by Nora Kane
“It gets better. I called his sister. She had no idea he was alive and working as a security guard. I texted her a picture, and she said that while there were some similarities, there was no way that was her brother.”
“Nice work. Though this makes my job finding this asshole exponentially harder. Especially considering he left work early and appears to be in the wind. I’m not sure how he knew we were coming, but he got out while the getting was good.”
“I think he ran my plate so I’d say he has a connection in the department.”
“Great, this just keeps getting better. What made you go down that rabbit hole? I wouldn’t have thought about that for at least another week, if I thought of it at all.”
“Well, Cassie and I had a crazy theory that’s looking less crazy by the moment.”
“The theory being?”
“Ronnie Pearson is really Steven Armstrong.”
“Yeah, that’s crazy. You sure you’re not just trying to make a good internet show?”
“When people started dropping dead, Cassie started reconsidering.”
“So, you’re doing this for fun?”
“I was hoping the eyeball connection might help me find Hayes.”
“We haven’t gone that crazy yet,” Radcliff scoffed.
“Well, this is all well and good. Any other bad news?”
“I got the file on the Strickland murder.”
“Huh, speaking of connections in the department. I’m pretty sure that one got solved.”
“Yeah, except we noticed something odd in the killer's priors.”
“Odd how?”
“Dickenson had an assault charge. Punched a stripper.”
“Why is that odd?,” Margot asked. “Sounds tame for a guy who murders people in front of schoolchildren.”
“Stripper’s name was Rose Ryland, who currently goes by Rose Nelson.”
“That is odd. I’m assuming you have a theory?”
“Armstrong killed them both.”
“This is dependent on the rather far-out theory that Pearson is Armstrong?”
“Well, yeah.”
“I’ll be sure to ask him if I find him.”
After Margot put down the phone, Cassie asked, “What do we do now?”
“Call it a day.”
“So, you're going home?”
“Yeah, it’s been a long day.”
“Can I still stay with you guys?”
“Pearson and or Armstrong is on the run. He’d be a fool to come after us at this point, and he doesn’t seem like a fool.”
“What if we’re wrong and it’s not him?”
“Would you feel better staying in Radcliff’s spare bedroom again?”
“I would.”
“In that case, you can stay. Don’t get too comfortable there. We’re not adopting you.”
Chapter 12
Cassie’s phone buzzed just after they reached the driveway. Radcliff didn’t have a big enough garage for both their cars so Margot parked outside.
Cassie was talking so Margot didn’t point out to her that the porch light was out. It didn’t matter since she always went through the garage to go inside even though she didn’t park there. Except when she hit the opener, nothing happened.
“Wait here,” Margot told her.
Cassie mouthed, “It’s my mom,” and continued talking.
Margot got out and put her hand in her purse, wrapping her hand around the baton since it could just be a tripped breaker on Radcliff’s old house. A glance around the neighborhood showed plenty of lights on so it wasn’t a blackout. Margot spent some time looking around but couldn’t see anything out of place.
She headed for the front door.
She was about to take her hand off of the telescoping baton and grab her house key when the horn of her Prius blared.
She spun and saw the gun first followed by the man wielding it, dressed head to toe in black and wearing a mask that covered his face like he was a ninja. She swung the baton and it extended to full length. The steel ball at the end hit the shooter's arm before the gun could fire, sending the shot meant for the back of Margot’s head into the garage door. She swung again and hit him in the wrist knocking the gun from his hand.
Margot went for his knee on the next swing, but he turned enough that she hit him in the thigh instead. It would leave a bruise, but he was still moving. Margot couldn’t get out of the way of the punch he threw and found herself on her back.
She tried to get up and took a kick to the ribs that definitely broke something. He put a knee on her back and grabbed a fistful of her hair. When he pulled her head back exposing her neck, she saw the knife, a big K-Bar designed for combat, in the man’s fist.
“Drop it or I shoot!” Cassie yelled.
They both looked back to see Cassie holding an S&W forty caliber with a short barrel. Margot was wondering how Cassie got her gun when the masked man put the knife to her throat. He didn’t seem worried about Cassie shooting him.
Margot could feel the blade draw blood when Cassie pulled the trigger. Getting a forty-caliber slug through the shoulder changed how the masked man felt about Cassie and the gun. He stopped slashing Margot’s throat and stood up.
“Don’t move,” Cassie told him.
He moved and she shot him twice in the chest. She paused and when he didn’t fall, she double-tapped him two more times. This time, he went down.
Margot worked her way to her feet. Her ribs hurt too much to stand up straight, and she was bleeding a bit from a small cut on the right side of her neck, but she was alive. She went over to the man and pulled off the mask.
“Is it Armstrong?” Cassie asked.
“Pearson, but I’m assuming that’s the same guy. Either way, I bet that’s the same gun he used to kill Mattis.”
Armstrong smiled and said, “I’m not the only one.”
“Are you Armstrong or Pearson?” Margot asked.
He only managed to smile and say “I’m not the only one,” again before he fell into permanent darkness.
“The only what?” Cassie asked.
“I don’t know, but I have a crazy theory.”
“What’s that?”
“Not now, I’ve had enough crazy theories for today. Is that my gun?”
“No, it’s mine. After all the shit I’ve been through, it seemed like a good idea.”
“It was. You picked one just like mine?”
“Why not? You like it. Is that, like, a faux pas or something?”
