Steele Resolve (The Detective Jasmine Steele Series Book 1) by Kimberly Amato

like the other, one of those dead is not the same,” singing to myself I think about the case files in my head. After they were murdered, the offending item was removed, so what does it matter. “Was it before or after?”
    I rack my brain trying to remember if Victor mentioned it being surgically altered before or after the victim’s demise. That little bit of information could help Frankie come up with some kind of profile for the killer. Any little thing tends to help fill in the gaps in a case; I once solved a murder due to a peanut allergy. Trust me it happens.
    “Or they just dislike being lied to.”
    Or that.
    “Like I hate being lied to.” I stop everything and just sit down at the base of the shower; pulling my knees to my chest I try to slow my breathing. My mind begins to race as I think of Frankie’s leaving, how she said I had new responsibilities and I shut her out. She had her reasons to leave, but none of them felt like real reasons to me. Everything she said felt fake, like she was abandoning me like everyone else. I wanted to ask her what the truth was, if there was someone else, but I never did.
    Slowing my breathing, I think about the other women I’ve seen her with. Friends or not, it’s not my place to argue or put demands on her. I let her go and I have to focus on my family and this case. Before I can control myself, I take a huge swing and punch the wall. My body breaks down into silent sobs, crying for the loss of my family but also for the loss of my innocence. I let the tears flow easily, the knot in my neck getting tighter as I fight the shaking.
    There are many crossroads in life; sometimes we don’t remember the forks in the road. We just travel along and do our best. Right now, I feel I am sitting at a fork in the road and am terrified to try either path. Should I keep going in the same direction, one that seems to cause me pain or do I try the other path and try to get things back to the way they were?
    “What if it’s worse than before?”
    My mother always called me a pessimist. I wish I wasn’t but in this line of work, all I see is negative. Why should my outlook on life be any different? I know I have to choose a path to travel down, but right now I can’t make those decisions. I have to take care of this case. I have to become a robot, shut down, whatever I have to in order to finish this damn thing. Life isn’t just about me and my choices anymore, it’s about Chase.
    I force myself to stand up, shut off the water and grab a towel. After a nice pat down, I realize I forgot my clothes. I quietly tip toe out of the shower and into the bedroom. I stop dead in my tracks when I see an outfit has been nicely laid out for me.
    “She picked out my clothes,” a smile forms on my face but is quickly lost with a knocking on the door.
    “You okay Aunt Jazz?”
    After getting fully dressed, I open the door to see Chase standing there patiently.
    “Yes, little man. I’m golden. I thought you were going to the park?”
    “I am, but I wanted to say goodbye to you first,” Chase wraps his arms around me and squeezes rather tightly for a kid. “You going to be okay without me here?”
    “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “Because Aunt Frankie called some people and told them to come over. She said something about you not being able to see your nose on your face.”
    “Ah, yes. Gotta love your Aunt Frankie. Come on; let’s go see what the band of know-it-alls has set up for me.”
    He walks a few steps in front of me. Each step he raises his hand and checks to make sure the next step is clear. He’s too cute when he pretends he’s the protector. Taking the final step into the living room, he quickly dives back and leans against the wall. Being the good aunt that I am, I follow suit and hug the wall next to him.
    “What’s going on?” I whisper.
    He peeks around the corner again before leaning back against the wall.
    “The living room’s been taken over by aliens.”
    Trying to