by Simon King
Body Switch
A Sam Rader Thriller
Simon King
For Louise.
The keeper at the gate who helped track those pesky annoyances.
Thank you.
Coming Soon
Murder Plot
A Sam Rader Thriller
Book 3
Contents
Free Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Author’s Note
Your Free Book is Waiting.
John “Rock” McGovern has plans. But to turn them into reality, he’s going to have to infiltrate and destroy the toughest gang in King’s Court Prison. He’ll need to rely on his own brand of notoriety if he wants to rule this untamed world of corruption and murder. Because hidden behind these walls is a world perfectly suited to quench his thirst for total anarchy…
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MAX-Rise of the Jesters here:
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1
Marlena Perez loved photography. Ever since she was a little girl, the art of capturing frozen moments of time had intrigued her to such an extent, that it became a part of her daily routine. It was her father that had first introduced her to the craft, gifting his child a simple point-and-shoot Canon on her 10th birthday. That had been back in the day when film still ruled and digital was still decades into the future.
Each morning, the mum of 3 teenagers would jump in her car before dawn and drive to a place she’d selected the previous evening. Photographing sunsets had become somewhat of a new fascination after their previous family vacation down in Florida. Walking the gorgeous beaches of Venice, after capturing incredible sunsets, had given her a new sense of direction.
Whilst pristine beaches, like those found in Florida, weren’t easy to come by in Ellsworth, Maine, Marlena began to explore the natural beauty she did have access to. The hills, forests and lakes were proving to be a true find, one she never considered prior to that Florida trip. Photography had begun to slowly drift from her daily routine before that vacation, but now with a new subject matter to keep her occupied, the ideas flowed thick and fast.
As she pulled into the still-dark carpark, almost an hour before the expected sunrise time, Eagle Lake sat bathed in moonlight behind her. She’d meant to come a little earlier this morning, wanting to catch a few shots of the lake with a full moon above it. The spot she’d chosen sat on the northern edge, a carpark located perfectly within walking distance to the lakeside.
Marlena parked her Honda in the empty carpark, grabbed her jacket and stepped out into the chilly October morning. A slight wind was blowing and as she slipped into her coat, was thankful to have remembered her woolen cap, sliding it onto her head before grabbing her camera bag and tripod.
The beauty of the spot she’d chosen was that it sat at the head of the lake, giving the keen photographer easy access to not one, but three sides of the water. This would prove especially useful when taking photos of the moon, the sunrise, as well as the lake with varying degrees of light.
Once her car was locked, Marlena slung her camera bag over her shoulder, gripped the tripod tight and slowly walked back towards the road. There was no traffic, not even the wildlife making their presence known. Silence hung heavy across the park, with only the stars sparkling in the night sky above.
The track she’d spotted on the map the night before, sat directly ahead and the lonely woman quickly crossed the road. Despite knowing there was no traffic to speak of, the dark still held a certain fear for her and she didn’t want to get caught in the middle of the road, should a car suddenly come speeding around the closest bend.
As Marlena reached the other side, the track faded into the darkness beyond. The trees gently swayed above her as the wind slowly rose and fell, like the waves of an incoming tide. Something suddenly fluttered beside her and she froze as the sound crashed through the densely-littered forest floor. A rabbit maybe? Something sounding like a whistling began a few yards above her and Marlena nearly dropped her tripod. Instead, she gripped it tighter, waiting for the footfalls that would no doubt happen next, as someone came rushing towards her.
But no-one came, the wind silently continuing to fan the finer branches above her head. After standing in the near-darkness for a moment longer, convincing herself that she was in fact all alone, Marlena continued on towards the first spot she’d previously selected. It lay at the very head of the lake, giving the amateur photographer a clear shot across the entire length of the water.
The faint waves lapped the edge of the lake as she stopped on the trail and set up her equipment. Having used the camera for several years and knowing the layout like the back of her hand, there was no need for light, Marlena clicking the camera atop her tripod and then selecting the various controls she needed.
It didn’t take long for a dozen or so images to get snapped, each capturing both the mood and the emotion of the moment perfectly. There was just enough height in the images to allow some of the fading stars into the shot.
Smiling to herself as she previewed each photo, Marlena picked up the tripod with the camera still fixed and began to make her way around to the other side of the water. Moon shots were great, but the sky was beginning to lighten and the sunrise is what she had really come for. It was where her so called “money shot” lay and wasting time on this side of the lake might prove to delay her too long.
Walking briskly with the tripod slung over her shoulder like a soldier on guard duty, Marlena walked back around the head of the lake, following the narrow footpath in the diminishing moonlight.
She suddenly heard footsteps approaching from ahead and looked up to see someone jogging towards her. It was a man, wearing sweatpants and a hooded jumper.
