A Deadly Gamble: Book 1: First Sight by Eric Thourne

Author:Eric Thourne [Thourne, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8 – DAVID

It was tempting for David to barricade himself in his hotel room. But he knew he would have to face the world at some point. He could not hide away forever.

Officer Lopez had come round to check up on him, partly to see if he had anything new to share regarding the case, and partly to make sure he wasn’t going to pieces. He could see the pity in her eyes and it irked him to know that somebody saw him as weak.

David left his room and headed in search of the most crowded cafe he could find. He needed lunch and he needed to show people that he wasn’t a basket case.

Everyone around town was talking about the death of Chris Benson.

David could hear whispers that Chris had been a major athlete, training to become a professional bodybuilder. Chris was Stringle’s single claim to fame; it was believed that his success story would put the town on the map.

David almost choked on his coffee when he had overheard that the young man was only nineteen. It was always the ones who had never had a chance to live that cut David the deepest.

As he sat in silence, David listened to the town gossip turn from sympathy to suspicion.

“For me, it’s all about the motive,” a woman in her forties said. David had seen her earlier working in a small charity shop. “Was it spur-of-the-moment? Or was it calculated? Did he know too much?”

David rolled his eyes. Throughout his career he had heard all the conspiracy theories, each one more scandalous than the last.

“I heard he was taking steroids,” another woman said. “I mean, you don’t get that big overnight. He must have taken something.”

“Given the size of him, I would have expected him to have put up more of a fight. Unless it was suicide.”

“He came out in the middle of nowhere. The way I see it-”

Suddenly, the entire café went quiet, all eyes bulged with terror. David looked around to see the source of the disturbance.

It was Alex Benson, standing in the doorway, the fury on his face palpable. He swaggered into the café, and even from ten feet away, David could smell the whiskey on his breath.

“Only yesterday,” Alex said, his words slurred. “My son was alive and well. Today, he’s gossip fodder. How the hell did that happen?”

Nobody dared to answer him.

Alex scanned the room, looking for somebody that could be the singular source of his fury.

Then his eyes landed on David. “You,” he snarled, rushing forward, even pushing chairs aside to get to David.

David barely had time to react before the man was grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the wall. “You were there when my son died, weren’t you?”

“I- I was there before he died,” David tried to explain, all of his training on how to deal with a bereaved relative vanishing.

“Way I see it,” Alex said, leaning close to David, reeking of liquor. “You were in that area.

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