Shadow of Danger (40 page)

Coming August, 2013…

Shadow of Perception

Book Two of the CORE “Shadow” Trilogy

What happens when negligent plastic surgeons receive a taste of their own medicine…?

Chicago investigative reporter, Eden Risk, receives an unmarked envelope containing a postcard ordering her to watch the enclosed DVD…or someone else dies. No Police. After Eden watches the DVD, a gruesome, horrifying surgery, she turns to the private criminal investigation agency, CORE, for help. Only she hadn’t expected that help to come with a catch. Her former lover, Hudson Patterson, has been assigned to the case.

Hudson would rather have another CORE agent handle the investigation. Two years ago, he’d screwed things up with Eden…bad. And as more DVDs arrive, Eden and Hudson find themselves not only knee-deep in a twisted investigation, but forced to deal with their past, and the love they’d tried to deny.

Enjoy an excerpt from Shadow of Perception…if you dare.

SHADOW OF PERCEPTION

By

Kristine Mason

Prologue

“Look at me, Daddy.”

Michael Morrison ignored the howling wind lashing against the metal building and concentrated on the old TV. A slow, bitter smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as his daughter moved across the screen. She’d just turned five and had looked so adorable and proud dancing and twirling for the camera in her lavender taffeta dress.

“Do you think I’ll win, Daddy?” she asked as she paused to admire herself in the mirror. “Mommy says I’m sure to be crowned Little Miss Hanover.” She frowned at her reflection and plucked at the puffy lace capping her slender shoulders. “But I saw the other girls during rehearsal and—”

“Don’t you worry about those other girls,” he reassured her as he’d held the camera steady. “And even if you don’t win, no matter what, I think you’re the most beautiful girl in the world.”

He still did.

His eyes misted, with grief, with regret, with overwhelming sadness. 

Another strong gust swept against the building. Howling and protesting, the wind angrily pelted the metal walls. Almost as if nature, the universe, God, or whatever higher powers there may be, understood and shared his pain. Approved of what he was about to do.

He wiped a hand across his damp forehead, a huff escaping from between his dry lips. If anyone had heard his inner thoughts they’d think he was crazy. Hell, if anyone had a clue of what he’d planned they’d lock him in a padded cell until his body rotted to dust and his soul slid to the bowels of hell. But he wasn’t crazy. Angry, yes. Vindictive, you bet your ass.

Hardening his jaw, he returned his focus to the TV, where the DVD he’d created from old home movies segued to the next scene. The crowning of Little Miss Hanover. As her mother had predicted, Eliza had won. While the crowd had cheered and the judge placed a bejeweled crown on her head, Eliza had smiled for the camera, mouthing “I love you, Daddy” as she’d smoothed her tiny hands over the full skirt of that lavender dress.

Her proud, innocent smile faded from the screen as the film moved forward. Images of Eliza’s many other beauty pageants—that she’d ultimately won or placed—flew by almost as quickly as her short life.

The wind barraged the building again, the TV screen suddenly flipped, blurring the frames into a Technicolor nightmare. The old picture tube protesting its use, he supposed as he stood and gave the top of the box a slap. After a second, the screen burst to life again, but in slapping the TV, he must have accidently rattled the DVD player, too. The images jerked to a screeching halt before jumping ahead. Past Eliza’s cheerleading years, the night she’d been crowned homecoming queen, her first modeling shoot, and straight to the final scene. 

He hit
PAUSE
and froze the image. No. Not a scene or a segment from the old home movie collection, but a still shot of his daughter lying on her bed.

Naked. Dead. Unrecognizable.

His throat thickened and his eyes filled with tears he couldn’t afford to shed at the moment. Holding his grief at bay, he focused on the anger. And as he leaned forward and traced his fingers along the TV screen, along the gaping slashes across her wrists to the blood pooling at her sides, he allowed that anger to take root. Let the hatred numb his heart and blacken the soul that would eventually belong to the devil. The devil could have him. He could give a shit if he burned in hell for an eternity so long as he took the men who had destroyed his daughter along for the ride.

