Past Unveiling
Page 1
Past Unveiling
Detective Robin Matthews Series Book 4
Audrey Walker
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
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Also by Audrey Walker
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 by Audrey Walker
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
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Shelby Griffin Mystery Series:
Academy Assassin (a Prequel) for FREE
Shelby Griffin Series BOX SET
Sleepless Night (Shelby Griffin Book 1)
Sleepless Mind (Shelby Griffin Book 2)
Sleepless Street (Shelby Griffin Book 3)
Sleepless Hunt (Shelby Griffin Book 4)
Sleepless Shelby (Shelby Griffin Book 5)
Mark Fropp Series:
Fropp’s Identity Boxset (Book 1-5)
Act of Vengeance (Fropp’s Identity Book 1)
Act of Deception (Fropp’s Identity Book 2)
Act of Deliverance (Fropp’s Identity Book 3)
Act of Defiance (Fropp’s Identity Book 4)
Act of Destruction (Fropp’s Identity Book 5)
Robin Matthews Series:
The Butcher’s Head (Robin Matthews Book 1)
One Step Ahead (Robin Matthews Book 2)
The Child’s Plan (Robin Matthews Book 3)
Past Unveiling (Robin Matthews Book 4)
The Abandoned Child (Robin Matthews Book 5)
Chapter One
“You thought it was the end, didn’t you?” the voice whispered from the dark corner. “You thought that you had vanquished me, didn’t you?”
“What are you doing here?” Robin whispered, horrified.
“Haven’t you noticed how things are different today?” the voice whispered.
Robin looked around, her mind racing. It took her a second to realize that her hands were completely chained to the pole.
“What do you want?” Robin asked, panic coursing through her.
“What do you think?” he asked. “I want my revenge.”
“For what?” Robin shouted. “For what? What did I do to you?”
“I want to destroy you,” he growled, his evil shining eyes coming closer and closer. “I want to ruin everything and take away everything you ever loved.”
“Why?” Robin whispered.
Out of the darkness, James’ face appeared, badly burnt. His skin was peeling off, exposing the raw flesh underneath, and his face ripped open in a horrifyingly wide grin. He laughed and laughed, his sharp teeth shining in the dim light. And suddenly, the smile disappeared from his face, and then he lunged.
“And that was the end of your nightmare?” Dr. Rosemond asked.
“Yes,” Robin whispered. “I woke up after it.”
“And you have had nightmares every night since the incident, haven’t you? Nightmares about James?” he asked.
Robin looked at the young man sitting in front of her. When Kyle had forced her into therapy, she hadn’t expected to meet anyone like Dr. Rosemond. He seemed like he was too young to be a doctor with his boyish face and charm. Dr. Rosemond wore rimmed glasses, and his face was clean-shaven. Intelligence shone from his eyes as he looked at her. Robin couldn’t help but like him. He was kind and well-mannered, treating everyone with respect. As a therapist, he was wonderful. He made his clients want to talk to him, and he seemed to understand the pain they were going through.
Even though Robin had only been attending therapy for a week, she was already attached to him. He seemed to care about her genuinely. Coming here and talking to him had helped her more than she had anticipated. He wasn’t like those typical therapists. No, he was different, and Robin was glad that she met him.
“Yes,” she said.
“You are returning to work tomorrow, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, finally,” she said. “They are still investigating the incident, but they have enough evidence to clear my name. They wanted me to go to therapy for a while before I was reinstated, but Kyle managed to talk them out of it. Plus, with the recent murder, they thought it would be better to have me on the team.”
“What do you think about James?” he asked. “What are your views about him?”
“I think he was the killer we were looking for,” she said. “Or I thought so, until the most recent murder.”
“That’s your view of him as a detective,” he asked. “What is your view of him as a human?”
“A human?” Robin asked. “I don’t know; I never thought about it.”
“I know how James affected you, Detective Matthews,” he said. “I know how he affected your investigation. Tell me about Robin herself. How did James affect her? How did he make her feel?”
“Are you saying that Detective Robin Matthews and just Robin are two different people?” Robin asked.
“Do you disagree?” he asked.
“No, I don’t,” she said. “I just never realized it, I guess. How did James affect me? I liked him. I liked him a lot, actually. At one point, I even had a crush on him. He was fun and charming, and I thought there might be something between us. Now I realize he must have done all that to get close to me, monitor my movements, and keep an eye on me. Maybe even plant the evidence he needed and frame me for the murders. He never truly wanted me.”
