Covers & Excerpts
Sexy Men of Mystery Book Four
Low sex drive? The Sex Doctor can cure that!Detective Marshall Ray’s hoping the Sex Doctor, Dr. Sébastein Thibeault, can cure him of his low libido. When he meets the handsome, charismatic hunk, he’s flustered and can’t stop thinking about him. But to partake in the doctor’s unconventional therapy, he has to open his heart, which scares the hell out of Marshall.
The reason Sébastien’s therapy’s so successful is he’s an empathic vampire. He uses his sixth sense to cure people. With Marshall, who makes his heart pitter-patter, his senses tell him the cure for Marshall is him. The sexual attraction they have is something Sébastien cannot dismiss. But something’s happening to Sébastien that frightens him. He’s having blackouts and waking up with bloodstains on his clothes that aren’t his.
People are being mysteriously killed in the city, their bodies bled dry. Marshall tries to figure out who the murderer is when a witness identifies Sébastien as the killer. Marshall must secretly investigate Sébastien while trying not to let his emotions affect his job. Easier said than done when his heart’s telling him Sébastien’s his soul mate.
Release Date: September 23, 2013
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Content/Theme(s): Romantic Suspense, Vampires, M/M, lite BDSM, GLBT
Publisher: Siren Publishing
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The Sex Doctor Excerpt:
The room spun, and Sébastien found focusing on his handsome blond-haired, hazel-eyed patient before him impossible. He knew he’d have this side effect if he stopped the purification process in midstream. But if he drank an orange juice, it would raise his sugar levels and lessen his vertigo.
He stood, and trying not to show his dizziness by gently bracing his weight on the love seat’s armrest, then the wall, he approached the side bar. Afraid his head would spin out of control if he turned now to gaze at Marshall, he asked blindly, “Would you care for a drink?”
“No, um, are you all right, Doctor? You are awfully pale.”
No use in lying now. The cat is out of the bag. “Yes, of course. I’m just a little dizzy is all.” He drank the cold glass of orange juice as he made his way back to his seat. Not moving his head, the whirlwind scene settled and the good-looking man before him once again came into focus.
Marshall’s gaze teetered between Sébastien and the direction of the room, which held the Purifier. “Um, you stopped the dialysis instantly. Isn’t that dangerous?”
If he confessed the truth, he would say that yes, stopping a kidney dialysis quickly like that was extremely dangerous, but he wouldn’t boldface lie, either, so he did the next best thing without compromising his values. He said a white lie. “Well, the process had ended and I was going to remove the needles when you saw me.”
“Oh, I see.” Marshall nodded, sitting back.
The dizziness was gone, but Sébastien knew that it hadn’t disappeared entirely. It lingered in the crevices of his brain, waiting to wreak havoc once more. If he turned or tilted his head in any direction, it would return with a vengeance. So sitting stiffly and unmoving, Sébastien asked, “Before I tell you about my nonconventional treatment, could you tell me why you wanted to see me?”
“Well, Sheryl told me you helped her with the sexual problems she was having with her husband and I thought…” Marshall paused, his eyes shifting from right to left.
“It makes you uncomfortable to say it, doesn’t it, Marshall?”
“Yes, Doctor, it does.”
“Well, then you don’t have to say it. I’ll speak and you only need to nod if I’m correct or not.”
Marshall nodded, wide-eyed.
“You thought I could help you with the problems you’re having with your wife.”
Marshall shook his head. “No, I’m not married.”
“Then with your girlfriend?”
He nodded. “With past girlfriends. Not just one.”
“How many? Two? Three?”
Marshall continued to shake his head, then added, “All of them.”
Sébastien sighed. “Hmm, well, unfortunately, I won’t be able to help you answer the next question. You’ll need to do so alone. If you aren’t comfortable answering, then I can’t help you any further.”
Marshall grinned. “I’m fine, Doctor. I’ll answer whatever question you want me to.”
“All right, that’s excellent.” Sébastien drummed his fingers on the right armrest. “What type of problem did you have with all your former girlfriends?”
Marshall took a deep breath and, gazing directly into Sébastien’s eyes, responded, “My libido. Or rather my lack of libido.”
