A Critical Tangent Read online

  A Critical Tangent

  Moonlight and Murder

  Book One

  REILY GARRETT

  Copyright © 2019 Reily Garrett

  Published by Reily Garrett

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, and where permitted by law. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Acknowledgments

  To Siobhan Caughey, for reading through my rough drafts and not laughing. Your perceptions are spot on and always appreciated in delving into a character’s mind. First drafts are always the roughest, but where changes in a character’s direction takes root.

  To Dr. Chris Terrell and Jean Coldwell, your insights into character development and plot points helped the story run smoothly. It takes a lot of time to go through an entire manuscript. Time is a most precious commodity of which we never seem to have enough.

  To Laurie Sickles for also helping to shape my characters and pointing out things that just don’t work. Thank you.

  To Rosie Amber for an in-depth assessment of character and plot, thank you for all your help.

  To my editor, RE Hargrave, thank you for your tireless work on this project, and for seeing the things that I missed.

  To Jim Benoit of Cajun Arms in West Chester, Pennsylvania for conferring and helping differentiate technicalities between law enforcement agencies in PA. Sharing specific details of Cajun Arms tactical training courses. Your level of professionalism and in-depth understanding of human nature is insightful.

  To my readers, each one of you who selects and reads one of my books, thank you for the opportunity to share my work. If you’ve enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review. They are the best way to help your author share her work.

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Epilogue

  Pivotal Decisions

  Reily’s Books

  About Reily

  Prologue

  “Aw, Keiki, if I could find the fun button in your brain, I’d switch it to permanent on. You’re always working. You should’ve come hiking with me. Fresh air would do you good.” Shelly tisked then smiled. “Not that there’s anything wrong with loving your work, but you have an old man psyche trapped in a young woman’s body.”

  “Thanks, Shelly, but no.” Keiki manipulated her latest drone to perform the simple but intricate task of picking a flower. The outing did sound nice, but Shelly needed private time to mourn the loss of her sister.

  “The next time you fall asleep working, I’m going to town with my entire set of permanent markers.” Shelly held her hand out to accept the offered blossom pinched from its low-growing stem and giggled. “You’d look good with cat whiskers and exotic pink eyes.”

  “Test that theory, and I’ll replace your scented shampoo with baby oil.” The threat of laying waste to makeup or hair products usually ended any debate. “I’m about out of battery life. Can you bring it in?”

  “Sure. Turn off the motors.”

  Damn. The soft whirr from the small rotors altered in pitch as they shut down one by one.

  Malevolent shadows crawled along the edges of the surrounding woods, receding with the rising sun. Even from miles away, Keiki’s skin crawled.

  “I hear something.” Shelly rested a palm beside her woodland flower plot to lean forward.

  Through remote viewing, Keiki watched her doppelganger freeze then tilt her head to the side, wrinkles of concern marring her forehead.

  “What?” Thanks to the hilly terrain, two-way communication crackled off and on.

  “Huh, must be a rabbit or squirrel. Anyway, as I was saying. Become a spinster with hundreds of drones instead of cats. I’ll keep you in contact with the outside world.” Again, Shelly paused and tilted her head as if listening to something off in the distance.

  “Hey, why don’t you come back now and we’ll have breakfast?”

  “Yeah, okay. I’m coming. Can you extend the range on this thing’s transmission ability? The video feed isn’t so great.” Lips nibbled between her teeth marked Shelly’s worry when she leaned forward to whisper.

  “I’m working on it. What’s wrong?

  “I’m kinda spooked. Something doesn’t feel right.” Her fingers’ wobble shook the drone’s body. It listed sideways with a squeak.

  “Shelly?”

  “I’m fine. It’s just my clumsiness in challenging gravity… Oh, about the frat party tonight, wanna go?”

  The viewing angle changed again as Shelly stood.

  “No. And before you start, I do have fun. I just don’t have time to party with you and Gabby. Some people stay focused on their future,” Keiki grumbled as she monitored her prototype’s efficiency on her laptop and sipped a caramel latte.

  A distinctive metallic snap coincided with her device’s struggle to function.

  “Oops. Sorry, Keeks. An arm broke off above your tracker thingy. I’ll stick it in my pocket, and you can glue it back on, or whatever. Do we still have audio and visual feed?”

  “Yeah, just bring the rest of it back in one piece, okay?” Keiki groaned, predicting the hour it would take to fix. “Careful. That thing is one of two prototypes, but that one gets the best reception.” Keiki set her coffee down, the cup tilting when settling on her friend’s access card. “Oops, your work ID now has a brown ring on it. You really should be more careful with it.”

  “How rude of me to leave it where you’d drink your coffee.”

  “That’s why we get along so well. We think alike. I’ll stick it on my dresser. It’ll be safer there.”

