Elevation: A London Carter Novel (London Carter Mystery Series Book 5)

by BJ Bourg

  He slowly lowered the rifle and fixed me with a cold stare. No words were spoken between us at that moment, and none were needed. He knew how much I appreciated what he’d just done, and I knew he was happy to do it.

  “Come on,” I told Dawn, “we need to get you and your dad to a hospital right away.”

  CHAPTER 53

  “Damn,” Dawn said as we sat beside each other in the hospital lobby waiting for her dad to get out of surgery. “Vice President Browning’s own husband was trying to have her killed?”

  “Yeah.” I scowled, relaying the information I’d received from Rachael about his interrogation.

  When I was done, Dawn shook her head. “That’s just evil.”

  “But a cunning plan when you think about it. If Mullins or Bagford would’ve succeeded, there’d be no evidence linking them to Shannon or his crew.”

  “Wasn’t Anthony worried he’d eventually get caught?”

  I shrugged. “Who knows? Some people are so hell bent on fighting for their cause that they’d do anything to further their agenda.”

  “I can’t believe Shannon and Alvin were in on it,” Dawn said, rubbing her swollen nose thoughtfully. “I can’t see those two agreeing to the murder of women and children. Now, that guy Lenny—he was just pure evil. Hell, he killed Abel just because he suspected Abel swiped a handcuff key and gave it to me.”

  “I thought Abel did give you a handcuff key.”

  “He did, but Lenny—or Blade, as they called him—didn’t know it for sure. Before Bruce could stop him, he pumped three bullets into Abel.” Dawn leaned her head against my shoulder, then asked why the group was so intent on killing the vice president.

  “Apparently, she was planning on designating Shannon’s group a terror organization and she was going to imprison the lot of them,” I said. “Once they were out of the way, the VP was going to reverse environmental regulations across the board and it would be open season on everything green. I guess that was enough to influence them to take her out.

  “According to the feds, Shannon has been involved in terror operations around the world,” I continued. “Including the bombing of an oil refinery out east that killed thirty-seven people.” I shook my head. “I’ve always said killers are like books—you can slap a great cover on a horrible book, but you’ll never know it’s bad until it’s too late.”

  Dawn chewed on her lower lip for a few seconds. “If Anthony Browning was so careful, how’d you figure out it was him?”

  I told her about the receipt I found outside her house and the photograph of the thumb injury.

  “And the polygraph examiner?” Dawn asked. “Did they take his family hostage, too?”

  I shook my head. “He was one of Shannon’s boys who’d been working on the inside for years. There were some eco terrorist plants in the crowd who were supposed to stampede and disguise Myers’ actions if he was forced to do the shooting, but Abraham took him out before the shooting could take place.”

  Dawn was about to ask another question when a doctor walked into the lobby. Priscilla and Darby jumped up from the far corner of the room where they’d been nervously waiting and rushed to the doctor. He began talking before Dawn and I walked up, but we reached them in time to hear him say Evan Luke was out of surgery and was going to be okay.

  With the good news in hand, I kissed Dawn goodbye and walked outside to meet Ben in the parking lot. We had recovered Patrick’s body after local detectives had finished working the scene out at the Chism homestead and Ben had flown it to the county coroner’s office to be autopsied.

  “Did they find any family for Patrick?” I asked.

  “They got in touch with his ex-wife and she gave them the address for his dad.”

  I nodded and turned to lean against a post, watching Dawn through the window. Even with a swollen nose and raccoon eyes she was beautiful. Not only was she beautiful, but she was tough and intelligent and everything I could ever want in a woman. “If things work out the way I want them to,” I said in a low voice, “I’m going to marry her.”

  “Well,” Ben said, rubbing his sweaty hands on his potbelly. “Nothing ever works out the way we want them to.”

  NOVELS BY BJ BOURG

  Clint Wolf Mystery Trilogy

  But Not Forgotten

  But Not Forgiven

  But Not Forsaken

  Magnolia Parish Mysteries

  Hollow Crib

  Hollow Bond

  London Carter Mysteries

  James 516

  Proving Grounds

  Silent Trigger

  Bullet Drop

  Elevation

  Blood Rise (Nov/Dec 2017)

  Stand-Alone YA Mystery

  The Seventh Taking

  About the Author

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  BJ Bourg is an award-winning mystery writer and former professional boxer who hails from the swamps of Louisiana. Dubbed the "real deal" by other mystery writers, he has spent his entire adult life solving crimes as a patrol cop, detective sergeant, and chief investigator for a district attorney's office. Not only does he know his way around crime scenes, interrogations, and courtrooms, but he also served as a police sniper commander (earning the title of "Top Shooter" at an FBI sniper school) and a police academy instructor.

  BJ’s debut novel, JAMES 516, won the 2016 EPIC eBook Award for Best Mystery, and another of his novels, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, is a 2017 EPIC eBook Award Finalist in the Mystery category. Dozens of his articles and stories have been published in national magazines such as Woman's World, Boys' Life, and Writer's Digest. He is a regular contributor to two of the nation's leading law enforcement magazines, Law and Order and Tactical Response, and he has taught at conferences for law enforcement officers, tactical police officers, and writers. Above all else, he is a father and husband, and the highlight of his life is spending time with his beautiful wife and wonderful children.

  http://www.bjbourg.com