“No, it’s perfect.”
“He walked right past me.”
“He didn’t know you were staying with me. Good thing I didn’t take you home.”
“Yeah. I killed him, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did, but thanks. Did you call the police?”
“Not yet. I went for the gun first.”
“I’m glad you did, but let’s get them here so I can go to the hospital.”
“Am I going to be in trouble?”
“No.”
“Since he’s not a threat anymore, can we do the show?”
“Let’s worry about that later.”
Cassie nodded and then dialed 9-1-1.
Chapter 13
“So what did Rose have to say?” Margot said. She tried to sit up, but her two broken ribs demanded she lay back down.
Radcliff plopped down on the bed next to her. “Quite a bit once we convinced her if she [SC1]didn’t have anything to do with the death of Mattis or any other misdeed committed by the late Steven Armstrong, she had nothing to fear.”
“Her lawyer went for that?”
“His other choice was we throw her in jail for conspiracy, so she was motivated. You were right, Mattis was putting the squeeze on her over seeing her old boyfriend Armstrong on the side. According to her, she never told Armstrong, but I kind of doubt that.”
“Hard to prove either way.”
“Yeah, so I think we’ll pretend she’s telling the truth. What she did do
was hint to Mattis that Pearson was more than he appeared, in hopes he’d get smart and back off.”
“She told him it was Armstrong?”
“Hard to say, but either out of chivalry or self-preservation Armstrong killed him. If he killed him because he found out he was Armstrong or just because he was blackmailing his girlfriend will remain a mystery.”
“How long did she know Armstrong was alive?”
“She was coy about it, but I’d say from the beginning. She says she learned about what he did after the fact, but she had trouble keeping her perspective straight. Sometimes she talked like she was reciting something she was told by others, sometimes she sounded like she was talking about personal experiences. Once again, not really a crime—or not one we want to try to prove.”
“So what did happen?”
“He went to meet Strickland at a garage out in the sticks where they were supposed to pick up a truck and drive to another garage in town. As you figured out, Strickland didn’t show and he did call Rose. That part of what Mattis had was legit.”
“Do you think he knew it all?”
“Hard to say. If he did, he didn’t play it very well because this is where it takes a turn.”
“Okay, what happened at the garage?”
“Someone was waiting to kill him—or more accurately, they were there for Strickland and Armstrong was just going to be collateral damage.”
“Which is why Strickland didn’t show?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t tell his buddy, Armstrong. Probably because he wanted his stripper girlfriend for himself.”
“Obviously Armstrong didn’t die.”
“Nope, he turned the tables somehow. Rose didn’t have details. I’m guessing that’s where Ronnie Pearson comes in. He was mixed in with some bad characters himself. Armstrong probably killed Pearson and took his identity.”
“Why?”
“Apparently, the guy who hired Pearson thought Armstrong would do a better job and offered to hire him. Since the people who hired Pearson wanted blood, it was decided it would be better if Armstrong disappeared.”
“What about the eye?”
“I guess that was a thing some of them did, so they had one available. I don’t know if it was a warning to Mrs. Armstrong to back off or was meant to get people to think Armstrong was dead…or was just Armstrong being a dick to his wife, who he apparently hated.”
“I guess that would make the whole disappearing thing easier.”
“Either way, it worked. If he could walk away from Rose the way he left his family, it’s likely we wouldn’t have ever found him.”
“What about Strickland?”
“Armstrong never shared details on his work, but Rose is of the belief he killed him for what happened at the garage and set up Dickenson for the crime because Dickenson got out of hand at the club. The part about killing him in front of his kid was very much intentional, according to Rose. Apparently, working for this new guy made Armstrong a sadistic son of a bitch.”
“Yet she kept him around?”
“To a point. Again, she was coy about the details, and it was hard to tell if something happened to him to make him have to be scarce for a while or if she broke it off. In that time, she met Nelson and gave up the wild life.”
“Except when Armstrong showed up again.”
“I guess the wild life is hard to give up. You seem to be having some difficulty.”
“It was a YouTube show!? How could I see that turning violent?”
“Fair.”
“Anything on who this mysterious new employer was?”
“Well, yes and no.”
“What’s that mean?”
“She didn’t have a name. Armstrong never talked about him. The only thing she can remember is every once in a while he’d say something like, ‘The Boogieman has some work for me,’ or something along those lines.”
“‘The Boogieman’?”
“Yeah, or sometimes he’d shorten it to ‘The Boog.’”
“You’re just messing with me, right?”
“I wish I was.”
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Books by Nora Kane
1. Secrets of Woodcrest Manor
2. Wolverine Harbor Novellas Series
Book 1 - The Veil of Deceit
Book 2 - The Veil of Envy
Book 3 - The Veil of Vengeance
3. Margot Harris Series One
4. Margot Harris Series Two
6. Margot Harris Series Three
Book 1 – On The Prowl
Book 2 – On The Money
Book 3 – On The Lam
Book 4 – On The Loose
Book 5 – On The Edge
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When the Patriarch of the Woodcrest Family was found dead in the flowerbed under his bedroom window, the local police department called it suicide. His son hired Private detective Emmy wanting to uncover the real truth behind his father's death. Surrounded by so many individuals who could benefit from his death, now the responsibility is on Emmy to figure out who was responsible. When Emmy starts to talk to the heirs the Woodcrest family's secrets begin to emerge.
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