  “If you’d stop losing yours, you wouldn’t have to borrow mine… shit. Something is coming.” Fear coiled through Shelly’s voice. “Sounded like a branch snapping down the trail. Something big and heavy.”

  “Is it a black bear? You know what to do.”

  A silent moment passed.

  On screen, the image shook.

  “Uh… who are you? What do you want?” Shelly’s wrist rotated, tilting the angle of the drone’s camera to the trampled weeds.

  Through the odd angle, booted feet shuffled backward to leave two furrowed tracks. No one had ever intruded on her friend’s private sanctuary.

  “I’m a messenger, here to show your boss what happens when he refuses to work with us. We tried being nice. Now we’ll do things my way.”

  Miles do
wngrading the audio quality to mediocre didn’t soften the cruel bite of a temper coming unhinged.

  Metal clinking preceded the thud of her drone landing in the meadow’s weeds. Its lens picked up nothing but decaying fall foliage.

  There was a slight pause, as if warring factions sized up the competition before a fight. Keiki’s imagination conjured worst possible scenarios. “What’s going on, Shelly?”

  “This is private property. My father—” Her words drifted off under deep gravelly laughter.

  Shuffling leaf litter and the erratic thump of flesh striking flesh detailed unseen events. Interrupted grunts and thin cries signaled the attack in progress.

  The higher octave and tremble in her friend’s cries caused Keiki’s fingers to fumble in activating and hovering the small drone in order to see the assailant. “Shelly? Who’s there with you? What the hell is going on?”

  Private property signposts didn’t prevent poachers and others from wandering around the secluded, wooded area. It wasn’t feasible any of their college friends knew about the private and sacred place Shelly honored her departed sibling.

  Although the sounds of skirmish lessened, Keiki’s pulse kicked into overdrive. Her shaking fingers couldn’t tap the right keyboard commands to clarify her friend’s circumstances. Decreasing sounds of the struggle magnified the fear filling her mind.

  “Huh. Are you wearing contacts? Looks like I may have made a mistake. There was a bunch of foliage blocking my binocular’s view. No matter, I wanted a two-for-one deal today, anyway.” A deep chortle resonated with sadistic pleasure and tinged with uncertainty.

  Instinct motivated Keiki to record video and audio while the sour taste of fear rose in her throat. “Shelly, what’s happening?”

  “Y-you filthy motherfucker. Get away from me!” Shelly’s choked epithet echoed fear and rage amid sputtering and scuffling sounds.

  Jabbing the laptop’s keys ordered the drone’s pivot. It stopped with a snap and thud. Her computer screen transformed to various shades of black and brown.

  “Damn it. Shelly, what’s going on?”

  “Hmm, never had a voyeur before. As much as I’d like to show you what’s in store for you, I think your girlfriend would prefer this to be a private time just between us.”

  “Feisty bitch.” A male voice, deep and guttural, groaned and cursed, then promised retribution.

  Still, Keiki saw nothing, her imagination filling in the gaps during the assault. Terror filled her mind but froze her body in place. Inside, it felt like a dozen razors shredded her gut.

  “Oh, God. Please help her.”

  The distinctive crack of bones breaking resembled nothing like celery or carrots snapping. Muffled cries and panted breaths amid dull thumping registered during defensive moves chilled Keiki to the bone.

  “Shelly!”

  A sucking noise, like something pulled from soft flesh, jettisoned bile up Keiki’s throat. Her friend’s scream cut short, right before a thin mewl which ended in ominous silence.

  Panic scattered her focus until the absolute stillness in both the woods and apartment infused her with energy.

  “I’m calling the cops, you prick. I’ve already got your picture. The police will figure out your identity.”

  Lies poured forth in an effort to scare away the unknown assailant. The minicam had picked up Shelly’s face and jean-clad legs, along with a glimpse of a masked assailant.

  A dark chuckle supplied a grim answer.

  “Shelly?” Keiki picked up her cell to call 911 but the device slipped through her trembling and sweaty fingers to crash on the tile floor. The phone bounced off the edge of the power adapter and sent spider web cracks radiating outward to cover the screen.

  When secured with two hands, her mobile lifeline still had power, but the keyboard failed to light up. Two fingernails broke when she stabbed the touchscreen display where the numbers should have been. Menacing silence supplied her imagination with everything she couldn’t face and nothing she could identify to help her friend.

  “Well, little chickie-chickie. Now I know who you are, but not where you’re hiding. I bet it won’t take me long to find you.”

  Keiki froze with her hand in midair.

  The shape coming into focus on her screen presented no clarity of the current nightmare. Gray as the coming thunderstorm and cold as her numb fingers, a pair of beady eyes assessed her through small holes in a black skullcap.

  The silence proved more unnerving than the implied threat and froze her to the chair.