“Mornin,” the man said as he passed her, not bothering to slow for her response. Marlena looked over her shoulder to ensure he didn’t turn and try and jump her from behind. She knew that the damn rapists loved these types of trails, to grab unsuspecting women who were walking around on their own. She gripped her tripod a little tighter as the man bounded into the shadows, continuing his run along the lake’s edge.
Ten minutes later, Marlena paused by a great spot on the western side of the lake. There were two benches just up ahead and she figured it would be a great place to sit and wait for the right moment to send her camera into a torrent of clicks. Sunrise photography took patience and timing. If either one wasn’t perfect, the resulting imagery could be completely ruined.
She would later tell the police that it was probably because she had her attention focused more on the lake that she didn’t notice the man sitting on the second bench. As she neared the first one, the second was maybe two dozen yards further along, still enveloped in the last remnants of nightfall. The sky was already beginning to lighten and she was now racing time itself to get into position.
Once the camera was finally in place, pointed at the ever-brightening eastern horizon, she returned to the bench and sat for a moment. That was when she spotted the distant figure sitting on the other bench.
The person looked to have something wrapped around themselves, which she didn’t find surprising. The mist was still blowing out from her own mouth with each exhale, proof of just how cold the morning really was. As Marlena stood and prepared her camera for the approaching sunrise, she stole another look across at the lonely figure.
She now saw that he, or she, had in fact a dark blanket wrapped around themselves. Nothing looked out of place as such, but that was the first time she sensed that something might be wrong. Despite already being there a good ten minutes, it appeared to her as if the stranger hadn’t moved at all. They appeared exactly as when she had first noticed them, sitting back against the bench itself, the blanket bound tightly around themselves.
Marlena looked up at the horizon and saw the sky brighten at a rapid rate, night now completely consumed by the birthing of the new day. She held the cable release in her hand and stole another glance at the stranger, trying to ignore the sense of something wrong.
“They’re asleep,” she finally whispered to herself. “That’s why they haven’t moved.” It felt like the perfect answer and made the most sense to her. It was a public bench and people often spent nights out by the lake. Maybe the person had a bit too much to drink and decided to sleep it off here rather than risk the drive home.
She looked back towards the horizon and watched as the inevitable break of sunlight was now just seconds away. Gripping the cable release firmly, Marlena watched and held her breath as the moment approached, second by second, closer and closer. Moments before the golden eruption shot out across the valley, the camera whirred into life, the shutter snapping open and closed in rapid succession as the sun broke across the distant hills, birthing another beautiful fall day into existence.
Marlena smiled as the camera continued to snap image after image, the run of photos no doubt containing the one she would ultimately keep. The sun continued to climb, first just a small sliver appearing over the crest of the hill, then more as it continued to launch itself into the sky. And throughout its ascension, Marlena continued to shoot.
It was only once the camera fell into silence that a thought sprang into her mind, one that instantly chilled her blood.
“What if it is a woman?” She stole another glance at the lonely figure, still wrapped tightly in its covering. “What if she had been attacked and was now trying to hide from the world? Afraid to move for fear of being discovered.” There was still no hint of movement, a sign that the person may have still been asleep. Marlena turned back to her camera, looked at the sun and saw that it had already cleared the treetops, continuing to rise into the bright blue heavens above. It was now much too high to put to good use in her photography.
She snapped the lever on her tripod and pulled the camera free. As she carefully set it inside her bag, another runner approached from the North, this one dressed similar to the first, with the addition of headphones. He waved as he passed and Marlena returned the gesture, adding her own smile to the exchange.
Once the runner had passed the covered figure, Marlena folded up her tripod and snapped it onto the side of her camera bag. Taking one final look at her silent witness, she turned back towards the carpark.
But after just a couple of steps, she stopped. Another thought struck her, this one another possibility.
“What if that woman had run away from home because of an abusive relationship?” The thought hit much closer to home as she turned and looked back again, her own sister now appearing in her mind. Hope had been married to her husband a little over a year before the abuse started, escalating quickly into an almost daily ritual of verbal attacks and violence.
It took a miracle to save her life, with Hope ending up in hospital after one particularly bad beating. Harry had been arrested after that assault, leaving Hope broke, pregnant and alone. It took months to set her up somewhere where her husband wouldn’t find her and after he overdosed in prison, the job became much easier.
Marlena decided that she needed to make sure the person was OK, especially if it really was a woman. Gripping her bag tight, she turned back and slowly began to walk towards the lonely figure, still sitting motionless on the bench. Marlena looked up and down the path, this time hoping for someone to be passing her part of the world. But the path was empty as far as she could see, both directions sitting silently with a very faint mist suspended in the air above.
