Simon Says... Ride (Kate Morgan Thrillers Book 3)

by Dale Mayer

  “And why would you want to be anybody on campus?” she asked curiously. “I mean, particularly with him.”

  He stared at her. “Because he’s … he’s the wealthiest on campus. He’s the one with all the connections. He’s the one who can get you a job when you’re done. He’s the one who has the family ties.” He slumped toward the table, his head in his hands. “It’s all about who you know.”

  “So, in order to get a job—when this wasted college experience was all over—you were prepared to sell your soul in the process? That’s not the way university life was for me.”

  He scrubbed at his hair with both hands. “But we didn’t realize what we were doing. It didn’t start off that way. It just slid into this, … this horrible chain of events that we couldn’t get out of.”

  “Tell me what happened at the intersection with Sally, the one in the red hoodie.”

  Walter looked at her in surprise and then frowned. “Brandon had this new gimmick ice-cube thing that he got somewhere off the internet. He read about a case on campus a long time ago, and, while we were drinking at the student pub, we searched for it and found it for less than twenty bucks. Brandon ordered it. We took it to the pub and shot these little ice bullets into our drinks. He thought it was a great toy and always has it on him,” Walter said.

  “We were walking down the sidewalk, outside of the campus, heading for our pizza joint, when he walked up to this woman on her bike and, all of a sudden, just said, “There you go.” As the girl moved forward, Brandon reached up, and he popped her behind the head. But it was just ice, so we didn’t think anything of it, but the girl wobbled forward and then slowly did this weird hit into the car, and lots of screaming and shouting and whatnot happened, but Brandon just laughed.”

  “Yeah. Any idea where that tool is?”

  “Probably at his place,” he said.

  “What happened to Paula?”

  He winced at that. “I don’t really know what happened with Paula,” he said quietly. “I just know that it was bad news. That whole deal was bad news.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because Brandon pitted the females against each other.”

  “And yet the one, Candy, had a boyfriend?”

  “No,” he corrected quietly. “She was supposed to make it look like Trent was her boyfriend, and then she was supposed to break off with him and torment him even more.”

  Kate sat back and stared, her heart aching at such a nightmare. “So did you do anything worthwhile at university, or just prove what a prick you were?”

  He flushed at that. “I’m not proud of everything I did,” Walter said. “But I had nothing to do with killing those people.”

  “What about Trent, … the boyfriend?”

  He flushed at that. “I didn’t throw him off the roof.”

  “Yeah. No, of course not. That would have been Brandon, I’m sure.”

  He nodded. “Exactly. It was Brandon. I wasn’t even there that night.”

  “Lies, all four of you were there. And Paula? Did you just wait until she dosed Candy with the drugs? That much blood with no visible wounds means a nose bleed to me, and that goes along with the drugs. Then, after you put Candy somewhere safe, you hit Paula hard, so she couldn’t say anything to anyone. What’s the matter? Was she crying with remorse and making you nervous?” Kate taunted Walter. “And, when Candy didn’t OD, you took her out to the same intersection and dumped her and the bike and popped her one too.”

  He flushed again but nodded slowly. “I didn’t hit Paula. That was Brandon. I want a plea deal.” He leaned forward. “I can help you.”

  She nodded. “I can see you trying to figure out how to get out of this, but I’m here to tell you that there’s no chance. You’re too far in the hole. There are too many deaths. There is no forgiveness. But I’ll see.” And, with that, she got up and walked out. Outside, she was almost vibrating.

  “Take it easy,” Rodney said, exiting the observation room.

  “Take it easy?” She spun on him.

  He held up his hand. “Come on. There’s more to be done. Let’s see what these other two have to say. Then we’ll go talk to Brandon.”

  After interviewing Jonathan and Tony, and getting more of the same confirmed, they finally stood in the hallway, exhausted and sick at the unnecessary loss of life.

  “Just one more, Kate,” Rodney said. “Just one more.”

  She walked into the interview room, where Brandon and his lawyer had been waiting for a very long time. She slammed down her file. “Three counts of murder and we’re looking for more.”

  The lawyer immediately jumped up. “Detective, you are mistaken. My client has done absolutely nothing to warrant a murder charge, much less three. I can’t believe you’ve wasted our time—”

  “Oh, wait. I misspoke. Make it four. And maybe we should listen to what others who were present have to say.”

