Merciless Crimes: A Thrilling Closed Circle Mystery Series (Merciless Murder Mystery Thriller)
Page 29
“You did your best.”
I shuddered.
“There were too many horrible things happening in that place,” I said. “I guess it was only a matter of time for it to all blow up.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being in the eye of these blowups,” said David, his brow furrowed.
“You look so serious,” I said, touching the dimple on his cheek with a smile. “We did our job, and all’s well now. Stop worrying.”
“That’s why you keep wanting to go on these investigations, don’t you? You can’t live with yourself if the bad guys get away.”
I nodded. “I know you don’t like it, but it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing. It makes me feel alive.”
Without a warning, David picked me up by the waist and twirled me around.
“David,” I said, a giggle escaping my lips. “Put me down.”
“Is that the only thing that makes you come alive, huh?”
He pulled me in close to give me another kiss that sent a pleasant shiver up my back.
“Sounds like you need some TLC after last week,” he said.
I reached up to kiss him, thankful that whatever happened, I always had a loving man to come home to.
Read the first chapters of the next Merciless Mystery Thriller and find out the murder mystery Asha and Katy confront next - right here!
Merciless Lies - Chapter One
The Corpse
It would take him four hours to dig the grave and pull up the pine coffin.
Four hours of silent and focused work. He ignored the sweat streaming through his black face mask and the stinging spasms on his back as he hit the icy ground with his shovel one more time.
It was three A.M.
A time when the night sky was the darkest and even snow owls didn’t dare to fly. The man’s eyes darted back and forth, constantly on alert to anyone spotting the peculiar activity at the graveyard that night. But he carried on, knowing his efforts would soon be rewarded.
Four more hours.
He kept digging.
The train lurched to a screeching stop.
The passengers slammed back in their seats.
Theodore Henry, Alaska’s most notorious gold baron and owner of this railroad, dropped the cup of coffee on his lap. He jerked up from his wheelchair, cursing loudly, as the hot liquid seared his thighs.
The ear-splitting sound of steel against steel reverberated in the cold arctic air.
The train lurched again.
Violently this time.
Emergency brakes.
Tetyana and Katy sprang up and grabbed the crystal wine glasses just as they were about to slide off the table.
Connor McNamara let out a roar as his head slammed against the edge of the antique lamp on the oak paneled wall behind him.
Dr. Stella Green clasped her ears to protect them from the deafening shrill of the train’s wheels grating against the tracks.
“What in hell is going on?” shouted Connor, swiveling his head around, eyes bulging like a madman.
Neil Wilson, Theodore’s personal physician, sat across from him mutely, as if unsure how to react. I wondered if he even knew where he was, given the enormous amount of premium alcohol he’d been imbibing since we left Black Eagle Town.
The fifty-year-old Chateau Talbot I’d poured him only moments ago, had rolled over the edge of the table and crashed to the floor. Its precious contents were now spilling onto the rich Persian runner in the middle of the dining car, creating a blood red stain on the carpet.
I didn’t have time to pick it up. I had more urgent matters on my hands.
A female voice shouted in panic up in front, near the engine car.
The train conductor.
With a quick nod to Katy to tell her to stay exactly where she was, I gestured to Tetyana. We dashed through the train cars toward the engine room.
We had just entered a rugged mountain pass, a place so remote and so isolated I’d wondered if even grizzly bears found this place lonely.
Why stop so suddenly in the middle of nowhere?
Did we hit something?
The two crew members came rushing out of the engine room as we got to the front. Their faces were pale, like they had spotted a phantom.
“What’s going on?” I hollered.
Giving me a wild look but without answering, they thrust the door open, jumped down the steps and ran along the tracks, their heavy boots crunching on the snow outside.
“Let’s go, Asha!” cried Tetyana, leaping down to follow the duo who’d been operating the train smoothly on its maiden voyage through this spectacular snow-covered landscape. Until now.
I raced after them, trying to keep up with their long strides.
There was something up ahead, about five hundred yards in the distance. Something on the snow-dusted tracks.
It looked like a black blob.
Is it an animal?
Is it stuck?
I wished I’d put on my jacket before running out of the warm compartment. The frosty air seeped through my shirt, nipping at my skin. Whispery clouds blew through my lips, like I was breathing white smoke.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an eerie howl reverberated in the air. I halted, my heart pounding, a primal fear swirling up my spine.
That came from the woods.
Is that a wolf?
Tetyana turned around and gestured at me to hurry.
Her forehead was scrunched and her eyes were narrowed, like she was troubled.
There were few things in the world that rattled my ex-paramilitary friend who’d fought off Russian militia groups before she even hit eighteen.
This isn’t good.
I kept running.
When I caught up to the small group congregated around the tracks, they had fallen silent.
They were all staring at the black blob on the train tracks, shock etched on their faces.
My stomach sank.
It was a dead body.
To be continued….
Continue the adventure!
The next book in the Merciless Murder Mystery Thriller series is Merciless Lies.
Get MERCILESS LIES, the next book in this series for more spine-tingling intrigue, mystery, and lurking killers who Asha will have to confront before they get her too: www.books2read.com/MercilessLies.
Ten people board a luxury private train on its maiden voyage through Alaska’s magnificent mountain vistas.
Only seven make it to the final destination.
Theodore Henry isn't sure if he'll be one of them.
Having swindled his way to becoming one of the state's wealthiest and most notorious gold barons, he's sure someone wants him dead.
Unsure if it’s paranoia or real, he invites Asha Kade and her private investigator team to join him and his companions on board.
They will travel in opulence on a railroad built a century ago during the Klondike gold rush, but now restored.
But just as they enter a remote mountain pass, a desolate place where satellite connections are intermittent and cellular networks don’t exist, the train comes to a screeching halt.
There is something up ahead on the snow-dusted tracks.
And it looks like a dead body…
Get the book here to find out what Asha and Katy are called to sleuth next.
Get MERCILESS LIES, the next book in this series for more spine-tingling intrigue, mystery, and lurking killers who Asha will have to confront before they get her too: www.books2read.com/MercilessLies
Available around the world, on Amazon stores everywhere.
Get this page-turner now!
Exclusive Deleted Scenes!
Read what happened the day Sally visited the Red Heeled Rebels bakery in New York, how she dropped that key piece of jewelry, and get the full juicy background story in these exclusive downloadable scenes!
Deleted scenes for Merciless Crimes
https://BookHip.com/SCSNDCN
Deleted S
cene 1: The Accident
Deleted Scene 2: The Black Truck
Deleted Scene 3: At the Bakery
Deleted Scene 4: The Visitor
Deleted Scene 5: Sally’s Message
Deleted Scene 6: The Letter
Deleted Scene 7: Asha’s Decision
Deleted Scene 8: The Torture Chamber
Get them all here: Deleted scenes for Merciless Crimes.
https://BookHip.com/SCSNDCN
Enjoy the reads!
But shh… please don’t tell my editor.
The Merciless Murder Mystery Thrillers
www.TikiriHerath.com/mysteries
How far would you go for a million-dollar payout?
A private investigator gets a million dollars from an eccentric client’s estate every time she solves a cold case.
Asha accepts this bizarre challenge, but what she doesn’t bargain for is to be drawn into the dark underworld of her past again.
The only thing that propels her forward now is a burning desire for justice.
Trying to escape her troubled past, Asha Kade starts a new life in New York as a celebrity baker for the city’s socialites.
Business is booming. Her high-society clients love her creations. She's engaged to the love of her life, and she's surrounded by her closest and most loyal friends.
Things are looking up.
Finally.
Until one day, an unusual bequest from a former wealthy client draws her back into the dark underworld of murders, kidnappings, and the haunting crimes of her youth.
For every cold case she will solve, her client’s estate will award her a million dollars. But this reward comes with a twist. It must all go to a charity registered to help trafficked and orphaned children.
Asha has no choice.
She is compelled to fulfill the dying woman’s last wish. Especially as the benefactors of her work will be those who have endured horrors much like she had in her youth.
Fighting her own past demons, Asha is drawn further and further into a new life of investigating cold cases no one else can crack. Cases someone would rather she not solve.
But there is no turning back for Asha now.
Pick up this brand-new murder mystery series for a pulse-pounding, bone-chilling adventure from the comfort and warmth of your favorite reading chair at home.
Can you find the killer before Asha does?
The Merciless Murder Mystery Thrillers
Merciless Legacy
Merciless Games
Merciless Crimes
Merciless Lies
Merciless Past
Get MERCILESS LIES, the next book in this series for more spine-tingling intrigue, mystery, and lurking killers who Asha will have to confront before they get her too: www.books2read.com/MercilessLies
Available around the world, on Amazon stores everywhere.
To learn more about this exciting new series, go to www.TikiriHerath.com/mysteries.
Sign up to read the first chapters of Merciless Legacy and receive short stories, the chance to win paperbacks, chat with the author and more!
The Red Heeled Rebels Thriller Series
The Origin Story
Read Asha, Katy, Tetyana and their found family’s gripping backstory in this pulse-pounding, international crime thriller series that spans four continents.
www.RedHeeledRebels.com
The Red Heeled Rebels Books
PREQUEL: The Girl Who Crossed the Line
BOOK ONE: The Girl Who Ran Away
BOOK TWO: The Girl Who Made Them Pay
BOOK THREE: The Girl Who Fought to Kill
BOOK FOUR: The Girl Who Broke Free
BOOK FIVE: The Girl Who Knew Their Names
BOOK SIX: The Girl Who Never Forgot
An epic, multiple-award-winning series where the thrill of Kill Bill meets the wrath of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Available around the world, on Amazon stores everywhere.