Sébastien’s brow lifted, and he couldn’t help but wonder how this muscular and handsome man before him found it hard to make love to women. But if Marshall decided to continue with the therapy, he would soon find out. His lips spread into a half grin to show encouragement. “Well, the good news is treating a low libido is easier than treating an overactive one.”
Marshall shook his head. “If you’re talking Viagra or other meds like that, I tried them. They don’t work.”
“No, I wasn’t talking medication. But your remark does raise a question for me.” He paused, then asked, “Have you seen a medical doctor for your problem?”
“Yes, I did, and I went through a slew of tests, which showed I was normal. So he prescribed me Viagra and other meds like that. None of the meds helped. And I won’t mention the side effects.”
“Yes, the side effects can be many,” Sébastien said, imagining how painful it could be if his cock stayed erect for long periods of time.
“After that I figured maybe homeopathic medicine would help. That’s how I met Sheryl. But she couldn’t help me and referred me to you.”
“I see.” He took a deep breath and tried to lift the man’s spirits. “All right, then we know it isn’t a physical thing. Which makes this easier for us.”
“Easier for me? Not really, Doctor.”
Sébastien grinned. “No, of course not, Marshall. I didn’t mean what you’re going through is easy. What I meant is now that I know that this isn’t physical, the therapy will be straightforward.”
Marshall leaned in closer, and with scrutinizing eyes, he asked, “What type of therapy are we talking here, Doc?”
Sébastien placed the empty glass on the table, and when he saw the dizziness didn’t return with the movement, he thanked God and said, “I’m not sure how much Mrs. Todd told you about me or my therapy, so it’s best I tell you exactly what I tell all my patients before I begin with any treatments.” He sighed. “First off, I’m not a certified sex therapist.”
“But you are a doctor. Aren’t you?”
“Yes, I have a doctorate, but not in psychology. In biochemistry.”
Marshall frowned. “Then why do you practice sex therapy?”
“Because I found my vocation in this. I have helped many people who couldn’t find the help they needed from doctors or psychologists or psychiatrists.” He leaned forward. “So shall I continue or has this news unsettled you and now you wish to terminate any further treatments and leave?”
A hesitant “No” slipped off Marshall’s lips. His eyes though showed his indecisiveness.
Sébastien continued, “You don’t sound that sure, Marshall. Let me tell you what some of my therapy sessions entail. Maybe that will help you make up your mind.”
“All right.”
“Well, in your case, the first thing I would do is have you tell me about your childhood.”
Marshall snorted. “Oh, now you do sound like a psychiatrist or Freudian who thinks my sex problems are all based on some traumatic episode I experienced in my childhood. Or that I had sexual fantasies of my mom. Relax, Doc. I am not a pervert. Nor did I have a pervert for a dad and I certainly wasn’t beaten. My parents are two of the best parents someone would ever hope to have.”
Sébastien lifted his hand. “Ah, you’re assuming, Marshall. I never thought that, nor did I imply it. Learning about your childhood and your past will help me understand you better. That’s all.”
“Okay, sorry for jumping the gun there, Doc. So, then what else?”
“Well, then I’d ask you to tell me what you remember about your past girlfriends. How you felt about them? What type of relationships were they? Etc.”
“Okay, that I can live with. What else?”
“Well, this may make you uneasy, and this is where my therapy is unconventional…”
“Oh, no, you’re not…”
Sébastien’s brow cocked and his lips broke into a grin. “Now, don’t assume, Marshall. Please allow me to finish.” He paused, and when he saw that Marshall didn’t speak, he said, “I will have you look at pictures of the nude female and male body and ask you under different circumstances how you react to them.”
Marshall squinted, frowning, but didn’t comment. So Sébastien felt compelled to add, “I can assure you that if at any moment you feel uncomfortable or pressured in the session, we will stop and take a different route in the therapy. I believe that the road to effective treatment is a road paved by the patient, not by the therapist. In other words, I will not cure you of your problem. Instead, it will be you, yourself, who will. I am and will always be your guide only. And will never force you to do, think, say, or experience anything you don’t want to or aren’t ready for emotionally or mentally.”
He paused and stared at Marshall’s reaction. His furrowed brows straightened and his eyes lightened. Then Sébastien took a deep breath and gazed at the clock on the wall. Realizing the time, he said, “Well, Marshall, I don’t want you to answer that question now.” He stood. “What I want you to do is go home and think this over for a day. If after that time, you are still interested in having me as your therapist, you can come back at two tomorrow, and we will have our first session.”
Marshall got up and followed Sébastien to the door. “All right, Doctor.”
Sébastien lifted his finger in notation and smiled. “Also, please call me Sébastien. You are not my patient, but my client, and I’m not your doctor.”
“Okay.”
Sébastien extended his hand. “Well then, it was nice to meet you, Marshall, and if by tomorrow you decide to continue with your therapy, I’ll be delighted to help you.”
They shook hands and he opened the door, and just as Marshall stepped into the corridor, he remembered. “Oh, and by the way, I don’t know if Mrs. Todd told you or not, but I do not get paid anything until the treatment is over and your problem is fixed.”
Marshall’s eyes opened wide. “But how can you make a living like that?”
Sébastien grinned and waggled his brow. “I do. Everyone who has followed my treatment has been successful. I have a one-hundred-percent success rate. Good day, Marshall, it was nice to have met you.”
Marshall grinned back. “Yes, it was nice to have met you, too, Doc. I mean, Sébastien.”
Sébastien closed the door and couldn’t help but note how Marshall’s bright smile enhanced his looks. He was a rare beauty, indeed. His chiseled face and bright eyes and smile, along with his perfectly white teeth and thick blond hair that fell into his eyes, made him one of the best looking people he had ever seen.
Now feeling the soreness in his limbs warned Sébastien that if he didn’t continue with the purification he so abruptly interrupted before, he would go into shock. He meandered into the room and sat next to the Purifier. As he reinserted new, sterile needles into his arm, he wondered about Marshall.
What would Marshall have said if Sébastien told him that his therapy practice was only a sideline? What would he have said if he knew that Sébastien was actually a millionaire and that his discovery, which now traveled through the Purifier beside him, had made him that?
~~~~~~
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Sexy Men of Mystery Book Three
After witnessing his father’s murder, Victor Bronte runs for his life. He hides out in a pub where he meets Mark Murphy, a charming, handsome guy who’s had his share of bad luck. They quickly hit it off, making Victor forget the killer’s after him.
Mark Murphy’s been wallowing in self-pity ever since his cheating ex broke his heart. When he meets Victor, the sexy hunk who offers him a supporting ear and a drive home, he quickly forgets his woes and becomes smitten. As their love blossoms, they promise to take things slow. Not an easy feat when the urge to tear each other’s clothes off and make passionate love dominates their every thought.
But that’s the least of their problems because the killer’s still out there, and now he has a new target. In order to protect Mark, Victor has to give the killer what he wants. But he has to figure out what it is first. To do that he has to go back to the very place his father was murdered. Time is ticking, and so is the killer’s patience and desire for blood.
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A Witness’s Submission Excerpt:
It was like the Fourth of July! Stars exploded in Mark’s head right before the shock subsided and the pain set in.
Victor just punched him smack in the eye! Moaning, he tried to stop the throbbing.
“I’m so, so sorry, Mark.” Guilt plagued Victor’s face as he jumped off the bed and ran to the kitchen to get a hand towel. He tossed ice cubes in it and came back a few seconds later, placing the towel on Mark’s right eye. “Please, put this on it to stop the swelling.”
Mark did what he asked and stared at him with his good eye. “What was all that?”
Victor sighed. “A nightmare, I guess.”
“Was it a nightmare? Because the look in your eyes now that you’re awake tells me differently.” He paused. “You have the fear of God in you.”
Victor turned his gaze away. “It’s probably my imagination.”
Mark placed his hand gently on Victor’s. He was obviously hurting and Mark wanted to help him like Victor had helped him the night before. “You can talk to me, you know. I’m a real good listener.”
“I can’t,” Victor stated with fear in his eyes.
