Her Perfect Time To Die (Investigator Kat Cromwell Mystery Book 4) by Nicholas Harvey

Author:Nicholas Harvey [Harvey, Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Octopus Ink Publishing, LTD
Published: 2026-02-17T00:00:00+00:00

19

I parked my loaner car in the Dollar Tree parking lot, one strip mall over from Costco, and walked between PetSmart and Staples to a navy blue van with faded paint. The side door slid open as I approached, and I hopped inside.

“Morning, Kat,” Doug greeted me from a seat in front of multiple screens mounted along a narrow desktop on the opposite side of the van. “This is Beth Cranston.”

A thirty-something woman in a dark hoodie nodded her greeting. She had a solid-looking jaw, hair pulled back tightly over her scalp, and chewed gum as if her life depended on it. She wouldn’t look out of place in my dad’s boxing gym.

“When’s the drop?” I asked.

“Your boy told us ten-thirty, so another five minutes or so,” Doug replied.

The “your boy” crack made me cringe, but there was no point rising to the bait.

“Do you have someone watching El Pollo Loco?” I asked.

Doug nodded, his back to me as he kept a careful eye on the cameras aimed across the parking lot. “The rest of our team. Which is only two guys, so let’s hope an army of banditos doesn’t show up.”

“Are you grabbing them today?” I asked in surprise.

“Nah. Probably tail the carriers and see if we can get an ID. They’ll be low-level players, but hoping they might take us somewhere useful.”

“That Dwyer?” Beth said, pointing to one of the screens.

The Beach Cities Auto and Marine van slowly moved through the Costco lot, pulling into an empty spot well clear of other vehicles.

Doug picked up a handheld radio from the desk. “Target is here. Watch for the drop vehicle, guys.”

“Copy,” came a gruff reply. “Nothing we’ve pegged yet. Oh, wait a second. Got a red Mustang with tints and the bass thumping.”

Doug turned to me and grinned, shaking his head. “Stereotypes are created for a reason.”

It was hard to argue with that. You’d think these dealers would try to look the least like the way their profession was portrayed on TV, but they rarely did. Of course, these people tended to be devious, ruthless, and often violent, but not always smart.

After a few minutes, the same voice came over the radio. “Mustang leaving the drive-thru. Over.”

“Copy,” Doug replied. “Got him.”

We all watched the screens as the red Ford Mustang made a slow lap of the parking lot, ignoring Billy Dwyer in the auto parts van during their first pass by. We were parked closer to Staples amongst a row of other vehicles, but the Mustang cruised slowly down our row. I could make out two figures in the front seats, but a broad strip of tint across the top of the windshield obscured their faces from our angle.

“We’ve been made,” Beth muttered.

“Nah. Just sit still. If the van rocks, we will be.”

I’d been sitting motionless, but now that I’d been told keeping still was imperative, my breath caught, my nose itched, and my foot wanted to tap on the floorboard. The car moved past us and circled around the corner of the lot before pulling up alongside the auto parts van from behind.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.