The Last Sin
Page 30
Chapter Four
The night wrapped around him like a soft blanket, comforting and soothing. He lay on top of the covers, his body still, letting the darkness seep into his thoughts, his dreams. During the day, he pushed it away, but at night, he embraced it. Eyes wide, he stared at the bare ceiling. After a while, he could see the girls again. He breathed in, nostrils flaring. The memories were all he had.
They’d fought like hell. In vain, of course, but back then, even he hadn’t understood his strength or the depth of his needs. The first one, Cheryl, had been especially difficult. He thought most often of her. Swinging her arms and kicking her legs, she’d tried desperately to fight him off, but was the first to learn he was not to be underestimated. What she couldn’t have known was that the fear in her eyes only fueled his desire. With each girl, his hunger grew. Their screams and their tears gave him a rush that made him forget everything but the ecstasy of the moment. When they closed their eyes to shut him out, he would jerk their heads, forcing them to watch, to see him as he really was. Since that first night, he’d fallen asleep replaying those beautiful images.
He smiled, his loins hot. It had been such a long fucking time, but now it would be different. The release was big news, and the homecoming was fast approaching. He’d been told there would be press, regional and national. A story of this magnitude was bound to stir controversy. He didn’t give a shit. The words “guilt” and “innocence” were thrown around, but few understood how they worked, how closely they were intertwined. One could not exist without the other.
He closed his eyes, holding on to the image of Cheryl. He’d left her in the woods, buried under leaves and sticks, her white skin smeared with mud from the river, her blond hair spread out like a fan around her twisted head. Even dead, her eyes had looked back at him, round and gaping. Nothing could ever erase that beautiful picture. Nothing. And now he’d been given a gift. The Coed Killer would be back.
About the Author
K.L. MURPHY was born in Key West, Florida, the eldest of four children in a military family. She has worked as a freelance writer for several regional publications in Virginia, and is the author of A Guilty Mind and Stay of Execution. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, four children, and two very large, very hairy dogs. To learn more about the Detective Cancini Mystery series or future projects, visit www.kellielarsenmurphy.com.
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Also by K.L. Murphy
Stay of Execution
A Guilty Mind
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from Stay of Execution copyright © 2016 by Kellie Murphy.
the last sin. Copyright © 2017 by Kellie Murphy. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition MARCH 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-249163-3
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-249173-2
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