Divine Intervention (35 page)

"We'll have a full pathology report from Dr. Copeland by tomorrow," she said. "For now, we know that someone drugged Winkler, beat him, doused him in an accelerant, set his body on fire and threw him into the river."

Ben frowned. "Kind of overkill, don't you think?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Intense rage and overkill. What does that tell you?"

"It tells me that someone wanted Monty Winkler deader than dead." She looked Ben in the eye. "And Winkler knew his assailant."

"So the question is…who?"

She gave him a scornful look. "Are you kidding? He's a politician. Probably had people lining up at his door, just waiting for an opportunity."

"Yeah, I think you're right about that." He fastened his seatbelt, started the car and inched it out into the busy traffic. "Well, since you're in training for team leader, why don't you tell me what we should do next?"

Ben was testing her again. He'd been doing that a lot the last two weeks. On his say-so, she'd be ready to lead her own team. Something she'd been waiting for. She'd been going through all the manuals, studying past cases, listening to and watching recorded testimonies for weeks. She was more than ready to lead her own team.

"We should start with his last known whereabouts and last contacts. Next, we should interview witnesses, make a list of known enemies, find out if any death threats had been issued and look into his political―" She broke off. "Hey, wasn't Winkler the swing vote in the small arms rights bill a few months ago?"

"Winkler pushed it through before anyone could blink."

"And a lot of people were pissed."

Monty Winkler was responsible for the new law that now gave Canadians the freedom to carry handguns. As long as they carried permits, of course. The gun law had created a surge of dissention across Canada. Some thought it was a long time coming, considering the US had implemented a similar law decades ago. Others thought it would lead to higher crime rates.

For weeks afterward, thousands of people gathered on Parliament grounds across Canada, some in support and some in protest. The pro-gun crowd wanted fewer restrictions on licensing, while the anti-gun crowd protested Canadians carrying weapons at all. Ironically, three people were injured two months ago outside Ottawa's Parliament Hill. They'd been shot by an enraged pro-gun advocate, while the anti-gun crowd carried around massive signs showing dead teenagers in a high school cafeteria and a blood-soaked Toronto alley sealed off with crime tape.

One particularly gruesome sign was a screen capture of Brett Laughlin slumped on his bed, brain matter pooling on the blanket beneath him. After being taunted mercilessly by a group of cyber-bullies, the shy, overweight sixteen-year-old had logged into an online video chat room, then sat down on the bed with his stepfather's newly purchased Walther PPX semi-automatic pistol hidden behind his back.

"Today is my last day of suffering. And I'm glad."

Brett spoke about his persecutors, about the beatings in the boys change room, about the time he'd been forced to lick one boy's feet clean. Sobbing uncontrollably, he told the world how difficult it was to not fit in.

"It's not easy being the most unpopular kid in school. I'm afraid every day of what they'll do to me. But no more. I can't do this anymore."

He described how he'd suffered at the hands of his stepfather who beat him for being weak and not fighting back.

"I just wanted to be liked. I didn't care if I was super popular, but maybe just some respect. Instead I was treated worse than an animal, and no one gave a shit. Not my mother, and especially not that asshole she married." He swiped at the tears on his face. "So why should I care? I'll never be popular. I'll never even be liked."

With millions of horrified people―mostly unsuspecting teens―watching live, Brett Laughlin put the gun to the side of his head and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was deafening.

In a matter of seconds, his grisly death had become the most popular cyber-suicide video to hit VidWurld, with over thirty million world-wide views before the Laughlin family got a court order to shut it down.

It was ironic. Brett had gotten his wish to become popular. But what a price he paid for it.

Jasi still couldn't get the kid's face out of her mind. He reminded her of her brother Brady―young, impetuous, troubled and filled with resentment. The perfect recipe for disaster.

Pro-gun supporters didn't seem to care what guns were doing to the youth on the street, and no one bothered to look at what gun rights had done to the USA. The United States of
Arms
, as some called it.

