LET ME GO (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 5)
Page 23
Afterword
Dear Reader,
Thank you for purchasing Let me Go (Eva Rae Thomas #5). The idea for this story came from an article I read about a woman who had been swatted as a form of harassment. Her teenage son was home alone when it happened, and she was terrified that he might be killed by the police entering her home, thinking he might be armed. He wasn’t, but the thought of it stirred up something inside of me, and I began researching the phenomenon. I found a lot written about it and found out it was very common in the gaming world. Some YouTubers are being swatted regularly while doing their videos. Luckily, it’s rare that it ends in fatalities or even people getting hurt. But I did find one story where it went terribly wrong. That was the story I used as the inspiration for the “Then” story. Tyler Barriss was actually a serial swatter, and he called in bomb threats regularly and was making money off of people wanting him to swat someone for them. He bragged about it online, and one day, he and someone else decided to swat a guy that they had a dispute with in a Call of Duty game. They called in a hostage situation to an address, and when the police arrived, the man living in the house at the address they had given walked out on the porch and was shot because the police thought he was armed and reaching for a gun. The man died. But that’s not all of it. It turned out it was the wrong address. It wasn’t even the guy they wanted to harass; it was some complete stranger, a 28-year-old man and a father of two who lost his life that day. The guy who made the call was later found, and he got twenty years in jail. His friend got fifteen months.
Now, the story about a mother holding down a kid so her child could beat someone up is also taken from real life, incredible as it sounds. It is quite insane. You can read more here and also see the video that was recorded of the attack at a bus stop. The woman was later arrested.
https://www.wsmv.com/news/police-mother-and-daughter-beat-girl-waiting-for-school-bus/article_325cd646-dee9-11e9-a4c2-67c2f3877b6c.html
I will end this with a couple of fun facts that surprised me when researching for this book. I can tell you that there are more than twenty-three million YouTube channels, and more than eight-thousand of them have more than a million subscribers. They estimate that two out of five of these are gaming related. The live streaming platform Twitch has more than two million broadcasters and fifteen million daily viewers.
It makes sense that there is a lot of money involved in this world.
Thank you for all your support. Don’t forget to leave a review if you can; it means so much to me.
Take care,
Willow
About the Author
Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy best-selling Author and an Amazon ALL-star Author of more than 70 novels.
Several of her books have reached the top 10 of ALL books on Amazon in the US, UK, and Canada. She has sold more than three million books all over the world.
She writes Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense, Horror, Supernatural thrillers, and Fantasy.
Willow's books are fast-paced, nail-biting page turners with twists you won't see coming. That's why her fans call her The Queen of Scream.
Willow lives on Florida's Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watch the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
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Books by the Author
Mystery Novels:
Don’t Lie To Me (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #1) - Grab your copy today
What You Did (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #2) - Grab your copy today
Never ever (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #3) - Grab your copy today
Say you love me (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #4) - Grab your copy today
Let Me Go (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #5) - Grab your copy today
What Hurts the Host (Mary Mills Mystery #1) - Grab your copy today
You Can Run (Mary Mills Mystery #2) - Grab your copy today
You Can’t Hide (Mary Mills Mystery #3) - Grab your copy today
Carefull Little Eyes (Mary Mills Mystery #4) - Grab your copy today
Hit the Road Jack (Jack Ryder #1) - Grab your copy today
Slip Out the Back Jack (Jack Ryder #2) - Grab your copy today
The House that Jack Built (Jack Ryder #3) - Grab your copy today
Black Jack (Jack Ryder #4) - Grab your copy today
Girl next door (Jack Ryder #5) - Grab your copy today
Her final word (Jack Ryder #6) - Grab your copy today
Don’t Tell (Jack Ryder #7) - Grab your copy today
