J.D. Barker - The Fifth to Die - A gripping, page-turner of a crime thriller

J. D. BARKERis the international bestselling author of The Fourth Monkey , the first in the Detective Porter series. Barker splits his time between Englewood, Florida and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Also in the Detective Porter Series

The Fourth Monkey

Also by J. D. Barker

Forsaken

Copyright

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018

Copyright © J. D. Barker 2018

J. D. Barker asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © July 2018 ISBN: 9780008250409

Version: 2018-06-25

For Father

Contents

Cover

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

1. Porter: Day 1 • 8:23 p.m.

2. Porter: Day 1 • 11:24 p.m.

3. Porter: Day 2 • 2:21 a.m.

4. Porter: Day 2 • 3:02 a.m.

5. Porter: Day 2 • 4:18 a.m.

6. Porter: Day 2 • 7:26 a.m.

7. Lili: Day 2 • 7:26 a.m.

8. Porter: Day 2 • 7:56 a.m.

9. Porter: Day 2 • 7:59 a.m.

10. Porter: Day 2 • 9:08 a.m.

11. Lili: Day 2 • 9:12 a.m.

12. Clair: Day 2 • 9:13 a.m.

13. Porter: Day 2 • 9:14 a.m.

14. Lili: Day 2 • 9:15 a.m.

15. Clair: Day 2 • 9:17 a.m.

16. Porter: Day 2 • 10:26 a.m.

17. Clair: Day 2 • 10:26 a.m.

18. Porter: Day 2 • 10:31 a.m.

19. Lili: Day 2 • 11:36 a.m.

20. Clair: Day 2 • 11:49 a.m.

21. Porter: Day 2 • 12:18 p.m.

22. Lili: Day 2 • 12:19 p.m.

23. Nash: Day 2 • 12:20 p.m.

24. Clair: Day 2 • 12:46 p.m.

25. Poole: Day 2 • 1:03 p.m.

26. Porter: Day 2 • 1:04 p.m.

27. The Man in the Black Knit Cap: Day 2 • 1:14 p.m.

28. Porter: Day 2 • 2:17 p.m.

29. Clair: Day 2 • 6:23 p.m.

30. Clair: Day 2 • 6:51 p.m.

31. Poole: Day 2 • 7:04 p.m.

32. Poole: Day 2 • 7:12 p.m.

33. Porter: Day 2 • 10:04 p.m.

34. Clair: Day 3 • 4:56 a.m.

35. Nash: Day 3 • 6:43 a.m.

36. Poole: Day 3 • 6:44 a.m.

37. Larissa: Day 3 • 7:21 a.m.

38. Porter: Day 3 • 7:33 a.m.

39. Clair: Day 3 • 8:13 a.m.

40. Porter: Day 3 • 8:16 a.m.

41. Larissa: Day 3 • 8:53 a.m.

42. Clair: Day 3 • 8:59 a.m.

43. Poole: Day 3 • 9:23 a.m.

44. Porter: Day 3 • 9:33 a.m.

45. Larissa: Day 3 • 10:06 a.m.

46. Nash: Day 3 • 10:07 a.m.

47. Porter: Day 3 • 10:36 a.m.

48. Nash: Day 3 • 10:40 a.m.

49. Porter: Day 3 • 10:42 a.m.

50. Poole: Day 3 • 11:02 a.m.

51. Larissa: Day 3 • 11:21 a.m.

52. Clair: Day 3 • 12:23 p.m.

53. Poole: Day 3 • 1:18 p.m.

54. Clair: Day 3 • 1:31 p.m.

55. Porter: Day 3 • 1:35 p.m.

56. Poole: Day 3 • 1:35 p.m.

57. The Man in the Black Knit Cap: Day 3 • 1:35 p.m.

58. Porter: Day 3 • 1:36 p.m.

59. Poole: Day 3 • 2:03 p.m.

60. The Man in the Black Knit Cap: Day 3 • 2:04 p.m.

61. Poole: Day 3 • 2:04 p.m.

62. The Man in the Black Knit Cap: Day 3 • 2:04 p.m.

63. Poole: Day 3 • 2:05 p.m.

64. The Man in the Black Knit Cap: Day 3 • 2:05 p.m.

65. Porter: Day 3 • 2:06 p.m.

66. Poole: Day 3 • 2:23 p.m.

67. Poole: Day 3 • 2:26 p.m.

