Smoke Screen (The Darcy Lynch Series Book 2)

by Elin Barnes

  The phone started ringing again.

  Darcy pushed his body against Mitchell’s, hoping to crack his back against the edge of the kitchen island. He grabbed the arm that held the gun, keeping it from pointing at his head again.

  Mitchell’s body bent backward against the flat surface, but there was no expression of pain. With sheer force, Mitchell managed to lift his torso back to a straight position, and headbutted Darcy. The pain was so intense, Darcy saw a flash of white. It took everything he had to not let go of the hand with the gun.

  Then Mitchell threw a left hook straight to his right temple, and the white he’d seen before turned into a hundred flashing stars. Darcy rotated and slammed Mitchell’s arm on top of the island, then landed his right elbow on Ethan’s forearm with the entire weight of his body. As soon as the arm gave a little, Darcy slammed it against the edge, trying to break it. Mitchell cried out, and the Beretta flopped onto the floor.

  Before Darcy could go for it, Mitchell punched him in the ribs. Darcy felt one or two crack. He was short of breath but continued to scramble to get loose.

  As he turned, a flash of outside light reflected on the blade of a six-inch knife in Mitchell’s hand.

  Darcy’s first reaction was to move away, but he was too slow. Mitchell pushed the knife into his side, just below where he had punched him a second earlier. Darcy felt the thrust of the blade, breaking skin, then going deep. Mitchell pulled the knife out. Before Darcy could cover the wound, Mitchell stabbed him in the stomach. Darcy doubled over, trying to shield the lacerations, feeling the warm blood seeping through his fingers.

  “Man, what the hell are you doing with the door open?” Sorensen’s voice came through from the front door. “Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

  Darcy wanted to yell, but nothing came out. He looked up, still holding his side, and slowly sliding to the floor. He saw Mitchell weighing his odds. A split second later, Mitchell dropped the knife on the floor and sprinted out of the house through the broken window.

  In a low voice he wasn’t even sure left his mouth, Darcy called for his partner as everything went black.

  Chapter 113

  Six days later—black Friday

  Saffron looked around the room. The flowers that had filled it for days were starting to fade. They had been gorgeous, colorful. They’d brightened the room, especially when it was sunny outside and the light made them shine. But now some petals had fallen, and the previously cheerful colors were a dull brown that matched the darkness she felt inside.

  Trying to push her sorrow away, she reached for her Kindle. The broken ribs and the stitches in her torso screamed for her to stop. I know better than this, she scolded herself. Instead of moving her entire upper body to get the e-reader, she reached for it with her arm. Feeling it, she grabbed it and turned it on. She browsed through the books she already had but decided to get something new.

  “Busy?” Darcy asked from the door.

  She set the Kindle on her lap and looked up. He was smiling.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said.

  He nodded.

  “They let you get up?” she asked him.

  “No. I had to work my charm with the head nurse.” He rolled himself slowly into the room, pushing in front of him a tall IV drip connected to his arm by a long tube and a thick needle.

  “Should I be jealous?” She reached out to touch his arm.

  “Absolutely.” He kissed her palm. “I need to get a black marker and write something on your cast.” He tapped her leg.

  “You do.”

  She touched his face. His stubble tickled her hand.

  “Do you guys brag about the wounds acquired in the line of duty?” Saffron asked.

  Darcy smiled. “Sometimes. More early on. It’s like stripes: the more you have, the tougher you are.” He paused for a few moments. “Then you realize it’s actually better to have fewer than many, and you stop bragging.”

  “Bummer.” She pouted.

  “Why?”

  He pulled himself off the wheelchair and was trying to sit on the bed, but it was a little high, so he was having a hard time. He winced but finally managed.

  “No reason.”

  “Oh come on.” He tapped her leg again.

  A shadow passed over her face.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save your sister,” he said, squeezing her hand.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save my sister,” she said, a feeling of guilt swelling up in her throat. “He made her drink antifreeze . . .”

