Mortal Crimes 1
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She had faced the revelations about Lola with courage, but it couldn’t have been easy to discover how much her own mother had despised her. This was, after all, the woman she had continued to love despite being blamed for everything wrong in their lives.
Hutch admired her more than ever for that courage. Loved her more than ever—he wasn’t afraid to admit that now. He had fallen and fallen hard. And he only hoped that she still felt the same about him.
He supposed only time would tell.
For several days after the discovery of the photos, Abernathy and Meyer had made noise about charging Ronnie with Failure to Appear. She had tried to run, after all, and they felt it would be a miscarriage of justice not to arrest her for it.
They had a sudden change of heart when public and press sentiment against Ronnie did an abrupt one-eighty, painting her as the innocent victim of a crazy woman and an overzealous prosecutor. A martyr who had suffered more than enough these last several months.
So the charge was never made and Ronnie left the country unencumbered.
Hutch never heard from Nathaniel Keating again, although he did sometimes feel a slight ache in his side where the Filipina towel girl had punched him. This was nothing compared to the six stitches in back of his skull, however. The wound seemed to be taking forever to heal and often brought on pounding headaches.
As promised, he never heard from Gus again, either. He had given the police a full description of the old guy, but he doubted it would do them any good. Gus—or whoever he was—didn’t strike Hutch as the type to be careless. He would lay low for a while, then find a new state, a new city, a new protégé to help him ply his trade.
As for Frederick Langer, when the police arrived at the abandoned apartment building, he was nowhere to be found. It was assumed that he had survived Hutch’s punishment and fled, until two days later, when his gutted body was discovered in a warehouse dumpster not six blocks away.
Gus’s handiwork, no doubt. Tying up the loose ends. The police were now coordinating with law enforcement in several other states, using Langer’s DNA to see if it was a match for any of the murders Matt had discovered through his research.
Whenever Hutch thought of Lola Baldacci hanging herself, he couldn’t help wondering about the sheer convenience of the act. He’d seen those proud, judgmental eyes of hers too many times to believe that she was the type to take her own life. And he suspected that this was Gus’s handiwork as well. An execution, perfectly timed for maximum impact.
Maybe the old guy had done everyone a favor.
The world certainly wouldn’t mourn Looney Lola.
________
AFTER RONNIE AND Christopher were gone, Hutch spent his time wandering around his apartment, walking the city streets when he felt restless, riding the train, toying with the novel he knew he’d never finish. He even tried to rid himself of his smoking habit, an ongoing struggle he wrestled with every day.
He sometimes thought about heading back to L.A. to start looking for work, but in the end, he simply stayed put. And to his surprise, when he took those walks, he often found himself standing in front of the criminal courthouse, debating whether or not he should go inside.
It might be fun to watch another trial.
One that wasn’t so personal this time.
And maybe if he listened carefully to the evidence and didn’t jump to any conclusions, as Nadine had warned…
He might actually get this one right.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are several people who helped me with this book:
Author Brett Battles, who listened to the idea for a series and told me it was a great one.
Author Cindy Gerard, who read the manuscript and offered invaluable insight into the story and characters, serving as cheerleader along the way.
Author Debra Webb, who found a few inconsistencies that needed to be cleared up.
Author and attorney J.D. Rhoades, who didn’t wince too much when I told him about some of the legal maneuvers I had planned for the story.
Kent Holloway, writer and forensics specialist and Facebook friend who answered my urgent questions about knife and scissor wounds.
Christine Ruriani Aisenberg and Lisa Riley Emig, who patiently responded to my questions about Catholic funerals.
Actor/director Terry Kinney, who generously agreed to answer questions about the acting profession (and gave me a wonderful line about getting lost in a character’s energy and the choices making themselves).
My agent and friend, Scott Miller, who spends a large part of his day dealing with crazy writers like me.
And, as always, to my wife Leila, who puts up with a lot but never stops believing. I promise the next one will be written much faster, hon.
Thank you all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Nicholl award-winning, ITW Thriller Award nominated novelist, Robert Gregory Browne believes his mission as a writer is to grab hold of you and keep you captive on the page until he’s ready to let you go.
In addition to writing several thrillers—including his new book, TAKEDOWN (with Brett Battles), TRIAL JUNKIES and KISS HER GOODBYE—Rob composes music, plays guitar and keyboards and has even been known to sing now and then.
And you thought his BOOKS were scary.
Find Robert’s Books On Amazon
Table of Contents
THE DEVIL’S HOUR - J Carson Black CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CRITICAL VULNERABILITY - Melissa F Miller CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SOLE INTENTION - M A Comley PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NIGHT PREY - Carol Davis Luce PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
IMPLANT - Michael Wallace CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
LITTLE GIRL GONE - Brett Battles CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT