Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (A Dead Cold Box Set) by Blake Banner (best ereader for academics .txt) 📕

looked through the door, I saw him lying on his back. He looked surprised to see the ceiling up there. He had a neat hole right in the center of his forehead.

“Gunter, have you started canvassing the neighbors yet?”

“We just got here, Detective, a few minutes before you did. All we’ve done is secure the scene. We found the door open and the scene exactly as you see it.”

“Across the road, two doors down, there’s a woman staring out of her window watching. Her name is Sandy Beach. Go get her and bring her here, will you?”

“Sandy Beach? Sure.”

He left and I heard Dehan’s voice across the large, hollow room.

“Santos is here…”

I looked over at the sofa, and only then became aware that the television was on, playing a rerun of Castle. Santos had been watching that, or something else earlier. He was sitting slumped over the arm of the couch. There was a mug of coffee spilled on the carpet, dangling from his fingers. His position was twisted and uncomfortable.

Dehan turned to look at me. “I really want to read this as Giorgio killed them and got away. But that’s not what happened here.” She pointed at the door. “Somebody knocked or rang. Clay opened and instantly got plugged in the head.” She gestured at Santos. “He turned to see what was going on. It must have been a bare second. His piece is still in his holster. Then the shooter stepped in and got him from the door. He must have shot Clay, taken just one step, aimed and shot Santos. Bam, bam.”

I nodded. That was how I had read it too. “So where is Giorgio?”

“Captured or rescued.”

I moved over to the sofa. The shot had entered his forehead close to his left temple and blown a big hole in the back of his head. There was a mass of gore and blood over the cushions. I hunkered down and had a look. The slug was clearly visible.

“Nine millimeter.” I stood. “What? Thirty foot? It’s a good shot.”

She nodded once. “That’s what I was thinking. Most people in a hurry would have gone for the body. He’s sitting sideways on, twisted around, and the shooter steps in and aims before Santos can react. But he goes for a head shot. That’s a lot of confidence. And accuracy at thirty paces.”

“The door was left open. The fire has burned down and the room is cold, but the blood is beginning to dry. This happened a while ago. It must have been very shortly after we left.”

“The killer was waiting?”

Before I could answer, there was a footfall outside. Then a gasp and a small scream. I moved to the door. Gunter was with Sandy. He looked embarrassed. She had her hands over her mouth and was staring wide-eyed at Clay on the floor. Then she screwed them up and turned away. We stepped out after her and Dehan put her arm around her shoulders, led her from the door. Gunter looked apologetic. “You told me to bring her over. I warned her it wasn’t pretty…”

I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. My bad.”

I followed them down the steps to where they were standing in front of the garage. Sandy watched me approach. I noticed she was wearing her hair caught up at the back of her head. She still had staring eyes, and her hands over her mouth. I said, “I’m sorry you had to see that, Ms. Beach. We’ve only just arrived and we’re still in a bit of turmoil. That was one of our officers.”

She slowly dropped her hands. “I’m sorry. I should have been prepared. Your sergeant warned me.”

“You’re never really prepared, Ms. Beach. I wanted to ask you if you had seen or heard anything.”

She gave small, slightly breathless nods. “It was a little after you…” She hesitated.

“After we’d left?”

“Well… yes, after you’d left. I had seen Detective Dehan go to that car and come back in with two men. I was so worried for Giorgio. I know you warned me to stay away, but I am really very attached to him.” She gave a small laugh. “I don’t want you to think that I spend my whole life at the window watching for him, but I heard you leave…”

She faltered and Dehan smiled. “You wanted to see if the two men had left with us, so you could go back to Giorgio again.”

Sandy nodded. “I’m afraid so. But I saw that their car was still there. Then I saw another car arrive.”

“Can you describe it?”

“It was big, dark blue. It was like the car Gibbs drives.”

Dehan frowned. “Gibbs?”

“You know, in NCIS.”

I said, “A Dodge Charger. So what happened next, Ms. Beach?”

“Two men got out. They were wearing suits. It was hard to tell but they looked expensive, and dark coats. They were well dressed. They went up to the house and a short while later, they came out again with Giorgio.”

I thought about it a moment, then asked her, “Where did Giorgio sit?”

She was momentarily taken aback. “Oh, well, um, in fact, he sat in the front passenger seat. Is that important?”

Dehan smiled again and shook her head. “Probably not,” but we both knew it was a given: if the Mob take you for a ride and sit you in the front seat, you’re not coming back. I figured Dehan wanted to spare Sandy that, at least for now.

Sandy took hold of her hands. “Is he all right? Is he going to be OK? They won’t hurt him, will they?”

I answered instead of Dehan. “That’s what we are trying to find out, Sandy. Why didn’t you call me when these men arrived?”

“Well, I had no reason to. They looked so smart, I assumed they were from the police or