When Karen Simmons is murdered on Valentine’s Day, Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps, leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death, while others band together to protest society’s violence against women. Into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive newsgathering once again antagonizes Elise.
A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would do a lot for her career, and she’s willing to go up against not just Elise but the killer himself to do it.
***
Elise’s Thoughts
Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton is the second book in the series. This one involves three women out for the truth, all will be narrators in the story.
Police detective Elise King is assigned to investigate the murder of local hairdresser Karen Simmons. Before her death, Simmons ran a singles group called the Free Spirits, and King immediately sets her sights on the men Simmons was dating. The author humanizes the detective by showing how she is trying to cope and recover from a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
Stepping on King’s toes, almost competing with her is Kiki Nunn, a journalist striving to find the big scoop. Considering she interviewed Karen about her online dating she decides to investigate the online dating angle.
Then there is Annie Curtis, who lost her young son Archie sixteen years ago in the same woods that Karen died. Though the police swiftly arrested Nicky Donovan for Archie’s murder, a pedophile who killed himself in custody. Annie is agonized both to feel the old wound being ripped open and to be racked by the unbearable suspicion that Nicky was innocent, and Archie’s killer is still at large.
It is fascinating to see how Barton has all three women come together in the end to help find the murderer.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Fiona Barton: This is the second book in the series with my detective Elise King. I had a conversation with a friend who was talking about on-line dating when it started out. She had a date with someone and sent a map of coordinates. She was very excited. I was dubious because I wondered if she was putting herself at risk. I then spoke to other friends. This is now the new normal of dating. I know of women who met lovely men and got married.
EC: What about the victim, Karen?
FB: She was being judged. There are people who were negative about her dating strangers and thought, ‘what was she thinking. Did she ask for it in a way.’ I hoped to explore this judgement in the book. There is a book quote, from Elise she “hated the fact she was just a number.” People do not realize there is a person behind that number. It is so dehumanizing.
EC: What about social media?
FB: It is here and will not be rid of. I wanted to show the effects of social media and how it can be used. The ‘friends’ on social media are usually people that the person does not know and have just popped up. Communication is more and more on-line.
EC: How would you describe Elise?
FB: She is an incredibly ambitious woman. She is driven. In book 1, Local Gone Missing, readers see that Elise thought her life was sorted out until her boyfriend dumped her for a younger woman and she discovered she had breast cancer. Her whole world turned upside down. Elise feels vulnerable and has a fear the cancer will come back. She started to question and is doubting herself. She is battling the physical and emotional side of the disease, which she tries not to acknowledge. Elise is on her own but is lonely. I think she is a woman in conflict.
EC: How would you describe the journalist Kiki?
FB: She is a single mom. Because she has a child to raise, she is no longer in mainstream journalism. She is pushy, takes risks, and is always looking for a scoop. Like Elise she is lonely. Kiki cares about Karen and does not see her as a number.
EC: What role does Annie play in the story?
FB: She is a victim who had her child murdered. Annie tries to put one foot in front of the other, but having Karen die in the same woods as her son has reopened all the wounds. Like Kiki and Elise, she is also lonely even though she is married. Annie feels she is not heard in her marriage.
EC: Of the three women characters which pushed the case along?
FB: I think they all had a hand in it. Elise helped it along through her investigation, finding out the information. Kiki took a deep dive into the online dating world. I think they thought they were stepping on each other’s toes, but they complimented each other. I think they could be friends. In this book when they were together both saw crisis but could be friends.
EC: Next book?
FB: No title, but Kiki will be featured.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEADLY PROTOCOL by Roger Croke on this blog tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links, Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
Dr Ronnie Ackerman wakes up in bed alone. Her boss, Nobel Prize-winner Professor Hasely Stone, and the man she got drunk with the night before, is downstairs in the sauna, brutally murdered.
Who did this, and why?
Stone had been working with total dedication on the ultimate cure for all cancers. Was he killed because he failed, or because he succeeded? Ronnie panics, clears the house of all traces of her overnight stay, and then sets out on a mission to find out.
***
My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
DEADLY PROTOCOL by Roger Corke is a fast-paced, twisted, roller coaster ride mash-up medical/political thriller featuring an American research doctor working in England and a British television reporter. I could not put this debut book down and I am so excited there is a proposed second “Deadly” book that I cannot wait to read.
