Savage Art (A Chilling Suspense Novel) (51 page)
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Authors: Danielle Girard
"How could it be copycat? No one ever had the information on the eucalyptus. It was never released to the media."
"It was during the trial."
"Not the detail about how many leaves."
She shook her head. "That we know of. It's probably in some new serial killer book by now. That stuff just leaks. I say you look at the dad."
"Dad's got an airtight alibi."
Sam shook her head. "They always have an airtight alibi."
"He's been in county on a DUI for the past twenty-four hours. According to our guy's estimate, Sandi here's been dead around five."
"Who else is in the household? Just Molly, Sandi, and Sandi's mother, right?"
"Molly's grandma uses a walker. No way she got the body up here by herself."
Sam nodded, remembering.
"Plus, look at those twigs. Recognize them?" Nick asked.
Without looking away from the body, Sam nodded noncommittally. "I agree it's familiar."
"It's more than that."
She raised an eyebrow at Nick. "It's a couple of twigs, Nick, not a tattoo. It could be a coincidence."
He raised an eyebrow back at her. He had an angular jaw and large brown eyes with flecks of green and gold. His mother was black and his father was white, and Nick had the warmest color skin Sam had ever seen. It contrasted with his broad shoulders and lean frame to keep him from looking too hard.
She knew cops weren't supposed to believe in coincidences, but Sloan was dead. She looked at the twig again. Six leaves, just like the others.
Sam shook her head. "It's got to be a coincidence. Sloan's dead. This is something else. Maybe the eucalyptus symbolizes something else."
Nick nodded. "There's the c-word again. It worries me."
Fighting off the chill, Sam turned and peered over at the other twig. "Damn. You're saying Sloan wasn't our killer? The wrong guy was executed?"
Nick shrugged. "Maybe he had a partner."
Sam surveyed the area. It wasn't possible. Sloan had been alone. They'd worked eighteen months to nail him and almost six years to get him convicted and sentenced to death row. He'd never confessed, but he'd done it. The evidence had proved it. She could not accept that the system had killed the wrong man. "What else have you got?"
"Signs of sexual intercourse," Nick added.
Sam frowned. "Semen?"
"Oh, yeah. First guess is postmortem."
"Charlie Sloan never had sex with his victims."
Nick met her gaze. "Okay, not identical."
Sam found herself coming back to someone Sandi knew. "What about other relatives in the area? A new boyfriend?"
"The girl was staying with her grandmother. Dad and Grandma are it."
Sam noticed an odd pattern in the dirt by Sandi's foot. It was the faintest rectangular shape, and Sam wondered what had caused it. On her knees, she searched for evidence. She found it on the instep of Sandi's left foot. "You see this?"
Nick knelt beside her. Using his pen, he pushed on the woman's toes, shining his light on the bottom of her foot.
A gum wrapper was stuck to the arch of Sandi's foot. It was silver and Sam recognized it as Extra. She put her nose to it. Spearmint. Her favorite.
Sam studied the wrapper. "Someone left you a clue." She stood up and brushed off her jeans. "Looks like you've got a new killer on your hands—one with some inside info on our old cases."
Nick shook his head. "Not me, Sam.
We.
You're working this one, too."
Chasing Darkness
by
Danielle Girard
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To purchase
Chasing Darkness
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Danielle Girard's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/DanielleGirard
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As one of four children, Danielle Girard grew up in a house where the person with the best story got heard, and it’s probably no surprise that fast-paced suspense stories have always been her favorite. Girard’s books have won the Barry Award and been selected for the RT Reviewers Choice Award. Two of her novels have been optioned for movies. Visit her website at
www.daniellegirard.com
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Excerpt from RUTHLESS GAME by Danielle Girard