One, Two... He is Coming for You (Rebekka Franck #1) - Grab your copy today
Three, Four ... Better Lock your Door (Rebekka Franck #2) - Grab your copy today
Five, Six ... Grab your Crucifix (Rebekka Franck #3) - Grab your copy today
Seven, Eight... Gonna Stay up Late (Rebekka Franck #4) - Grab your copy today
Nine, Ten... Never Sleep Again (Rebekka Franck #5) -Grab your copy today
Eleven, Twelve... Dig and Delve (Rebekka Franck #6) - Grab your copy today
Thirteen, Fourteen... Little Boy Unseen (Rebekka Franck #7) - Grab your copy today
Better not cry (Rebekka Franck #8) - Grab your copy today
Ten little Girls (Rebekka Franck #9) - Grab your copy today
It Ends Here (Rebekka Franck #10) - Grab your copy today
Edwina - Grab your copy today
To Hell in A Handbasket - Grab your copy today
Umbrella Man - Grab your copy today
Black Bird Fly - Grab your copy today
Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1) - Grab your copy today
Miss Polly had a Dolly (Emma Frost #2)- Grab your copy today
Run, Run, as Fast as you Can (Emma Frost #3) - Grab your copy today
Cross your Heart and Hope to Die (Emma Frost #4) - Grab your copy today
Peek A Boo I See You (Emma Frost #5) - Grab your copy today
Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Emma Frost #6) - Grab your copy today
Easy as One Two Three (Emma Frost #7) - Grab your copy today
There's No Place like Home (Emma Frost #8) - Grab your copy today
Slenderman (Emma Frost #9) - Grab your copy today
Where the Wild Roses Grow (Emma Frost #10) - Grab your copy today
Waltzing Mathilda (Emma Frost #11) - Grab your copy today
Drip Drop Dead (Emma Frost #12) - Grab your copy today
Horror Short Stories:
Eenie, Meenie - Grab your copy today
Rock-A-Bye Baby - Grab your copy today
Nibble, Nibble, Crunch - Grab your copy today
Humpty, Dumpty - Grab your copy today
Chain Letter - Grab your copy today
Better Watch Out - Grab your copy today
Mommy Dearest - Grab your copy today
The Bird- Grab your copy today
Paranormal Romance/Suspense/Fantasy Novels:
Flesh and Blood - Grab your copy today
Blood and Fire - Grab your copy today
Fire and Beauty - Grab your copy today
Beauty and Beasts - Grab your copy today
Beasts and Magic - Grab your copy today
Magic and Witchcraft - Grab your copy today
Witchcraft and War - Grab your copy today
War and Order - Grab your copy today
Order and Chaos- Grab your copy today
Chaos and Courage - Will be out January, 2019.
The Surge - Grab your copy today
Girl Divided - Grab your copy today
Beyond (Afterlife #1) - Grab your copy today
Serenity (Afterlife #2) - Grab your copy today
Endurance (Afterlife #3) - Grab your copy today
Courageous (Afterlife #4) - Grab your copy today
Savage (Daughters of the Jaguar #1) - Grab your copy today
Broken (Daughters of the Jaguar #2) - Grab your copy today
Song for a Gypsy (The Eye of the Crystal Ball -The Wolfboy Chronicles) - Grab your copy today
I am WOLF (The Wolfboy Chronicles) - Grab your copy today
Box Sets:
Jack Ryder Mystery Series Box Set: Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Jack Ryder Mystery Series Box Set: Vol 4–6 - Grab your copy today
Mary Mills Mystery Series Box Set: Vol 1-2 - Grab your copy today
Mary Mills Mystery Series Box Set: Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Rebekka Franck Series Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Rebekka Franck Series Vol 4-6 - Grab your copy today
Rebekka Franck Series Vol 1-5 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 4-6 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 7-9 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 1-5 - Grab your copy today
Daughters of the Jaguar Box Set - Grab your copy today
The Vampires of Shadow Hills: Books 1-3 - Grab your copy today
The Afterlife Series (Books 1-3)- Grab your copy today
Horror Stories from Denmark - Grab your copy today
The Wolfboy Chronicles - Grab your copy today
Copyright Willow Rose 2019
Published by BUOY MEDIA LLC
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Cover design by Juan Villar Padron,
https://www.juanjpadron.com
Special thanks to my editor Janell Parque
http://janellparque.blogspot.com/
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ITSY BITSY SPIDER
Excerpt
For a special sneak peak of Willow Rose's Bestselling Mystery Novel ITSY BITSY SPIDER(EMMA FROST MYSTERY #1) turn to the next page.
Prologue
1977
At first she thought it was an accident that the door to the bunker had shut. Then she tried to open it on her own, but couldn't. It was either too heavy or it must have locked when it shut. She knocked carefully.
"Hello?"
The quiet coming from outside the iron door was almost cruel. Astrid swallowed and knocked once again, this time harder.
"Hello?"
