Title:
Murder
in Silence (Murder, Book 1)
Author:
Gary
Kassay
Publisher:
Sapphire
Star Publishing
Length:
100,000
words
Genres:
Mystery/Thrillers/Suspense
(Non-Romance)
Available
at:
Sapphire
Star Publishing (Coming Soon)
Blurb:
Two
police officers have been brutally killed by having their throats
ripped out, but the wound appears to have been done with surgical
precision. With no witnesses, no forensic evidence, and two bizarre
clues to follow, the case falls to Inspector Duke Becker, head of the
high profile Special Investigations Unit, Homicide.
Becker
and his squad must find the killer before more cops are murdered. The
case will lead Becker on a wild chase through the streets of New York
City, back over 15 years into the past and to a cover-up that will
rock City Hall.
Along
with his brash, wildly dressed young partner, Jimmy Nova, the
beautiful Michelle Goldman, Augie “Doggie” Rivera, and the Mutt
and Jeff team of Bobby Green and Joe Robinson, Becker will need to
enlist his boyhood friend in charge of CSU, Manny Velez.
Add
a ruthless newswoman known to the NYPD as “”Wicked Witch Wilson”
and a new love interest for Becker in the gorgeous and brilliant Dr.
Elizabeth Cunningham, Becker is about to embark on the most difficult
and dangerous case in his 20 plus years. Will Becker and his squad be
able to catch the killer before more cops die or will the killer have
the last laugh?
Excerpt:
Monday
morning.
Walking
into One Police Plaza, I had a smile on my face and a snap in my
walk. I even stopped to tell Chuck a joke. As I rode up in the
elevator, I felt that things would start to break soon. Then Liz and
I could maybe take some time off together and really get to know each
other.
I
opened the door to the conference room. Jimmy and Augie were on the
phone. They were hitting redial over and over again, slamming the
receivers down and then picking them up again. Joe, Bobby, and Harry
were yelling out orders to a couple of uniforms that just kept
nodding and then ran from the room. Harry’s hair was all mussed.
All of them were pale, as if they had just seen a ghost. I tried to
hear what had happened, but I couldn’t get the jist of it from all
the commotion. Something bad had happened, and I finally had had
enough of trying to figure it out by just standing there.
“Hey,
guys, what’s going on?” I asked, but no one stopped to answer me.
I tried again, but it was as if I wasn’t even there. Getting a bit
peeved, I put two fingers in my mouth and let loose with a long, loud
whistle. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at me as if
I had just entered the room.
“Maybe
someone would like to tell me just what the hell is going on around
here?” I asked loudly.
“There
was another murder, Duke, Saturday night,” Harry said.
“Saturday?”
I asked incredulously. “Why wasn’t I told about it immediately?”
“With
everything going on with the funeral, I never even checked in here as
I usually do. . I never even turned on the news all day Sunday. I,
uh, was nursing a hangover. I also spoke to the detectives who caught
it, they had been of town, training, so they hadn’t heard about the
cops being killed. They notified me a little while ago I guess I
fucked up.”
Thinking
back to the day I had spent with Liz, I realized that I hadn’t
checked in or looked at the news either.
“It
looks that way, and I promise it will never happen again.”
Looking
around the room at the others, I said, “Okay, everyone, seems we
all fucked up. Brief me on what we have, Harry, and…where the hell
is Michelle?”
Harry
looked down and then slowly raised his eyes. “Uh, we’ve been
trying to reach her. She’s not answering her cell or home phone…and
um…we just dispatched a car to her house and her mom’s.”
The
whole team had the saddest look on their faces that I could imagine.
I
felt my stomach do flip-flops as I asked Harry, “What exactly is
going on here, Sergeant. Who was killed?”
“All
we know right now is that a young woman, mid-thirties, blonde,
athletic build, with no identification was killed, her throat and
face destroyed. Her body was discovered outside the Ultimate Gym.
Michelle belonged to that gym.”
My
mind began whirling, thinking a million thoughts at one time. A
blonde woman, athletic, killed outside the gym where Michelle worked
out. I remembered Augie saying that Michelle was going to work out on
Saturday, after the funeral. I couldn’t help but picture her lying
in the street, the blood flowing from her throat. My heart was
racing, but I needed to stay in control, so I took a deep breath and
began. “Augie, Jimmy, who are you on the phone with?”
“I
keep trying her cell, Duke,” Augie answered.
“I’ve
been trying the home phone,” Jimmy said.
“Hang
up now,” I said. “Jimmy, get on the phone with the M.E.’s
office. I want a full description of that victim and I want it now!
They should be able to get prints, and have them sent over to Manny
to see if they match…Michelle’s. Augie, get in touch with the
gym, see if they have video surveillance and if anyone there can ID
the victim. Harry, see if that squad car is at Michelle’s mom’s
yet, and if not, find out why the hell not!”
Nothing
was going to prevent me from catching this psycho before, but if
Michelle was dead and it became personal, this asshole had no fucking
idea who he was about to deal with.
For
the next ten minutes, I paced around the room, feeling helpless while
my guys made their calls.
Augie
hung up. “The gym has surveillance, but not at the front door where
the attack took place. There are two detectives from Midtown North
there right now, taking statements and getting the video ready. The
victim was wearing one of those sport tops and shorts. The only thing
on her was a key.”
Jimmy
hung up right after. “The M.E. has no ID on her yet, but he’s 100
percent certain it is our guy’s handiwork. He found more steel
slivers and sent those, the fingerprints, and some samples over to
Manny. The description that he gave me, as poor as it is…it matches
Michelle.”
A
hush fell over the room, everyone stopping what they were doing and
looking down.
“Snap
out of it, guys!” I yelled. “We don’t know that it was Michelle
yet, and until we do, we need to stay focused and find out. Jimmy,
you and I are going up to that gym to look at those tapes. Everyone
else, keep cracking.”
Jimmy
jumped up, and I opened the door, running directly into Michelle, who
happened to be carrying a cup of coffee that she spilled all over me.
I ignored the hot coffee burning my chest, grabbed her, and hugged
her, pulling her into the room.
“Wow,
Duke,” she said, “if I knew being late would get me a reception
like that, I’d make it a habit.”
About
the Author:
When
Gary is not working on the next installment of his Duke Becker
series, he enjoys spending quiet times with his wife, reading, and
when there isn't snow on the ground, a good round of golf.
SSP
Author Page: http://www.sapphirestarpublishing.com/garykassay
Author
Website: http://www.garykassay.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/GaryKassay
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