‘Good. You look shattered, Matthews, I’ll have a squad car take you home and we can debrief in the morning. You’ve not taken a day’s holiday so far this year, and now seems as good a time as any. Go spend some time with your daughter.’
He moved away, and she watched him walk straight over to Laura and engage her in conversation. She was sure he’d done it to stop her trying to speak to Laura herself.
Vaughn wouldn’t get far, and the supe would struggle to keep a lid on things when Vaughn’s body was discovered. She told herself that she’d made the right call; Vaughn couldn’t have known who killed Amy. An interagency task force had spent the last six months failing to discover the truth, so it was probably just another of his twisted games. Wasn’t it? She’d never know for certain.
Gingerly rubbing her back and neck, Kate headed off in the direction of the two paramedics who were standing near the entrance wondering why they’d been called.
79
He looks back over his shoulder at the flashing blue lights surrounding the outbuilding, the doors wide open, glowing like a candle against the dark night sky. It takes everything he has to lift himself from the chair and shuffle over to the side of the lake. Blood fills his mouth and he spits to the ground.
He wishes he could light up one final cigarette, but he doesn’t have long before search parties will swarm out with torches looking for him.
Taking one final glance back, he presses the gun’s barrel under his chin and squeezes the trigger.
***
DI KATE MATTHEWS WILL RETURN
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A Letter from Stephen
If you’re reading this then it means you made it to the end of Dead To Me. If you still have any fingernails left, congratulations! I’d like to thank you for reading it, and I hope you’re as excited as I am to see what happens to Kate Matthews next. If you did enjoy it, and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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Stephen Edger
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Acknowledgements
I’d like to say special thanks to the following people, without whom Dead To Me wouldn’t be in existence today:
Parashar Ramanuj, my best friend for more than twenty years and my first port of call whenever I have strange questions about medical procedures and body parts; Joanne Taylor who has been reading and providing feedback on my novels since the beginning. My incredibly supportive family, in particular my wife Hannah, who puts up with my mind wandering mid-conversation as a new plot twist strikes.
I’d like to thank my eagle-eyed editor Jessie Botterill and the incredible team of editors, cover designers and marketers at my publishers Bookouture. I’ve learned so much and everyone has made me feel so welcome.
Final thanks must go to every reader of my books for encouraging me not to give up and to follow my dream.
Published by Bookouture - an imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
23 Sussex Road, Ickenham, UB10 8PN, United Kingdom
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Stephen Edger 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78681-194-3
Stephen Edger has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Dead to Me: A serial killer thriller (Detective Kate Matthews Crime Thriller Series Book 1) Page 28