Jacob's Ladder Read Online Free PDF

plate. He knew the camper was registered in New Mexico.
    He reached into his pocket, pulled out a notebook, and began writing some things down.
    â€œI think he’s definitely Indian,” Rose said softly, noticing the straight gray hair tied in a ponytail, the wide forehead, and the thin lips.
    He appeared different from the Native Americans she had met when she worked briefly in Lumberton, North Carolina, those from the Lumbee tribe. They were darker, with broader lips and noses. The dead man seemed to have more of an Asian influence, tight features and a lighter complexion.
    â€œHow will you contact his family?” she asked.
    â€œFrom the plates. I’m having them run now,” he replied. “Tell me again what time you broke into the place,” he said gruffly, turning toward Rose.
    â€œI don’t know.” She held out her arm to look at her watch. “Not more than half an hour ago.” Then she remembered Ms. Lou Ellen’s appointment. It was after 9:00 A.M.
    â€œOh my goodness. I’m supposed to take Ms. Lou Ellen to the doctor.” She faced the sheriff. “Can I run down to the office and make sure she gets a ride?”
    â€œJust go ahead and take her yourself. I’ll get your statement when you return.” He stuck the notebook in his pocket. “I got a lot of other things to do.” Then he glanced around the camper again.
    â€œYou didn’t take anything from the trailer or find anything suspicious, did you?” He narrowed his eyes at the woman.
    Her hand was in her jacket pocket and she felt the bracelet. She knew she should tell the sheriff about having found it. She knew it was just the kind of thing he was asking her about, but something kept her from speaking of it. She shook her head, figuring she wasn’t lying, since the bracelet had not been inside the trailer. She bit her lip, knowing that she was stretching things in order to rationalize her behavior.
    She had no idea what she planned to do with the piece of jewelry; she wasn’t a thief by nature. It just seemed to her that it bore some secret regarding this man’s arrival and his murder, and she wanted to find out for herself.
    â€œThen just come by the office when you’re back.” He shook his head. “What is it with you and this place?” he asked, referring to the other murder in which she had become involved, when she first moved to Shady Grove, that of Lawrence Franklin.
    Rose shrugged her shoulders, trying to maintain her stance of innocence. “Must just be lucky,” she replied.
    â€œMore like unlucky,” the sheriff responded.
    â€œI guess,” she said, but she was thinking it was more of a gift than a curse to be involved in these events.
    In spite of being put in danger and injured when she stumbled upon the killers of Mr. Franklin a few months earlier, she knew she would never have found her place in West Memphis, never have found her home, if it hadn’t been for the grave circumstances that occurred when she arrived.
    Her relationship with Mr. Franklin’s mother and the friendships she had made with Rhonda and Lucas, Mary, Ms. Lou Ellen, not to mention Thomas, had been worth every moment of fear and doubt she had suffered. And standing in the dead man’s trailer, near the body of a dead Indian from New Mexico, the premonitions she was experiencing were both oddly familiar and comforting.
    She knew she was about to encounter another exciting adventure. She pulled her hand out of her pocket and smiled at the sheriff.
    â€œWell, I hope you figure things out,” she said as she walked toward the door.
    Then she stopped and turned around. “Do you think he meant to come here, or was he just passing through?” she asked, referring to the dead man.
    â€œI suspect it was a little of both,” he replied.
    Rose thought the sheriff had something else to add. She waited as the lawman looked out the window. She