by Blake Banner
“The only possible explanation was that Lea had her throat cut before you arrived, by Lee Brown. As happens with so many abused kids, he acted out what had been done to him on another, more vulnerable child. He was no stranger to violence and death—he had killed his own mother. My suspicion is that he was trying to rape Lea, as he and his sister had been raped by their father.”
I caught the movement and looked over at Dehan. She nodded. “He says that is correct.”
I nodded and smiled at him. “And you tried to rescue her, didn’t you, Marcus?” He leaned his head against Dehan’s arm and started to weep. I went on, “You tried to take the knife from him, but it was too late. He had already killed her. You had had enough, you had all had enough, he had destroyed your happy family, and now he had murdered your sister. Maybe you even feared for your own life. You took the knife from him and killed him. Is that right, Marcus?”
Dehan nodded and said, quietly, “That is correct.”
Dr. Simone Robles gestured me to be quiet, stood and hurried around to hunker down beside Dehan, talking quietly to Marcus. Mitchell had folded in on himself and had covered his face with his hands, sobbing like a child. After a moment Wagner went over and, in a strange echo of Simone Robles, she hunkered down in front of Mitchell, took one of his hands and started murmuring softly to him.
I stood and went to the door. Looking back I could see that Marcus was now clinging to Simone Robles and Dehan was getting softly to her feet. She joined me at the door and we stepped out onto the landing, closing the door quietly behind us. Olvera and Sanchez were there, waiting.
“Give them a while, take their statements, no need to book anybody.”
We moved down the stairs and out into the cold, bright light of the morning. Clouds were gathering in the east. Rain was coming, and with it the spring.
I turned to Dehan. “We need to brief the chief and the DA.”
She nodded. “And then?”
“And then?” I unlocked the burgundy growler and leaned on the roof. “And then I need a good, rare sirloin at the French Roast, and a good bottle of fine red wine.”
“But first ersters, please, and Gewurztraminer.”
“Indeed, first ersters, Gewurztraminer, and then Argentine sirloin.”
“And then Bushmills and that cheese that smells like rotting feet.”
“Yes, and then that. And a taxi home.”
We climbed into the big burgundy beast, and drove away from the Mitchells’ house, in Castle Hill.
Let Me Help
As I mentioned before, I love writing. Because of this, I end up writing new books at a much faster rate than most other authors—typically one a month (sometimes more).
Some call me crazy, and though I definitely agree, it's not because of my ability to write quickly. To that, I credit hard freaking work.
However, this rapid release schedule has one major drawback, and that's with staying up to date. I can't tell you how many times I get emails that go something like this.
Hey, I didn't know (insert new book title here) was out already?! What the heck!
I know, a travesty. But, thankfully for you I've come up with a solution (and it's quite revolutionary). It's thing magical new thing called a “mailing list.” Through it I am able to send you emails whenever I have a new book available for reading. You don't even have to do anything! I just send you the links. I know, what a guy, right? ;)
Well, not really. Because I lied. You do have to do something, and that is sign up. I know, I know, I can hear the whining and complaining from here. But, unfortunately the radioactive spiders haven't been working, and my superhuman abilities have yet to kick in. Therefore I need your help to know where to send the emails with the new book links. I can't read your mind (yet).
If that's something you'd be interested in, then simply click here and I promise you'll always be the first know whenever I have a new book available.
Also, spam drives me nuts, so I make it my priority that you will never get any. Guaranteed. Just new books. Nothing else. If you don't like it, you can always unsubscribe. It's like 1 or 2 clicks, and I promise to only get a little bit offended.
Here's the link one more time.
Thanks!
What'd You Think?
Nothing is more annoying than someone asking for a review, but unfortunately they “matter” or something. I don't know why, but the vast majority of readers won't buy something unless they see that other's already have, and had a good experience.
Therefore, if you happened to have a good experience at any point during this read, then I would be exceptionally grateful if you would consider taking a moment to leave behind a quick review. Honestly, it can be super short (or super long...if that's your thing), but even a couple words and a good star rating can go miles for a self-published author like myself.
Without you all, I wouldn't be able to do this. I'd have to go out and work in the real world...and that's simply not as fun. I much prefer killing people, err—I mean writing about killing people... (yikes!)
Anyways, if leaving a review is something you'd be willing to do, that'd be incredible. But even if you don't, I want you to know just how thankful I am that you even gave my work a chance and made it this far. Seriously, you are da bomb.
To make things easier, here are links that'll take you directly to the review pages.
Feel free to use them (or skip them) at your leisure.
US Review Link
UK Review Link
CA Review Link
AU Review Link
Also by Blake Banner
Up to date books can be found on my website: www.blakebanner.com
COBRA THRILLER SERIES
Dead of Night (Book 1)
Dying Breath (Book 2)
The Einstaat Brief (Book 3)
Quantum Kill (Book 4)
Immortal Hate (Book 5)
The Silent Blade (Book 6)
LA: Wild Justice (Book 7)
DEAD COLD MYSTERY SERIES
An Ace and a Pair (Book 1)
Two Bare Arms (Book 2)
Garden of the Damned (Book 3)
Let Us Prey (Book 4)
The Sins of the Father (Book 5)
Strange and Sinister Path (Book 6)
The Heart to Kill (Book 7)
Unnatural Murder (Book 8)
Fire from Heaven (Book 9)
To Kill Upon A Kiss (Book 10)
Murder Most Scottish (Book 11)
The Butcher of Whitechapel (Book 12)
Little Dead Riding Hood (Book 13)
Trick or Treat (Book 14)
Blood Into Win (Book 15)
Jack In The Box (Book 16)
The Fall Moon (Book 17)
Blood In Babylon (Book 18)
Death In Dexter (Book 19)
Mustang Sally (Book 20)
A Christmas Killing (Book 21)
Mommy's Little Killer (Book 22)
Bleed Out (Book 23)
Dead and Buried (Book 24)
In Hot Blood (Book 25)
Fallen Angels (Book 26)
Knife Edge (Book 27)
Dead Cold Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (SAVE 33%)
Dead Cold Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #5: Books 17-20 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #6: Books 21-24 (SAVE 25%)
THE OMEGA SERIES
Dawn of the Hunter (Book 1)
Double Edged Blade (Book 2)
The Storm (Book 3)
The Hand of War (Book 4)
A Harvest of Blood (Book 5)
To Rule in Hell (Book 6)
Kill: One (Book 7)
Powder Burn (Book 8)
Kill: Two (Book 9)
Unleashed (Book 10)
The Omicron Kill (Book 11)
9mm Justice (Book 12)
Kill: Four (Book 13)
Death
In Freedom (Book 14)
Endgame (Book 15)
Omega Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (SAVE 33%)
Omega Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (SAVE 25%)
Omega Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (SAVE 25%)
Omega Box Set #4: Books 13-15 (SAVE 33%)