Dr. Veronica “Ronnie” Ackerman is having second thoughts about her move to London six months ago, even though she is working for one of the most brilliant cancer research doctors in the world. Professor Hasely Stone talks Ronnie into coming to his home on the pretense of a business dinner, but after too much alcohol, they end up together in bed. When Ronnie wakes up, Hasely is not in bed. As she looks for him before leaving, she discovers him brutally murdered in his home sauna. Terrified, she tries to eliminate any evidence of her presence and goes on to work.
Journalist Daniel Plowright is one of the Professor’s success stories with his new protocol. When he meets Ronnie, they find a professional and personal connection that has them working to uncover why there are an increasing number of dead bodies connected to the protocol. They find themselves and some friends they make along the way are up against not only violent killers, but a secret plot within the highest echelons of the English government.
This is a page turner that starts off with a terrible murder and keeps up the pace from start to finish. Ronnie is an interesting protagonist, who I did not like at first, but once you get to know her; she is very human, making human mistakes, but she wants to make everything right in the end. Her pairing with Daniel works well as they both work to unravel this twisted plot of murder, intrigue, and corruption. Even though the intricate main plot ends with typical reasons for a crime, the paper Hasely rights about the economic consequences of curing all cancers is chilling. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel because it has everything I want when I pick up a book that calls itself a thriller.
I highly recommend this debut medical/political thriller!
***
Author Bio
TV journalist Roger Corke has spent more years that he cares to remember travelling to all parts of the world, making investigative documentaries for series like the BBC’s Panorama, Channel 4’s Dispatches and ITV’s World In Action and Tonight. It was whilst he was on a filming trip to America that he came up with the plot of Deadly Protocol.
“I was talking to a scientist working there who told me that they had made great strides in cancer research over the past few years.” says Roger. “I asked him whether that meant a cure for cancer might come soon. His answered floored me. He said ‘they may have found a cure for cancer but an lot of people would have a lot to lose if it ever saw the light of day’. Straight away, the plot for a thriller jumped out at me.”
Roger is now writing the sequel to Deadly Protocol, called Deadly Messages.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. Detective Kevin Dawson always wondered if Della even existed.
A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession. Then a girl’s body is discovered—a link to Scarlett’s horrific past—and all her old traumas resurface. So does Della. Scarlett has seen her hiding in plain sight. The girl who knows Scarlett’s secrets, who understands the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive.
As a suspicious Detective Dawson once again comes calling, and obsessions turn deadly, Scarlett fears there isn’t a living soul she can trust. As for Della, who’s watching from afar, what could she possibly want from Scarlett now? And what new nightmare lies ahead?
***
Elise’s Thoughts
Another Girl Lost by Mary Burton has suspense, intrigue, and mystery. This plot will keep readers wondering if her characters are like the ones in the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or are they real heroines, especially after the victim becomes a suspect.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession.
Della knew Scarlett’s secrets, understanding the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive, considering they were abused. The scenes of abuse are somewhat disturbing but not graphically described. Now Scarlett is confronted when a girl’s body is discovered, a link to her horrific past, and all her old traumas resurface. Nobody except Scarlett believes that Della ever existed, including Detective Kevin Dawson, who killed her captor and rescued her initially. But Scarlett still feels as if Della is around every corner.
Detective Dawson and his partner Margo Larson are both trying to pin on Scarlett the murder of the girl discovered. They no longer see her as a victim but now a suspect. Scarlett believes that it was Della who participated in the murder, but no one believes Della is alive. The detectives believe Della was made up to help Scarlett cope with her terrible situation or to give her an alibi for the murdered girl found.
What makes the plot very interesting is how it goes back and forth between present and past. Readers get to know Scarlett better realizing she was broken while trapped in the basement, trying to build a normal life, and how she is dangerously obsessed with Della. Although broken, she is did not permanently break even with her psychological and physical abuse.
It is interesting how the main characters are all involved in subterfuge and deception. All the characters are complex. The plot is gripping, engaging, twisty, dark, with triggers and twists.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: What is the idea for the story?
Mary Burton: This is stand-alone. I wanted to use gaslighting, how a woman believes she knows the truth but everyone around her is convinced she is wrong. I thought that is a good jump off point to have the heroine remember something while everyone around her is trying to convince her that might not be true.