In a world where justice no longer prevails, six iron-willed women rally together to seek vengeance on those who stole their humanity.
If you like gripping thrillers with flawed but gutsy heroines, vigilante action in exotic locales and twists that leave you at the edge of your seat, you’ll love these books by multiple award-winning Canadian novelist, Tikiri Herath.
Pick up the Red Heeled Rebels books for a heart-pounding international adventure without having to get a passport or even buy an airline ticket!
What readers are saying on Amazon and Goodreads:
“Fast-paced and exciting!”
“An exciting and thought-provoking book.”
“A wonderful story! I didn’t want to leave the characters.”
“I couldn't put down this exciting road trip adventure with a powerful message.”
“Another award-worthy adventure novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
“A heart-stopping adventure. I just couldn’t put the book down till I finished reading it.”
“Kept me mesmerized and captivated with the rich descriptions which made me feel like I was actually inside the story.”
“This is a fantastic read that will have you traveling the globe. I absolutely loved this book. You won't be able to put it down!”
“A real page-turner and international thriller. Reminds me of why I’ve always loved to read. Because I can visit worlds and places, I wouldn’t ordinarily get to see.”
Awards & Praise for The Red Heeled Rebels books:
Grand Prize Award Finalist - 2019 Eric Hoffer Award, USA
First Horizon Award Finalist - 2019 Eric Hoffer Award, USA
Honorable Mention General Fiction - 2019 Eric Hoffer Award, USA
Winner First-In-Category - 2019 Chanticleer Somerset Award, USA
Semi-Finalist - 2020 Chanticleer Somerset Award, USA
Winner in 2019 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, USA
Winner of 2019 Silver Medal - Excellence E-Lit Award, USA
Winner in Suspense Category - 2018 New York Big Book Award, USA
Finalist in Suspense Category - 2018 & 2019 Silver Falchion Awards, USA
Honorable Mention - 2018-19 Reader Views Literary Classics Award, USA
Publisher's Weekly Booklife Prize - 2018, USA
To learn more about this addictive series, go to www.RedHeeledRebels.com
Acknowledgments
To my amazing, talented, superstar editor, Stephanie Parent, thank you, as always, for coming on this literary journey with me and for helping make these books the best they can be.
To my fantastic international team of beta readers who helped me through this adventure, who cheered me on as I toiled, and who gave me their frank feedback, thank you. In alphabetical order of first name:
Annie McDonnell, United States
Blessmore Chikwakwa, Zimbabwe
Kristen Harnish, United States
Laura Edwards, United States
Michele Kapugi, United States
Natasja Smith, South Africa
Samantha Haughton, United States
Serena Soape, United States
Stephanie Smith, United States
Susan McNamara, Ireland
To all the kind and generous readers who take the time to review my novels and share their frank feedback, thank you so much. Your support is invaluable.
I’m immensely grateful to you all for your kind and generous support, and would love to invite you for a glass of British Columbian wine or a cup of Ceylon tea with chocolates when you come to Vancouver next!
About the Author
Tikiri Herath is the multiple-award-winning author of spine-tingling international thriller and mystery novels and the Rebel Diva self-empowerment books for kick-ass women everywhere.
Tikiri worked in risk management in the intelligence and defense sectors, including in the Canadian Federal Government and at NATO. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and a master's degree from the Solvay B
usiness School in Brussels.
She’s an adrenaline junkie who has rock climbed, bungee jumped, rode on the back of a motorcycle across Quebec, flown in an acrobatic airplane upside down, and parachuted solo.
When she's not plotting another thriller scene or planning another adrenaline-filled trip, you’ll find her baking in her kitchen with a glass of red Shiraz in hand and swing jazz playing in the background.
Born in Sri Lanka, Tikiri grew up in East Africa and has studied, worked, and lived in Europe, Southeast Asia, and North America throughout her adult life. An international nomad and fifth-culture kid, she now calls Canada home.
To say hello and get free travel stories from around the world, go to www.TikiriHerath.com.
The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise or stored in a retrieval system without prior written consent of the publisher—or in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency—is an infringement of the copyright law.
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, situations, and customs is purely coincidental.
Merciless Crimes
Merciless Murder Mystery Thriller Series
www.TikiriHerath.com
Copyright ©2021 Tikiri Herath
Edition: 2021
Library & Archives Canada Cataloging in Publication