  “It won’t matter what anybody else said,” Brandon replied in that lazy insolent voice. “Because it’s just their word against mine.”

  “Unless they were observers of you committing murder.”

  “If they were observers, then they were guilty too, weren’t they? So all they’re doing is trying to save their ass and pin it on me.”

  “That is quite possible. But do you think we don’t have any evidence?”

  “You’ve got nothing,” he said, with a sneer.

  The lawyer hopped to his feet. “I’ll be taking my client out of here, Detective. You’ve clearly got nothing.”

  “Yeah.” Brandon hopped up.

  Kate noticed something in his pocket. “Rodney?” She motioned at her partner. “Wasn’t it nice of him to bring in the murder weapon?”

  Immediately her partner stepped forward, one hand already gloved, and removed the item from Brandon’s pocket. Rodney held it up and nodded. “Forensics will love this. That along with the drugs in Candy’s system, that you used to keep her compliant. You parked on the boulevard, helped her onto the bike and into the center of the road, likely laughing the whole time. She collapses, and you pop her with this as a final coup.” He held up the ice-bullet gun.

  “Hey, that’s mine,” Brandon protested, eyeing his gun the whole time Rodney had it. “You don’t have any right to that.”

  “Oh, that’s all right,” Kate cajoled him. “I mean, you’ve got nothing to worry about, correct? You had absolutely nothing to do with any of those murders. You didn’t kill Candy. You didn’t kill Paula. You didn’t kill Candy’s supposed boyfriend, Trent. And you didn’t kill Sally, the woman in the red hoodie at the intersection. I guess Candy just couldn’t do the job, huh? So you had to prove to her that she was in it, whether she liked it or not.”

  “The stupid bitch,” he said, with a sneer. “She was so weak.”

  “It’s not a show of strength to kill and to torment helpless people,” Kate said. “You’ve been running a reign of terror on that university long enough. And we’re here to tell you, it’s over.”

  “Nothing’s over.” Brandon smirked, looking at his nails. “You’ve got nothing on me. Besides, you have no jurisdiction over me. The university is policed by the RCMP.”

  “That last part is correct. But we do have jurisdiction over you, as the people you murdered were killed at the intersection outside of the university grounds or at off-campus housing—neither of which is policed by the RCMP but by us. You can bet we’re working together on the charges you’ll face for your other lovely nasty bullying attacks at the university. As for evidence, we’ve got the murder weapon for one,” she said, with half a smile. “We’ve got statements from all your sixteen reported cases of attacks on students, then of your threats thereafter to keep your victims silent. Plus now we’ve got the testimony of your cohorts in the crimes. You remember them, don’t you? Walter, Jonathan, Tony?”

  Brandon glared.

  “Did you really think all your bullying and your threats wouldn’t backfire on you eventually?” She turned
to look at the lawyer. “Don’t even think about bailing this guy out, We’ve got four counts of murder in the first degree.”

  He immediately shook his head and started to speak.

  She held up her hand. “I’m not even talking to you. He’s going down, and he’s going down for a very long time.”

  Brandon sneered. “My family will buy my way out.”

  “I can’t imagine why they would even want to.” She looked at him, like he was a slug. “You’re nothing but trouble. At some point in time, all of them will just cut their losses. Cut their losses and walk away because you’re just one of those, you know, unlucky sperms that made it through when it shouldn’t have,” she said, with a sneer of her own. “There’s always more where that came from.” And, with that, she turned and walked out.

  She heard Brandon screaming inside. She had left the recorder running, just in case he said anything helpful, but, as far as she was concerned, it was done and over. She walked out into the bullpen and dropped the stack of files on her desk. She faced the rest of her team. “I know I need to stay and do a ton of shit, but my stomach is churning with the reality of what our society is producing, so I’ll be taking off for the day. I’ll be back in the morning to handle the rest of this shit.”

  After sharing a high five with Rodney, she turned and left. As she walked across the street, ready to find a cab instead of walk, she saw Simon sitting there, waiting for her. He noted the road rash on her face with a grimace, but he didn’t say anything about it. She looked at him. “It’s over. It’s sad and really sickening, but it’s over.”

