DEAD GONE a gripping crime thriller full of twists by T.J. BREARTON

Author:T.J. BREARTON
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Joffe Books Mystery, Crime Thriller, Suspense Fiction
Published: 2016-12-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

By one o’clock in the afternoon, Tom was ravenous. He felt edgy after spending the morning pushing papers. There was a plaza two blocks from the County Courthouse with a Mexican restaurant called Amigos. He slipped in to the dimly lit room, found a booth, and ordered the special — shredded beef empanadas. He devoured the complimentary tortilla chips, and stared out into the bright street.

When the food came he wolfed it down. Halfway through the meal he started to feel human again and took out the murder book.

He hunched over it, starting with the timeline. Steve Hobson moved from Jersey to Tampa four years ago, with his girlfriend Donna Pitt, who was pregnant with their son, Harley. Three years ago, Steve Hobson met Carrie on Match.com.

Tom pulled out his phone, found the dating site and searched for Carrie Anne Gallo. There she was, Midwestern-fresh with sandy hair. The picture was tasteful, showing her from the waist up, modeling a frilly teal blouse. Her smile revealed rows of white teeth.

He browsed her profile. Just a small town girl who loves to dance, looking for fun and adventure with a companion. That was it, short and sweet. She listed her interests as reading, hiking, swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking.

Tom grew still.

Kayaking.

He closed the browser and made a quick note, then called the Sheriff’s Office and asked to speak to Katie Mills, with the County crime scene bureau. A deputy forwarded the call to her cell phone.

Mills answered, the connection scratchy.

“Katie, it’s Tom Lange.”

“Hi Tom. Been expecting to hear from you.”

“Yeah. This case has moved in about ten different directions at once. How’s things on your end?”

“Good. We’re getting ready to fold up our tent here at the estuary.” Tom could hear the wind blowing around her.

“What’s the story down there?”

“Not much to tell, I’m sorry. We can’t even disinfect the site where the body was found.” She gave a small laugh. “First, it’s protected. Second, you know, it’s water.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, kind of tough for clean-up. Listen — what’s the word on the kayaks? Any other boats found, anything like that?”

“The word is the same. All Susan Libby’s boats are present and accounted for. No one else had any boats go missing.”

“And nobody’s found a missing kayak paddle, nothing like that.”

“No, definitely not.”

“Alright, thanks, Katie.” He hung up and went back to Match.com. One thing his criminology professors had driven home was that there were no coincidences in investigations. Everything always meant something.

He wondered if someone had lured Carrie to Rookery Bay, promising a kayaking trip through the mangrove canals.

“Anything else?”

The waitress made him jump. He smiled. “No, thanks.” She took his plates away and he handed her his debit card before she left.

He turned his attention back to the timeline in the murder book.

Steve Hobson and Carrie were married for ten months. According to Steve Hobson, the couple had divorced eighteen months ago. Hobson had the divorce certificate to prove it and said Carrie had moved out that same month.

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