Thriller Box Set One: The Subway-The Debt-Catastrophic
Page 95
“Sounds like a smart lady,” Christine said, raising her eyebrows. “You should grab her, go get into an adventure together.”
Shane rolled his head back to face forward, his gaze focusing on the next jet rolling down the runway.
“Sounds like a plan. Any idea where to?”
Christine turned and focused on the jet as well, picking up speed as it moved forward over the asphalt, its fuselage rising up into the air.
“Does it even matter?”
Keep reading for a sneak peek of one of Motive, the first book in the Thriller Box Set #2!
Sneak Peek
Motive
Prologue
The car was already waiting downstairs, the driver behind the wheel, the taillights glowing red in the darkening evening as Thomas Zall stood staring out the second story window of his home. He knew that lodged inside the trunk of the Mercedes S-Class were his garment bag and carry-on, enough clothes to keep him away for the better part of a week. The only thing he had to do was say goodbye before walking downstairs and heading t0 the airport.
Despite his scheduled takeoff growing closer by the minute, he stood rooted in place, his gaze rising from the car in his driveway to the city of Honolulu below, the lights of the city twinkling all the way from Pearl City to the north down past Waikiki to the south.
A sigh passed Zall’s lips as he raised his wrist and pushed back the cuff of his Armani suit coat, checking the time. The Philippe Patek showed his flight would be leaving in less than an hour.
“Okay,” Zall said, turning back to face his son, his voice far away. “I have to be going now. Is there anything you would like to say to me before I do?”
He waited, hoping for a response, knowing it wasn’t coming. It was the same thing that happened every time he left town, a mirror image of what he knew was waiting for him when he returned.
Often, he had heard children of a certain age were difficult, tending to act standoffish with their parents. This was different though, something far worse than Zall ever would have imagined the first time he held his young son in his arms.
This wasn’t just a case of youthful reticence. His son wouldn’t speak to him, wouldn’t even look at him, no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he attempted to make it right.
“Okay,” Zall said, tears tugging at the corners of his eyes. “I’ll be back on Tuesday.”
With his hands shoved into his pockets he began to exit, stopping just inside the door, giving one last look before departing. “I love you.”
Silence was the only response.
CHAPTER ONE
The Hawaii State Capitol stood as the centerpiece of a collection of buildings designed in the Hawaiian international style of architecture, an offshoot of the famed Bauhaus movement. Finding the simple geometric shapes and clean lines appealing, then-Governor John A. Burns was adamant in his wishes that the Capitol employ the Bauhaus techniques when it was built in 1969.
He was explicit, though, in stating that the building needed to contain certain aspects to make it uniquely Hawaiian. To meet this directive, a series of features were added, ranging from the reflecting pool surrounding the building, indicative of the Pacific Ocean that surrounded the islands, to the conical shape of the open ceiling above, representative of the volcanoes that formed the state. Eight columns served as the center supports for the building, culminating on the second floor in a fanned ceiling, a nod to the royal palms that dotted the native landscape.
The centerpiece of the design was a mosaic on the floor of the open-air rotunda. Roped off from visitors, it was a perfect circle of greens and blues, located directly beneath the ceiling five stories above.
It was that mosaic, or more important, what lay on it, that had summoned Walter Tseng from his bed in the middle of the night.
There were certain duties that came with being the Chief of Police. Tseng understood that five months prior when he was named to the post after the sudden and abrupt retirement of his predecessor. He’d grown to know it even better every day since as the list seemed to expand exponentially.
This was a first, though.
The clock on the dash announced the time to be 1:45 in the morning as Tseng pulled his Chevy Tahoe to the curb outside the state capitol. There he put the SUV into park and let the engine idle, staring at the glowing numbers and trying to put together what he knew.
There wasn’t much.
A quarter hour earlier he had been summoned on his cellphone by Tim Hall, Chief of Staff to Hawaii Governor Dwight Randle. He had told – not asked, certainly not requested, but told – Tseng to be at the capitol in 20 minutes.