  Saffron wiped her eyes, feeling more rage than sadness.

  There was a knock on the door.

  “I had to pull in a lot of favors to get her in here,” Sorensen said, still outside the room, holding Shelby by a short leash. The dog’s tail was wagging so hard, her entire body swayed from side to side.

  “Oh my God.” Saffron tapped the side of the bed to get Shelby to come to her. Sorensen let the leash go, and the dog ran toward the bed. They both petted her, trying to move their bodies as little as possible, to not pull any stitches. The dog moved from his hand to hers, licking both.

  “So you came to get rid of the dog, or you really missed me?” Darcy joked.

  “Melissa offered me a choice: I could go shopping with her and my mother-in-law, or I could come visit you.” Sorensen made a weighing gesture with his hands. “It really was a hard choice.”

  “She hates you that much?”

  “Apparently.” Lifting two large paper bags, he added, “I brought turkey and cranberry sandwiches. Leftovers from yesterday.”

  “And Jon promised to bring his mom’s famous pecan pie later,” Darcy said.

  “I’ll go and get drinks,” Sorensen said, leaving the room.

  Darcy looked at Saffron. Tiny lines framed his eyes. She hadn’t seen him this surprised in a while.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded and caressed the hand that was now brushing her cheek.

  Sorensen coughed as he walked back in, then set the drinks on the table and started handing out sandwiches.

  Saffron took the first bite. “Yum. I’ve never had anything better in my life.”

  Before Darcy took a bite, he asked, “Any news on Mitchell?”

  “Nope. He’s gone.”

  “For now.”

  THE END

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you for reading my book! Thank you, thank you for taking the time to read it, and for sharing a bit of your life with me. I hope you loved it. I hope it entertained you, and you had a good time while you were immersed in it!

  B F—Thank you for sharing some incredible experiences with me that helped spark a couple great scenes in the book. Thank you also for giving me ideas I would have never come up with on my own.

  Chris Grall—Thank you for reading my book with fresh eyes, and for working relentlessly on all the pieces that weren’t quite working. Thank you for creating such awesome scenarios on PowerPoint (I’m very visual, and those helped so much!). Thank you for brainstorming with me and for not giving up, even when I was whiny and stubborn! Your weapons, police-procedure and military-procedure knowledge has been incredibly valuable in making my book much more realistic than it would have been. You are definitely an incredible asset for any author working in mysteries or thrillers.

  Dan—Thank you for reading my rough draft and for providing insights that made it better.

  Sergeant Dave Gutierrez—Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me and for giving me such an in-depth view of the life of a homicide detective in SJPD. I learned a lot, and you definitely helped make my book much more realistic.

  Don Lee—Thank you for reading an early draft, providing feedback, and for keeping me honest about how far Carmel really is.

  Ely—Thank you for sharing your connections with me. Finding Jorge was absolutely invaluable.

  Grant Blackwood—Thank you for being my teacher at the Master CraftFest. I cannot express how much I learned
in that class. You are such a great teacher, and I am a better writer because of your class and your feedback on my first three thousand words.

  J F—Thank you for brainstorming with me until our brain cells were dry. Thank you for all the insight into the Marine Corps, for all the nuances and the gems only somebody who loves the Marines and has been a part of them for so long would really know.

  J Valdes, 4138—Thank you for taking me on such a great ride-along, and for helping me gather so much information I will be able to use in the future. Also, thank you for letting me in on the code for fire.

  Jack Zowin—Thank you for wanting to help me again on my second book. Thank you for sharing your experience and expertise, for reading an early draft, and for providing the insight and feedback I needed. I really appreciate that you relentlessly question things that don’t make sense, and because of that, my work is always improves after you’ve read it.

  Jemmy Johnson—Thank you for reading one of my earlier drafts and taking the time to provide comments and fixes. Thank you for being honest. I truly believe the story is better because of you.

