Read Chapter 1 of The Past Deceit

Available June 24th

APPLE BOOKS AMAZON NOOK GOOGLE KOBO Chapter 1Silas

After a grueling night of trying his best to sleep, Silas showed up at work feeling like shit and unable to shake the bad taste the copycat killer had left in his mouth.

Not only did he have a mess to clean up from the damage Fletcher had inflicted, but now he had to try and put everything that happened the day before out of his mind and move on with his own case.

Thankfully, his part was done on the case, and it was up to the legal team to do the legwork. Fletcher had appointed his pet to deal with them since he and Madison had to give their full attention to what they were working on. 

They still had to make full reports, but he had it ready to turn in. That was fine with Silas. He didn’t want to lay eyes on that piece of shit, Appling, ever again. The man had killed his girlfriend and tried to make it look like the Ghost had done it. As if they didn’t have nearly a dozen other murders to compare it to.

He walked up to the door, knowing he had to let it go and focus. He had a lot to do before the killer struck again—if he struck again. Silas still wasn’t sure Fletcher hadn’t run the man back into hiding.

When Silas entered the department, the loud echo of voices was hard to miss. Stanton was standing with a man who had his back to Silas, but the closer he got as he approached, he realized he knew the other man. The way the two were posturing, he knew it was about to get ugly fast.

“I want to know what’s going on!” said his victim’s ex-husband. He tried hard to remember his name as he continued to rant. “This is my wife we’re talking about.”

“I told you, the detective is not here yet. He doesn’t come in until later. I’m sure he’ll be in touch.”

“Hey,” said Silas, hoping to get their attention. “Are you looking for me?”

When Stanton looked up, the relief was clear on his face. “Oh, thank God. There he is,” he told the other man. “I told you he wasn’t here.”

“Is there a problem?” Silas could understand why he had his own problems with Stanton, but he didn’t understand why the man was ready to get so angry in the front hall of the police department with plenty of witnesses.

“Mr. O’Connor is here about his ex-wife. I told him you weren’t in yet.”

“I’ll take it from here.”

“Thanks, I’ve got to find Hurley and get to work.” Stanton cleared out as quickly as he could.

 Silas turned his attention to the man. “How are you, Mr. O’Connor, is it?”

“Please, call me Avery.”

“Avery, sure.” He shook his hand. It was warm and clammy, as if he had it clenched in a fist for the last half hour.

“What I want to know is if you got him or not? I’ve been calling for days. I saw the captain on TV a few days ago talking about this killer being a copycat, and I get up this morning to another report that you caught him. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask to be notified.”

“And I agree, but it’s not what you think. We haven’t found your ex-wife’s killer yet. In fact, the person we arrested is not involved in your wife’s case at all.”

The man looked like someone had let the air out of him. “That’s not what it sounded like. He said the killer was someone who was copycatting the Wade case. And I looked into it. It’s just like Sharon’s case.”

The last thing Silas needed was for everyone to start comparing everything to the Wade case, mostly because it was one and the same. “My apologies, but the press came in a little early and talked to the wrong person. If Captain Fletcher had just waited to be briefed on yesterday’s scene, I’m sure we could have avoided the misunderstanding. But that’s all it was. The murder yesterday was just someone trying to use your wife’s killer as a scapegoat.”

And if that was confusing, he could try being in Silas’s shoes.

Instead, he nodded and released a long, ragged breath. “So? Are you still looking for him?” The worry and anger in his eyes were understandable, as well as the frustration. Silas shared that much with him, only it was directed solely at Fletcher.

“Yes, of course. We’re doing all we can, but when things like yesterday happen, it makes it harder. But I’m not going to give up. Don’t worry about that.”

“That’s good to hear.” Avery had begun to calm down a little, but the aggravation was something that was hard to disguise. “I really want to know as soon as you find something. And I mean like as soon as you do.”

“And I’ll let you know as soon as I can. But know you’re not going to have contact with him if that’s what you’re thinking.” He looked as if he wanted to get his hands on the man, and while Silas understood that desire, he also knew the man was wasting his time for thinking it would happen.

“You also have to understand that your ex-wife isn’t the only woman this man had killed. So, it’s a very delicate situation for a lot of people.”

He sighed. “I heard about the others. I guess I just don’t want her to get lost in the mix.” He began to tear up. “When I didn’t hear from you, it just kind of made me wonder. I feel helpless, not knowing what’s going on. I feel like I should be doing something. It’s hard to face my mother-in-law, considering all that’s happened. But someone has to take care of her now that Sharon isn’t around. She’s still sore at me, but we’re all we’ve got.”

