Janice Johnson - Dead Wrong

Здесь есть возможность читать онлайн «Janice Johnson - Dead Wrong» — ознакомительный отрывок электронной книги совершенно бесплатно, а после прочтения отрывка купить полную версию. В некоторых случаях можно слушать аудио, скачать через торрент в формате fb2 и присутствует краткое содержание. Жанр: unrecognised, на английском языке. Описание произведения, (предисловие) а так же отзывы посетителей доступны на портале библиотеки ЛибКат.

Dead Wrong: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

Предлагаем к чтению аннотацию, описание, краткое содержание или предисловие (зависит от того, что написал сам автор книги «Dead Wrong»). Если вы не нашли необходимую информацию о книге — напишите в комментариях, мы постараемся отыскать её.

A chilling blast from the past…Six years ago prosecutor Will Patton's girlfriend stormed out on him. That night she was brutally raped and murdered. The violent act knocked Will's world out from under him, alienating him from his family, who Will believed were responsible. Wrapped up in his own guilt and anger, Will developed a powerful thirst for justice…and was determined that no criminal would ever walk free again.Now he's returned to his hometown, but he is greeted by a gruesome discovery–another body and an all-too-familiar calling card. And once again the victim is romantically linked with Will. In order to track down this serial killer, Will teams up with rookie detective Trina Giallombardo–only to realize that if he falls for her, she'll be next….

Dead Wrong — читать онлайн ознакомительный отрывок

Ниже представлен текст книги, разбитый по страницам. Система сохранения места последней прочитанной страницы, позволяет с удобством читать онлайн бесплатно книгу «Dead Wrong», без необходимости каждый раз заново искать на чём Вы остановились. Поставьте закладку, и сможете в любой момент перейти на страницу, на которой закончили чтение.

Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

“A deep, powerful engine.”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

Her own lips were going numb. “Did you notice when the truck came back?”

“Didn’t look at the clock.” She chewed it over. “Twenty minutes. Half hour.”

The timing was just right.

“Mrs. Bailey, do you think you’ve heard this particular engine before?”

“Can’t say.”

“Would you recognize it again?”

“Might.”

Trina gave her most winning smile, which considering she couldn’t feel most of her face might look more like a death mask. “You’ve been a great help, Mrs. Bailey. We may need to speak to you again. In the meantime, I appreciate your cooperation.”

With no “You’re welcome,” or even a “Mind you don’t slip on the steps,” the old lady slammed the door shut in Trina’s face. A dead bolt lock thudded home.

If she wasn’t so darn cold, Trina would have laughed. She hurried to the Explorer she was driving, started it and cranked up the heat. Intermittent shivers wracked her. But at least she’d learned something that might be useful, she thought with a small glow of triumph. Useful enough, maybe, that Lieutenant Patton would let her keep working the case.

She couldn’t believe her luck to have been singled out today, and by Lieutenant Patton, of all people. Trina had become a cop because she wanted to be just like Meg Patton and her two sisters, the one Elk Springs police chief, the other an arson investigator. From the time she was eleven or twelve she’d read about their exploits in the newspaper, and since Will went to the high school people had talked, too. Lieutenant Patton had been the county Youth Officer back when Trina was in high school, so she’d talked at assemblies or in Trina’s classes a couple of times a year. Trina thought she was amazing—beautiful and brave and smart. Everything Trina wanted to be.

In her interview for the promotion to detective Trina had almost blurted out something about how much she’d always admired the lieutenant. Thank goodness she’d been able to stop herself. Even if it was true, it would have sounded like the worst brown-nosing.

Now here she was, hardly a month later, partnered with her. Despite her shivers, Trina still marveled. Junior partner, of course. The lieutenant had gone back to the station to find out whether the killer from six years ago had somehow gotten out of prison and also to try to discover whether other jurisdictions had had murders with this same M.O. Lucky Trina had been assigned one patrol officer to help her canvass the houses along Butte Road.

But it had to be done, and she was pretty excited to have actually learned something. Maybe. Unless the deep-throated pickup or SUV had just been dropping some drunk ranch hand back at the Triple B or the Running Y. Except she’d stopped at the Triple B herself and no ranch hands had admitted to being out late last night. She’d find out from Officer Buttram whether the same was true at the Running Y. Those were the only two working ranches past the Bailey’s place.

An hour and a half later, she hadn’t learned a thing. Buttram and she agreed to meet back at the station.

There, he shook his head. His ruddy face glowed. “Bitch of a night.”

“I would have traded my right arm for a thermos of coffee.”

“With a dash of whiskey.” He took off his sheepskin-lined gloves. “Nobody heard nothing.”

“I found somebody who did. A Mrs. Bailey.”

Her sense of triumph dimmed at the sight of his face.

“There’s a nasty one.”

“She calls in complaints?”