He would have added her mother, the woman he’d once loved fiercely, to what he liked to refer to as his “death wish list.” But, Sarah had scratched herself off his list before he’d written a single name by putting a bullet through her head at their daughter’s funeral. Not even in death could Sarah allow Eliza a moment to shine. No, the narcissistic bitch had to blow her brains all over the metal casket, making it about her. Always about her.

Now it was about Eliza. As it should have been from the beginning, as it would be now, and ever shall be, world without end. A-fucking-men.

The alarm on his watch beeped, reminding him what he’d already known. His patient would be waking soon, and by the low moan from the other room, Michael would have to act fast before the bastard regained full consciousness. Sure he’d strapped the man down, but he didn’t want to miss the look on the shithead’s face when his eyes fluttered open only to discover he’d just woken up in hell.

As he was about to exit the office, though, shame suddenly clouded his judgment. What he’d spent seven long years preparing for went beyond immoral and had his conscience battling with his anger and need for revenge. Sweat coated his skin and trickled down his back. His heart quickened and his head grew dizzy with the onslaught of a panic attack. Until he glanced at the letter he’d framed and hung on the wall. The final contact he’d ever have from his beloved daughter. While he’d memorized Eliza’s words, each bold and bubbly stroke of her script, he honed in on one line in particular for encouragement.

Make them listen, Daddy.

Another moan, this time even louder, filtered into the office. His head cleared, his heart slowed to normal, and an eerie calm settled over him.

“They’ll do more than listen, baby,” he whispered, rage suddenly sweeping away any thoughts of immorality or ethics or principles. Screw those things. Screw those quacks who’d destroyed his daughter’s life.

Without hesitation he left the office and entered the main section of the thirty by fifty steel garage. He hadn’t needed the entire space and had chosen to fulfill his plans in the west corner of the building, where the lighting was best and the bathroom and utility sink were closest. Things would become messy after all.

When he reached the corner that housed his private operating room, he couldn’t help a stab of pride. He’d worked half his life in the medical field and knew the space he’d created here rivaled most hospitals. Although, his OR did lack a heart monitor, he amended with a grin as he rounded the operating table and stared at the man strapped to it. His patients were here to suffer, not survive.

As he reached for his scrubs, the man on the table lolled his head and his eyes began to flutter. Grabbing a water bottle from the bench next to him, Michael opened it then splashed water on Doctor Thomas Elliot’s face.

Coughing and sputtering, Elliot widened his eyes. Before the man could release a word, Michael pierced the doctor with a syringe, sending a paralytic rushing through the man’s veins.

Elliot’s eyes drifted shut and his body stilled. If someone were to walk into the room, they’d think he was dead. The drug paralyzed the body, but not the mind, or hearing, or...

Michael used masking tape to force the doctor’s eyelids to remain open. “Can’t let you off that easy, can I?” he asked Elliot, then turned the man’s head toward the bench that held the medical instruments. He wanted him to see the tools. He wanted him scared out of his mind. Helpless and at his mercy.

Make them listen, Daddy.

Even though immobile and paralyzed, he’d guarantee he had the bastard’s full attention.

“Good evening, Dr. Elliot. I’ll be handling your surgery,” he said as he shed his own clothes and reached for the scrubs again. Once dressed he pointed to the instruments on the bench.

“I’m sure these items are familiar to you considering you’re a doctor. As you can see, I have everything needed to perform your procedure. I wouldn’t want you to think I was a quack or anything.”

He glanced at his watch. The paralytic would wear off in less than a minute. He’d love to give the good doc another dose, but didn’t want to risk killing him before he had a chance to perform the surgery.

“I’ve got a schedule to meet, so let’s get this show on the road.” After slipping on his surgical cap and gloves, Michael reached for the Ziploc bags lying on the bench. He pretended to weigh the bags in his hands, fighting a grimace as the maggots inside moved. “Like you tend to do for your own patients, I took it upon myself to choose just the right size for you. With your height and build, I thought a D-cup would be perfect. Don’t you think?”