Half asleep and shuffling into the living room to avoid waking his wife, Tseng attempted to wrap his mind around what was happening. He tried to press Hall for details, but was informed only to stop in the rotunda on the way in before reporting to the Governor’s office.
No other staff. No calling for backup.
Leaving his rig parked at the curb, Tseng set his flashers to blinking and turned off the engine. He stepped from the car and headed up the concrete walkway, his soft-soled shoes falling silent as he went. Given the hour, he had opted against his formal uniform, dressing in a pair of slacks and an aloha shirt, loafers on his feet.
Two in the morning or not, he was still going to see the governor.
The downtown area around the capitol was subdued as he approached, a few night sounds of urban life the only noises. Somewhere in the distance a car door slammed, a bus pulled away from the curb. A warm ocean breeze blew across his face, mussing his thick black hair.
Tseng paid it no mind as he walked through the columns straight to the black curtains rising 10 feet high, stretched tight across the rotunda floor. He had no idea what to expect behind them, but figured it must be what Hall told him to see before coming up.
It had to be. Nothing else was out of place.
And it was the only time in his entire life spent on Oahu he had ever seen them there.
Tseng strode across the capitol floor and stopped at one of two upright steel poles that held the canopy in place, knocked with the back of his knuckles, peeled back the makeshift screen a few inches, and peered inside.
Staring back at him were three members of the governor’s security detail. They looked straight ahead, their expressions stony, hands clasped in front of them, as a single lamp threw harsh yellow light across them.
“Chief Tseng, please come in,” the man in the middle said.
Tseng nodded as he stepped through the curtain and let it close behind him. Any residual noise from the outside world fell away, the tiny space unnaturally quiet.
Tseng paused just inside and took in his surroundings. Across from him stood the trio of guards, each of them dressed much like he was. The men on either end were no more than 5’10”, their hair shorn tight. Both of Polynesian descent, they tipped the scales at well over 300 pounds.
In the middle was Duke Kalakona, head of the governor’s security team and a rare holdover from the previous administration. Two inches taller and a few pounds lighter than his counterparts, his dark hair was a bit longer and gelled into place.
Given their respective positions, Tseng had worked with Duke on a few things before, mostly security for public appearances by the governor. Some people who worked with Duke found his no-nonsense style grating, even a little annoying.
Tseng admired his straightforward nature.
“Duke,” Tseng said.
“Chief,” Duke replied. “I assume you’ve been briefed?”
“Not at all,” Tseng responded, shaking his head. “I was told to check in here before heading upstairs. What’s going on?”
Duke turned and nodded to the man on his left. On command, the man reached out and flipped on a second lamp, this one aimed at the mosaic on the floor.
The breath slid from Tseng’s lungs as he stared down at what the light revealed.
Lying in the exact center of the design was a dead girl, somewhere in
her late-teens to early-20s. Caucasian, her skin was unnaturally tan, mottled with bruises and scuffed with splotches of mud. Flat on her back, her gaze was aimed up to the night sky with her arms outstretched to either side. The left leg was extended straight out beneath her while the right was twisted at the knee, her foot perpendicular to the rest of her body.
Tseng barely noticed any of those details at first glance. Instead, he focused on the cruel slashes on her throat and abdomen. Blood had spilled down onto her chest and thighs, crusting against her flowered sundress. The blood was so thick it was almost black, beginning to harden in the night air, a few flies already starting to buzz about.
Taking a deep breath, Tseng flicked his gaze up at the three men across from him, all seeming to be waiting for his reaction.
He wasn’t about to give them one.
A beat cop in Waikiki for eight years before moving into administration, it was far from the first body he’d seen on the job. As much as he hated to admit it, this was a long way from the most gruesome he’d encountered either.
“Who is she?” Tseng asked.
Duke paused a moment, shook his head. “We’re not sure.”
The response raised Tseng’s eyebrows, but he didn’t press it. “How long has she been here?”
