Justice Overdue: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (28 page)

“We don’t want to break the door down, Lucas,” Brewer called back. “That won’t go well for anyone.”

“I’m thirsty,” Matty whined, looking ready to cry.

Annie leaned forward and touched her son’s arm. “Matty, just wait.”

Matty turned in his chair to face his mother. “But I’m thirsty.”

Lucas gave Annie a black look. “Let the boy have a drink. It might be his last request.”

Matty dug in his backpack. He removed a can and fiddled with the top. “I can’t open it,” he said, his lower lip quivering. He wrapped his hands around the container and held it toward Lucas. “Can you open it, please?”

Lucas cursed and took a step forward. He held the rifle steady and reached for the can with his left hand.

A sudden shower of bear spray shot from the nozzle as Matty gritted his teeth and pressed his thumb down.

Lucas staggered backwards, screaming with pain. Blinded by the spray, he stumbled against the table and fell to his knees, still retaining his grip on the rifle. The weapon fired and a bullet pierced the canoe over his head and embedded itself in the ceiling.

Annie ducked to the floor, taking Kyle with her, as Jake sprang forward and pulled Matty off the chair, dropping beside Annie. Holly had reacted by diving toward the wall, where she lay prone.

There was a sudden crash and the door burst inwards, splinters of wood spraying across the room.

Lucas blindly raised the rifle in the direction of the sound and pulled the trigger. Three shots sounded, then four more as Brewer knelt in the doorway and emptied his pistol into Varick Lucas.

Lucas howled—a horrible shriek that slowly faded as he wavered, and then crumpled to the floor. He lay still and lifeless, the blood from his wounds puddling on the rough wooden floor.

Epilogue

Sunday, 8:55 PM

ANNIE WAS EXHAUSTED, still shaken from their harrowing experience, and glad to be home. The coziness of her overstuffed chair made her sleepy and she snuggled in deeper.

Jake slouched on the couch opposite her, his feet resting on the coffee table, his head back, dozing. Matty seemed to have recovered remarkably well and was sitting on the floor, content to read a comic book.

When the doorbell rang, Jake blinked, stood, and went to the door. It was Hank. They were expecting him. The cop followed Jake into the living room and stopped to tousle Matty’s hair before dropping onto the other end of the couch.

Matty closed his book and looked up. “Hey, Uncle Hank.”

“Hey, Matty.”

“Did you hear about our weekend?” Matty said, as he climbed onto the couch and snuggled up next to Hank.

“Your father gave me some details on the phone, but I didn’t get everything.” He turned to Jake. “How’d you get home so fast?”

“After the RCMP interviewed us, they were good enough to help get our vehicles up and running. They brought the parts by helicopter and got us out of there immediately.”

“And what about the girl?” Hank asked.

“Holly? They gave her a lift home. She was pretty unnerved.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Hank said, as he looked at his watch. “By the way, you might want to turn on the 9:00 news. Amelia called me on the way over. There’ll be a story on Varick Lucas coming on just about now.”

“Lisa Krunk has been trying to call us,” Jake said, as he grabbed the remote from the coffee table and switched on the television. “We didn’t answer the phone.”

On the TV, teasers for upcoming stories ran. Then, the familiar station logo flashed on the screen, the anchor took his cue, shuffled his papers, and looked at the camera. It was the Channel 7 Action News.

“Our top story. Escaped convict, Varick Lucas has been shot dead by the RCMP. In an exclusive report, here’s Lisa Krunk.”

The scene flashed to a view of Lisa in front of a large building.

“I’m standing here in front of RCMP headquarters. Earlier this morning, the RCMP raided a cabin in Algonquin Park where escaped convict, Varick Lucas, was thought to be holed up.”

The view switched to a highway panorama. Police cars lined the road, their lights flashing. A helicopter was seen touching down, and a stretcher, covered by a white sheet, was loaded into a waiting ambulance as Lisa continued.

“A team of tactical unit officers surrounded the building where Lucas was allegedly holding hostages. Attempts were made to negotiate, but when gunfire erupted from inside the cabin, officers entered by force, killing the armed Lucas, and freeing the five hostages.”

