Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  Something big was about to happen, and it was going to change everyone’s lives.

  When the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, I grabbed the pistol sitting on the lamp table next to me. Something had moved onto the property, and I was the only thing left to protect Shea and baby Hope.

  I burst through the door, only to find the ground covered in a deep fog. It surrounded me, making the misty fog appear to be alive as it slowed my progress over to their house.

  Each step seemed to take the strength of ten as I forced my way through it.

  “Let the light shine through this evil and good be restored,” I whispered, thrilled when the mist seemed to thin out. I continued to repeat it, as if the words were the only weapon I had. The gun in my hand was useless against this type of attack.

  As I reached Shea’s cottage, the door swung open, and a black form appeared, covered in an evil essence.

  “Stop what you’re doing!” I commanded, bringing the gun up to fire.

  A deep voice that sounded vaguely familiar, laughed at me. “Nope, and you can’t stop me. I’m bigger than anything you can imagine. My side will win, and you’ll be stuck in your mind.”

  It was then I noticed he held Hope’s car seat in his hand, and with the other, he threw a powder toward me.

  As it hit, I could feel my body surrender to its effects and slumped to the ground.

  “Don’t take Hope,” I whispered. “Be protected by the light and all things good.”

  He stood over me and used his foot to remove the gun from my hand. “Don’t worry, the baby will be safe. I’m not so sure about her mother and father, though.”

  The sleep that had been trying to overtake me for days finally won, and I was pulled into a world where I had to relive the most horrific thing I could imagine happening to the people I loved.

  ***

  “Tell Auntie Flora night-night,” he chuckled as he strapped the baby seat into the car. “It’s a good thing I brought your mother out first.”

  He glanced around before softly closing the door and taking his place behind the wheel. Even if there wasn’t anyone left to stop him from taking them, he didn’t want to call attention to himself in any way.

  The end game was about to begin, and the team was going to find out that messing with him was going to be devasting.

  Epilogue

  The Zodiac Master

  The explosion rocked the walls of the building, collapsing inward, leaving no doubt that all those inside were dead.

  I stood off to the side and watched the destruction of my first test become perfection. It was everything I wanted. Now, to see if it got the attention of the one person in the world I wanted to notice.

  Wendy was gone by her own hand, and was now going to get another chance to become famous on the news. This was the sort of thing that would be on every news channel for the next few days.

  On the other hand, I had a backup plan, and it was time to put that into motion so that nothing fell through the cracks.

  Fell through the cracks. I began laughing at the ironic words as the dust began to settle around me. It was time to get out of here so that when the emergency vehicles arrived, I would be miles away.

  A little baby time was sounding like fun, while listening to theories regarding my handiwork at the same time. So far, the team had no idea I had their precious bundle, but when they did, it would be an explosion close to what I’d just completed. Oh, the fireworks were going to be fun to watch when they discovered the news.

  Make sure to check out the next exciting installment of Capricorn: Murders of the Zodiac

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  If you enjoyed this story, please leave a review, even if it is one short sentence. Do you want to know when the next book comes out or to get to know me better? Feel free to stalk me on all the social media sites. (No real-life stalking, because that’s just not cool.) Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you.

  -Paris Morgan

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  Capricorn

  Murders of the Zodiac

  Book 12

  Paris Morgan

  Copyright © 2019 Paris Morgan

  Capricorn-Murders of the Zodiac Book 12

  This is a work of fiction and in no way is meant to portray actual people, names, places, events or situations. The ideas were from the author’s own imagination and any resemblance to people living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of quotations for articles and reviews.

  Editing by: Rebel Edit & Design

  Book cover: Widget Wyvern Studios

  Interior formatting: That Formatting Lady

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  A Note from the Author

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my readers, Thanks for sticking with me to the end.

  More from Paris Morgan

  Murders of the Zodiac

  Aquarius Book 1

  Pisces Book 2

  Aries Book 3

  Taurus Book 4

  Gemini Book 5

  Cancer Book 6

  Leo Book 7

  Virgo Book 8

  Libra Book 9

  Scorpio Book 10

  Sagittarius Book 11

  Capricorn Book 12

  Surviving Death

  Witness Protection Book 1

  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

  I glanced around nervously, making sure he hadn’t followed me. If he found out I was doing this instead of following his instructions, well, I’d be dead.

  The pink blanket moved, and I squeezed the bundle tighter while picking up my pace. I had to make it there and back to the office before he realized I was gone.