EC: You like the heroines to be complex?
MB: I wanted my heroines to have imperfections that push the boundaries and are dealing with their own demons and imperfections. Their intentions are very good people with their methods unconventional. They are also trying to be independent.
EC: How would you describe Della?
MB: She is connected to the heroine, Scarlett. Scarlett thinks she comes back for her own reasons to want to control her. She was trapped with Scarlett, which bonded them in many ways. She discovered the body of another girl when trapped with Scarlett by the rapist. She embraced the darkness. While trapped with Scarlett she used hate and fear to her advantage.
EC: How would you describe Scarlett?
MB: She is frustrated that people think she is lying or confused about Della returning. She is clear-headed. She has not let go of Della. She is angry about Della, even obsessed with her, and cannot move on. This is why she keeps repainting Della’s picture. I think she is broken, trying to put herself back together, but the cracks are there. She is getting stronger, but still is fragile. Scarlett is searching for normalization. She is trying to leave her past behind, but it is not letting her go. Scarlett is trying to distance herself from the darkness, which was helped by the Judge.
EC: How would you describe Margo?
MB: She is broken and damaged, and she did some bad things in the name of justice. She is desperate for love and attention. She is angry and readers can see that in how she has handled her former cases. She is looking for retribution and has a destructive pattern. She likes being on the edge, taking dangerous assignments, and has an edgier relationship with Detective Dawson. Margo very much likes control and manipulates people. She presses the boundaries and sometimes breaks them. She wants to set Scarlett up. She is very persuasive and a bit of a sociopath. She knows how to use people’s emotions against them.
EC: What role does Detective Dawson play?
MB: He likes to give orders. He is determined and has tunnel vision. He is not a perfect guy and is not a great detective. His loyalty to Margo is his Achilles heel. He is manipulated by Margo.
EC: What about the rapist Reed?
MB: He is pure evil. He found Della who became his facilitator and helper. He is a psychopath who will do physical harm.
EC: Next book?
MB: It will be another stand alone with a complicated heroine who is trying to piece together clues from a cold case. No title yet.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Novella 0.5: Into the Fire Book 1: You’ll Never Find Me
Book Description – Into the Fire (Angelhart Investigations Book #0.5)
Margo Angelhart was recently certified as a private investigator, but she isn’t convinced that it’s her calling. All of her cases have been minor, mostly for family and haven’t paid the bills. She’s more than happy to keep bartending and figure out her post-military career later. That is, until prosecutor Andy Flannigan walks into her bar and offers her a case she can’t turn down…
Nineteen-year-old Sergio Diaz has confessed to murder—except Andy doesn’t buy it. With his own job on the line, Andy asks Margo to work the case discreetly. The more she digs, the more she’s convinced an innocent kid is going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Now she just needs to figure out why he’d confess. Can Margo prove Sergio’s innocence and help Andy find the real killer before anyone else dies?
INTO THE FIRE (Angelhart Investigations Book #0.5) by Allison Brennan is an introductory novella to a new P.I. series from a favorite author. Margo Angelhart is from a large extended family and is bartending after returning from the Army while getting her P.I. license on the side. This is a quick novella that introduces Margo a few years before the start of the series and demonstrates her tenacity and thinking outside of the box on her first case as a P.I.
Prosecutor Andy Flannigan is a regular customer and stops into the bar while Margo Angelhart is bartending. He has a case with a young man, Sergio Diaz, who has confessed to murder, but Andy does not believe him. Margo is willing to help and take a second look. The more she investigates, the more Margo believes in Sergio innocence, and she must discover why he is willing to go to prison for a crime he did not commit.
I enjoyed getting to know Margo and her family. Ms. Brennan’s writing brings all the characters to life and makes them believable. The crime plot is interesting even in this shorter novella format. I feel the main purpose of this novella, besides being an introduction to the characters, is to show Margo finally believing in herself and her path as a private investigator. I am looking forward to starting the first full length book in this series!
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Book Description – You’ll Never Find Me (Angelhart Investigations Book #1)
Working alone as a private investigator is tough. Estranged from her PI family, Margo Angelhart does what she must to get by—including taking on sordid cases that pay the bills, even if she’d rather be helping those the justice system has failed.
