The Death Agreement Read Online Free PDF

said.
When he turned to lead the way, I saw the badge clipped to his
waist. He led me to a door marked: Interrogation Four. The walls
were white-painted cinderblock, bare, except for what I assumed to
be a two-way mirror on the far wall.
    The detective motioned to the
metal desk and chairs. I took a seat, glancing at the mirror on my
right. "Just a moment," he said, smiled, then closed the door as he
left.
    After fifteen minutes, I got up
and tried to door handle, finding it locked. I knocked twice but no
one came to let me out. Without any other options, I sat back down
and waited. Over an hour later, an Asian man dressed in a brown
suit and worn tennis shoes came in carrying two cups of
coffee.
    "Detective Yang?" I asked, rising
from my seat.
    The man set the cups on the metal
table and extended his hand. "Thanks for making the
trip."
    I refused to shake his hand but I
took the coffee. "Thanks for making me sit here like I'm some kind
of criminal."
    "Lieutenant Randon." Yang sighed.
Then he sat down across from me. "May I call you
Jonathan?"
    "Jon."
    "It isn't like that, Jon. You're
not a suspect."
    "What's it like then?"
    "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep
you waiting. This case is spiraling out of control, and you're the
only person close enough to Mr. Taylor who can give us insight into
his motives. Unfortunately that leaves us with a
problem."
    "Which is?"
    "Trust," Yang said. "New evidence
has surfaced, evidence the police department would never share with
the public. I've convinced my supervisors this information may
help you help us ."
    "I'll do everything in my power.
All I want is to track down Taylor's family, make sure they are
safe."
    Yang's eyes narrowed and his jaw
tightened for a split second before he smiled slightly. "That's all
we want, too."
    "I know what you're thinking," I
leaned back and crossed my arms. "He would never hurt them. Not in
a million years."
    "I understand your dedication to
your friend. Believe me, I do, Jon."
    "Good, so where do we
start?"
    Yang stood. He crushed the empty
paper cup in his hand, then said, "The morgue. I need you to
identify the body before we can release it to the funeral
home."
    ***
    The sun set as we left the
station. Yang climbed in behind the wheel of a white Crown
Victoria, and I jumped into the passenger seat. As we drove, he
asked about my life, time in the service, and plans for the future.
I answered his questions and asked some of my own. I learned he had
been a cop for thirteen years, that he was married, though his wife
had run off with his brother, and now he looked after his young
nephew, and his nephew's mother that his brother had left
behind.
    "Sounds like you do understand
what I'm going through," I said.
    Yang nodded as he pulled into a
parking spot. After he shut off the engine, he looked at me and
scrunched his eyebrows together. "By the way," he said, "when was
the last time you heard from Mr. Taylor?"
    "Um, well…I saw him a few weeks
ago. The last I heard from him though, he left a message on my phone about him not
seeing me somewhere, but that's it."
    "Not seeing you? Did he expect to
see you?"
    "I don't know. It was strange. I'm
not even sure he was talking to me. It sounded like the call was
accidental. Like maybe he was talking to someone else."
    "Oh." Yang opened the car door.
"Can I listen to it?"
    "Sure."
    I pulled the phone from my pocked,
navigated to voicemail, and pressed play.
    — Jesse Taylor Voicemail —
    We sat in silence after the
message finished.
    "I don't know what to make of it,
Detective."
    Yang bit his lip. "Interesting.
Odd, but interesting."
    "What is?"
    "If Jesse Taylor that left that
message, my job just got easier. That's all."
    "Of course it's him. But I don't
see how that's important," I said, confused.
    "What if that isn't him?" Yang
narrowed his eyes. "Maybe someone left that recording so we would think it was
him."
    "What are you getting
at?"
    "Nothing."
    "Besides, even if this was some
kind of prank, it wouldn't