  With the fire station just around the corner, I pulled the hood over my head and moved forward, feeling eyes on my back.

  “It’s okay, baby girl. I’ve written a note so that your parents can find you when it’s all over. He can’t hurt you if he doesn’t know where you are,” I assured. “I just hope it’s worth it.”

  The large doors were closed to keep out the cold, so I placed her bundled-up form in the top of the large bag. There was a small space where the brick came down and separated the doors. It was the only place where she wouldn’t be run over in an emergency.

  Wiping tears away, I turned and ran back around the block before dialing the station’s number.

  “Yes, there’s a baby that’s been left
outside your station with a note explaining things. Take good care of her.” I flipped the phone shut, ending the call before placing it under the tire of my vehicle.

  Now came the hard part: explaining why I’d taken the child away from him. I’d just signed my death warrant, but he was going to kill me anyway. I had to believe that something good had come from it.

  I didn’t have any illusions about the type of man I’d been working with. He was evil. My options had been few and far between, but this way, I had a chance to do something good. Maybe it would balance out for all the bad things I’d let him get away with doing.

  Chapter 1

  Leslie

  Sleep seemed to be the only thing I was good at lately, I thought as I looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was ten in the morning, and while I knew that Adam had given us the day off, it still felt wrong to be lying here, alive, when all the other victims weren’t.

  I sat up, trying to decide what the most important thing on my agenda for the day was. The smell of coffee brewing helped make up my mind. I was going to take a long shower, get a cup of coffee, and call my sister.

  If Jerome had seen me and Noah together, odds were the rest of my family had as well. I needed some advice because things had been moving way too fast lately.

  “Karen, what are you doing today?” I padded over to the closet to pull out something that wasn’t my usual work attire.

  “Nothing at the moment. Why?”

  “I was hoping we could get lunch because I have a few things I need your advice on.” I laid my clothes on the counter, opening the shower door to hang my gun holster on the special hook I’d put in months ago. Even in the shower with my house alarms set and everything secure, it was my most vulnerable time.

  “I’ve been watching the news. What if we do a spa day instead? Manis, pedis, the works for my hardworking cop sister. What do you say?” she suggested.

  “Uh, that wasn’t my first thought, but sure. Can we get an appointment this quickly?” I turned on the shower for the water to warm up while I stepped out of my clothes.

  “I think so. I was going to come to town in the next few days anyway because I need to pick up some last-minute gifts for the girls.”

  “Oh, right. How’s that going?” I slapped my forehead. I’d completely forgotten that Karen had three girls to worry about these days.

  “Pretty good, honestly,” Karen replied, sounding really happy. “I’ll make the appointments and text you the address. Depending on what I can get, we’ll do lunch around the appointment time. Look, I’ve got to go, the school’s buzzing in.”

  I shook my head and locked the bathroom door before getting in the shower. It was so strange to hear my sister talking about kids and school as if she’d been a mother for years. This new thing she was doing might take a little time for me to adjust to.

  “Crap,” I muttered as I stepped under the shower’s spray. “I’ll need to get them gifts as well. Oh, and one for baby Hope too.”

  Chasing a murderer had robbed me of my Christmas spirit. Somehow, Thanksgiving Day had come and gone before I’d even had time to realize it was a holiday. To be fair, I’d been a little busy, but that didn’t ease the guilt for not being there for my family.

  There wasn’t time for a Christmas tree or worrying about all the fixings, but I could plan to be at home for the holiday. Surely, even a murderer would take a day off, because everyone would be at their homes, making killing them much harder.

  Then again, when had the Zodiac Master ever made things easier on us or his victims?

  I scrubbed my scalp roughly, frustrated that we still didn’t know who he was. But I knew it was someone I had a connection with. Maybe that was the direction we needed to follow now before he started killing for the month.

  My phone dinged with Karen’s message, and I shifted my focus to finishing so I could get my hands on my much-needed cup of coffee.

  -----

  Karen had outdone herself with getting us into this place during their holiday rush. I entered, feeling really out of place. I didn’t do the girly thing very often, but I had to admit, the three times I’d been before, I’d had fun.

  While it felt luxurious to be doing something like this, I knew I needed a little time to recharge, and maybe my sis would shed some light on how to deal with Noah.

  Shaking off my feeling of being lazy, I went inside to meet Karen.

  “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you!” she squealed, pulling me in for a hug.

