Murder in Paradise Bay (New York State Trooper Series Book 4)

by Jen Talty

  “What did you wish for?” Stacey asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Why not?” Stacey looped her arms around his middle, resting her head on his chest. Life seemed to come full-circle. This was home. This spot. This woman. This life.

  He dropped his chin to her head. “I didn’t know what to wish for,” he said. “After the light died out, I thought I should have at least wished for something, even if it was just a cheeseburger.”

  “I would think, back then, that would have been the perfect wish.” She ran her hands up and down his lower back, gently massaging. “Is that what you were doing when we saw you? Looking for a shooting star?”

  “Yes,” he said. “The night they found Bill’s body. I had barely slept that night. I stared out my bedroom window with your arms and legs sprawled over me.”

  “I remember that night,” she said. “The next day was when it all came to a head.” She looked up at him. Her inquisitive eyes seemed to search his face for something. “That’s all behind us now.”

  “I know.” He pressed his lips against her forehead. “But that night, I saw another shooting star.”

  “Did you make a wish then?”

  “No,” he said. “Because my wish had already come true, and she was asleep in my arms.”

  The End

  Read a short excerpt of the Award-Winning Novel:

  JANE DOES’ RETURN

  SPECIAL Agent Travis Brown entered the old hotel in downtown Albany, New York through the main doors, ignoring the putrid odor filling his nostrils. Rotted old hotels always smelled like urine-soaked clothing left in the sun for days. He took mental notes of everything, anything, as he scanned every inch of the lobby. Even a scrunched up piece of paper, tossed carelessly in the corner, could be the clue that would lead them in the right direction. A cool sweat dampened his hairline. His hand trembled as he ran his fingers through his black hair. It was happening again.

  The dull orange carpet felt like concrete as he made his way down the hall. He forced himself to focus as he nodded to the two uniformed city cops standing at attention outside the room where the body had been found.

  Without saying a word, Travis flashed his badge.

  “Who called in the FBI?” one of the officers questioned.

  “Part of the Tri-City Task Force,” Travis said.

  “Great. Another bureaucrat decided to create more red tape just so they can make a name for themselves while we get blamed for killers running amok.”

  “Just doing my job, like you.” If Travis didn’t have ulterior motives, he would be able to understand the chest pounding. “What can you tell me?”

  “The call came in around ten this evening,” the officer said. “Detective Hutchensen is in charge. Why don’t you talk to him?”

  “I’ll do that.” Travis studied the crime scene, looking for anything that he might be able to connect to Marie’s case. While this scene wasn’t identical to his sister’s, there were some similarities Travis couldn’t dismiss. The gnawing voice in the back of his mind told him whoever killed this young girl had also killed Marie.

  Travis snapped the latex gloves in place. The sudden impact of rubber against his skin shot the powdery lining into the air. He inhaled sharply, letting the powder linger in his nostrils, masking the scent of death. His stomach lurched in one violent motion to the back of his throat. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the killer was somewhere watching him, mocking him.

  The body lay face up on the bed. A pale blue dress had been draped over the side and a tiara rested above the victim’s head. A bright light from a camera flashed across the room as the forensics team took pictures and moved about in an all too familiar pattern. “Detective Hutchensen, long time no see.”

  “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see you here.”

  “My night to be out with the crazies.”

  “Can’t say I’m all too happy about this task force thing. Just makes my job more difficult. This is why we have jurisdictions and all that,” Hutchensen said.

  “We’ve all got the same goal in mind. Besides, I was called in by your boss.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Hutchensen could be a hard ass and liked doing things his way, but he was a damn good cop. Besides, Travis had to agree, sometimes joint forces only added confusion to a case. Too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.

  “We’re just looking for a profile on this one,” Hutchensen said. “While it appears random, the scene looks ritualistic.” He rose from his crouched position, standing about two inches taller than Travis’s six-foot frame. “As you know, we’ve got a couple of open murder cases we’re trying to connect. This one almost looks like a copycat of Matt Williams.”

  Travis cringed at the name. This was no copycat. This was the real deal. “I’ll take a look around, run it through our national database.” Travis was grateful for the chance to look at the crime scene firsthand. Usually he viewed pictures and reports after the fact, trying to find a pattern to help form a profile of possible suspects, but this one fit a particular criminal, one that had been haunting Travis for years.