“Victor, I can see how much this is bothering you and how scared you are now. Even last night, I saw how emotional you were and how you tried to hide it from me.” He remained motionless. “In your dream you were shouting at someone that they wouldn’t win. That they murdered your father and that now you’d be coming after them.”
Tears began to film Victor’s eyes and he turned completely away. He waited to compose himself, before replying, “It was just a dream. It wasn’t real.”
Mark gently pushed his shoulder, so he would turn and look at him. Cupping his face, he peered long and hard at Victor. “Something is bothering you. It manifested itself in your dream. Please tell me what it is. Maybe I can help you, even if it’s just by listening.”
Victor shook his head. “If I tell you, I’d put your life in danger.”
Mark eyes widened. “Then it’s true. Your father was killed?”
Victor leaned into Mark and let the sorrow break free. He cried silently, only a few tears escaping his eyes. But Mark’s strong, wide shoulder and his kind and gentle strokes on his arm seemed to be enough to help him find courage inside to speak. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he sat up and peered into Mark’s eyes.
“My father was a private investigator. My mom was his research and office assistant until she died four months ago. After that, I took over helping him. He was working on several cases, which I assisted him on. But there was one that he worked on alone for months. When I asked him if I could help, he refused. He’d get nervous whenever he had the file open on his laptop and I’d walk into the room. I’d see him rushing to change the screen before I could see anything he was investigating on that case.”
He took a deep breath and continued, “A few weeks back, he started acting weird. He was nervous, scared. I asked him what it was, but he said he couldn’t tell me. Not yet. And on the morning of the day he was murdered, he warned me. He had said if anything ever happened to him, that I shouldn’t trust anyone, even the police. That I should just get out of Tinley Town, go far, far away, and never come back.”
Mark frowned. “Why would he say that?”
Victor shrugged. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me more. And now I’ll never know because he’s gone forever.” He sighed and blinked, trying to dry the tears that threatened to escape.
Victor continued to tell him the graphic details of his father’s murder and when he was done, Mark rubbed his back and hugged him. “I’m so sorry for what you went through. And you had no one to talk to, just keeping it all inside you.” He kissed his cheek sweetly and hugged him tighter. “I’m here now for you and I will help you through this.”
Victor didn’t speak. He closed his eyes and hugged Mark back for a few minutes. Breaking free, he added, “This may sound crazy, but I have this uncontrollable feeling in the back of my mind that the killer is following me. He can see me. He knows who I am.”
Mark furrowed his brow. “You feel like he can see you now?”
Victor shook his head. “No, not now. This sounds so crazy!”
Mark tilted his head and shrugged. “It could be you’re paranoid. And I don’t blame you after what you’ve been through, what you saw. Or maybe you’re right. Maybe the killer has been following you ever since you ran out of your house door yesterday. Either way, you need to call the police. They need to investigate your father’s murder.”
Victor moved to stand, pure terror resonating from his eyes, his body. “I know, but whatever my dad was investigating was big, real big. He didn’t trust the police on it. And he said I shouldn’t, either!”
“Calm down. I’m not the enemy here, Victor. I’m your ally, your friend who wants to help you in any way I can.”
Victor sat back down, his eyes cast to the floor. “I’m sorry for over-reacting, but my nerves are rattled.”
“I know.” Mark sighed, then after some thought added, “You still need to report your dad’s murder to the police. You can’t let his body rot, abandoned in the house. You also need to bury him.”
With the word “bury,” Victor’s eyes seemed to water. He blinked. “I know that. That’s why I plan on going back there today. Report the murder. But before that, I need to get my dad’s laptop and all his files on this mysterious case he didn’t want me knowing anything about.”
Mark’s heart began to beat faster. “No, you can’t. Your dad said it’s too dangerous. He said you should get out of Tinley Park and never go back.”
Victor gazed at him. He cupped his cheek and kissed him lightly on the lips. “You’re an amazing, sweet, kind guy, Mark. I can see in your eyes you’re worried.” He sighed. “But you have to understand that I’ll never be able to live with myself if I don’t solve this case. I need to know what my father was investigating and more importantly, I need to know who murdered him. I want justice served, my father’s murder avenged.”