“Her body was found by a night janitor 45 minutes ago,” Duke said.
Tseng noted that he didn’t directly answer his question, stating when she was found and not how long she’d been there.
“Is anybody en route to process the scene?”
“You’re the only person who has been contacted so far,” Duke said, his hands still clasped in front of him.
“Seriously? After 45 minutes?” Tseng asked, his eyebrows tracking a little higher.
“The governor asked that we secure the area and wait until he had a chance to speak with you directly,” Duke responded. “Trust me, the scene is secure. Nothing will be disturbed until you dispatch whoever you think should process it.”
Tseng opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. He looked at Duke once more and nodded, not sure if he should be flattered at the deference shown to him or disgusted at the wanton disregard at the loss of life before them.
He opted to let it go. These men were just doing what they were told, summoned from their beds the same as he was. Any moral qualms he felt could be addressed upstairs in a few minutes time.
“I’m sure there’ll be a lot more for me to see here, but right now I should head upstairs,” Tseng said, already taking a step back toward the corner of the makeshift space.
Duke nodded, a look bordering on approval on his face. “I unlocked the mauka elevator for you. The front door to the office is open, they’ve been expecting you.”
“Thank you,” Tseng said, glancing once more at the young girl before retreating back past the cloth and walking to the bank of elevators in the corner. The sounds of the night rushed back in around him as he went, dozens of questions fighting for top position in his mind.
One at a time he dismissed each of them, focusing on the conversation he suspected waited for him on the fifth floor.
The last thing he noticed before stepping into the elevator was his SUV still parked at the curb, its flashers almost begging him to climb back in and forget this night had ever happened.
Using the automatic sensor on his key ring, he locked the doors and turned off the lights.
Something told him this was not going to be a short conversation.
Download Thriller Box Set 2 and keep reading now!
Free Book!
As thank you for reading, please enjoy a FREE copy of my first bestseller – and still one of my personal favorites – 21 Hours!
Dustin’s Books
Works Written by Dustin Stevens:
Reed & Billie Novels:
The Boat Man
The Good Son
The Kid
The Partnership
Justice
The Scorekeeper
The Bear
Hawk Tate Novels:
Cold Fire
Cover Fire
Fire and Ice
Hellfire
Home Fire
Wild Fire
(Coming soon)
Zoo Crew Novels:
The Zoo Crew
Dead Peasants
Tracer
The Glue Guy
Moonblink
The Shuffle
(Coming soon)
Ham Novels:
HAM
EVEN
(Coming Soon)
Standalone Thrillers:
Four
Ohana
Liberation Day
Twelve
21 Hours
Catastrophic
Scars and Stars
Motive
Going Viral
The Debt
One Last Day
The Subway
The Exchange
Standalone Dramas:
Just A Game
Be My Eyes
Quarterback
Children’s Books w/ Maddie Stevens:
Danny the Daydreamer…Goes to the Grammy’s
Danny the Daydreamer…Visits the Old West
Danny the Daydreamer…Goes to the Moon
(Coming Soon)
Works Written by T.R. Kohler:
Standalone:
Shoot to Wound
Peeping Thoms
The Ring
The Hunter
My Mira Saga
Spare Change
Office Visit
Fair Trade
About the Author
Dustin Stevens is the author of more than 20 novels, 15 of them having become #1 Amazon bestsellers, including the Hawk Tate and Zoo Crew series. The Boat Man, the first release in the best-selling Reed & Billie series, was recently named the 2016 Indie Award winner for E-Book fiction and the 3rd Grand Prize Winner for all books – hard cover, paperback and ebook.
He is an award-winning screenwriter in the prestigious Harvardwood and Emerging Screenwriters competitions, as well as the Nashville International Film Festival and the Honolulu Film Awards. In addition, he is the only multi-time finalist at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival.
A member of the Mystery Writers of America and Thriller Writers International, he resides in Honolulu, Hawaii.