That is, until a cheating husband case she’s working intersects with her siblings’ corporate espionage investigation, forcing Margo to cooperate with the Angelhart firm. Now, as the siblings compare notes, it’s clear they need to work together before a white-collar crime escalates to murder.
With far more questions than answers and a key suspect on the run, they’ll need the whole family to pitch in. But as they investigate the ever-twisting mystery, Margo isn’t sharing everything. Can she learn to trust her family and heal their once-close relationship before her secrets put those she loves most in danger?
YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME (Angelhart Investigations Book #1) by Allison Brennan is an exciting and action packed P.I. crime thriller and a great start to this new series. Margo is a relatable protagonist from a large extended family in Phoenix, Arizona and a smart P.I. Besides introducing us to the main characters, there are two crime plots intersecting throughout the story.
P.I. Margo Angelhart is estranged from her family and working on her own and not with Angelhart Investigations. She helps an abused wife and mother of two disappear and to help pay for this pro-bono work she takes on a case to find proof of a cheating spouse. The cheating spouse case intersects with a corporate espionage investigation her family is working on. Her brother talks her into working together and the case soon escalates to attempted murder. At the same time, Margo has the husband of the family she helped disappear on her tail and threatening those she loves for information on the location of his missing family.
Margo is not sure how much she is willing to trust her family and keeps certain facts to herself, but this could put those she loves in danger. Is she willing to heal the family rift and become a part of her once close-knit family and the family firm again?
This is going to be a fabulous series! Margo is a fully developed protagonist. She is independent, brash and stubborn to a fault, but also extremely kindhearted to the underdog. The interactions with her various family members felt realistic and believable. The P.I. investigations were intriguing with plenty of twists and surprises. Everything together kept me turning the pages.
I highly recommend this first captivating book in this new Angelhart Investigations series!
***
About the Author
Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award winning author of more than forty thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. Originally from northern California, in 2019 she and her husband relocated to Arizona where they enjoy baseball Spring Training, hiking, and spending time with their kids, grandson, and assorted pets.
Six experienced saturation divers are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. Calm and professional, they know that rapid decompression would be fatal and so they work in shifts, breathing helium, and surviving in hot, close quarters.
Then one of them is found dead in his bunk.
With four days of decompression to go before the locked hatch to the chamber can be safely opened, the group must watch one another’s backs at all times. And when another diver is discovered unresponsive, everyone is on edge. What…or who…is taking them out one by one? And will any of them still be alive by the time the four days is up or will paranoia, exhaustion, suspicion, and pressure destroy them all?
THE CHAMBER by Will Dean is a psychological crime thriller/mystery with the ultimate locked room. Six experienced saturation divers begin to die, one-by-one, in their place of work, a hyperbaric chamber. If you are claustrophobic, this may not be the book for you, but you will be missing out on an amazing who-dun-it thriller that leaves you questioning your assumptions all the way to the last page.
Locked in a hyperbaric chamber is a tight and hot environment in which to live as six professional saturation divers work in shifts on deep sea oil rigs. They all depend on each other for their lives and know there is no exit until after decompression. After only one dive shift, one of the divers is discovered dead in his bunk and then it happens again. The divers can find no reason for these deaths and do not know who to trust. Now, as the company calls a halt to the month-long job, the divers must wait through four days of decompression as they continue to die one-by-one.
The story is told by Ellen Brooke, one of few female saturation divers, and she is in the chamber with five other experienced divers. Ellen is a wife and mother who does not know if she will return home. As the clock ticks down the time of decompression, the dead bodies increase and so does the level of suspicion and conspiracy theories. I always thought I was slightly claustrophobic until I read this book and now, I know I am much more claustrophobic than I believed. This is definitely not a job for the feint of heart.
I loved this book! I learned about a career I knew nothing about and would never attempt but found fascinating. I changed my mind so many times as to who or what was killing the divers. This mystery/thriller is fast paced, even with the explanations of sat diving and the countdown to the end builds to a heart pounding climax. No spoilers here, but make sure you read to the very last page.
I highly recommend this psychological crime thriller/mystery!