68. Clair: Day 3 • 2:30 p.m.

69. Poole: Day 3 • 5:18 p.m.

70. Kati: Day 3 • 5:20 p.m.

71. Clair: Day 3 • 5:43 p.m.

72. Clair: Day 3 • 6:04 p.m.

73. Porter: Day 3 • 8:06 p.m.

74. Clair: Day 3 • 8:07 p.m.

75. Porter: Day 3 • 8:07 p.m.

76. Poole: Day 3 • 8:07 p.m.

77. Porter: Day 3 • 8:07 p.m.

78. Clair: Day 3 • 8:15 p.m.

79. Porter: Day 3 • 9:10 p.m.

80. Kati: Day 3 • 9:11 p.m.

81. Porter: Day 3 • 9:13 p.m.

82. Clair: Day 3 • 9:14 p.m.

83. Porter: Day 3 • 9:44 p.m.

84. Poole: Day 3 • 9:49 p.m.

85. Kati: Day 3 • 9:52 p.m.

86. Poole: Day 3 • 9:52 p.m.

87. Poole: Day 3 • 9:55 p.m.

88. Poole: Day 3 • 10:15 p.m.

89. Porter: Day 3 • 10:16 p.m.

90. Poole: Day 3 • 10:23 p.m.

91. Porter: Day 3 • 10:26 p.m.

92. Porter: Day 4 • 3:42 a.m.

93. Diary

94. Diary

95. Poole: Day 4 • 4:38 a.m.

96. Diary

97. Porter: Day 4 • 7:13 a.m.

98. Porter: Day 4 • 7:57 a.m.

99. Gabby: Day 4 • 8:03 a.m.

100. Porter: Day 4 • 8:24 a.m.

101. Diary

102. Clair: Day 4 • 8:28 a.m.

103. Gabby: Day 4 • 8:49 a.m.

104. Poole: Day 4 • 8:50 a.m.

105. Diary

106. Clair: Day 4 • 10:12 a.m.

107. Poole: Day 4 • 12:58 p.m.

108. Diary

109. Clair: Day 4 • 1:12 p.m.

110. Poole: Day 4 • 3:47 p.m.

111. Diary

112. Nash: Day 4 • 4:06 p.m.

113. Poole: Day 4 • 4:06 p.m.

114. Nash: Day 4 • 4:07 p.m.

115. Diary

116. Nash: Day 4 • 5:23 p.m.

117. Clair: Day 4 • 6:07 p.m.

118. Diary

119. Poole: Day 4 • 6:38 p.m.

120. Clair: Day 4 • 7:13 p.m.

121. Diary

122. Porter: Day 4 • 8:01 p.m.

123. Poole: Day 4 • 8:07 p.m.

124. Clair: Day 4 • 8:08 p.m.

125. Poole: Day 4 • 8:08 p.m.

126. Porter: Day 4 • 8:09 p.m.

127. Poole: Day 4 • 8:09 p.m.

128. Porter: Day 4 • 8:14 p.m.

129. Kloz: Day 4 • 9:11 p.m.

130. Clair: Day 4 • 9:15 p.m.

131. Nash: Day 4 • 9:43 p.m.

132. Diary

Acknowledgments

Extract

About the Publisher

1

Porter

Day 1 • 8:23 p.m.

Darkness.

It swirled around him deep and thick, eating the light and leaving nothing behind but an inky void. A fog choked his thoughts — the words tried to come together, tried to form a cohesive sentence, to find meaning, but the moment they seemed close, they were swallowed up and gone, replaced by a growing sense of dread, a feeling of heaviness — his body sinking into the murky depths of a long-forgotten body of water.

Moist scent.

Mildew.

Damp.

Sam Porter wanted to open his eyes.

Had to open his eyes.

They fought him though, held tight.

His head ached, throbbed.

A pulsing pain behind his right ear — at his temple too.

“Try not to move, Sam. Wouldn’t want you to get sick.”

The voice was distant, muffled, familiar.

Porter was lying down.

Cold steel beneath the tips of his fingers.

He remembered the shot then. A needle at the base of his neck, a quick stab, cold liquid rushing under his skin into the muscle, then —

Porter forced his eyes to open, the heavy lids fighting him. Dry, burning.