  He made notes of similarities and differences between this crime scene, any unsolved case, and his sister’s case. There had to be a clue. A hint. He couldn’t afford to miss anything.

  “Medical examiner is here,” someone said from the hall.

  “He can take the body,” Hutchensen said. “Let’s get all the evidence bagged and get out of here.” He glanced over his shoulder at Travis. “Got anything off the cuff?”

  Travis shook his head. “My instincts tell me there is more than meets the eye on this one.” God, did he want first dibs on this case.

  “I’ll take what I can get.”

  Travis stepped from the hotel room, knowing his sister’s killer had just struck again, but he couldn’t prove it. His boss would blow a gasket if Travis tried to tie these scenes together without concrete evidence. With a heavy heart, Travis got in his truck and headed back to his apartment.

  The empty back streets echoed the darkness in Travis’s soul. He pulled into his driveway and then slammed the gearshift into park. He glanced at the small patch of grass with colorful bushes lining the side of the duplex. When would it all end? Recently, his mother had told him that his normally full of life blue eyes had turned dull and dead. He felt dead inside. The more years that passed, the more his heart yearned for closure. Real closure.

  Once inside, he tossed his keys on the countertop in the kitchen and checked his voice mail. One message was from his mother and the other from Jake Hanson indicating he would be in town and would stop by soon. Great. Jake had probably already heard about the murder and wanted to check up on Travis.

  He headed for his bedroom. He laid his coat on the neatly made bed, then went to his closet and shed his suit, making sure to hang up the pants. He tucked his shirt into his dry cleaning bag before pulling out his portable filing cabinet. Routine had been the only thing that kept him sane all these years.

  He set all the unofficial files he had collected across his bed and took in a deep breath as he opened his laptop and connected to the FBI database. Somehow he had to connect them. He had to prove that this particular killer was still walking the streets.

  But try as he might, he couldn’t make a concrete connection. Too many differences, not enough evidence. He searched for other possible connections with any active case in the hopes of pulling this murder into the FBI’s jurisdiction, but got nothing even remotely close.

  His report for the local cops would include a criminal profile, but he would recommend they start with family and any lovers and continue on that path until they found the girl’s killer. Wasn’t the FBI’s case, so Travis would have to back off.

  With the morning sun peeking through the shade, he sat on his bed and held the Polaroid of the young dead girl. She had been only fourteen, the daughter of a prominent businessman, and only a year younger than his sister when she had been murdered.

  Travis f
lipped open another file. The badly beaten and swollen face of a nameless girl called to him. He glided his fingers across the picture. Jane Doe had survived, but no one knew who she was or where she went. How did a fourteen-year-old disappear from a crime scene without a trace? The police hadn’t gotten the chance to fingerprint her. They’d barely gotten the chance to talk to her before she slipped away into the night and hadn’t been heard from since.

  The police had never officially given up their search for Jane Doe, but after Matt Williams was charged with Marie’s rape and death, they put the search on the back burner. They had enough evidence to convict Williams on multiple murders. Therefore, Jane Doe became immaterial. Williams would face life in prison. Yet the murders continued. Some fit the MO, others not so much, but Travis knew in his heart of hearts the killer was still out there searching for his next victim.

  Regardless of what the rest of the world thought, Matt Williams didn’t kill Travis’s sister, and he didn’t rape Jane Doe. These two things Travis would bet his life on. Finding Jane Doe had to be the answer. She was the one person who held the key to unlocking the mystery of a ruthless killer.

  “Who are you? And where are you now?”

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  About the Author

  Jen Talty is an award-winning author of Romantic Suspense. Dark Water hit #10 in Barnes and Noble and her books have been in the top 50 on Amazon. Jennifer grew up in Rochester, New York. She recently retired from being a full-time hockey mom as her children hung up their skates. She and her husband still live in Rochester while her children travel globe. Jen is the co-founder of Cool Gus Publishing with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer. Jen does all the cover art, book trailers, eBook Conversions, and also works as a developmental editor. For more information about Jen Talty please visit: jenniferstalty.com