  Joe Torre—Thank you for sharing with me your vast knowledge of firearms, for recommending cool, believable guns for my characters to use, and for walking through some scenarios with me to ensure I wasn’t making a fool of myself. Thank you for reading the relevant excerpts and for pointing out where I could make things more credible.

  Sergeant John Marfia—Thank you so much for setting me up on ride-alongs and for answering my crazy questions at all hours of the day or night. Thank you for sharing information and for giving me such an incredible insight into SJPD.

  Jorge—Thank you so much for reviewing the book with me and for the great suggestions. I feel much happier knowing that you’ve taken a look at my final draft.

  Kevin Metcalf—Thank you for telling me my first chapter was awful and that if you didn’t know me, you would have stopped reading right then. I fixed it, and I think it is much better because of you. And no, my intention was not to start a new genre!

  Lisa Fitzpatrick—Thank you for the amazing cover. Thank you for making it so easy to work with you, for having such deep sensitivities about book design, for being so much fun to work with, and for taking on the work of my website and my dad’s project! Thank you for all of the extra stuff you do to help me. I love working with you!

  Mos—Thank you for being the best mom in the world! Thank you for being with me every step of the way. Thank you for brainstorming with me, for telling me when plot points work or don’t work, and for always being supportive. Thank you for the endless hours of editing, for not letting me give up, and for always pushing me to never settle, to always make the book better. There is no way I could have written a second book without your daily help.

  Marcus Trower—Thank you so much for being my copy editor again. I cannot express how grateful I am that you decided to work with me on my second novel. If you don’t watch out, the third one will be on your lap before you know it! (If there are any typos at all, they are all my fault for changing something at the last minute without running it by you. I’m sorry!)

  Marge—Thank you so much for working on my back-cover copy. It is probably the most stressful thing in the entire process of writing the book, and you made it so easy and fun!

  Mariella—Thank your for all of your help with the back-cover copy too! Your contributions made it perfect. Thank you for creating the fun FB group, and thank you for always being supportive and encouraging. I’m so lucky to be your friend!

  Mark Nelson—Thank you for reading my roughest draft. Thank you for helping me so much with the wordsmithing, for hearing me vent, for not allowing me to give up, for helping me with the bio and the back-cover copy. Thank you for being at SUAW, and for cheering me on. And when are you going to get your book out? It’s time!

  The Marine Corps and all the other branches of the military—Thank you for being brave and honorable and going out there in the world to do things most of us don’t have the guts to do. I admire what you do, and I am very grateful for your hard work and dedication.

  Matt Croucher—Thank you so much for taking me on such interesting ride-alongs. I learned a lot about San Jose, its crime community, gangs, police procedure, and so many other things I never would have learned on my own.

  Mickey—Thank you for working out some medical scenarios with me and figuring out what were the right recovery times for specific injuries.

  Miguel Angel Lopez—Thank you for describing in so much detail several medical procedures, for helping me with research, and for being so awesome!

  Panera Bread—Thank you for allowing us to crash in your café for hours on end while we write and write and write. Thank you for not kicking us out, ever! But please change the music—it really is horrible.

  Papos—Thank you for loving me, supporting me, and always encouraging me to go as far as possible. You are an incredible inspiration, and I love you so much!

  Ted Smits—Thank you for reading my rough draft, for being honest, for always cheering me on, and for being so supportive!

  ThrillerFest—Thank you for another incredible conference this year. Every year it is better; every time I learn so much! Thank you for supporting thriller authors, and for making the experience so valuable and so much fun!

  Writers’ Police Academy and Andy Russell—Thank you for the incredible four days in NC learning hands-on so much about police procedure and emergency response. I cannot describe how incredibly valuable this conference was (and it was so much fun!). Also, the workshop on the felony murder investigation was incredible! I learned so many things I needed to know for my books. Thank you, Andy!