Prologue
Death. The ultimate payback, and he was the one to inflict it.
A deep, satisfying burst of pleasure exploded in his gut. His whole body throbbed with satisfaction over the well-deserved revenge. He wanted to bask in it. Relish the feeling flowing through his limbs.
Revenge. So sweet.
He sighed but looked at the spilled blood. The corpse wrapped in a striped rug. He couldn’t stand around. Couldn’t get caught. He had plenty of time for basking later. Now was the time for cleanup. A dull, laborious chore.
“Just remember where you’re taking him. The surprised look on the soon-to-be suspects’ faces.” Oh yeah. He grinned and dragged the lifeless body toward the door.
The guy’s head bumped like a driven soccer ball over the raised threshold, a hollow thump the resulting sound.
Oh well. No skin off his nose. Well, except the cops would waste time trying to figure out what caused the bumps and bruises when they would have six ready suspects to try to pin this on. Maybe miss all the obvious leads he was providing.
He tugged again and moved a good three feet. Thankfully this man was fit, unlike many men his age, and his weight was manageable. As a bonus, he’d found the guy visiting his daughter, who lived in a remote cottage by the ocean where no one would hear or see the shooting or the body being hauled out the door to the van.
The daughter’s face flashed in his mind. No one would see him move the body, but she’d witnessed her father’s death.
Simple. Take her out too.
Pop. Pop. Pop. Just like her old man.
He tried. Failed. He should never have looked into her eyes. Into the eyes of the younger woman. Pleading. Begging. He couldn’t pull the trigger. But he also couldn’t let her go. Not when she could identify him.
He had a problem now. A big one. He shouldn’t have let her live.
What was he going to do with her? He couldn’t keep her captive forever. He’d have to eventually summon up the guts to kill her.
No other option existed.
The second she’d dug out her phone and dialed 911, he’d grabbed her. Ditched the phone before they could possibly figure out who she was or where she was located, then hid her in a secluded place where no one would look for her.
The rug caught on the rough sidewalk, bringing him back to the task at hand.
“Focus, man.”
Tugging harder, he backed to the van and shoved the package inside, then took a long breath of the salty ocean air. A glorious March day. Actually even bordering on the side of hot, with the sun’s brilliant rays glaring down on them. At this time of year fog and rain ruined most every day, sunup to sundown.
He’d even had to turn on the portable AC unit in the place to keep from dropping sweat on the shiny tile floors. Wouldn’t do to leave his DNA.
He stretched and took another long breath. He couldn’t stand here all day. He would have plenty of days in the future to enjoy the view and weather. But the body? No. Not the poor deceased mayor. He wouldn’t wait. He had to be moved into position now.
Then let the game of cat and mouse begin while he hid in the shadows to watch it all unfold, and that loser Lost Lake Locators team take the fall.
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