Jake sat forward when a picture of him and Annie flashed on the screen.

“In a surprising turn of events, it appears the hostages were citizens of Richmond Hill. Private detectives, Jake and Annie Lincoln, whom I’ve had occasion to interview several times in the past, were vacationing in Algonquin Park and taken hostage by Lucas. I’ve been unable to reach them for comment and details are sketchy at this time, but sources have confirmed, their eight-year-old son, Matty, was responsible for setting about the chain of events leading to Lucas’s defeat.”

Lisa came back on the screen, hugging the microphone.

“I’ll bring you more on this story as information becomes available. For Channel 7 Action News, I’m Lisa Krunk.”

The anchor appeared.

“Tune in tomorrow night when we’ll bring you an exclusive look at the life of Varick Lucas, along with further details of the RCMP manhunt culminating in his death.”

Jake switched off the television and looked at Hank. “Next time I ask you to come vacationing with us, maybe you should. It would have come in handy to have a cop there.”

Hank chuckled. “Why would you need me when you have Matty around?” He glanced down at the boy. “Isn’t that right, Matty?”

But Matty didn’t hear. He was fast asleep.

###

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Books by Rayven T. Hill

Blood and Justice

The First Book in the Series

When sixteen-year-old Jenny James goes missing, and the local police are unable to find her, the girl’s frantic mother hires private investigators Jake and Annie Lincoln to search for her daughter.

When the body of Jenny’s boyfriend is discovered, the mystery of her disappearance deepens. Shaken out of their comfort zone of Internet searches and poring over public records, the couple soon find themselves facing the frightening possibility they are looking for the latest victim of a serial killer.

As more bodies pile up, the town is gripped with fear. It seems no one is safe, and the Lincolns race to solve an impossible puzzle before they become the killer’s next victims.

Buy
BLOOD AND JUSTICE
Now

Cold Justice

The Second Book in the Series

Late one night an emotionally disturbed woman, Abigail Macy, witnesses a murder. She reports what she saw to the police, but out of fear that the killer will return to eliminate her as a witness, she keeps quiet about his identity. When the police investigate her claim, they find no evidence of a crime, and influenced by her psychiatrist’s diagnosis that she was delusional, the case is closed.

Abigail’s condition deteriorates, and she shuts herself away, withdrawn and distraught, refusing to speak to anyone except the occasional word to her husband. To ease her tormented mind, he hires private investigators, Jake and Annie Lincoln, to find a supposed killer, with no proof that one exists.

When Abigail is found dead two days later, the coroner concludes that she had committed suicide, however the Lincolns aren’t convinced of the verdict. Now, with the only witness dead, the challenge to unravel the truth and find a murderer becomes more baffling.

The Lincolns find themselves in danger of being the killer’s next victims as they are drawn into a perilous web of lies, deceit and cover-ups.

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COLD JUSTICE
Now

Justice for Hire

The Third Book in the Series

A young girl who has been missing for eight months, suddenly reappears and commits a heinous murder. She claims not to know why she did it, or where she had been for the last few months. The girl's desperate parents hire private investigators, Jake and Annie Lincoln, to find the truth behind their daughter's disappearance, and why she would return and kill a stranger in cold blood.

An ex-con, who had seemingly turned his life around, becomes the next victim when a young boy shoots him, and then casually holds the gun to his own head, and pulls the trigger. An aspiring city councilor is executed in the same manner. None of the deadly murderers seem to be aware of their actions.

As the Lincolns race to solve the puzzle of why young killers are casually murdering without remorse, they are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy and become targets of a merciless assassin.

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JUSTICE FOR HIRE
Now

Captive Justice

The Fourth Book in the Series

When a woman is abducted and the self-proclaimed "Merchant of Life" demands strict adherence to his impossible terms, the police are perplexed.

Private investigators, Jake & Annie Lincoln, are drawn into peril when the kidnapper demands Jake deliver the ransom money. The exchange takes place as planned, but when the abducted woman's body is discovered brutally murdered, the search for an unpredictable madman begins.