Her stomach felt heavier with each step, growing tighter as she neared the person. She slowed a little, hoping to hear a light snoring, or anything to indicate life. It sat completely motionless, the blanket looking old and worn.
The first thing that indicated the sex of the person to Marlena, were the shoes, the shiny black leather looking brand new. They were men’s shoes and as she stared at them, felt a slight bit of relief that the person wasn’t a woman after all, the whole domestic violence train of thought instantly disappearing from her mind.
What was it then? Some drunk? Someone out to watch the sunrise just as she had, only the wait was too much and the unfortunate person had fallen asleep? Marlena slowly advanced, now just a few feet from the man.
She suddenly decided that approaching from the side, unable to see the person’s face, might scare him, a stranger suddenly appearing. She would be better approaching head on, at least from a few yards away, giving the man advance warning in case he woke.
Marlena began to step sideways, starting to circle the man instead, watching for any sign of movement. But there was none, the figure sitting silently beneath their make-shift shelter. As the face slowly emerged from the shadows of the blanket, she could make out his calm stature and kind lines. The sun was behind her and it was her own shadow that kept the man’s face mostly hidden in darkness. From where she stood, he did appear asleep, his eyes closed. Or maybe he’d just been shielding them from the harsh morning light. There was something hanging from his mouth, looking like an unlit cigar.
But as Marlena stepped slightly to one side, allowing the sunlight to fully light up the face of her mysterious companion, it was her scream that pierced the morning air, rising like the birds that suddenly took flight around her. Because the face that stared back at her wasn’t one that would ever wake again, the instant realization clamping her stomach in horror.
The man was dead, of that she was instantly sure. His eyes were sunken deep into their hollows, his skin blotchy with the telltale blue of death. But it was his eternal smile that would go on to haunt her dreams for a long time to come. A critter had tried to make a meal of the man’s lips during the night. The top lip was missing, along with most of the right cheek, the teeth staring back at her in an eternal smile. The bottom lip had been torn and was dangling from a bit of sinew, completing the smile in near entirety. And as her second scream rose above the first, a Spruce took flight into the bright fall sky, wondering what all the fuss was about.
The police responded to the call for help from Robert MacKenzie shortly after 6am that morning, two patrol cars attending the scene. Paramedics arrived shortly later and first helped an extremely effected Marlena Perez. She was eventually calmed enough to provide a brief statement, before being transferred to the nearest hospital for observations.
One of the attending officers soon called for a detective to come and see what he first described as a possible prank. The paramedics had confirmed that the male victim appeared to have been deceased for some time. How he happened to be where he was found would prove to be the real mystery.
Detectives John Le Cruz and Dale Watson attended the scene and after conducting an extensive search of the immediate area with the other law enforcement officers, took what little information they were able to gather, back to the station. The body of the mystery man was taken back to the morgue at Bar Harbor, while the officers set about to identify him.
The process wasn’t as difficult as first thought, taking a little over an hour after the officers returned to the station. It turned out that the deceased man’s fingerprints were in the database. He’d been arrested for two DUI offenses back in the late 80s. The name that popped up was Nathanial Johns, but once Detective Watson entered the name into the system, found himself with more questions than answers.
“He’s dead,” Dale told his partner as he looked up from his monitor. John stared back at him confused.
“No, I mean he’s actually dead. Nathanial Johns, died 2 weeks ago in Danville, Kentucky. His wife…” He paused, checked another screen on his monitor, then continued. “His wife, Doris, buried him last week.” The officer looked up from his screen appearing somewhat dumbfounded.
“So what the hell is he doing here?”
After a quick phone call to the morgue where Nathanial Johns was held, a photograph of the deceased man soon dropped into his mailbox and after triple checking photos of him with those of the ones in his file, the two detectives soon realized that the men were one and the same. 74-year old Nathanial Johns, formerly of Danville, Kentucky, who once walked 14 miles through the pouring rain to ensure he didn’t miss his 30th wedding anniversary dinner with his wife, had somehow managed to travel almost a thousand miles from his grave.
After confirming the details for a fourth time, the detectives finally made the call to Kentucky. While it wasn’t an easy call to make, taking the call proved to be much harder. The deputy who answered their call at first believed he was the target of a prank call, initially discounting what the detectives were trying to share with him.
But once he double checked his own records and discovered the truth, his confusion quickly turned to dread as he realized what needed to be done. There was only one thing for it. Someone would need to check the grave.
After hanging up from the detectives with a promise to inform them of his own investigation, Deputy Wayne Dooley went and spoke with his boss, persuading the man with the photo of the deceased man currently lying in a Maine morgue.