Remains of Innocence
Page 34
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.
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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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