“Once a month or so.” He shook his head. “Hates the neighbors, hates teenagers, doesn’t much like cows. You believe her, somebody is always being noisy or trespassing.”

Noisy? “I don’t remember a house near hers.”

“She has damn fine hearing.”

Trina quizzed him about who he’d talked to at the Running Y, then went to Lieutenant Patton’s office.

Through the glass inset, she saw the lieutenant lift her head at the sound of the knock. She waved Trina in.

“You look cold.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Her superior scowled. “Quit ma’aming me.”

“Sir…”

“That isn’t any better. You make me feel old.”

“Lieutenant.”

“A slight improvement.” She sighed. “I suppose that was an exercise in futility?”

“Actually, I did get one report of unusual traffic.”

Brows rose. “Really?”

Trina repeated what Mrs. Bailey said. “I understand she’s something of a crank….”

“She?”

“Mrs. Bailey?”

“Not Luella Bailey! She’s a thorn in the side of anyone who has dealings with her. Daniel—my brother-in-law—counts his blessings daily that his place isn’t beside hers. Pete Hardesty of the Running Y gets hell every time a steer finds a fence break.”

Crushed and trying to hide it, Trina asked, “Does that mean she’s not reliable?”

“Hmm.” Meg Patton rubbed her chin as she thought. “Well, she’s not delusional. When she says a steer is eating her dahlias, by God there it is. Kids do drag race out on Butte Road. So…no. She might actually be a good witness. Most folks out there wouldn’t pay any mind to a passing vehicle. Luella, though, lives to find grievances.” Her gaze sharpened. “Tell me again what she said.”

Trina did.

“Twenty minutes to half an hour. That would be about right.”

Trina nodded at the phone. “Did you learn anything?”

“Ricky Mendoza is right where he should be. That lets him out. No sign of Amy’s Kia. I sent someone to check her apartment complex and the lots outside the brewhouses and restaurants that seem like the most obvious choices. Otherwise, I’ve put out calls. Any kind of match through VICAP will take time.” The federal database was a godsend to local law enforcement. Unfortunately, it had limitations; many small jurisdictions didn’t input crimes.

Trina nodded.

“I’ve already talked to Amy Owen’s parents. They still live here, only a few blocks from where I grew up in the old town.”

“She hadn’t married, then?”

“Married and divorced. The ex is next on my list.”

“He’s around?”

The lieutenant consulted her notes. “Doug Jennings. He’s a ski bum, according to the parents. Amy wanted to think about buying a house, starting a family. He wasn’t interested.”

“So the divorce wasn’t ugly?” From what she’d read, Trina was willing to bet this killer and Amy had been strangers, anyway, but you had to consider all possibilities.

“Not according to them. They say he’ll be broken up to hear about her murder. I went by his place and he wasn’t home.” Meg Patton rose. “What say we go talk to him now, then take a look at her apartment.”

“Am I going to stay on the case, then?” Trina asked, rising, too.

The lieutenant looked surprised. “I tagged you, didn’t I?”

This didn’t seem the moment to ask why. “Thank you, ma…um, Lieutenant.”

Exhilaration wiped out her weariness. Her mind buzzed. She’d want to read the file on the six-year-old murder. Look for details that were the same—and ones that were different. Talk to whoever found that body. The cops who worked the murder. If this one was as similar as Lieutenant Patton claimed, this killer had to be close in some way to the previous crime. Copycats had a motive. What was this one’s?

Wow, she thought, feeling giddy. I’m a detective. A real detective.

Not even missing the cup of coffee she hadn’t yet poured, she followed Lieutenant Patton out.

CHAPTER TWO

WILL’S RESOLVE to move home to Elk Springs wavered from time to time. Pretty well daily, in fact. Tonight was a definite plunge in the Mood-O-Meter.

Читать дальше
Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

Похожие книги на «Dead Wrong»

Представляем Вашему вниманию похожие книги на «Dead Wrong» списком для выбора. Мы отобрали схожую по названию и смыслу литературу в надежде предоставить читателям больше вариантов отыскать новые, интересные, ещё непрочитанные произведения.


Janice Kay - Dead Wrong
Janice Kay
Janice Johnson - A Mother's Claim
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - Bringing Maddie Home
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - All That Remains
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - Between Love and Duty
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - The Call of Bravery
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - In A Heartbeat
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - Open Secret
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - The Perfect Mum
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - Taking a Chance
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - First Comes Baby
Janice Johnson
Janice Johnson - No Matter What
Janice Johnson
Отзывы о книге «Dead Wrong»

Обсуждение, отзывы о книге «Dead Wrong» и просто собственные мнения читателей. Оставьте ваши комментарии, напишите, что Вы думаете о произведении, его смысле или главных героях. Укажите что конкретно понравилось, а что нет, и почему Вы так считаете.

x