The Guilty Innocent by D N Simmons Read Free Book Online

and shook my head. He had been sniffing around the car to get a scent.
    “Nothing?” he asked me, I shook my head. “Well, I have two fresh scents, one is a female, the other male, there are dozens of scents in this garage, but only her perfume and his cologne are on the car. It's very faint, they must have leaned on the car when they planted the body-” he looked at me cautiously.
    He was speaking in police terminology but didn't want to offend me by referring to Annette as the “body”. At this point, I thought that would be better, I feared I might have a breakdown if I continued to think of Annette as “Annette”. I smiled slightly at Warren to let him know it was alright. He continued.
    “I traced the scent to this area over here,” he walked to a open parking space across from Darian's car. “Unfortunately, they drove away and I can't pick up their scent.” He looked as disappointed as I felt. I began to touch Darian's car all over, hoping to feel something that might help me form a connection. Warren watched me intently, he seemed intrigued by my methods. “Do you feel anything yet?” he asked.
    “No. Okay, take me home...wait.” I said, having second thoughts about pursuing the investigation for another hour or so. “No, it's nothing, take me home, does your offer still stand?” I asked, hoping he would stay the night.
    “You know it does. Come on,” he said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
    We left the club and drove back home. I fought the urge to wallow in my tears again when I walked into the apartment I once shared with Annette. Warren and I climbed into my bed and we forced ourselves to catch a few hours sleep. I was hoping I would be able to get at least two hours of rest. I felt myself drifting off. As I slept, I opened my mind to receive the visions. I began to see lifestyles of the various people that I've made contact with over the past few months. I tried to use the techniques Darian taught me to filter out all of the visions I didn't want to see. There was nothing, not one vision that would reveal to me Annette's killers. I blocked all of the visions and gave myself some peace.

Chapter Four
    Day Two

    I awoke to the sound of Warren's voice as he spoke to his partner Matthew on the telephone. I turned and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed in his t-shirt and jeans. It felt really comforting being in bed with a man again, I almost forgot just how wonderful a feeling that was. Warren turned around to look at me, he smiled then reached over and took my hand into his. He ended his conversation with Matthew.
    “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked me. He leaned over me, one arm on the other side of my body, his eyes were watching me closely.
    “I'm doing fine, thank you for staying. It really meant a lot to me,” I said, fighting the urge to pull him on top of me, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, Warren is gay.
    He smiled. “No problem, I wanted to. I couldn't just let you stay here by yourself, not after what happened.” He straightened himself then rose from the bed. “Well, I was talking with Matthew and he found out that Anthony Juliano, Darian's old employee, had a rap sheet longer than my di-” He paused his face reddening slightly. I suppose that was more cop talk. “Sorry about that, no vulgar talk when a lady is present,” he said with a bow.
    “Oh stop it, already!” I laughed, he chuckled. That relieved some of my tension. Laughter was always Annette's way to perk up the spirits. As I thought about her, I wanted to cry. I forced myself to focus on something more productive, like tracking down her killers, I wanted justice for Annette! My gaze fell on Warren, he had been silently watching me from across the room.
    “Go on, Warren, what else?” I asked, urging him to continue.
    He nodded, and went on. “He has been arrested on several counts of armed robbery, assault, battery and DUI, but was never convicted.” Warren shook his head. “I