Murder Plot (A Sam Rader Thriller Book 3)
Page 14
“Amen,” one of the others said.
“Millionaires. Billionairs. They want to spend their money on things normal men could never afford. And I provide that service.”
He turned back to Tim, crossed his arms across a substantial chest and leaned back on his boot heels. Tim’s head throbbed, a trickle of blood running down the side of his face. While it should have felt warm, instead it felt cold, almost icy.
“I don’t think you get it.”
“Oh, he gets it alright,” a new voice said from somewhere behind him. Tunney looked up and past him, raising his pistol in an instant.
“Don’t tell me,” Tunney began. “Tami Clark.”
Sam slowly walked to where the light reached the floor, listening to Tunney’s speech. When she knew she was well clear of the others behind her, she finally spoke, drawing all eyes on her.
“Yes. Tami Clark,” Sam said, making sure to remain in line to ensure each of the guns behind her remained on target.
“What the fuck are you doing back there?”
“Thought I’d come and check out this playground you’ve been building yourself. And all inside a prison. Clever.”
The four men standing behind Tunney stepped around him, trying to get a look at her. While she didn’t recognize three of them, the fourth rang home instantly, Sam almost shocked to see him.
“Sheriff Augustine. I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.” The sheriff took a small step back, surprised to be recognized.
“So what’s the plan here. Gonna take us all on?” Sam giggled a little.
“Well, usually yes. But since you don’t like to play fair, I’ve decided to return the favor.”
Sam dropped to her knees, smiling at Tunney as she did. Two pops went off behind her and a split second later, the top of his head disappeared in a cloud of blood and brains. One of the other men also lost the top of his head. The sheriff had just enough time to watch the man beside him crumple to the ground, before two more pops rang out, another two men’s lives snuffed out by a bullet from the shadows. The final man dropped to his knees, tried to plead, but was cut short by the final snipe.
Once the men had been dealt with, Sam rose back to her feet and sprinted to Tim. He looked groggily up at her from the chair, still stunned from the pistol-whipping. She untied his bindings, then helped him slide to the ground, before letting him rest there for a moment. The smell of the bodies beside them instantly awoke the cravings, each feeling the unrelenting cramps in their middle. It was the kind of hunger neither could ignore, a deeply-routed instinct with routes back to the dawn of man.
Something shuffled behind them and when they turned, saw Perkins slowly rising to his feet. He looked a mess, his top lip cut from where Tunney had hit him.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he said to Sam. She turned, looked at Tim and waited. He stared back, then shot her a wink. They both understood that the man behind them was as guilty as the men lying dead before them. He may have been worse, a pedophile who preyed on innocent children.
Words were not needed and before Perkins had a chance to say more, both Sam and Tim set upon him, dragging him down to meet his fate. And as their teeth sank in and his blood flowed, the screams of the man responsible for the murders filled the air. They fed upon his flesh, feeling the warmth of his blood as it rained down around them. He struggled for a brief moment, himself unsure of what he had done to meet such a fate. But as his final thrashes slowly faded, Sam and Tim made sure that his final purpose was a worthwhile one.
The clean-up crew did what it always did and took care of the scene, arriving shortly after. The bodies were bagged and taken back to the compound, cremated and eventually dumped at sea. Henderson was given a brief explanation and sworn to secrecy. Pogrom ensured he had a bullet-proof alibi, plus enough information to ensure he never needed to share his experiences.
Sam and Tim returned to Pogrom headquarters the very next day. They took part in not one, but two ceremonies in the memorial room. Whilst the first was a mere repeat of so many other serial killer endings, the second proved a lot harder, the agents sending one of their own into the shadows.
Victor’s death hit everyone hard, but none more than Mumma. She struggled to make it through the ceremony, eventually dropping down on a step and weeping into her hands. Sam sat next to her, an arm around the grieving woman’s shoulders. John Milton stood in one corner, himself just as grief-stricken. Agents were his family and each one that had been lost through the years, had taken another piece of his heart.
Once the memorial room was mostly deserted again, he called Tim and Sam over after making sure Mumma was OK.
“I know you guys have had a rough time these past weeks, but I need you two on an urgent mission.” Both Sam and Tim looked at each other, already suspecting their new assignment.
“Black Death?” Sam asked. John Milton nodded, pointed to where a fresh string of lights had been strung and said, “Four already. New York needs you.”
He shook both their hands, just as he always did when sending agents off on assignment. It was one of his own many rituals that served as a reminder that what they were doing served a greater purpose.
“Serial killers of the world beware,” he thought to himself as he watched his team prepare. “They’re coming for you.”
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Thank you for reading Murder Plot. If you have a moment, would you please leave a review for the book? It only takes a minute and really is such an important part of an author’s journey. Thank you.
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading this latest Sam Rader thriller. I really love watching Sam evolve into the controlled hunter she’s becoming, but know that Lucifer still has some strange sense of hold over her. Will he return in the next chapter? Black Death is already available for pre-order right here and I hope you come along for the ride.
As always, don’t forget to leave a review and find me on Facebook, or through my website at www.booksbysimonking.com
Happy reading.
Simon
Copyright © 2020 by Simon King
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