STIRRED
Page 39
The crying eventually gave way to cooing.
“There are diapers upstairs,” Violet said. “Bottles in the fridge. I didn’t hurt her.”
“I know,” I told her.
“I’d never hurt her.”
“I know.”
Herb called the police.
I walked over to Phin, and he put his free arm around me. We both stared at our child.
I couldn’t explain it, but somehow, I felt whole.
“We still haven’t named her,” Phin said.
“I’ve been thinking about that. Your last name, Troutt, really sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
“And Daniels is from my ex-husband. So I think we should pick a whole new name for her.”
“What have you got in mind?” he asked.
I looked beyond the baby, to Violet’s table, still stacked with empty beer bottles.
It had been her Cherry Wheat bottle, back in Michigan, that I’d hit Andy with. That had saved my life back in the Violence room.
It had saved all of our lives.
“Let’s call her Samantha,” I said.
“Samantha?”
“Samantha Adams.”
Phin held me tighter. “I think it’s perfect.”
“Sam Adams?” Harry said. “Hell, yeah!”
“Nice,” Herb said.
We held Sam until the cops arrived and arrested Violet.
Then we held her all the way back home.
“The Guide and I into that hidden road
Now entered, to return to the bright world;
And without care of having any rest
We mounted up, he first and I the second,
Till I beheld through a round aperture
Some of the beauteous things that Heaven doth bear;
Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.”
DANTE ALIGHIERI, The Divine Comedy
I signed for the next-day FedEx package and eagerly opened it while still standing at my front door. There was a note next to the baggie.
Nice rock. I had it professionally cleaned.
Will FedEx your dog back tomorrow. —Duffy
I took the engagement ring out of the bag and stared at it. The midafternoon sunlight caught the facets on the diamond and made it sparkle like a disco ball.
“Who was at the door?”
I turned, saw that Phin had come up behind me.
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I need you to drive me someplace.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Where?”
“City Hall. If we get the marriage license today, we can be married by tomorrow.”
Phin’s face lit up. “I’ll go put Samantha in her carrier.”
“Wait. First, I need you to put this on me.” I held up the ring and my left hand. “Please.”
Phin came over. He touched me so gently I got a lump in my throat.
“Jacqueline Daniels, will you make me the happiest person on the planet?”
“No,” I said.
“No?” His features went from soft to confused.
“I’ll marry you, Phineas Troutt. But it won’t make you the happiest person on the planet.” I smiled, my eyes getting misty. “You’ll have to settle for second happiest.”
Then he slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me, and in that single, magical moment, I became the woman I had always wanted to be.
In the past, my job had defined me.
Then my relationships had defined me.
But now I was ready to define myself.
I was ready to like myself.
I was ready to be happy.
Phin hustled off to get our daughter. His kiss lingered, making me smile. I stared at myself in the hallway mirror and almost didn’t recognize my reflection. That woman was so relaxed. So content. So sure of herself.
That woman was me.
Andrew Z. Thomas had wanted to break me. He’d tried his best.
But I wasn’t broken.
For the first time in my forty-eight years, I was fixed.
They’d been searching the warehouses and factories all day, coming across one horrific scene from hell after another.
Bodies everywhere.
No survivors.
What kind of a monster had dreamed up and actually built a place like this?
What kind of a mind?
This was hell on earth. No other adequate description.
Knight wondered how he was going to sleep tonight, how he could look into the faces of his children after seeing a place like this.
He could sense sessions of therapy in the not-too-distant future.
First the water tower.
That freezing room where a bear had mauled those poor souls to death.
The gluttony room.
And now this…a warehouse filled with muck and freezing water.
Two dead bodies out on a small island in the middle of the swamp.
And near where he stood, one man dismembered, one of his wrists still dangling from a chain attached to the door.
Then a bald man in bib overalls, legs still floating in the water, his torso draped across the concrete shore.
If he was honest, Knight didn’t know how much more of this he could take. It was only his second year on patrol, but they’d called in everyone to canvas this nightmare world for survivors.
He flipped open his notepad and wrote a brief description of the warehouse and the number of victims: four.
Maybe there were more submerged in the muck, but the divers would have to find them. No way in hell was he going to wade out into—
The guy in the overalls coughed.
Holy shit.
Knight jammed his notepad into the pocket of his parka and hurried over to the edge of the water.
He knelt down, grabbed the man’s hand.
“You okay there, buddy?”
There was no response, but the man was definitely breathing.
Knight rolled him carefully over. Gunshot wounds to his legs and arms.
One in the gut.