He dangled the bags in front of Elliot’s face. “No? Yes?” With an exasperated sigh, he set the bags on the man’s bare chest. “I have to admit, I
am
a bit nervous. After all, you’ve performed hundreds of breast augmentations and this is my first.” He shrugged. “But, gotta start somewhere, right? I just hope I don’t botch this up. Not that you would know anything about botching up a surgery. I mean, you
are
the expert.”

Michael noticed the bags on the man’s chest begin to move, and it had nothing to do with the contents. The drug had started to wear off and within seconds, Elliot would regain control of his body. He leaned closer to the man’s still paralyzed face. “This is truly an honor, Doctor. One I know I won’t regret. Oh, and thanks so much for agreeing to do the surgery without anesthetic. It really saves on time and money, don’t you think?”

Elliot answered with an audible wheeze. As he dragged in a deep breath, his eyes widened. He shifted and circled his gaze, the muscles around his eyes fighting against the tape holding his lids in place. “W-why...?”

Michael slapped a piece of duct tape over the doctor’s mouth. “Really, Doc. You know how tight surgery schedules can be. But because you asked so nicely and you’ve been such a good patient so far, I’ll give you a hint. Eliza Morrison. Ring a bell?”

Elliot groaned and shook his head. If he could have spoken, Michael suspected the doctor would have spewed lies to save his sorry ass. The bastard had known how Eliza had died. He’d known why. Abiding by his daughter’s last wishes, Daddy had told them and tried to make them listen. They hadn’t, though. Holding the scalpel high, Michael would bet his own sorry ass Elliot was ready to listen now.

Too little, too late.

Elliot screamed from beneath the duct tape, raised his head from the table and fought the straps holding his shoulders, waist and legs. He would need more restraints, Michael realized. But as he’d told the good doc, this was his first surgery. He’d just have to make note to purchase more restraints for his future patients.

“Hold still and we’ll be done before you know it,” Michael said as he hovered above the doctor, whose watery gaze darted from the metal blade to the bags. “Wait. You’re not worried I’m going to screw up your breast implants like you did my daughter’s are you?”

Elliot groaned, his breath quickening through his nostrils, tears and sweat coating his face.

“Or maybe you’re worried about the implants themselves. If you are, don’t be.” Michael leaned closer, relishing the fear in the man’s eyes, and whispered, “The coyotes will have torn the limbs from your body before the maggots ever have a chance to fester in your flesh.”

Elliot screamed against the duct tape. Eyes bulging with terror, he pulled and thrashed against his bindings with renewed vigor.

Michael straightened. With a satisfied sigh, he tied his surgical mask, then turned and flipped the video camera he’d stationed in front of the operating table to
RECORD
.

Setting the disgusting bags aside, Michael raised the scalpel and smiled. “Let’s begin. Shall we?”

Other Titles Available by Kristine Mason

Kiss Me

When is a kiss…

After a series of bad relationships, Jenna Cooper wants a sex buddy — no-strings, no emotional involvement, and absolutely no expectations of commitment. She sets her sights on Luke Sinclair. A player and commitment-phobe, he’d make the perfect boy toy. Only Luke’s tired of playing the scene and wants a serious relationship with Jenna, not a series of one-night-stands.

…More than a kiss?

When Luke makes Jenna an offer she can’t refuse, the sexual tension between them combusts and their emotional chemistry becomes too hard for Jenna to ignore. They both end up with more than either bargained for, especially when Jenna’s wild past is exposed and threatens to tear their relationship apart. Now Luke will do anything to make things right between them, but knows it’s going to take more than a kiss…

Pick Me

For the chance of a lifetime…

To help save the TV reality show,
Pick Me,
from cancellation,
Valentina Bonasera swaps her position as the show’s Production Assistant, to play the role of Bachelorette, only to discover Bachelor Number One, rancher and sports agent, Colt Walker, happens to be her one and only one-night-stand she’d snuck away from six months ago.

…Pick me.

Colt had never forgotten the hot, sensual night he’d shared with Valentina, or how she’d left him without so much as a note or her contact information. He’d spent months searching for the woman who’d given him a night he couldn’t forget and thought he’d never see again. Now that she’s in Dallas, he’s determined to make her his…