R. E. Bradshaw - Rainey Nights Read Online Free PDF

left on a mission.
    Danny looked quizzically at Rainey. She answered his unspoken question, “She’s a member of the church. I think she can help us. She’s the one that mentioned the missing ring.”
    “I think she’s got a crush on you,” Danny said, chuckling.
    “Shut up, asshole.”
    Rainey wasn’t really angry. It wasn’t the first case of hero worship she had to deal with, and at least this one was cute. She and Danny teased each other mercilessly. It eased the tensions of the job. To an outsider it may appear callous to stand over a table full of horrible images joking, but it was never disrespectful of the victims. They both needed the coping mechanism.
    “Are you sure she has a boyfriend?” Danny wasn’t letting up.
    “I don’t have one,” Rainey shot back. “What does that make me?”
    Danny patted her on the shoulder, his dimples showing, as he said, “A lonely old woman, ma’am. Maybe you should try the other team. You’re not doing too well with the boys.”
    It was too new, too raw. Danny just never knew when to stop. He was older, but he acted more like an annoying little brother sometimes. Rainey stiffened under his hand and turned her green eyes on him with a glare.
    “With you as an example of what I have to choose from, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.”
    Knox entered the room, saving Rainey from Danny’s retort. Sure there was going to be one, Rainey was thankful the young officer had shown up when she did. Rainey wasn’t in the mood to exchange pithy banter with Danny. She wanted to solve this case and take a vacation. North Carolina was calling her home. She had not seen her father in months, or Ernie, the woman who practically raised her and managed her father’s Bail Bond office. Rainey saw her real mother only on holidays when she couldn’t escape without repercussions she’d rather avoid. Her wealthy, pretentious mother had not been a part of her day-to-day life since Rainey was fourteen and deemed uncontrollable. She had been handed over to her Vietnam veteran, real father, whom she had only learned about at age ten. It was the best thing that ever happened to her.
    Deputy Knox burst into the room, almost breathless, saying, “The pastor’s at the church. They’re going ahead with the lockdown. The church secretary said they thought it was best to let the kids grieve together. Pastor Morrell is in the education building setting up. Detective Martin is on his…”
    Martin entered the room before Knox could finish the sentence. He asked, “What did you find?”
    Rainey didn’t want to blow her hunch out of proportion. She said, “We aren’t sure, but there may be a connection to the abstinence pledge found in Crystal’s car and at least two of the other victims. We want to go to the church and speak with the pastor. He may know something and not realize it.”
    “Okay, what do you want me to do?” Martin asked.
    Danny, who had stacked all but three of the files in a pile, pointed at them. “We need to contact each of these families. Find out if any of the victims took the abstinence pledge, or were involved in a group that may have attended a meeting, a rally, even a church camp where it could have come up. Also, were any of them missing a ring, a gold band?”
    Martin looked confused.
    Knox explained, “Crystal had a gold band. She got the ring when she took the pledge. It wasn’t on the body.”
    Rainey picked up Crystal’s file from the three Danny held back. They already knew the other two victims’ rings were missing. She added a request. “Ask Crystal’s family if they have the ring at home. We’re going to go talk to the pastor.”
    Rainey started to leave. She turned back to the young deputy. “Well Knox, are you coming?”
    “Yes ma’am.”
    Rainey heard Danny chuckle behind her.
    #
     
    The Rose of Sharon Church sat just off Highway 220, north of Fincastle, just five miles from where Crystal’s body was found. The soaring steeple of the