But nothing. Nothing but the horrendous sound of her own breathing. Someone will open it. Once they realize it has shut, they'll come. Astrid took the few steps from the door down into the bunker. She felt tired and her feet were swollen. She sighed and sat down on a bench, waiting, staring at the door, and anticipating it swinging open at any moment now. Except, it was actually two doors, separated by a small hallway between them. So even if she hammered, they wouldn't be able to hear her. All she could do was wait. Someone would eventually come for her.
Wouldn't they? Of course they would. He would come. He who told her he loved her…
Astrid knew she wasn't among the smartest of the young kids on the island. Her mother always told her that. But Astrid had good hands and she wasn't a half-bad cook. If she stuck to what she knew, she might be lucky enough to one day have a man, her mother had promised. Now Astrid had found one. And he wanted more than just her cooking. He wanted her. He loved her, he said. Then he made love to her in the dunes by the beach.
He was nice to her and she wanted him to meet her mother, but he kept telling her: not now, not today. Astrid never thought of asking when. She just waited patiently for him to find the time in his busy schedule. She never wondered why he never took her places, or why he insisted they only meet at night, or why he never spoke to her except for the dirty words he whispered in her ears; Astrid was educated enough to know that these words weren’t something they would say in church.
No, Astrid never thought there could be anything wrong with her relationship with this boy who once said he loved her, and who showed his love for her in the dunes again and again, night after night, during that endless summer in 1977. Instead, she started looking forward to their life together, preparing herself to one day become his wife, and to have a baby.
"You'll get nothing but dummies like yourself," her mother had said. "There should be a law that demanded that people like you were sterilized so you wouldn't pass your stupidity on to your kids. Stupid girl," she said, and slapped Astrid across the face.
Yes, Astrid was very well aware that she wasn't the smartest among people, but she had a good heart. That much she knew. One day she would become a great mother to a child who would have its father's intellect, and that child was going to go out into the world and do great things.
"That'll show them," she said, sniffling, while staring at the closed iron door at the top of the stairs.
"He'll come for me, won't he?" she asked, and her voice echoed into the small room behind her that was lit only by a lightbulb hanging from under the ceiling. Of course he will. Of course.
Astrid drew in a deep sigh. She looked around and spotted the big flashlight on a shelf in the corner among blankets, water bottles, and canned food. She pulled the flashlight out and held it in her hand. Then she sat down again, waiting for someone to come and get her. Not just someone. Him, the boy of her dreams, the love of her life. Not just anyone.
Astrid sighed and calmed herself down. She always did this, her mother would say; she always made herself uneasy or even anxious for no reason at all.
1
2012
The man was looking in the windows of the French doors leading into the kitchen. It was dark inside the mansion by the ocean. A small light under the door revealed that there was someone in the other room next to the kitchen. Just as he had hoped.
The man lifted his gloved hand and smashed it through the small window, then reached through and unlocked the door. He opened it without making any sound at all. Smoothly, he slid through the door and into the woman's kitchen. Carefully, he closed the door behind him, while stepping on the broken glass strewn underneath his heavy boots.
The man turned and looked at the perfect kitchen. Knives were hanging on the wall. He grabbed one and looked at it in the moonlight that poured into the room. Then he sighed with a deep feeling of satisfaction while putting it back. He reached into his own sports bag and found his own set of knives rolled up in their bag. Like a professional chef, he unfolded the bag and rolled the knives out on the table.
What a beautiful sight to his eyes. Clean blades, sharpened to perfection. Almost a pity he had to mess them up. Cutting through meat and
bones always made them dull. The man picked one out and put the rest back in his bag. Then he approached the door leading to the adjacent room, where he could tell the TV was on.
The man had studied the woman's daily routine for weeks now and knew she always dozed off to her favorite show, The Sopranos, before she awoke and went to the bathroom at exactly ten-thirty. She was as precise as a clock. Then she would go into the kitchen and grab a glass of water to put next to her bed for the night. She seemed to have a hard time sleeping lately and he speculated that this made her thirsty.
The man walked out of the kitchen door and into the hallway as he heard the theme song for The Sopranos, and then the TV went silent.
The man sat down on a chair in the corner of the guest bedroom and waited, listening to the woman performing her routines, like he had done many times before, but this time was different. This was the big finish, le grand finale, as they said in French.
The man glanced at his reflection in the mirror on the dresser. He touched his pale skin and followed one of the veins with his finger. Then he smiled at himself. He had been looking forward to this moment for all of his life. He had prepared for it, dreamt about it, arranged it into details, just waiting for the right time and to be in the right place.