“And does that make you angry?” he asked. “Knowing you were just a pawn in his game?”
“It doesn’t,” she said. “I know I should feel betrayed, but I don’t. I guess because it was nothing more than a crush in the end.”
“Because of Kyle?” he asked.
“I guess Kyle does have a hand in it,” Robin said, a smile spreading on her face. “We both finally confessed we like each other.”
“And how is that going?” he asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” she said. “Neither of us has mentioned it since. We don’t know what to do. We are too scared to pursue an actual relationship. We are afraid of how this will affect our friendship.”
“Perhaps overcoming this fear will help you,” he said. “And I suggest you do that by asking him out.”
“What?” Robin said, shocked.
“Why not? You like him. It’s about time you had a healthy, loving relationship,” he said. “After all the years you have spent dealing with the trauma of your past, you need to move on. And for that, you need to do something you never thought of doing before. You must make an ac
tive effort to be happy, Robin. You need to come out of this. You have to struggle with yourself, but you can escape it if you want to.”
“I guess,” Robin said. “I will try.”
“I will wait at the edge of my seat to know how it goes,” he said, smiling at her.
“You do get invested in the lives of your patients, don’t you?” she asked, smiling.
“To be truthful, most of them are a bit boring,” he said. “You come to me with murders and serial killers and all things fun.”
“Careful, Dr. Rosemond,” she said, getting up. “If you talk like that, your patients will start thinking you are the one who needs therapy.”
“To be frank, Robin,” he said. “There are times I think I do.”
“Does this have anything to do with Ginny?” Robin asked, smiling at him.
Ginny was his girlfriend, a girl Robin had recently met and instantly liked. She knew it was unconventional to be friends with your therapist but it had sort of happened. Perhaps it was because of how much she liked him.
“She is angry at me again,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t even know what I did wrong!”
“Ask her,” Robin said. “You are a therapist. Figure it out.”
“Easier said than done,” he said, laughing. “Anyway, I will talk to Ginny. See you next week, same time?”
“See ya!” Robin said, waving goodbye as she walked out of there.
Chapter Two
Robin finished putting on her uniform, ready for her first day at work. She usually didn’t wear her uniform, but she had felt strangely drawn to it since it was her first day back. Robin looked at her reflection, straightening everything until she was satisfied. Her mind flashed back to the last time she had worn it, which had been the day of the Captain’s funeral.
Two weeks. That’s how long it has been since the incident. After a week in the hospital, Robin had finally recovered enough to come back home and be able to attend the funeral. She remembered it as if it had happened yesterday. In fact, Robin thought she would never be able to forget the day, no matter how hard she tried.
She still remembered standing there, the entire task force with her, dressed in their uniforms. It had been raining that day as if the sky itself was crying. The grief everyone felt in their heart was so palpable, but for Robin, it was worse. It wasn't just grief that ate at her; it was guilt. She spent nights awake going over every single moment of that day, wondering how she could have saved him. Robin couldn’t help but blame herself. He had died saving her, and she was the reason he was gone.
Robin closed her eyes and shuddered as the image of the coffin bearers carrying his coffin flashed before her eyes. She couldn’t believe it, at that moment, that the Captain was lying there, dead. Robin remembered the way they had saluted as the coffin was lowered slowly into the grave.
“Papa!” A small voice called out. “Papa, no!”
Robin shivered when she heard that tiny voice. His daughter was weeping in her mother’s arms as his teenage son stood there, silent tears falling down his cheeks. The Captain’s wife sobbed openly, clutching her daughter as she did.
“Roy,” there was a tremble in her voice as she had called out to her dead husband. “Please, Roy. Just come back to me. Please, you know I can’t do this without you.”
When the first bit of dirt hit the coffin, Robin winced. She couldn’t believe her Captain was lying there, cold and dead. No longer smiling, no longer laughing, and no longer living. When the coffin was finally buried, they all saluted to him one final time.
Robin couldn’t help but shudder as she walked through the crowd. She knew all the eyes were on her; people were whispering as she passed by. Accusing eyes followed her, blaming her for the Captain’s death. They all thought she was responsible for this, and she agreed.
“Mrs. Roy,” Robin went after the Captain’s wife. She had just wanted to talk to her, that’s all.
“You,” Mrs. Roy whispered. “You have always been nothing but trouble! And now, because of you, he is gone. He always protected you, looked after you. He always cared for you, and this is what he got. Death. You took him away from us. You took him away from his children. Just go! Please!”