  Slamming the laptop’s lid shut prevented his further evaluation of her features and environment. He would hear the thin whine crawling through her chest. Without video confirmation, her mind conjured the worst scenario of the ongoing audible recording.

  Soft rustling of material indicated the killer—for in her mind, Keiki knew her friend was dead—was rummaging through Shelly’s clothes.

  Vomit catapulted up her throat, most of which landed in the trashcan by the counter. Her vision swam and her balance wavered. She couldn’t think what to do, how to help.

  Audio from her laptop continued in the background to form a white noise, a buzzing in the back of her mind.

  A simple tune hummed through the speakers gave no indication to the horror having taken place.

  “Oh, hell, I did start with the wrong one. Boss is gonna be pissed. He warned me about you two looking alike.”

  Like Keiki, Shelly wore her hair in a braid when she hiked. Today had been no exception.

  The two girls had been friends since kindergarten and on more than one occasion, one mistaken for the other.

  Keiki looked around to see what the killer would’ve gleaned from her backdrop. White drywall with pictures of dolphins, beaches, and dogs. Generic and simplistic, they wouldn’t help define her location.

  She wiped her mouth and tried to clear her head. As a senior in one of the smaller colleges, she knew most of the students and was well known in return.

  When beady eyes came looking, it wouldn’t take long to find her.

  Words dried in her mouth while her vision swam. An explosive exhalation arrived with the realization she’d held her breath, concluding with tears and dry heaves.

  “Aw, now don’t be like that, cutie pie. We’re gonna get to know each other real well after I find the little corner where you’re hiding. Real soon. Count on it. I’ll be sure to remember my cuffs. Hope you won’t care they’re not fur lined.”

  Her computer’s settings ensured nothing changed with the lid’s closing except lack of visual access. Two-way audio remained intact. If she lifted the lid, the camera would reveal another glimpse of her backdrop.

  Delayed thinking brought self-recriminations. The bastard could no longer see her or her surroundings. He did hear the sounds of her dry heaving and would understand the mind-numbing terror he instilled.

  Her mind conjured the sadistic violence embedded in his tone. He was a beast who enjoyed his sick pastime.

  “The question foremost in my mind chickie-chickie is this. Are you going to feel as good as you look? Should I describe all the things we’re gonna do? Hmm… Tell me, did you build this mini ornithopter?”

  The fact he defined her work and used the term appropriately doubled her alarm. Due to its location, the attack was specifically planned. The bastard was educated, to a point.

  “It seems I have some decisions to make.”

  The slight clink of metal on metal made her wonder what he was doing.

  Why would he break the drone?

  “I could leave this little piece of evidence for the police to find and trace back to your door. That might be fun.”

  Keiki squeezed her eyes shut, breathing through the burning in her throat.

  “Or, better yet, I could use it to find you before the cops do. Decisions, decisions.”

  For someone with mechanical knack, it took her far too long to remove the battery from her laptop and shut the prick out.

  Tears f
lowed as she booted up her tower to contact 911. In her heart, she knew her best friend lay dead amid a pile of woodland detritus. In making the call anonymous, she hoped to avoid the police and having her personal information on an official report. Anything to make it more difficult for the killer to learn her location.

  The facial recognition program installed by her other part-time employer wouldn’t do much good considering the killer wore a mask. If her luck held, she’d finish the semester and head for a different locale before he tracked her down. She was too close to graduating and didn’t have enough money for a fresh start.

  With so many schools in the area, she should have time if she kept a low profile.

  On the other hand, dead girls didn’t need educating.

  Chapter One

  “Step lightly, Detectives, or I’ll surround your front yards with yellow tape and chalk an outline of a body on the sidewalk.” Covered head to toe in white disposable coveralls, the CSI technician speared Nolan with a persuasive grin while placing some broken leaves in the bag held open by a co-worker.

  The young woman who resembled a snow bunny from the neck down had a longstanding crush on his partner, Coyote.

  “My home doesn’t have a sidewalk. I live in the country,” Nolan challenged as he mentally catalogued the crime scene from a distance to take in the big picture before zeroing in on the victim.

  The lead tech chuckled then added a glare in Coyote’s direction. “I know damn well no one would approach your house without an AR 15 and gator noose handy. Must be how you stay so skinny—outrunning the cousins you call porch puppies.”

  “Gators don’t visit the mountains. They don’t like it this far north. ‘Sides, they can hit thirty miles an hour for short distances on land. If you’re directly in front or ninety degrees from either side, you’d be a tasty snack. Well, you might be a little on the tart side.” Coyote winked at the tech then grunted when Nolan elbowed him in the ribs.

  “And to think you didn’t bring some friends up from Florida? How rude.” The CSI’s hair net swung to the left with the weight of her ponytail when following the southerner’s line of sight.