***
About the Author
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. After studying law at the London School of Economics and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a wooden house in a vast forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s book club on ITV, shortlisted for the National Book Award (UK), TheGuardian’s Not the Booker prize, and was named a Telegraph book of the year. He is also the author of The Last One, First Born, The Last Thing to Burn, which was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and The Chamber.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for IN THE PALE LIGHT by Wesley Smith on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
When Clay Graham and his family are found slain in the parking lot of his struggling business, the police suspect Clay’s troublemaker brother, Terry. Terry claims he was drunk the night of the murders and passed out at home. With little evidence against Terry to make an arrest, the case soon goes cold.
Shunned from the community, harassed by the locals who believe he’s a murderer, and suffering from an undiagnosed illness, Terry lives alone on his farm, punishing himself for his past indiscretions.
Then Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Henry Miller, who has ties to the town and the Graham murders, shows up with newly discovered evidence that kick-starts the case all over again.
Now, before his illness kills him, Terry sets out, battling against small-town secrets and old grudges, racing against time to stay one step ahead of both the State Police and his own impending death, to finally find out what really happened to his family and hopefully prove himself and innocent man –if he is one.
Genre: Crime Thriller Published by: Watertower Hill Publishing Publication Date: August 13, 2024
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
IN THE PALE LIGHT by Westley Smith is an intense vigilante cold case crime thriller with a man accused of killing his brother’s family racing against his terminal illness and law enforcement to discover the truth. Make sure you set aside a block of time to read this race-against-time thriller because if you are like me, you will not be able to put it down until the final revelation.
Terry Graham is known around town as a drunkard and troublemaker with a terrible temper. When his brother, brother’s wife, and daughter are found shot to death outside their business, everyone believes Terry is responsible, but there is no proof. Shunned in his small hometown for nine years, the case has gone cold until a pair of detectives from the State Police Major Crimes Unit take over this investigation and begin asking questions again.
Pennsylvania State Trooper Henry Miller is back in town with newly discovered evidence to investigate the Graham case that he was the first patrol officer on the scene on the day of the murder. Miller has always had questions about this murder case and now he hopes to find the truth, but Terry seems to have discovered something also and is beating him to people he wants to question.
With Terry barely ahead of the detectives, he is racing against time to discover the truth behind the murders and prove himself innocent.
This book has a protagonist that is not lovable, and has a terrible temper, but you end up cheering him on to find the truth before he succumbs to his illness. Every new discovery had me rethinking the crime; not only who but why. The crime thriller plot is fast-paced and full of twists and surprises. The tension builds to a crescendo that had me reading well past my bedtime.
I highly recommend this engrossing vigilante cold case crime thriller!
***
Excerpt
December 25th, 2015
The emergency lights from the Hickory Falls Sheriff’s Department Ford Interceptor flashed across the snow when it pulled into the Graham Video store parking lot. The sheet of white should have been untouched by tires at 6:45 a.m., and the snow-covered green Jetta, sitting in the far left-hand corner of the parking lot should not have been there. Two different sets of tire tracks cut through the pristine snow. One set belonged to the Jetta. The other set made a large circle in the snow before making its way back toward Main Street.
The officer brought the SUV to a stop about five feet from the Jetta; its headlights bathed the car in the frigid darkness. Unable to see past the Jetta’s frosted snow-covered windows, a building sense of unease began to crawl over him, tightening the flesh to his bones.
The officer’s shift had been easy that night. He had not responded to any emergency calls, nor had he had to pull anyone over. A Christmas miracle itself. But all that had changed fifteen minutes ago while he was patrolling Broke Run Road, when Sheriff Will Daniel’s voice came over the radio.
“Call just came in. We got a report of shots fired at the Graham Video store. Caller says they saw a man running across the parking lot, carrying what appeared to be a shotgun. The suspect reportedly got into the passenger side of a blue sedan before it took off with two others inside. Need you to check it out,” Daniel had said.
Why the hell is the sheriff in at this hour? the officer had wondered. Shouldn’t Susan be on the call desk? And what’s going on at the Graham Video store?
Now on scene, with the first cracks of gray sky beginning to materialize through the night horizon, he radioed back into the station.
“I’m at the Graham Video store. I’ve located a V-dub Jetta. It’s an early 2000s model. No sign of anyone else, including the reported blue sedan. Though there are two sets of tire tracks in the snow, indicating another vehicle was present.” He glanced at the video store’s entrance. There were no broken windows and no ajar door to indicate a robbery had occurred. The place appeared buttoned up tight. “No signs of a break-in, Sheriff. Getting out to inspect the vehicle.”
“Ten-four,” Sheriff Daniel’s voice came back over the line. “Proceed with caution.”
Again, the officer thought it was strange that the sheriff was in at that hour, and on Christmas morning. Where was Susan Green? She usually worked the overnight shift; she should still have been at the station, working the dispatch desk. Still, the officer knew, she could have gone home for any number of reasons—the holiday, the storm, or maybe a family member had fallen –ill—and the sheriff had filled in for her. Pushing the thought from his mind, the officer returned to the pressing matter at hand.
Stay focused.Stay sharp.
Stepping from the SUV, the blowing snow and driving wind bit at the officer’s exposed skin, penetrated his clothes. Zipping his jacket up to his chin, he started toward the car, trudging through the shin-deep snow.
As he neared the Jetta, pelted with snow and ice so hard it stung, he noticed a set of footprints leading away from the passenger-side door toward the second set of tire tracks before vanishing. The tracks were nearly filled in with fresh powder, but it was unmistakable what they were. He assumed this was where the person had gotten into the second car—an old blue sedan. Looking back to the Jetta, he saw something smeared along the top of the passenger-side door. Whatever it was had frozen to a hard, ruby-colored substance.
He eased in for a closer look.
Blood!
Frozen blood.
A strange tightness gripped the base of the officer’s neck as if Death had wrapped a cold, boney hand around him and begun to squeeze. His heart rate quickened. He placed his right hand on his sidearm and identified himself.
“This is the Hickory Falls Sheriff’s Department. If there’s anyone inside the vehicle, would you please step out?”
There was no reply. The car was dead still. The only sound across the parking lot was the howling wind and the ice pebbles hitting the closest metal lamp post.
Not wanting to disturb what he believed to be blood on the passenger-side door, the officer lumbered through the deepening snow, around the front of the Jetta, to the driver’s side. Reaching down, he took hold of the handle and pulled.
The driver’s side door was locked.
He took a deep breath of cold air, sending what felt like ice daggers into his lungs as he tried to steel himself for what he might find inside. His teeth began to chatter, and an internal shudder tremored in his core and quickly expanded to the rest of his body.
“I’m asking anyone inside to identify themselves and step out.” He waited, but when no one replied, he said, “If you do not comply, I will be forced to inspect the vehicle. Last warning.”
Silence.
No movement came from within. The car’s stillness bothered him—like it was dead. But that was impossible. Cars could not be deceased like humans or animals. So why was he getting the dreaded feeling that death emanated from it?
Placing his gloved hand on the window, he brushed the light dusting of snow away and bent down to look inside.
The officer recoiled at what he saw or who he saw staring back at him. His feet slipped out from under him, and he went down onto his backside, hard. Snow kicked up when he hit the ground, and for a moment he was cocooned in falling white powder, protected from what he had seen.
But when the snow settled, the officer was again gazing at the driver’s-side door of the Jetta. There, he saw a man’s pale face pressed against the glass, the muscles twisted and tightened in agony. His eyes were open and locked directly on the officer with a vacant, lifeless stare, pleading with him, even in death, to save him.
Too late. I’m too late to save you.
The officer shot to his feet; snow fell off his uniform in large patchy clumps. And though the temperature was in the teens, he felt sweat break out across his back and forehead.
Moving gingerly toward the Jetta again, the officer realized he knew the dead man looking back at him.
Clay Graham—the owner of the Graham Video store.
He removed his Maglite from his belt and turned it on. Bending, he shone the beam through the ice-crusted driver’s-side window and began to scan the car’s interior.
That’s when he saw them.
He pressed a gloved hand over his lips, suppressing the scream that wanted to leap from his throat at the horrific sight of carnage and death inside the Jetta.
It wasn’t just Clay Graham dead inside the car but also his wife, Claire, and their teenage daughter, Sidney.
***
Author Bio
Westley Smith had his first short story, Off to War, published when he was just sixteen.
He is, more recently, the author of two horror novels, Along Came the Tricksters and All Hallows Eve, as well as the thriller Some Kind of Truth. His short fiction has been published in various magazines and websites. Wes lives with his wife and two dogs in the beautiful woodlands of southern Pennsylvania–the perfect place to hide a body.
