Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series) Read Online Free PDF

said. The tension in his voice was obvious.
    Ash had been looking intently at Evelyn , whose eyes were red as she turned her attentions to Jonas. Ash’s heart rate was up, and she felt hot. This happened nearly every time they talked to parents or spouses. Ash managed her empathy as best she could, but there had been more than one occasion where she had to excuse herself from the interview under the guise of taking a call.
    Cris always knew when the intensity of the scene had gotten to his partner, and would assure her afterwards that over time it got easier. Ash wondered if that was a good thing.
    “Paul was an analyst at Pierce and Pierce? Is that correct?” Ash asked as she reached for the glass of iced tea.
    Jonas nodded. “Yes. His assistant is -” The man took a deep breath. “His assistant was Delores Reed. I have her number, and she can put you in contact with a good portion of Paul’s social and professional circles.”
    “Has anyone told Sara yet?” Evelyn looked at her husband as the tears she had been trying to squelch began spilling over.
    Jonas handed his wife a cloth hankie from his back pant pocket. “I left her a message yesterday, and Delores is following up.”
    Ash tilted her head to the side, as she jotted down Delores’ name. “Sara?”
    Evelyn sighed. “Sara Glass. She and Paul have been seeing one another for -” Evelyn turned to her husband. “What Jonas, three years?”
    “Give or take.” Jonas pulled his cell phone out of his side pant pocket. “I have her phone number here.”
    “And what does Ms. Glass do for a living?” Ash asked.
    “She’s an attorney at a family practice. Wonderful woman.” Evelyn put her glass of tea down.
    Ash made a note on the iPad as Cris continued with the standard questions. Listening to Paul’s parents talk about their only child, it was clear to Ash they had been very proud of him. It was also clear, based on some of the gaps in timelines around Paul’s day-to-day activities, Jonas and Evelyn had not been as intimately involved in their son’s life as they might have thought.
    This wasn’t uncommon with adult children. Parents tended to see their sons and daughters through a lens that was mostly nostalgia for the child they had known, with very little of the reality of who the adult was. Ash had learned there was little value in asking a parent about significant others, or possible affairs. The parent rarely, if ever had a realistic idea of who their child actually had become.
    The case that had driven this fact home for Ash the most was a murder -suicide she had worked with Cris a year ago. The man had shot his girlfriend, and then turned the gun on himself. When Cris and she had talked with his elderly parents, they had no idea the man had left his wife and their grandson for the now dead girlfriend, or that their son had been fired from his job as a manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
    Ash could still remember the distraught and shocked expression s on those parents’ faces as they tried to comprehend not only the horrible crime their son had perpetrated, but also the fact they didn’t actually know their own child.
    Cris and Ash completed their interview with the Garrets, and walked back to their non-descript black Ford Crown Victoria in silence. Ash slid into the driver’s seat as Cris fastened his seatbelt. “That was depressing as hell.” Cris stated matter-of-factly.
    Ash nodded as she started the car. “Always is.”
    “So I’ll take the four friends he travelled with if you want to talk with the co-workers?” Cris asked as he flipped through his red Mead notepad.
    “Sure. I can double back with the girlfriend after?” Ash checked her side mirror, and slowly pulled into the residential street. “Unless you want to take that?”
    Cris shook his head. “No, no. Not in the mood for a hysterical woman.”
    Ash huffed. “Sexist.”
    Cris smiled as he wrote several notes down. “No. Experienced.”
    Ash pulled the car to a