Oh God—his face. This man had been burned as well. The closer Knight looked, he saw scars over every square inch of his body.
And yet…he was breathing.
He’d held on.
“I’m here, buddy,” Knight said. “We’re gonna get you out of here. Get you all the help you need.”
Knight’s heart was swelling. He’d actually found a survivor. He was going to save this man’s life.
He keyed the mike on his shoulder, tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke, “This is Knight in warehouse three. I’ve got a survivor, repeat, I’ve got a survivor. Multiple gunshot wounds, lacerations all over, but a steady pulse. Need EMT assist immediately. Over.”
As Knight waited for the cavalry to arrive, he sat down beside the mangled, scarred wreck of a human being whose name he didn’t even know.
He held the man’s hand. He prayed for him. He told him again and again that everything was going to be all right.
“You’re going to get through this, buddy. You’re going to get the very best medical care.”
The ruin opened its mouth and said in a raspy voice, “Norco?”
“Absolutely. We’ll get you out of here, shoot you up so you won’t feel any pain.”
Knight couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw the man smile.
“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked.
“Better every day. You’re an angel for taking care of me like this.”
“I’m one damned ugly angel.”
“No, you’re not, Lucy. You’re beautiful. So beautiful.” Luther offered a toothless smile. “Come here.”
Lucy limped over to him. She held his skeletal hand in her claw. Before escaping the hospital, Lucy had the foresight to rob the pharmacy. They had enough pain medication to outlast a nuclear winter.
“I have a contact,” Luther said. “He can set us up with some fake IDs. Good ones, enough to travel with. We’ll leave the country for
a while. Go south. Relax. Heal. Have some fun.”
“Why Mexico?”
“Because they aren’t so uppity about murder in Mexico. We could kill a lot of people before anyone even notices.”
Lucy smiled. “Seriously?”
The real Luther Kite nodded.
He felt that feeling again.
That special feeling that had lain dormant during his many years of captivity.
“Little girl, I have a lot of catching up to do.”
THE END
All excerpts from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy are taken from the 1867 translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Be sure to check out Shot of Tequila, the first novel by J.A. Konrath to feature Jack Daniels, available for $2.99 in the Kindle Store…
A gutsy robbery—
Several million bucks, stolen from the mob…
A perfect frame—
All caught on video, with no chance of redemption…
A red-hot recipe for roaring revenge—
Now one man must single-handedly face the entire Chicago Outfit, a group of hardened Mafia enforcers, a psychotic bookie, the most dangerous hit man on earth, and Detective Jacqueline Daniels.
His name is Tequila. And he likes those odds.
Shot of Tequila takes place in the early 1990s and is both an homage to and a re-envisioning of classic action novels by authors like Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Donald Westlake, and Elmore Leonard, but with a more modern twist. The breakneck action is intercut with scenes featuring Konrath’s series hero Jack Daniels, here as a supporting character chasing the main protagonist. Edge-of-your-seat suspense, nonstop action, and dark humor punctuate this heist novel/fugitive-on-the-run thriller. Fans of Konrath’s police procedurals will enjoy the slight departure from his normal writing style, while still finding familiarity with the setting and characters.
To read the first novel by Blake Crouch to feature Andrew Z. Thomas and Luther Kite, check out Desert Places, available for $2.99 in the Kindle Store…
“Greetings. There is a body buried on your property, covered in your blood. The unfortunate young lady’s name is Rita Jones. In her jeans pocket you’ll find a slip of paper with a phone number on it. Call that number. If I have not heard from you by eight P.M., the police will receive an anonymous call. I’ll tell them where Rita Jones is buried on your property, how you killed her, and where the murder weapon can be found in your house. (I do believe a paring knife is missing from your kitchen.) I strongly advise against going to the police, as I am always watching you.”
Andrew Z. Thomas is a successful writer of suspense thrillers, living the dream at his lake house in the piedmont of North Carolina. One afternoon in late spring, he receives a bizarre letter that eventually threatens his career, his sanity, and the lives of everyone he loves. A murderer is designing his future, and for the life of him, Andrew can’t get away.
And finally, don’t miss Serial Killers Uncut, the double novel by Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath featuring Andrew Z. Thomas, Luther Kite, Jack Daniels, Lucy, Donaldson, and more, available for $4.99 in the Kindle Store…
A gigantic double novel featuring twenty-one different serial killers…
For everyone who thinks the bad guys are so much more fun to read than the good guys, this is a book just for you. The definitive volume containing every major villain from the Crouch/Kilborn/Konrath Universe is here.
