Remains of Innocence

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Remains of Innocence Page 34

by J. A. Jance


  He didn’t attempt to say that his children couldn’t possibly have done what she said. He didn’t have to. Joanna could see that he knew they had and he believed everything she had just told him.

  Eventually, Derek lurched to his feet. “May I see Lucas now?” he asked.

  Joanna nodded. Glancing at her watch, she picked up the phone and dialed Pamela Reyes, her new jail commander. “Reverend Derek Nolan is here to see his son, Lucas,” she said. “I’ll ask Kristin to take him over to the jail. Detective Carbajal and I have a funeral to attend.”

  By eleven o’clock that morning, St. Dominick’s was filled to capacity, standing room only. Since Butch was one of the pallbearers, Joanna wasn’t able to sit with him. Instead, she sat with Denny squirming beside her, trying to quell her frayed nerves. Joanna hadn’t found out about Moe and Daisy’s request until she finally got home late on Monday night. They had called the house earlier that evening to ask if Jenny would consider singing a solo at Junior’s funeral. The song they wanted her to sing was his all-time favorite, “Jesus Loves Me.”

  Joanna hadn’t admitted to anyone what Jason Radner had told her about that very song being the one Ruth Nolan had sometimes sung outside Junior’s window. For all Joanna knew, she might well have used that very song as a tool to lure the poor man to his death. Joanna’s reason for keeping silent was simple—she didn’t want to betray Jason Radner’s confidence, and she wouldn’t unless a trial made it absolutely necessary. At the moment, Arlee Jones, the county prosecutor, was lobbying for plea agreements.

  When it came time in the service for Jenny to step up beside Junior’s flower-draped casket, Joanna held her breath. After a moment’s pause, Jenny raised a handheld mic to her lips and then, with incredible poise, began to sing a cappella. As Jenny’s sweet soprano voice drifted through the church, filling it with the words of that beloved children’s song, it was too much for her mother. An uncontrollable sob welled up in Joanna’s throat. She tried her best to stifle it, but she didn’t succeed completely. As tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks, Denny reached up and patted her face.

  “It’ll be okay, Mommy,” he whispered in her ear. “Please don’t cry.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and four interrelated thrillers about the Walker family, as well as a volume of poetry. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

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  Also by J. A. Jance

  J. P. Beaumont Mysteries

  Until Proven Guilty

  Injustice for All

  Trial by Fury

  Taking the Fifth

  Improbable Cause

  A More Perfect Union

  Dismissed with Prejudice

  Minor in Possession

  Payment in Kind

  Without Due Process

  Failure to Appear

  Lying in Wait

  Name Withheld

  Breach of Duty

  Birds of Prey

  Partner in Crime

  Long Time Gone

  Justice Denied

  Fire and Ice

  Betrayal of Trust

  Ring in the Dead:

  A J. P. Beaumont Novella

  Second Watch

  Joanna Brady Mysteries

  Desert Heat

  Tombstone Courage

  Shoot/Don’t Shoot

  Dead to Rights

  Skeleton Canyon

  Rattlesnake Crossing

  Outlaw Mountain

  Devil’s Claw

  Paradise Lost

  Partner in Crime

  Exit Wounds

  Dead Wrong

  Damage Control

  Fire and Ice

  Judgment Call

  Other Novels

  Hour of the Hunter

  Kiss of the Bees

  Day of the Dead

  Queen of the Night

  Edge of Evil

  Web of Evil

  Hand of Evil

  Cruel Intent

  Trial by Fire

  Fatal Error

  Left for Dead

  Deadly Stakes

  Moving Target

  Poetry

  After the Fire

  COPYRIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  REMAINS OF INNOCENCE. Copyright © 2014 by J. A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information please e-mail the Special Markets Department at [email protected].

  FIRST EDITION

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Jance, Judith A.

  Remains of Innocence: a Brady novel of suspense / J. A. Jance. — First Edition

  pages cm

  ISBN 978-0-06-213470-7 (hardcover)

  1. Brady, Joanna (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Policewomen—Fiction.

  1. Title. PS3560.A44R47 2014

  813’.54—dc23

  ISBN 978-0-06-213470-7

  EPUB Edition August 2014 ISBN: 9780062134721

  14 15 16 17 18 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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