She walked away, leaving Robin standing there.
“It’s okay,” Kyle whispered, taking her hand. “It’s okay.”
But nothing could comfort Robin at that moment. All she knew was the Captain was dead, and it was all her fault.
Robin pushed the memory out of her head and wiped the tears that had escaped her eyes. She took a deep breath and turned around, making her way downstairs.
“I am off, Abby,” she called out.
“Have a good day!” Abby said. “Have fun. Enjoy. Don’t do anything stupid. And I packed you a lunch!”
“You certainly are becoming more and more maternal, aren’t you?” Robin asked, smiling at her sister.
“Maybe,” Abby said with a smile. “Are you okay, Robin?”
“Yes,” Robin whispered. “I am okay.”
“You will talk to me if something is wrong, won’t you?” she asked.
“I will, I promise,” Robin said, kissing her sister on the cheek.
“This isn’t over, is it?” Abby asked.
Robin just smiled at her and walked away. It was true. This wasn’t over by a long shot. The truth of the matter was that Robin was starting to doubt if this will ever be over. She had thought James was her guy, but now she knew he wasn’t. The real murderer was back, whoever he was, and he had started killing again. But he seemed to be a bit more cautious than before. He wasn’t killing recklessly the way he was before. In fact, ever since the body was found a week ago, there had been no sign of the killer. No other bodies have shown up.
Robin’s mind was reeling as she thought this over. She had been thinking about this non-stop, that the killer had planned to frame her for the murders. He had manipulated Jim into confessing and then hoped that Robin would rise to the baiting and kill Jim. Then the killer lured her down to the basement where he had planned on having James kill Abby. Robin would be caught red-handed and arrested for the murder of her sister and her brother-in-law.
It was clear to her that the child wanted revenge for something. And he didn’t just want to kill Robin. He tried to destroy her. Robin shuddered to think of what would have happened if his plan had succeeded. She would have lost the people she loved and would have been declared their murderer. But the plan had failed. Robin had managed to save both Abby and Jim, and James had been discovered.
The killer needed a new plan now. He needed to figure another way to have his revenge. Robin knew enough of his psychology to see that it won’t be anything simple. He won’t just kill her. No, the killer will figure out a way to ruin her. But he had made a mistake and underestimated Robin. This time, she planned on staying one step ahead; she didn’t plan on losing.
She was ready this time.
Chapter Three
“Detective Matthews,” a voice called her out.
Robin stood in the middle of the precinct, surrounded by officers who were all busy with their various tasks. The voice belonged to the new Captain, Captain Hendricks, who had been transferred here from another town.
“Might I have a word?” he asked.
Robin followed him into his office, and he shut the door behind her.
“Let me be clear, Detective,” he said, sitting down behind his desk. “I don’t like you. You are trouble, I can tell just by looking at you. Now, I don’t know how Roy did things around here, but I run a tight ship. I will not take any insubordination.”
He got up and walked over to her, looking her straight in the eyes.
“If I had my way, I would have never reinstated you,” he growled. “I don’t want you anywhere near my precinct. But it seems the higher-ups think you should re-join, that you are a vital addition to this precinct. Now, I don’t care what kind of help you might be. I want you to stay the hell out of my cases. I want you to keep your nose
down and mind your own business. You step even a toe out of line; I will not hesitate to have you suspended. Permanently.”
“Sir,” Robin said. “If you would give me a chance, I could show you that I can really help–.”
“No, Detective,” he sneered. “You will do no such thing. You will stay away from it all. You are confined to your desk. You will deal with the paperwork only until I decide otherwise. If you fail to follow my orders or go behind my back, I will not hesitate to report you. I have a very strong record, Detective. I run my precinct efficiently, and have the highest arrest rate in this state. I will not have my efforts ruined because of a troublemaker like you, understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” Robin said through gritted teeth.
“Dismissed,” he said.
Robin bowed lightly and walked out of his office, anger consuming her body. She controlled it, knowing full well that saying anything at this point will just make things more difficult for her. She looked around as the precinct continued to run in full swing. As always, it was filled with officers running through the building, filing paperwork, discussing cases, and running analyses. She had missed this. This hustle and bustle was the life of a cop – the smell of bad coffee and noisy chatter in the air. The sounds of typing on the keyboard, or even a yawn here and there, could always be heard. This was her home, and she was glad to be back.