DEATH (The Justice Cycle Book 1) by J Kiefer (best novels in english TXT) 📕

and checked for vital signs. She was completely covered in blood. If she wasn’t already dead, she would be soon. He looked up at his younger brother who had moved away from the body and was now resting up against the wall. He was covered in blood, staring at his hands.

“I... I... found her this way, Jar. I tried to save her. Oh God, I tried to save her, but there was so much blood.”

He slid down the wall to the ground.

“Steve,” Jared said, leaving the body and walking over to his brother. “We need to call 911 and make sure no one else contaminates the scene.”

His mind was now in full-blown detective mode, and he knew he needed to lock down the scene and call the local authorities.

“Oh God,” Steve moaned as he put his head in his hands, smearing blood into his hair and all over his face. “What am I going to do? Jared, what am I going to do?”

Jared moved to where his brother was sitting and knelt beside him. “It’s going to be okay, Steve, I promise. But right now, I need you to calm down and think for me. Did you see what happened?”

Steve looked up at his brother, his face stained with tears. “No, I came out to have a cigarette and I found her like this. I tried to help her, you know, give her mouth to mouth or something, but nothing I did seemed to work.”

“Okay, just relax if you can. You did the right thing in trying to help her.” Jared put his hand on his brother’s back. “Just try to remember what you saw. Any detail, no matter how insignificant, will help the police in their investigation.”

Steve quieted down a bit. He looked over at the dead girl. “I just came out to get some air and I found her like this. After I saw her, I panicked.”

“I understand, that’s natural. At least you were able to... Wait, I thought you came out to smo—” His words came to an abrupt halt as he no longer had the breath to continue talking.

His vision blurred as he looked down and saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of his side. He gurgled and coughed up blood as he lost feeling in his legs. He stumbled and started to fall. His brother rose with supernatural speed and caught him, holding him like a limp rag doll. Jared tried to move, but his body refused to obey him.

Steve leaned in and whispered into Jared’s ear. His voice was strangely calm. “Sorry, big brother, I really wish you had not caught my little slipup. I want you to know that it isn’t personal, nor do I hate you. I truly do wish you had not come out here tonight.

“Mom and Dad are going to be heartbroken. I thought you had caught me in upstate that night when you stumbled into me. I kept waiting for you to try to arrest me. I thought for sure you knew what I was. It really is bad luck that you did not stop me then. If you had, then you would not be dying here today in this dirty alley so far from home.”

Recognition brightened in Jared’s eyes at Steve’s confession. It all made sense to him now. How could he have missed it? It was so obvious. The murders in upstate New York coincided perfectly with Steve’s sudden arrival. He knew his brother had been acting strange that night, but he had shaken it off. Had he not been overreacting to his breakup with Jasmine, he would have seen it.

Steve drew the knife from Jared’s side, and he jerked involuntarily in pain. Steve released his grip on him, and he flopped unceremoniously to the ground. He could neither breathe nor speak. His brother had known exactly what he was doing when he stabbed him. He had slid the knife precisely into his lung, collapsing it and making it impossible for him to cry out for help.

Jared gaped like a fish out of water and he spat up blood as he futilely attempted to draw in air. The world around him spun and his vision blurred. He grabbed at his throat in a desperate attempt to… do what? His lungs were filled with blood and he was choking to death.

He swooned and fell forward, limp. Steve caught him and settled him down on his back. His eyes were sad as if he regretted what he’d done.

No sooner had Steve set him down than the door to the building swung open. Steve’s head snapped up and his eyes went wide when he saw Dana emerging cautiously into the alleyway. Her face went white when she saw Jared lying on the ground. She ran to where he lay.

“What happened?” she asked. She slid to a halt next to Jared’s now convulsing body. She clenched her fists as she cried, “Jared! Oh God no!”

“I don’t know what happened.” Steve rose to his feet. “I found them both like this. I am going to go get help. You stay with him, okay?”

He bolted off toward the door, shouting for help as he ran. Dana was so distraught that she barely heard him. Jared’s eyes were unfocused, his body convulsing from lack of oxygen as she tried to lift him into her lap. She was crying so hard she could barely speak.

“It will be okay. Just hang in there. Steve went for help.”

At the mention of his brother’s name, Jared’s eyes flared to life. He grabbed her head and with all the strength he had left, pulled her close to his face. His mouth moved but all that came out was unintelligible gurgling.

He accidentally spit blood onto her beautiful face, and he attempted to wipe it off, but his hands no longer obeyed him. She just stared down at him with those beautiful brown eyes that were now stained with tears and sadness. He wanted to warn her, to tell