Silas couldn’t imagine being in that position and knew it had to be tough. “You can rest assured that we’re not going to forget her. We’re processing everything individually, but we have to look at it both separately and together with the others. It’s a lengthy process, especially since we all want it done right.” He wanted to stress that so the man wouldn’t think he was just going to slap together the case and hope for the best.

“I can appreciate that. I know this department is already in hot water for screwing up. I don’t want Sharon’s case to end up ignored or not done right. We all just want this to be over and settled so we can move on, but at the same time, I need justice for her. She deserves justice.”

“I completely understand. And while you’re here, did you want to come on into my office and we can talk? I have a little time and a few more questions.”

Silas didn’t mind sharing a little time with him if it got him off of his ass. The more he understood that they weren’t going to just quit the case, the better.

“You can ask me anything, but I can’t stay long. I have to get to work soon. I wish I could take off, but we’re short-handed, and honestly, it’s like the only thing I can do right now.”

“I know. It’s never easy.”

“I tell you, man. I only thought divorcing her was rough. And just when I thought I’d get her back, boom, she’s gone.” He wiped his eyes with his fingers and rubbed them dry on his pants. “Talking about her is hard, but everyone keeps telling me it helps.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard. So, did you notice anything new with her? Anything since the divorce? I know I’ve asked you before, but maybe you have a bit of a clearer head now?” The last time he’d seen the man, he was on the scene and had just found his wife murdered.

“It’s all just so crazy that it happened to someone like her. She was good and a hard worker and had her head on straight, you know? I just don’t understand.”

“Bad things happen to good people every day, Avery.”

“Was she talking to anyone new? Was there anything that sticks out to you?”

“We were going to give it another go, but part of me didn’t know if she was going to go through with it. Not because of another man, but because her friends were in her head.”

“They influenced her a lot?”

“Well, Sharon wasn’t usually easily influenced, but she told me that being single had been hard on her. She thought she was ready to get back out there, but I think she changed her mind when we started talking again. I think she liked how easy I was to talk to.”

“So, why did you think it wouldn’t work?”

“They wanted her to go on a single-lady cruise. And she said it was tempting. I figured they’d talk her into it eventually, and that would be that. Her friends could be very persuasive, and I think what got to her more was feeling outnumbered. So she usually went along. I told her to be herself.” He gave a half-hearted smile. “She was better than all of them.”

Silas took out his phone. “Do you happen to have their names and numbers?”

“Actually, yes. They all got in touch wanting to know the details of the funeral. I’m not sure what kind of arrangements I’ll have, but her mother asked if I could take care of it. She’s in poor health. This will probably kill her.”

Silas quickly transferred the numbers to his phone. “It’s good to get more than one perspective about her. And you never know, maybe one of them knows more than they’re telling.”

“I’ve asked them all to tell me anything and everything they remember, but no one knows anything. Makes me wonder if they ever cared.” He glanced at the time. “Damn, I should get going. Thanks a lot. I hate it wasn’t him, but I feel better knowing you’re not going to forget her.”

“Not a chance.” He never forgot their faces. He would see Sharon in his nightmares.

As Avery walked away, Silas went inside with hopes that no one interrupted his way to the coffee pot. He needed something to get his head on right, and it wasn’t like he could pay Russ a visit that early in the morning.

Once his coffee was made, he went down to his office to find his messages were full. 

Everyone wanted to know the same as Sharon Duffy’s ex. Had their loved ones been forgotten? Had the killer been caught? What was with the copycat? There were even messages from Roxanne Reade’s office hoping to set up an interview.

“Not on your life,” he said upon hearing it.

He couldn’t deal with it and decided to go see if Madison had better news.

Silas went to the forensic department, where he walked in on another argument.

“It doesn’t add up,” said Madison. “I just want you to explain it to me.”

“Are you gonna get on my back now? As if I don’t have enough problems every day.” Mulhern’s face was red, and Silas didn’t like how he postured over Madison as if he was looking down at a little bug he was about to squash.

“Hey,” he called out, moving quickly across the room despite the fact that Madison didn’t seem afraid of Mulhern at all.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but I’m sure she’ll tell you.” Mulhern turned his attention to her. “I’m done. As I said already, I stand by the work I did back then, and that’s all I have to say. And just so you know your place around here, I don’t have to answer you. I’m your boss, remember? Unless you want to do something to change that?” He stared her down. “I didn’t think so.” He turned around and went back to his desk on the far side of the room.

Madison pushed a paper at Silas and took off down the back hall toward the exit, leaving him to wonder what the hell had gotten into everyone.