To the side of the room, there was a stretcher with metal straps and stirrups. Beside it was a stainless steel tray with a single knife lying on it. Just like the table and meat grinder, light refracted off it. A tube of plastic sheeting stood vertically beside the bed.
“This just keeps getting creepier.” Paige took up position beside me.
“Say that again,” Deputy White said. “’Cuse me.” A hand snapped up to cover his mouth.
Jack was the last to come through the tunnel. I swear even he paused when his eyes settled on the items in the room. “What do you make of it, Kid?”
I put both hands on my hips. The one near the gun wanted to pull it on the man, but my control won out. Why was it only me who needed to provide the answers?
“He killed them here.” I pointed back to where we came from. “Ground up their intestines in there.” I felt sick.
“Whoa nicely put, Pending,” Zachery said.
“And how did he get them down here?”
“Well, there’s got to be another way in. The freezer alone discloses that, and I mean obviously he wouldn’t be able to make the victims go down the ladder, past the meat grinder.” I took a deep breath. Tell me this is the worst we will ever have to deal with. I wanted to say the words audibly but knew it would be construed as a weakness. “There has to be another way in here, a passageway that connects to the burial sites.”
Paige said, “Bingham—”
“You assume,” Jack corrected her. “Maybe he worked with someone from the start. They picked the victims and brought them here.”
She disregarded him. “Bingham brought them down through the passageway that comes off the cellar. Maybe he drugged them or held them at gunpoint—”
“Or knife point.”
Paige rolled her eyes.
I looked forward to the day I could express myself in that manner to the Supervisory Special Agent.
“Whatever. The point is he had a system worked out. Bring them down, bring them in here, cut them, kill them, gut them—”
“You’re assuming he didn’t gut them while alive.”
The deputy tightened the placement of his hand over his mouth and swiveled his hips to the right.
“You said kill them, and then gut them?” Jack asked.
“Either way.” A large exhale moved her hair briefly upward. “Gut them to kill them. There you happy? He’s one sick son of a bitch either way.”
“And he just went away on a fluke charge, killing cows and assaulting a neighbor.” I knew once the words came out I should have thought them through. Deputy White looked capable of hauling me to the field and flogging me.
“Cattle are a v-very important investment ’round here. Farmin’ is what we people do. It’s to be respected an’ so is the livestock.”
The hint of a smirk dusted Jack’s lips. My discomfort brought him happiness. I felt my earlobes heat with anger.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean?” Both the Kentucky-bred deputy and the local CSI kept their eyes on me.
“He has ten bodies buried underneath his property. Ten human bodies. There’s a freezer which seems to have been used to hold the unspeakable.” My arms pointed in both directions. “Numerous passageways, all the secrecy. Who was this guy really? And don’t say a killer. Because I think he was more than that.”
“What are you saying, Slingshot?”
“He didn’t kill them like this for no reason.” I gestured toward Zachery. “Maybe it’s something to do with that coinherence symbol of his, or maybe it has something to do with the health profession, but whatever it is, it was for a reason. This guy had something to say.”
Zachery stepped toward me. I moved back. He said, “The killers always have something to say.”
“Well, I believe this one has more to say than most.” All of them watched me as if I were about to shed light on the case. I wish I were.t
You have reached the end of the sample. For purchase options, visit:
http://carolynarnold.net/Eleven.
-
Overview of Life Sentence
A defense attorney’s worst nightmare…
“If I pay with my life, you will pay with yours.”
Defense Attorney Bryan Lexan may have just taken on the case which will cost him his life. When his client, a Russian mafia boss, is convicted of first-degree murder, he vows to make Bryan pay.
Meanwhile, Jessica Pratt has always prided herself on being a modern woman–you know, the kind who doesn’t need a man to make her feel complete. So when she finds herself torn between two, she realizes that not all decisions are based on facts. If they were, her boyfriend, Bryan, would be the logical choice. He has the family name, wealth, and a stake in a successful law firm. Only thing is, when she meets Mason Freeman, the chemistry between them is irrefutable and he won’t take no for an answer.
With both of them caught up in a struggle for survival, and a powerful enemy on their heels, they’ll need to decide where their loyalties lie.
-
About the Author
CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international best-selling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime.
Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at
carolynarnold.net/newsletters.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Note to Readers
Preview of Eleven
Overview of Life Sentence
About the Author
books on Archive.
Life Sentence Page 26