“Even if it kills you?” Mark said, his voice cracking with stress.
~~~~~~
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Sexy Men of Mystery Book Two
Detective Nicola Dupré is back at work after a six-month sick leave, but he’s still haunted by his sister’s tragic death. When Captain Moore gives him an unofficial undercover assignment to befriend the sexy, charming Nero Thorn, the erotic writer Nicola idolizes, he quickly accepts. He thinks it’s an easy job until he gets to know the mysterious BDSM author. Overwhelming emotions he can’t explain draw him ever closer to Nero.
Nero Thorn’s a recluse and he likes it that way. When he literally bumps into his shy, handsome new neighbor, Nicola Dupré, sparks fly. He’s drawn to Nicola like a moth to a fire and he quickly falls in love. But he has a dark, dangerous secret he’s kept hidden from the world for years. If Nicola ever finds out who he really is, he’ll run away in fear.
There’s a serial killer out there, and the murder of his sixth victim was written in Nero’s last novel before it ever happened. There’s a connection between Nero, the sixth victim, and the killer, and Nicola has to figure it out before the killer strikes again.
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Covet Thy Neighbor Excerpt:
Nicola gazed at the book, then up at Adam, who peered at him with a curious look as if he waited for some type of reaction. “A book? You give me a book.” The poor lighting had Nicola turning and twisting the book so that the streetlight’s illumination a few feet away could beam on it.
“Look at the name.” Adam gestured with his extended finger.
Nicola’s brow lifted when he read the name Nero Thorn. “Look at that. One of my favorite erotic suspense authors has a new book out.” He flipped the trade paperback over to check out the back cover blurb, but the unreadable black print made him squint. “You shouldn’t have,” he joked.
Adam’s eyes rolled. “It’s not a present.”
Nicola nodded. “I figured that. But how is this book The Messenger’s Gift going to prepare me for my meeting with Captain Moore tomorrow?”
“Read the back cover and see if it reminds you of anything.”
Nicola groaned. “Sorry, I can’t see it. It’s too dark.”
“Wait a second…”Adam took out his cell phone and slid his thumb on the screen until he found whatever he looked for. “I have the perfect app for just this situation.” All of a sudden a bright light beamed from the phone’s screen.
“A cell phone and a flashlight, too. Will wonders never cease.” Nicola marveled at it.
Adam half laughed. “I got a ton of apps just as cool as this that I can show you.”
Nicola put up his hand. “Nope. Not interested. A cell phone was made to make calls, not be a multipurpose gadget.”
Adam grumbled, turning off the light feature, and began to place the phone back in his pants pocket. “Fine, then forget the whole thing.”
Feeling like a horse’s ass, Nicola halted his movement. “Sorry. Bad joke. But you know I’m not a tech geek.” He pointed a wagging index finger at the phone. “Go on, give it to me.”
Once Adam did as he asked, Nicola began to read the blurb, which described one hell of premise. “Damn, that’s good,” he said once he finished.
Adam gave him a big-eyed, sideways glance. “And?”
“And what?”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t it remind you of a murder that happened here just two months ago?”
Nicola shook his head. “Sorry. I hadn’t been keeping up with the news in Chicago. So, a dismembered body was found in this park?”
Adam nodded. “Exactly how it’s described there in that book.”
Nicola frowned. “Well, it’s probably some whacko who wanted to make Nero’s fiction story reality.”
Adam shook his head. “No, can’t be.”
“Why?”
“Because the murder happened before this book was ever released.” Adam crossed his arms.
“So then Nero based his story on the murder.” Nicola shrugged.
Adam chuckled. “How could he base his story on a murder that still hadn’t happened?”
He shook his head. “What? You’re not making any sense, dude.”
Adam exhaled deeply and then answered, “Nero wrote the story a year ago, before the murder ever happened. But the story was only released a month after the murder happened.”
“Well, maybe the murderer got an advanced copy of the book and was inspired by it.”
Adam shook his head again. “Not possible as no advanced copy was available yet. The book was supposed to be released this week, but the publisher decided to publish it little more than a month after the murder happened. They thought it would boost sales. And they were right. Sales soared and it’s a best seller.”
