The Killing Moon by Dan Padavona (books you have to read TXT) 📗

a bathroom, purging his body of a stomach flu. Then the words burst forth without warning.

“My whole life, I wanted to scream in his face. He didn’t allow me to breathe, made me feel unworthy of the family name. And when my interest in law enforcement grew, he called me a fool.” Thomas leans forward and drops his head toward his knees. “I see the truth now. My parents worried about me. They were certain something terrible would happen if I became a police officer, so they acted out of fear.”

Thomas shakes his head and laughs without mirth.

“And based on all that happened to me, they were right.”

“Yet he showed his pride in the last days of his life and expressed his feelings.”

“Yes. Now I’m unsure how to live without him.”

 

 

 

October 31st

9:50 a.m.

A shape moved through the fog. Thomas wiped the mist off his face and struggled through the meadow. As he approached, wary of the butcher’s knife clutched in the killer’s hand, the shadow vanished and reappeared a hundred feet away. The fog made it impossible for Thomas to track the suspect. His mind kept flashing back to the teenage boy’s face—eyes peering at the stars, a minefield of stab wounds cutting into his chest. The boy was someone’s child. Who would commit such an atrocity?

“Thomas.”

He swung around in the fog, hearing his father’s voice.

“Father?”

“Get out of the fog before he finds you.”

“It’s my job to catch him.”

“You’re not safe here, Thomas. It will never be safe, if you insist on risking your life for others.”

His hands swiped at the mist, as though he could wave away the morass. Somewhere, a knocking sound echoed through the meadow.

“Thomas, wake up.”

Thomas blinked three times and opened his eyes. Dull morning light filtered through a slate gray overcast, pouring inside the cruiser. He turned toward the source of the noise and found Aguilar peering through the glass. He turned the key in the ignition and lowered the window.

“Sorry, Sheriff. I know you wanted to sleep a few hours while the techs sifted through the evidence.”

“It’s okay, I’m awake.”

“A shop owner in Wolf Lake phoned the department. She noticed a man lingering outside her shop on Main Street. Claims she recognized the man’s picture from the BOLO on Mark Benson.”

Thomas sat forward.

“Benson is in Wolf Lake?”

“State Police are sending two troopers to the village.”

“Benson returning to Wolf Lake makes sense. Revenge drives his decision making, even though he increases the chances we’ll catch him.”

“Listen, I finished my report. If you want, I can drive back to Wolf Lake and check around.”

Thomas shifted his jaw.

“Talk to the shop owner. Find out if she really saw Benson and check the neighboring stores for security cameras. If we’re lucky, a camera caught him.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

“Check the Main Street traffic camera too.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Dammit. We should convince the village to fund additional cameras. If he stole a vehicle, we need the model and license plate number.”

“Yes, Sheriff. While I’m in the village, should I pay Raven Hopkins a visit?”

“I’d appreciate it, Aguilar. In the meantime, I’ll call Chelsey and make sure she’s aware Benson might be in Wolf Lake. Someone should watch Raven’s back today.”

Thomas crossed the parking lot as Aguilar drove off. The morning air still carried a December bite. A school bus with Halloween decorations taped to the passenger windows rumbled through the intersection, reminding Thomas his priority was catching a killer. It wasn’t safe for children to celebrate the holiday with a murderer loose.

The Kane Grove Police Department sat inside a turn of the century three-story brick building with white doors. The structure also housed the city court. Thomas took the stairs from the lobby to the lower level, the steps difficult to navigate until his eyes adjusted to the gloom. Detective Presley waved him into her office as he passed the front desk.

“Did you catch some sleep?”

“Enough,” Thomas said, accepting the coffee she offered him.

“We’re already expanding the search for Mark Benson. The chief sent a cruiser to his old gymnasium. If he still has the keys, that would be a smart place to hide.”

“There’s also a farmhouse outside Wolf Lake. That’s where Ramos and Benson held Ellie Fisher and Raven Hopkins.”

“Give me the background on that story again.”

“Damian Ramos’s fiance hired Wolf Lake Consulting to investigate Ramos over the summer. Turns out her concerns were legitimate. Ramos and Benson wanted her money after they entered some stock trade that went south. They were both over-leveraged, and Benson’s gym teetered close to bankruptcy. The two men kidnapped Ellie Fisher, who Ramos and Benson knew from the gym. Fisher’s family left her a sizable inheritance, enough money to make Benson’s troubles disappear. After Fisher vanished, Raven Hopkins suspected Ramos and drove to Benson’s gym to spy on him. Benson attacked her in the locker room and took her to the farmhouse with Fisher.”

“Sounds like Benson is desperate for money and revenge.”

“What do we have on our John Doe?”

Presley motioned at the seat across from her desk. Thomas slid into the chair as Presley typed on her computer.

“So the techs haven’t gotten the phone to turn on yet. The drop caused internal damage, and water seeped inside the case.”

“What about the SD card?”

“The team is pulling data off the card now. No guarantees, but if they grab the data, we’ll obtain the information we need to identify the boy. At the same time, I’m searching the missing persons database. So far, no teenagers match our teenager’s description.”

“That’s crazy. You’d think his parents would be worried sick.”

Presley sighed.

“That was my assumption too. Except we’re dealing with Barton Falls. The family structure cracked decades ago in that town.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

October 31st

10:00 a.m.

Wolf Lake Consulting smelled like a movie theater. Inside the kitchen, the microwave whirred and buzzed as popcorn kernels burst inside a sealed bag. Seated at her desk, Raven leaned back in her chair and switched the phone to her other ear.

“Chances are