Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  Writing as Alathia Morgan

  Against Zombies Series

  Moms Against Zombies Book 1

  Military Against Zombies Book 2

  Co-Eds Against Zombies Book 3

  Churches Against Zombies Book 4

  Geeks Against Zombies Book 5

  Governments Against Zombies Book 6

  Infected History Series

  Infected Waters: A Titanic Disaster

  Infected Poppy Fields: A WWI Disaster

  Infected Storm Troopers: A WWII Disaster

  Writing Romance as Pepper Paris:

  Summer of Love

  Carter: Summers of Love 1

  Kelly: Summers of Love 2

  Wade: Summers of Love 3

  Jay: Summers of Love 4

  Prologue

  “Do you understand your instructions?” the voice on the other end of the phone questioned.

  “Yes, sir. I have planned everything according to your wishes.”

  “Have you taken care of every contingency? My last apprentice didn’t fare well and died only last night because he didn’t follow the plan.”

  “Yes, sir. I have no personal interest in the targets, and will do only as you’ve instructed. I will not let you down.” Determination laced the apprentice’s words as their fingers tightened on the phone.

  “See that you do.”

  The line went dead, and the apprentice’s anger fueled into a flame that would block out the cold weather blowing through the holes in the walls.

  “I cannot fail you, master. If I fail, then my reasons for existing would be for gone, and I must prove there is a purpose for my life.” The words echoed in the almost empty room, but the eyes that surveyed it in as final farewell could only see the past staining the walls.

  Chapter 1

  Jesse

  “This is dispatch. We have a possible dead body and need a detective to respond.” The radio crackled in my unit. I reached for the button with a sigh. “Detective Burns responding.”

  My day had already been a long one, and there was only thirty minutes left before the next shift came on to take over. It was just my luck to get a call that would put me into overtime again.

  I pulled up to a small home in an older neighborhood and parked behind the ambulance.

  “What do we have going on here?” The EMTs were milling about, so I assumed that the person was already deceased.

  “Oh, hey. We got a call, but the fellow was already gone. I’d say he took the dive early this morning. Nothing we could do for him.” The patrol officer pointed to the house behind him.

  “Still have to conclude if it was self-harm or foul play.”

  “That’s why they pay you the big bucks.” He grinned at me.

  “Right. I think it just means more headaches for me.” I climbed up the three steps into the house, only to be greeted with a grotesque sight.

  A man’s body was hanging from the small landing that led up into the dining room. The railing that was supposed to protect someone from falling hadn’t done a thing for him. He wasn’t a huge guy, and the fall, or jump, had managed to cut off his airway. His eyes looked ready to explode from their sockets.

  Now, to do my job and determine if this guy had just given up on life, or if he had a little help in leaving this world.

  The back door barely opened when I tried it, so that didn’t seem like a good place to enter. None of the windows were open, or showed any signs of forced entry.

  His office held the key to who he was: a single man who worked for an energy company’s accounting department. George West was only a mid-level man that didn’t have any extreme vices, if his bills and credit card statements were to be trusted.

  “Sir?” An officer poked his head inside the office where I was riffling through the deceased’s papers.

  “Yes?”

  “The coroner would like to know if he can take the body, or if you need to leave it a little while longer?”

  Dead bodies weren’t my favorite thing, especially ones that had been sitting for a while. Those were even worse. But still, there might be something, no matter how small, that hadn’t been noticed when they were moving about that would give me some answers.

  “Did you find anything to determine cause of death?”

  The guy from the coroner’s office gave me a look. “You mean, besides the fact that his head almost came off from the rope around his neck?”

  “Yeah, actually. Could he have done this to himself?”

  “From the way his body is hanging over the small railing, I’d say he judged it just right before he did it. If he had been pushed, you would see more bruising on his face and body. Unless there’s a lot more than what is on the surface, then I’m going to rule that he did this to himself.”

  “Just wanted a second opinion. There are scuff marks down here at the base of the wall where it looks like he backed up to make sure that his feet wouldn’t hit the floor.”

  “I would have to agree.” The coroner’s assistant didn’t even bother to glance down at the wall, as if anything other than suicide was the answer.

  “Do we know who found him?” I asked to the room of techs and officers standing around.

  Someone snickered. “His mother.”

  “Seriously. How did we know that he was in need of help?”

  “His mother called it in, asking for us to do a well check,” the patrol officer I’d met outside answered. “He was supposed to call her yesterday, and she’d been calling us every few hours since. So we did a drive-by, but nothing looked out of place. When she called again this afternoon, we got permission to enter the residence and found his body.”

  “Okay. Have we informed the mother of what happened?”

  “No, sir. We did send the request over to her town’s officers so that they could make an in-person visit.”

  “Send me her info so that I can do a follow-up tomorrow. I’m going to say this is a closed case. Clean it up. I’m gonna go and write up my report.”

  By the time I finished writing it up, it was two hours past quitting time. It was a toss-up between going through the drive-through or taking a chance that I’d left something to eat in the fridge, so I decided that a meal on the road would be better than sleeping on an empty stomach.

  Since my ex and I had parted ways two years ago, I didn’t really do any grocery shopping unless it was my weekend with the kids. I hated to cook, and usually tried to buy things that were easy to heat up. During the winter months, my go-to foods were soup and stews, things I could make from cans and reheat quickly. This job had taken a toll on my personal life.

  When I entered my small apartment, the empty feeling hit me. I’d never tried to make this a home, and while my kids had never complained, I knew it made a difference. One day, when I actually got a day off, I would have to do some decorating. At least I took out the trash regularly, and managed to keep all the dark thoughts away most days.

  Suicides were always difficult, especially when there wasn’t an obvious reason for it. I understood being at a point where the world seemed to attack from all sides and there wasn’t always a clear way out. Didn’t mean that I wanted to end things like that, but thoughts could hit when you least expected them.

  My divorce had taken me to the lowest point of my life, and when it wasn’t certain that I’d get to see my kids, I’d thought about ending it all.

  I shook off the gloom and went to get a plate from the cabinet. The only way to help get all this off my mind was by downing a few beers and filling my stomach.

  ***

  I sat straight up in bed when I heard a noise. Even in my groggy state, my instincts kicked in. Grabbing my gun and throwing the covers off, I moved to the front room and found a huge branch had fallen against the sliding door.

  After taking a few moments to check the rest of the apartment, the cold air hit my body, reminding me that I was standing in my living room, holding a gun while in my boxers.

  Back in bed, I contin
ued to shiver. This suicide was really bothering me, and I couldn’t put a finger on as to why it did. I’d worked others that hadn’t unnerved me this much.

  George West hadn’t been terribly old, probably close to thirty. That’s what I was missing. He had died on his birthday. While that wasn’t unusual for people who felt all alone, his mother persistently requesting a well check made me think that this was totally out of the blue. He hadn’t been showing signs that he was dissatisfied with life.

  Hey, Ryan just solved the case of the birthday killer. I wonder if he might have some ideas. I had picked up the phone to dial when I saw that it was 3 a.m. I’d just have to wait and call him in the morning. No one wanted to wake up a fellow detective in the middle of the night unless they absolutely had to.

  I fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of a lady standing over me with a noose, telling me that I had to pay for what I’d done to her. It kept repeating in different versions, and when I woke up several hours later, nothing I did shook off the feeling of doom.

  My phone beeped with a text: “Body discovered,” with an address in the outskirts of Green Bay.

  A shower was a must, but I didn’t hurry out because I wanted to breathe in some fresh air before arriving at the scene.

  Thirty minutes later, I was there. The atmosphere was much different than the one from last night.

  The body was lying on the floor at an awkward angle, with a rope around his neck.

  “Do we know what happened?” I asked, waiting to be filled in on the details.

  “The lady across the street called us because he hadn’t gotten his paper from yesterday or today. She claims that it’s unusual for him because he’s very invested in the financial sections. The few times he’s left town, he’s had someone pick it up for him and check on his cat.”

  “Are we thinking it was an accident, considering the way he’s lying there?” I cocked my head to the side, looking at the coroner’s assistant.

  “Honestly, I think he jumped and the rope couldn’t hold him. He died, but it wasn’t by asphyxiation. It was a broken neck.”

  “Great, a suicide gone wrong,” I muttered under my breath. I guess the upside was that he didn’t suffer by hanging until he died.

  It was curious that he was also into financials, but he didn’t work for the same company as George West had, so that wasn’t a connection there.

  While we didn’t see a ton of suicides on a regular basis, it wasn’t uncommon. The weather affected people differently, and the fact that it had been cold for a large portion of the year could cause someone to snap. Two in just as many days was unusual, though, and they both worked in finance, so I would have to check with a few experts to see if a certain piece of stock which had dropped drastically or something.

  ***

  I didn’t get my kids very often due to my job. I was one of the few trained detectives in our division at the moment. We were greatly understaffed, but they were recruiting more every day to take the detective’s test. Hopefully, this overworked schedule would slow down and see more of my kids.

  My daughter, Patti and her brother, Charlie, were excited to spend the night with me because we had plans to go fishing the next day. Patti wasn’t as much of a fan when it came to catching the fish, but she loved it when I let her be in charge of the tiller, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

  Pizza was our main source of food, and there were at least four or more different places that delivered to our door, so we never had to eat from the same place when they visited me.

  Even with the kids around me, I had this feeling that there was someone watching us. I got up several times while they were watching a movie to check the back door, or do a quick search through the apartment.

  Normally, I would have put them in their bedroom, but the uneasy feeling that had settled in my gut over the past few days just wouldn’t go away. I carried the sleeping kids to my room and prepared for a night of Patti kicking the snot out of me. At the age of ten, she would make a great punter, unlike her six-year-old brother who would just curl up into a ball, oblivious to his sister’s acrobatics.