First, there was Serial, the collaborative smash-hit that has been downloaded 500,000 times and optioned for film.
Then came Serial Uncut, which expanded on that story.
Then Killers, the sequel to Serial.
Then Birds of Prey, which introduced every major villain the writers had ever created into one cohesive novel. (Birds of Prey + Killers = Killers Uncut.)
And now, all that and more has been brought together for this definitive, omnibus monster, which at roughly 600 printed pages, is the length of two full novels…
Serial Killers Uncut.
This epic work, over two years in the making, contains Serial Uncut, Killers, Birds of Prey, Crouch’s Break You, an interview with the authors, and more.
Serial Uncut + Break You + Killers + Birds of Prey = Serial Killers Uncut.
If you haven’t read anything by Crouch, Kilborn, or Konrath, Serial Killers Uncut is the perfect introduction to the dark side of their universe. And if you enjoy a despicable bad guy (or bad girl), you’re going to love this.
There are twenty-one serial killers featured in this book: Lucy and Donaldson from Serial, Orson and Luther from Desert Places, Locked Doors, and Break You, Mr. K from Shaken, Alex and Charles Kork from Whiskey Sour and Rusty Nail, Isaiah from Abandon, Taylor from Afraid, Javier from Snowbound, and many, many more.
There are some good guys too, including Andrew Z. Thomas (Desert Places, Locked Doors), Jack Daniels (Whiskey Sour, Shaken), Violet King (Locked Doors, Break You), Tequila (Shot of Tequila), and Clayton Theel (Draculas).
At $4.99, this e-book is a steal, as its contents retail separately for almost $10.00.
JACQUELINE “JACK” DANIELS is a retired Chicago cop who appears in Shot of Tequila, Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, Rusty Nail, Dirty Martini, Fuzzy Navel, Cherry Bomb, Shaken, and Stirred. She’s now very pregnant and working in the private sector as a PI. Return to character’s first appearance.
PHINEAS “PHIN” TROUTT is a former bank robber, recovering criminal, and cancer survivor who lives with Jack Daniels and is the father of her unborn child. Return to character’s first appearance.
HARRY MCGLADE runs a private investigating firm with Jack Daniels. McGlade is possibly the most offensive human being of all time. Return to character’s first appearance.
HERB BENEDICT is Jack Daniels’s former partner in Chicago PD. Return to character’s first appearance.
LUTHER KITE is a pure psychopath, tall and pale, with long, black hair. Hailing from a small island on the North Carolina Outer Banks, he loves Lemonheads and killing. He also appears in Desert Places, Locked Doors, and Break You. Return to character’s first appearance.
ANDREW Z. THOMAS is a famous horror writer who is pulled into a nightmare world more terrifying than the books he writes. Now suspected of numerous murders and mysteriously vanished from the public eye, he also appears in Crouch’s novels Desert Places, Locked Doors, and Break You. Return to character’s first appearance.
VIOLET KING was a young homicide detective who crossed paths with Andrew Thomas in Locked Doors. They endured sheer hell together in Break You. Return to character’s first appearance.
LUCY, once the young, beautiful, and monstrous hitchhiking nemesis of Donaldson, she and Donaldson were nearly killed by Luther Kite in Killers. Now hideously deformed and in agonizing pain, she’s out for revenge. Return to character’s first appearance.
DONALDSON is Lucy’s former nemesis, now partner, following their torturous near-death experience at the hands of Luther. Return to character’s first appearance.
To learn more about Jack Daniels’s first run-in with Luther, read Shaken by J.A. Konrath. Return to scene.
To learn more about Tom Mankowski, read The List by J.A. Konrath. Return to scene.
To learn more about Duffy Dombrowski and his beasts, check out the Duffy Dombrowski mystery series by Tom Schreck. Return to scene.
To learn more about reporter Alex Chapa, read Killing Red, Mourn the Living, and Floaters, by Henry Perez. Return to scene.
To learn more about the disintegration of Andrew Thomas’s career and life, read the first book in his series, Desert Places, by Blake Crouch. Return to scene.
To learn more about Thomas’s and Luther Kite’s murderous encounter on the North Carolina Outer Banks and the Kinnakeet Massacre, read book number two in the Andrew Z. Thomas series, Locked Doors, by Blake Crouch. Return to scene.
To learn more about the Gingerbread Man case, read the first book in the Jack Daniels series, Whiskey Sour, by J.A. Konrath. Return to scene.
To learn
more about the bad end to Jack’s previous engagement (and the story of her being trapped in her house by three redneck gun-nuts), read Fuzzy Navel by J.A. Konrath. Return to scene.