Nicola stared at the copy. “Okay, that’s creepy and one hell of a coincidence. But I don’t get what it has to do with us and why we’re here talking about it.”
“Because, partner, that is what Captain Moore is going to talk to you about tomorrow.”
“What? About the murder?”
Adam added, “Yeah, we’ve been assigned to the case. You and I. I’ve been working closely with the captain for the past month and he’s been prepping me.”
It dawned on Nicola. “Oh, so that’s why you know so much about this book and the murder.” He flipped the book in his hand as he stared at it. “So Nero is a suspect?”
“Sort of. But he has one hell of an alibi for the night of the murder. And reliable witnesses to back up his alibi, too.”
“Then he’s not the murderer.”
Adam tipped his head from right to left. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
Nicola stood and stretched his legs. A cramp had begun to form, tightening his neck and shoulder muscles. “Did Captain Moore tell you what I’ll be doing?”
“Oh, yeah. Since Nero isn’t considered an official suspect, it won’t be your everyday detective’s work. So you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to.”
Nicola knew that look Adam gave him. “Oh, no. It’s that bad?”
“Well, it depends on how you look at it. If moving into the condo next door to the sexy author who you once told me you’d do anything to have one night with, just to see if he’s as good in bed as the heroes in his stories, doesn’t appeal to you, then yes, it’s that bad.”
Nicola’s jaw dropped and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Excuse me! Did I hear correctly? The captain wants me to move into the condo next to Nero’s?”
Adam’s lips tightened and he nodded.
“What, as in an undercover operation?”
“Exactly! An unofficial undercover operation.” Adam pointed at him as if he had just deciphered a phrase in the game of charades.
“Why me? I’ve never done undercover work. What if I goof up and blow the whole operation?”
“You’re the best man for the job. You’re one of Nero’s biggest fans, and since you don’t yet feel up to working full-time in homicide at the precinct, it’s a good assignment to start getting your feet wet.”
Nicola sat down again and shook his head.
Adam frowned. “Why are you doing that?”
“I’m still in shock. It’s like I’ve just been cast in the lead role for a story in The Twilight Zone.”
~~~~~~
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Sexy Men of Mystery Book One
When Detective Jacob Brown arrives at the scene of a massacre, he sees a mysterious man escaping. One victim’s still alive. It’s Vincent Brewster, Jacob’s ex-lover who dumped him months ago, breaking his heart and then disappearing.
Later at the hospital, when Vincent sees the handsome detective, he thinks it’s love at first sight. Although Vincent can’t remember who he is, he’s sexually attracted to Jacob.
While Vincent wants to get closer to him, Jacob wants to run away.
But the killer’s still loose. Jacob must protect Vincent and help him get his memory back. This means he has to remind him of their past, including the bondage sex they enjoyed. He vows to do whatever it takes to get Vincent to remember. When his and Vincent’s feelings of love resurface, it’s hard to resist Vincent’s seduction.
What they don’t know is Vincent and the serial killer now have a connection—a supernatural one. And the killer’s coming for him. Can Jacob protect Vincent and help him get his memory back before the killer finds him?
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To Serve and Protect Excerpt:
“Man, sometimes I hate my job,” Troy Adams, Jacob’s partner of three years, said as he walked ahead through the debris and darkness in the narrow alley.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Jacob looked at him, noting his friend pinched his nose in disgust when he turned to face him.
“But like it or not, we have to scout it out. Captain’s orders.” Troy shrugged.
Jacob huffed, nodding. Troy was right. They had no choice.
The anonymous call the station received an hour ago led them to this search. The robotic voice claimed a third body in The Cleansing Killings would be found here. It was only the twelfth call of this sort they had received this week. All the others had led Jacob and Troy, the detectives assigned to the killings, on a wild-goose chase. Odds were this one would turn out the same.
Yet he couldn’t quite shrug off the funny feeling crawling up his spine that danger lurked not that far off. The peculiar sensation that someone was watching from the shadows in the corner behind them kept haunting him. He twitched as a cold and then hot bolt of panic possessed his body.
