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

for quite some time with no sign of your absent friend. I am not familiar with your relationship, but it’s too bad that he has allowed other priorities to take precedence over you.”

Ouch. That hurt. A moment before, she’d decided to turn away, but what Vladimir said struck a chord inside her. He was right, of course. Something was always coming up for Jared. Usually, it was his partner Dana, and Jasmine hated her for it. They could pretend all they wanted, but Jasmine knew the truth.

Dana had become a cop because of Jared. Jared didn’t know this of course, and Dana would never admit it, but Jasmine knew better. She’d overheard Dana talking to Jared’s dad one Sunday afternoon at a family picnic. She had confessed it all, blubbering the whole time like a five-year-old.

Jared’s “friendship” with Dana always seemed to override his confessed love for her. If Jared truly loved her like he said he did, then why did he always seem to choose Dana over her? The reason was obvious for anyone to see, and Jasmine kicked herself for not having seen it before. Jared loved Dana too. In fact, he loved Dana more than he loved Jasmine. There was no other explanation.

Her heart sank, and she thought she would break apart standing right there in the Number Six restaurant. She looked around at the happy couples scattered about the large dining room. Some were laughing, while others just sat together in the quiet familiarity that comes over a lifetime together. All of the restaurant’s patrons were sharing moments, moments that would shape the rest of their lives together. Moments that would become memories and memories that would become bonds of love and friendship.

She ached deep inside and it was at that moment that she finally realized how truly alone she was. Jared was the one who was supposed to be there to fill that ache, and he wasn’t. She had given her heart to him, had let him into the deepest parts of her soul, and she was still alone. Why was that? It was because he had not let her into his heart, not completely. He’d let someone else in instead. She blinked back tears of anger.

Well, no more. She refused to allow the tears to well up in her eyes, and pushed down the lump in her throat. I deserve better than this.

“Are you all right?” Vladimir asked, concerned.

They say that a person’s life is filled with decisions that must be made. Of these billions of decisions, a select few are of such importance that they change the course of our lives. Jasmine had come to one of these life-changing choices, and the decision she was about to make would change her world forever.

“Yes, I am,” she replied, taking his arm in hers and leading him away from her table and her old life. “And if you don’t mind, I would like to take you up on your invitation.”

Seven

Jared pulled into the parking lot of the Number Six restaurant, cutting off a little old lady in a hideous orange Lincoln. He brought the car to a screeching halt in a space marked for handicapped people and was out of the car before the engine had time to fully shut down.

The Number Six was an old firehouse that had been reconditioned and modified into a high-class restaurant. It was very expensive, and Jared only ate there only on special occasions. Jasmine, on the other hand, loved it and tried to coerce him into dining there often.

It had been dark for quite some time, and he knew he was over an hour late. He really hoped that she had not left already. There was a line of people waiting to be seated, and Jared had to nudge through them to reach the entrance. Frantic and desperate, he accidentally bumped a large man in a black sport coat.

“Sorry,” he mumbled halfheartedly to the man, who scowled at him, but Jared didn’t notice. He was too focused on getting to the front door to be bothered with such distractions. With a little more maneuvering and a few pokes and bumps, Jared made it to the front door and slipped inside.

The host, Joe Caputo, a thin Italian man with slicked-back hair, was flustered by the influx of people. His white tuxedo shirt was untucked, and when he saw Jared, his friend, coming through the door, he grimaced.

“She isn’t here,” he said, cutting Jared off before he could get a word out. “And I don’t have time to sit here and discuss it with you.”

“But!” Jared stammered. “Did she leave a note or something? I checked my cell, but she didn’t leave me a message telling me she was leaving.”

Joe held up his hand, and turned to argue with a disgruntled waiter. Irritated, Jared checked his watch while Joe solved the waiter’s dilemma. Just when he thought Joe would return, the man passed him by to seat an elderly couple.

Jared’s heart was pounding so hard that he thought it would beat right out of his chest. The throbbing in his ears drowned out the loud noise of the busy restaurant, and he almost didn’t notice when his friend came back to talk to him.

“Sorry, Jared, I know you’re upset, but it’s been a madhouse in here tonight,” he whispered, taking Jared’s arm and leading him back outside.

They walked past the line of people waiting to be seated and around to the back of the building. The host pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and shook it till one poked out of the top. He offered it to Jared who declined.

“I know you are upset, and I feel for you! I really do!” he said as he lit his cigarette. “But this was the third time this month, man! You can’t really blame her for being upset.”

Jared sighed and leaned up against the building. “What happened, Joey?”

“Do you really want to know?”