  With the kids at my apartment, I kept my gun locked in the safety box under the bed. Giving into the paranoia for a few moments, I placed some things in front of the doors that would make noise if someone entered the house. I locked the bedroom door and slid onto the edge of the queen-sized bed, placing my body between the kids and the door.

  “Dad, is everything okay?” Charlie rubbed at his eyes sleepily.

  “Sure, buddy. I’m just coming to bed myself.” I tried to reassure him, and myself, at the same time.

  “Good. I always sleep better when we’re with you. The monsters know to stay away because you’re a policeman.” His voice drifted off and I laid there, looking at the very familiar ceiling tiles.

  “Sometimes the monsters don’t pay attention to the fact that you’re a policeman,” I whispered into the darkness, then turned to keep watch over my children before giving into the dreams that had been haunting me.

  ***

  Most people who were going fishing got up early, but I’d been working for two weeks straight with very little sleep. So when I woke up and light was already streaming through the window, it threw me off.

  Cartoons came from the living room and I rolled onto my back, trying to still my racing heart.

  Small voices whispered in the other room, “Should we wake him up?”

  “No, he’s tired. Mommy says he’s been working hard. We don’t want to wake him and make him too cranky or he won’t take us out in the boat,” Patti answered in an adult tone.

  “I’m awake, kids.” Those words produced magic, and suddenly, I was being bounced on by two very energetic kids.

  “Goody! I’m hungry,” Patti chirped.

  “Me too.” Charlie gave a bounce and landed on my chest.

  “Okay, I call ‘Uncle.’ Let me get a shower, and then we can go grab something to eat on our way out to the lake,” I offered, hoping that it was a good deal.

  “Yay! We still get to go fishing!”

  “Yes, but you have to go watch cartoons until I’m ready.”

  “Okay.” They both rushed out, probably to fight over who got to choose the next program.

  Mediation between children was way worse than anything a hostage negotiator would ever have to deal with, and I’d had to do a few of those over the years.

  A quick shower later and we were headed to the drive-through at my favorite donut shop. Instead of my usual routine, we parked and I held the door open so they could pick out exactly what they wanted. It didn’t matter that they always chose the same thing; it was the fun of being able to look at all the different options.

  The door opened shortly after we walked in and I turned, expecting a threat, but it was a petite lady who didn’t look all that harmful. I was going to have to stop jumping at shadows or I was going to give the kids a complex.

  They chattered at me with all the news I’d missed out on over the past few weeks. Trying to get a few words from them over the phone was almost impossible, but give them food and they couldn’t be quiet for even a few minutes. It was better for them to talk now, because out on the lake, we didn’t want to disturb the other fishermen.

  I had a small boat I’d inherited from my dad that I kept up on the lake. When I knew the kids were coming down, I’d call and have a friend put it in the water for me, tied up to his boathouse. I stored all of my fishing tackle at his place as well and paid him to watch it all. We’d grown up together, and he understood that I couldn’t come out nearly as often as I wanted to, but it was a great way for me to unwind away from the city and murder.

  The only way my ex-wife would let the kids on a boat, even when they were little, was if they wore life jackets. I’d been the one to insist on swimming lessons from the time they could walk and was confident in their abilities if they fell overboard. Even the best of swimmers could be knocked unconscious, so if extra precautions were what it to
ok to keep my kids going to the lake with me, then I’d do it.

  When they did manage to catch a fish, their faces would light up with excitement. That was my goal for today, to forget the monsters and enjoy my children. If only the monsters would let me.

  ***

  The Killer

  Detective Burns had looked me over as if I wasn’t there, which meant that he didn’t consider me a threat. He was an interesting prospect, and while I didn’t mind a little revenge, he wasn’t on my list. Plus, he had his kids with him. I was trying to right a wrong, not make things worse.

  Today’s chosen was known to party on the weekends, but he had to die before sunset if he was to make amends. They always begged for mercy, but they hadn’t shown any to those they oppressed. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation of the fun to come later this afternoon. At least the donuts and coffee would give me something to do while I waited for him to be up and moving around. I could wait a few hours while he enjoyed his last moments, before death came to settle his debts.

  ***

  He let me inside because of our scheduled appointment. He was way too trusting for me. When I explained to him who I was, he showed no knowledge or recognition. Most of the chosen didn’t, but the Zodiac Master had researched those who had committed the wrongs, and if I was to continue being his apprentice, I would need to do exactly as instructed.

  I apologized, telling him that I must have made a mistake, and that he wasn’t the right person. When I reached out to shake his hand, the small needle entered between his fingers and he jerked back.

  “What was that?” he exclaimed, shaking his hand to deal with the pain, which only helped to get the medication into his system faster. A look of shock tinged his features as he slid to the floor.

  This one weighed more than I could possibly handle alone, but that had been taken into account, and I had my tools ready ahead of time to assist in hoisting his body into position.