Damn it, relax, Jacob! Pull yourself together. He needed to calm down. Big time! Five years on the police force and three years as homicide detective had conditioned him to always be prepared, never lose his cool. He knew if he did, he could put his life, or worse the life of his partner or an innocent civilian’s, in jeopardy. But knowing this didn’t help him at all. His fears and untamable imagination had thrown him a curveball he couldn’t control.
He tried to direct his mind off his paranoia by taking several deep breaths. Speeding in his gait, he opened his mouth to say he should lead and Troy could follow him, when his partner stopped in his tracks. Unprepared, Jacob almost plowed into him. Jumping to the side to avoid the collision, he cursed. “Watch where you’re going.”
His friend and partner didn’t hear him. He was too busy taking out his gun from his hidden holster and shouting, “You over there, freeze!”
Jacob gazed in the direction Troy aimed his gun while reaching for his own. About ten yards ahead of them two lifeless bodies lay on the ground and someone was crouched over one of them. The giant male held what looked like a machete over the torso.
When the mysterious person heard Troy’s warning, he stood up and darted over the body, heading in the opposite direction.
Troy sprinted after him, shouting back to Jacob, “We got him. It’s a dead end up ahead. He’s got nowhere to run.”
“You go after him and I’ll check on them.” Jacob motioned as he ran to the two men lying on the ground.
The second he reached them, he knew it was too late. At least for one of them. One of the men, who appeared older and shorter, lay on his back, his chest split open and his heart cut out. This was The Cleansing Killings killer’s signature MO, no doubt. The two other recovered bodies had had their hearts cut out of their chest cavities in the same barbaric way. And later, after the coroner did an autopsy, they were found to have had their blood drained from their bodies, as well. What a sick bastard they had on their hands with this case.
In his line of work, Jacob should be used to seeing this type of mutilation on dead bodies, but he still cringed and shuddered every time he first laid eyes on the dead victims, the exposed flesh, and the gore. Jacob’s stomach lurched and he tried to hold back the bile and the tacos he ate for dinner that kept threatening to regurgitate back into his esophagus.
It was too late for this man, but what about the other? The other victim lay on his right side, his back facing Jacob. Jacob quickly knelt and felt the man’s pulse. It was weak but steady. He sighed in relief. As he let go of his wrist, the man moaned and turned onto his back. The streetlight above them beamed on him then.
In utter shock, Jacob stared at the familiar face. He felt the blood drain from his head, and his limbs went weak. Dizziness overcame him and the taco dinner finally won the battle with his stomach, rising up and escaping his mouth. Vomit spewed to the ground in front of him, splashing his black leather shoes.
Once the flood ended, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand. His throat and tongue felt like they were on fire.
From his peripheral vision, he saw Troy quickly making his way back to him alone, no apprehended suspect in tow. He said, cringing as he stared at the mess at Jacob’s feet, “Oh, that is nasty.”
Quickly recovering, Jacob whisked his cell phone out and made an emergency call to 911 on the police department’s direct line. “We need an ambulance at Park and Beacon Street ASAP. A man is wounded and another dead.”
He stared at the unconscious man while worry ran through his mind. Please, let him be all right.
Troy glanced at the dead body and said, “The killer got away. I thought I had him. There was no way he could have escaped, but somehow he did. One second he was there running, and the next it’s like he disappeared into thin air.”
Jacob didn’t speak, didn’t move.
Troy asked, “Did you hear me?”
He only nodded, unable to break his gaze from the unconscious, injured victim.
Troy snapped his fingers in front of Jacob’s face. “Earth calling Jacob Brown. You in there?”
Jacob blinked several times before looking up at Troy. Yet, he didn’t reply.
Worry overtook Troy’s features. “What the hell is going on with you, Jacob? You all right? Are you dizzy or sick? Do I need to call an ambulance for you, too?”
Jacob shook his head. “I’m all right.”
“Then why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”
His gaze returned to the injured man, and he said in a low voice, barely a whisper, “I know the victim. We were lovers.”
~~~~~~
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Be on the lookout for Jessica Frost's upcoming release Off Limits coming November 2013
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