  He stood and opened his arms. Grateful, she walked into them. When they closed around her, he said, “I’d suggest a swim to cleanse all this away, but lacking a pool, how about a walk to remind ourselves of some good things about the city.”

  “You know something? I think that is a great idea.”

  Then hand in hand, they strode off to enjoy the rest of the day.

  This concludes Book 3 of Kate Morgan: Simon Says… Ride.

  Read about Kate Morgan: Simon Says… Scream, Book 4

  Simon Says… Scream: Kate Morgan (Book #4)

  Introducing a new thriller series that keeps you guessing and on your toes through every twist and unexpected turn….

  USA Today Best-Selling Author Dale Mayer does it again in this mind-blowing thriller series.

  The unlikely team of Detective Kate Morgan and Simon St. Laurant, an unwilling psychic, marries all the unpredictable and passionate elements of Mayer’s work that readers have come to love and crave.

  It’s taken some time, but Detective Kate Morgan’s various relationships are gelling at work—and even at home. Until Simon starts screaming in the middle of the night. Worried and not sure she’s up for this, Kate distances herself from him. When a tortured female body shows up, Simon’s visions are of no help, until he describes one specific injury, … the same injury on Kate’s latest case.

  A case getting weirder as more is uncovered. A similar tortured death happened more than a decade ago, where the killer was caught and served time. As a suspect he looks good for this current case because he’s now out and back in society. Except he has a solid alibi …

  This isn’t the only victim though, and, as the Vancouver PD Homicide Unit digs deeper, Kate’s team finds several more cases—all with connections to the same suspect. But Kate’s still not convinced.

  Too much more is going on, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of this, before someone else dies a painful death …

  First Sunday of September, Wee Morning Hours

  A scream from hell woke up Simon. He bolted from the bed and spun around in a panic. In the dark and nude, he tripped over his clothing on the floor as he raced for the window. He didn’t know where that scream had come from, but—

  “Jesus Christ, what’s the matter?”

  He stopped, turned, and slowly reoriented himself.

  Kate sat up in the bed and stared at him. “Simon? What’s the matter?”

  “An unholy scream.” He held up his hands, so she could see them trembling.

  “From where?” she asked, sliding out from under the covers.

  “The hallway? Your neighbor?”

  She quickly pulled on her panties and jeans, then a top over her bare chest, as she walked to the front door. She stepped out into the hallway, coming back in again.

  He stared at her. “I think”—he took a deep breath—“I think it was inside my head.”

  She groaned. “Not another one.”

  He gave her a lopsided smile. “Hey, Kate. This isn’t my doing. Remember that.”

  “Hey, Simon. This isn’t what we wanted either. Remember that.”

  “I know.” He nodded. “And it’s been a long time.”

  “It has, at least a couple weeks.” And, with that, she gave him an eye roll.

  “I know. Sorry.”

  “It’s all right,” she noted, “but it would be good if you could explain a little more.”

  “There’s no explaining,” he murmured. “This is just insanity.”

  “I get it,” she agreed. “I really do.”

  “Good, because this is just too much.”

  “You don’t know where or when or what or who?”

  “No.” His expression was grim. “Just the most horrific scream.”

  “A woman?” Kate asked, and he nodded. “In pain or fear?”

  He looked at her, frowned. “Pain.”

  “I get it. Somebody being tortured.” She sighed heavily.

  He slowly nodded. “I think so.” He paused. “I wish not, but I think so.”

  She nodded. “Oh, great. Here we go again.”

  Find Book 4 here!

  To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading Simon Says… Ride: Kate Morgan, Book 3! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.

  Dear reader,

  I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for my newsletter or follow me on BookBub. And if you are interested in joining Dale Mayer’s Reader Group, here is the Facebook sign up page.

  Cheers,

  Dale Mayer

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  About the Author

  Dale Mayer is a USA Today best-selling author, best known for her SEALs military romances, her Psychic Visions series, and her Lovely Lethal Garden cozy series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Broken But … Mending series). Her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life, a stand-alone novella; and the Broken Protocols series, starring Charming Marvin, the cat).

  Dale honors the stories that come to her—and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

  To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields, with books available on résumé writing, companion gardening, and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

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  SIMON SAYS… RIDE (KATE MORGAN, BOOK 3)

  Dale Mayer

  Valley Publishing

  Copyright © 2021

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter inv
ented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-773364-79-7

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