Burn in Bell
A Samantha Bell Mystery Thriller
Jeremy Waldron
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2019 Jeremy Waldron
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 permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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jeremy@jeremywaldron.com
Also by Jeremy Waldron
Dead and Gone to Bell
Bell Hath No Fury
Bloody Bell
Bell to Pay
Burn in Bell
Mad as Bell
All Bell Breaks Loose
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Never miss a new release. Sign up for Jeremy Waldron’s New Releases Newsletter at JeremyWaldron.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
A Word from Jeremy
Afterword
About the Author
Chapter One
The insects buzzed loudly in the nearby trees outside his car. A warm breeze traveled through the cracked window. The man listened for any unexpected noises; sounds that might persuade his natural instinct to cancel his plans for tonight. Besides the insects, there were no other warning bells to be heard.
Tonight was like any other. A beautiful summer evening in the beginning of July, parked somewhere along the quiet suburban streets of Denver, Colorado. Except, to the Shadow Stalker, it was the beginning of a self-righteous prophecy set to take effect tonight. It was his time to make a stand and show the world he was the master of his own destiny.
Ahead, a dark colored pickup truck turned onto the same street where he was parked and headed straight for him. The Shadow Stalker stared but didn’t react to the headlights illuminating his cabin. No longer would he allow his past to dictate his future. It was a new beginning. A time to reclaim what was once his.
The vehicle passed without notice and the Shadow Stalker lifted his wrist to check the time on his digital sports watch. It was ten minutes until nine p.m. The motions of tonight were right on schedule. Nothing could stop him now.
He closed his eyes and felt his lips pull at the corners. Confidence filled his chest with swelling pride and he couldn’t wait to get started.
Placing one hand on the steering wheel, he rolled his neck and stared into the small ranch style house through an illuminated window. Inside was the victim that would bring his name into the spotlight. And though he wasn’t interested in becoming famous, he did want the recognition he felt he deserved from a very select few individuals. If tonight went as planned, he’d get just what he was after in due time.
Flicking his gaze to the house next door, the television flickered through the window. Like everywhere, people were going about their dull and unimaginative lives waiting to die, working nine-to-fives and wishing they had more. The Shadow Stalker had once been like them, but not anymore. He was reawakened.
Inhaling a deep breath of warm summer air, the Shadow Stalker turned his gaze to his dash and plucked the photograph he’d kept near the speedometer. It was of him and his mother—the first and only woman he ever loved.
Brushing his thumb over the blank space where a father figure should have stood, the picture was taken when he was twelve years old. He was an only child and his mother said his father had died before he turned one. The story left a hole in his heart—an ache he still felt today. Though his mother did her best to raise him into the man he was today, he often wondered how things would have been different if only his mother would have told him the truth.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Shadow Stalker turned his head back to the house when the last of the home’s lights flicked off.
“Nine p.m.” He once again glanced to his wrist watch. “Right on schedule.”
He waited another twenty minutes before exiting his car. Weaving through the shadows, he edged to the back of the house and lifted the doormat that hid the key beneath. It was an obvious secret that all but eliminated the toughest of obstacles—entering the house without having to resort to forcible entry.
“Time to shine,” he whispered as he slid the key into the lock. Suddenly, a dog’s bark was close enough to be nipping at his heels.
The Shadow Stalker turned to the neighbor’s backyard and could hear the dog growling through the wooden privacy fence. A man yelled for the dog to stop from inside the neighbor’s house where he’d seen the television on, but the dog didn’t listen.
The beast kept barking as the Shadow Stalker’s heartrate spiked. Needing to keep his visit a secret, he faced the door and completed the turn of the key, listening to the lock click over. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open, ducked inside, and quickly shut it behind him.
With his back glued to the door, the Shadow Stalker took a moment to study his new environment. It felt oddly familiar, something he should have expected but didn’t. He listened to the soft hum of a refrigerator and the clacks from an overhead fan, as even the scent in the air was familiar to him. It reminded him of something very close to his heart. It reminded him of home.
On tender feet he walked through the kitchen, stopping only momentarily to peek down the hall where he knew the homeowner was now sleeping. The bedroom door was cracked, but there were no signs of life. He was at liberty to move about as he pleased.
By way of moonlight shining through the thinly veiled curtains, he moved effortlessly past a gray cat scampering off. Making himself at home, he stopped at the dining room hutch and began picking through each photograph proudly displayed on top as if studying his victim’s family history.
It was a beautiful collection of both new and old. Anniversaries, coming of age events, and celebrations that made life worth living. And as the Shadow Stalker moved from one photograph to the next, his eyes welled with water.
“Damn you, Nana,” he muttered beneath his breath.
His chin trembled as the old woman’s matriarch eyes pierced his soul. There was so much love pouring out of her ocean blue eyes, it hurt to know that tonight would be her last. But he was called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice and together they would both pay the price.
“It’s the only way,” he said, placing the picture back where he found it. “We all must make sacrifices for the greater good. And I’ll be forever grateful for yours.”
Continuing his search, the Shadow Stalker opened all of the drawers in the hutch. He wasn’t sure what it was he was hoping to find but the moment he found it, he knew that the universe had a way of showing him the signs.
He dove his hands into the drawer slowly and held the card gently as he moved it into the soft glow of streetlight.
“Perfect,” he said as he brushed the pad of his thumb over the names imprinted on the card. “Unbelievably perfect.”
As soon as he opened up the engagement announcement a diamond ring fell out and clattered against the floor. In a rush to silence the noise, he flattened the spinning ring with his foot and snapped his attention to where he knew the old woman was sleeping.
His blood sloshed in his ears but the house remained silent.
Bending over, he picked up the ring with only a brief inspection before dropping it into his front pants pocket. Excitement grew and there was a buzz of energy that lifted his spirits. He knew tonight would be his night, but never did he expect to hit a home run like this.
Erasing all evidence of his presence, he closed the drawer to the hutch and moved back to the kitchen. It was here he wanted to raise his flag and wave it in a place where Inspector Alex King was sure to see it. He opened the engagement card and perched it directly on the center of the table. Then he stood back and evaluated his work.
Something was missing but he didn’t know what. After some thought, he knew just what it was. Pulling out a twenty-dollar bill, he placed it inside the card and said, “There. If this doesn’t open your eyes, I don’t know what will.”
“Angel, is that you?” the old woman called from the back room.
The Shadow Stalker whipped his head toward the sound of her voice, stunned to hear she was awake.
“Hello?” the old woman called out again. “Angel?”
Knowing he had to do something, he turned toward the hallway and tucked his chin. A darkness filled his vision as he made his way to where the old woman’s voice was still calling. This wasn’t part of the plan but he’d have to make it work. He was ready.
Without turning on the lights, the Shadow Stalker could see the woman was sitting up in bed, squinting her wrinkled eyes into the dark hallway. “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” she said.
“Easy, Nana.”
“Billy, is that you?” The old woman clenched her bed sheets.
The Shadow Stalker walked toward the bed, watching the whites in the woman’s eyes grow. “Angel sent me.”
“She did?” The old woman sounded confused. “Why would she do that?”
He sat on the edge of the bed, reaching across the old woman’s lap for a bed pillow. She watched his every move, lines of confusion deepening with each second that passed. Her memory was fading and she had good days and bad. It was a gift given to the Shadow Stalker and one advantage he was sure to use tonight.
Placing the pillow on his lap, the Shadow Stalker ironed his palms over the top when saying, “There is something she wanted me to tell you.” The woman looked directly into his eyes when he said, “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”
“I know that saying,” the old woman said, knitting her brows. “That doesn’t sound like something Angel would say. Who are you?”
The Shadow Stalker tilted his head to one shoulder and scooted closer to the woman. “In a world of lambs and lions, we all must make sacrifices in order to get what we want.”
“Lambs and lions?”
Without warning, the Shadow Stalker jammed the pillow directly into the old woman’s face and used his weight to press her head deep into the mattress. The old woman’s croaked screams were muffled by the thickness of the pillow and he held her there until finally her candle was blown out for eternity.
Chapter Two
King was planning to wine and dine me, but I countered and asked to have dessert first.
He didn’t need me to explain. King could see the fire of desire burning in my eyes. By the time we skidded to a stop outside his house and kicked the front door open, all thoughts about what happened at Erin’s vanished. King swooped me up behind the knees and carried me across the threshold like we’d just made our vows.
Hanging off his neck, I giggled like a school girl in love. “My knight in shining armor.”
“Here to protect and serve.”
I pulled his head down and closed my mouth over his. He kissed me hard and had me panting for more. But as soon as King let go of my legs and released his grip from around my waist, I knew he was thinking about the note we’d found with the burning bag addressed to him.
“Wait here,” he said in his firm voice.
“Did housekeeping forget the champagne and rose petals?” I teased, hoping to ease the tension I could see stretching his shirt.
King pointed his finger at me but didn’t look. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
Without moving my feet, I dipped my head and swept my hair up off my shoulders tying it off into a ponytail. King opened and closed doors, sweeping the house for possible intruders. I didn’t see any signs of a break-in but the note left for King at Erin’s had clearly gotten to him, too. Even over King’s heavy footsteps, the note’s words were all I could hear.
“You haven’t forgotten about me, have you? Of course you have. Burn in hell, pig.”
Someone wanted King to know they were watching him, and now I was second guessing our decision to come here in the first place. But when King’s eyes locked on mine, he took me back into his arms and made me feel safe.
Taking my face between his hands, he kissed me softly. Flutters moved across my belly as I hooked my leg around his thigh. We picked up where we’d left off and all our worries disappeared in a flash.
“I forgot the champagne and rose petals.” King made a face. “I hope you can forgive me?”
As I stared into his gorgeous eyes, I worried he was hiding the severity of what the note really entailed. Was his life in danger? Was someone he’d locked away now out to get revenge? Anything was possible. King put away some really bad people over the years. He must have had a name in mi
nd of who’d written the note—someone he could point to when naming a suspect—but instead he deflected and kept focused on only making me feel sexy and safe.
“I don’t need all that fancy stuff,” I said, thrilled to have King all to myself.
King cocked his head to the side. “No?”
I shook my head. “All I need is your best performance.”
He arched a brow and surprised me once again by swooping me up into his arms and marching me straight into his bedroom.
Chapter Three
We lay in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, listening to the other breathe. Our jobs were so demanding, it was hard to have time just to ourselves. In this rare moment of downtime, we stared into the ceiling without talking. After what felt like an hour of silence, we discussed the vacation we both craved and how great it would be to get away for a week. It was a pipedream and we both knew it. With him at the peak of his career and mine teetering dangerously close to its grave, there was no time to get away. This was our vacation and I intended to cherish every single minute of it.