  Pulling back from her embrace, I asked, “Who are you? And what have you done with my sister?”

  It wasn’t like Karen to show lots of affection. After all, we were cops, and sisters. I loved her, but this was something new.

  “Oh, sorry. I’m so used to giving everyone hugs now. Luke’s family is really into hugs, and I guess it’s rubbed off a little bit,” she giggled.

  “Wow. So you guys are really serious, huh?”

  “I think so. We were in love in high school, and then a lot of stuff happened. I’m pretty sure he’s going to propose over Christmas, which is why I suggested a girl’s day with my sister, so I’ll have nice nails when he puts a ring on it.”

  This time, it was me who hugged her. “That’s so exciting.”

  “We’ve discussed it, but wanted to give it some time. I mean, the gossips will always have something to say about how fast we got together, but Luke and I know it’s what she would have wanted for us.”

  “Ladies, we’re ready for you,” the salon technician announced loudly.

  Impulsively, I gave Karen another hug. “Congratulations. You deserve a good man. He certainly deserves to have you.”

  We followed the salon tech to the two empty seats and began to take off our shoes and socks. Even though we were relaxing, I knew both of us still had our guns somewhere on our persons. Not that we would need them, but it never hurt to be prepared.

  “So, you’ve heard my good news. Does you needing advice have anything to do with that guy I saw you holding hands with on the news?” She gave me a knowing grin.

  “Maybe. Things have happened so fast, and I’m not really sure what the next step is.”

  “Have you asked him out on a date?” Karen accepted the drink they offered her before turning her attention back to me.

  “No. We’ve already been through so much. That seems like something childish.”

  “How else are you going to get know each other outside of the bedroom?”

  I stuck my tongue out at her. Ugh! I hated when she was right.

  “You know that extra thing that happened a few months ago? The psychic stuff?” I didn’t really want to spread all of my business out in front of the ladies working on our feet.

  “Yeah? And…?” she asked patiently.

  “Well, he’s connected to it, like yin needs yang connected. He was able to use it to save my life. When I’m near him, I feel like I’ve come home. He has a comforting presence that makes me want to be around him,” I groaned. “I just want to kick myself because I hated him only weeks ago.”

  “None of that now. Sometimes magnets repel each other, and other times they attract. You probably hated him because you knew that if you let down your guard, you would be attracted beyond what you could resist.”

  “That’s not helpful. Stop laughing at me. It’s not like you didn’t mope around for years waiting on Luke to finally figure out what he was missing.”

  She went quiet, and I thought I’d hurt her feelings when she answered with, “I was the one who kept us from being together. He wanted to get married and have kids, but I wanted a chance to make something of myself. I was afraid that if I got married I’d lose myself. I loved Luke back then, it just wasn’t the right time…” Karen drifted off, not wanting to relive the memories.

  “Do you regret it now?”

  “No, because he and his wife wouldn’t have gotten together and had such beautiful children. Which only makes me feel guilty in the first place since I
would never have wished for her to get cancer.” She grimaced. “Maybe on long, lonely nights, I might have wished for them to break up. Once I met her, though, and we got to spend time together, that all changed.”

  “I know that’s been bothering you for a while,” I noted.

  “Really, I was doing great all by myself, and then she called and asked if I could come over. I had no idea what was going on, but she wanted to have a talk with me.”

  “She called you?” I couldn’t believe that a wife would intentionally call an ex-girlfriend over for a chat.

  “I was confused too. It was shortly after I helped Allie when that crazy person was trying to kill her. I’d managed to stay away from Luke, not wanting to cause them any problems just because I couldn’t get over him.” She took a sip of her drink. “That’s when she told me she had cancer.”

  “Why would she tell you?” It seemed odd to me that she would do that. But then again, I wasn’t in her position.

  “She explained she’d always known that Luke still loved me. Not that he didn’t love her,” she hurried to emphasize, “but that he would need someone who cared about him to help him move on. She didn’t think he would recover after her death.”

  “Wasn’t she jealous? I mean, she practically said, ‘here’s my husband when I’m gone.’”

  “I thought that at first as well, but she was doing it for her girls too. She didn’t want them to live their lives being mad at her. Kind of like that movie with Susan Sarandon, Stepmom, where she prepares them all for her death. Luke would have turned inward and done the basics, but he wouldn’t have taken care of them the way they needed. She knew he loved her, and that he would feel guilty for wanting me so soon after she was gone.”