She sighed. "No one outside of law enforcement would be carrying if it weren't for Winkler and that other MP. What was his name?"

"Ravinder Sharma," Ben replied. "They sure surprised everyone with their votes."

"Wonder what made them change their minds."

"Who knows? Some people believe they have a God-given right to protect themselves at all costs."

"Well, they're half right," she said dryly. "They just don't realize they increase the chance of violence by simply having a gun in their possession. The people shot at the Ottawa protest have proven that."

Ben nodded. "Nothing worse than an angry mob."

Jasi thought of the corpse lying in the morgue.

"I don't think Monty Winkler would agree."

DIVINE JUSTICE will be released in May 2011, in ebook and trade paperback editions. Watch for it!

COMING IN MARCH 2011…

CHILDREN

of the

FOG

A supernatural thriller
by bestselling author

Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Praise for Cheryl Kaye Tardif

DIVINE INTERVENTION

"An exciting book from start to finish. The futuristic elements are believable…plenty of surprising twists and turns. Good writing, good book! Sci-fi and mystery fans will love this book." ―
Writer's Digest

"This chilling page-turner is a genuine Canadian crime novel...Tardif gives her readers plenty of twists and turns before reaching a satisfying ending." ―
Midwest Book Review

"Para-psychic, Para-psychotic, Para-captivating! Ditto on the previous reviewers who loved the scenery, intricate plot lines with twists and turns...Divine Intervention captivated me." ―Yale R. Jaffe, author of 
Advantage Disadvantage

"[An] excellent suspenseful thriller…promises to keep readers engrossed…Watch for more from this gem in the literary world…" ―
Real Estate Weekly

"Believable characters, and scorching plot twists. Anyone who is a fan of J.D. Robb [aka Nora Roberts] will thoroughly enjoy this one…
Divine Intervention
will undeniably leave you smoldering, and dying for more." ―Kelly Komm, author of
Sacrifice
, an award-winning fantasy

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & OTHER CREEPY STORIES

"A thoroughly entertaining and unabashedly Canadian collection of horror shorts - a straightforward, in-your-face, goosebump raising, skin crawling creep fest with brilliantly conceived endings..." ―Paul Weiss, Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer

WHALE SONG

"Tardif's story has that perennially crowd-pleasing combination of sweet and sad that so often propels popular commercial fiction…Tardif, already a big hit in Canada…a name to reckon with south of the border." ―
Booklist

"
Whale Song
is deep and true, a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel." ―NY Times bestselling novelist Luanne Rice, author of Beach Girls

"A wonderfully well-written novel. Wonderful characters [that] shine. The settings are exquisitely described. The writing is lyrical.
Whale Song
would make a wonderful movie." ―
Writer's Digest

THE RIVER

"Cheryl Kaye Tardif has once again captivated readers in her third novel and latest suspense thriller,
The River
. Set in the wilds of Canada's north,
The River
combines intrigue, science, love and adventure and is sure to keep readers clamoring for more." ―
Edmonton Sun

"Exciting and vivid…A thrilling adventure where science sniffs harder, desperate to find the fountain-of-youth." ―
Midwest Book Review

Praise for Cherish D'Angelo (aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif)

LANCELOT'S LADY

"From the cold rocky shores of Maine to the extravagant mansions of Miami to a lush tropical island in the Bahamas, Cherish D'Angelo takes her heroine through a series of breathtaking romantic adventures that mirror the settings, often in surprisingly ironic ways.  A page turner in the best possible sense." ―Gail Bowen, author of the award-winning Joanne Kilbourn series

"Cherish D'Angelo has got that mythical "voice" down to a fine art." ―Jennifer L. Hart, author of
 
River Rats

"
Lancelot's Lady
 
is riveting. It holds on and won't let you go! Cherish D'Angelo's descriptive powers are amazing. She summons up scenes like genies from bottles!" ―Susan J. McLeod, author of
 
Soul and Shadow

In the tradition of Stephen King, The Twilight Zone and The Hitchhiker, comes a terrifying collection of short stories in…

Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories