. No, it’s about your sister’s case.” She sat quietly, watching his face, and he knew it was time to step off the deep end. “I lied earlier about not knowing more because I wanted us to have a nice dinner. I found something. You’re not going to like it, but it’s undeniably correct.” He’d dropped his messenger bag by the sofa before he sat down for dinner, so he reached down into it and pulled out the picture and the acetate overlay. “This is the ring, right?” She nodded. “And this is the KelsoCustom Percussion logo.” Then he pointed to the darker image on the acetate which he’d placed over the ring’s image. “Because of this, I went to see ChanceKelso today. He says he has no idea what that’s about, but he does, Daesha. I’m sure of it.”

There was agitation in her voice when she said, “I’ll go talk to him. He needs to tell me the truth.”

“No. You need to stay away and let me handle this. If he killed her, he could be…”

“Killed her? Chance would never hurt Dorinda! They grew up together! They were like siblings! No, I’m sorry, I can’t believe that,” she announced and folded her arms over her chest.

“Babe, the facts don’t lie. That’s the KPC logo right there in the middle of that ring. The question is, what are the other things there?”

She took the picture of the ring out of his hand and stared at it. Slowly and quietly she said, “You’re right.”

“So what could they be?”

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