Serial Date: A Leine Basso Thriller by D.V. Berkom

Author:D.V. Berkom [Berkom, D.V.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Duct Tape Press
Published: 2012-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

***

Gene Dorfenberger swallowed the Xanax dry. His sister, Ella, had been pressuring him to talk Brenda out of acting on the show since it appeared she held no sway over her daughter, at least on this issue. When Gene protested, Ella demanded he do something or she threatened to beat his ass into next Tuesday.

He had no doubt she'd make good on her threat, but didn't have the heart to disappoint his niece. She'd been so radiant the first few days on set, he couldn't bring himself to give her Ella's ultimatum. Besides, Brenda was a grown woman. She needed her independence. That's what he told himself, although the real reason ran much deeper. He'd tried to assuage Ella's fears by telling her he kept an eagle eye on her, but she laughed and told him it was funny he thought of himself as a protector, after his good-for-nothing life.

Ella was essentially a good woman, but overbearing to a fault. She was certain Serial Date harbored a den of iniquity and God only knew she couldn't have her daughter participating in the Devil's work.

Gene remembered when they were kids she would paddle him hard after he did some horrible thing young boys tended to do. Their parents had only to invoke the words, “Your sister will be home soon—” and he'd stop whatever the offending action was and be as good as he could until caught the next time. Ella enjoyed her role as enforcer. More often than not Gene ended up as the bad guy.

Still do, he thought.

There was also the specter of the second dead contestant. They may have buried Stacy's body parts, but Gene was still waiting for the other leg to drop, so to speak. The killer wasn't finished and it scared the shit out of him. His unpredictability contributed the most to Gene's sleepless nights. He lived in abject fear Brenda would be next on the list. The letter he'd found under Stacy's hand disappeared with the body parts, but Gene had committed the words to heart.

Gene was musing about how he could get out from under Ella's thumb on his way to listen to a read-through of the script when Paula stopped him in the hallway.

“A package came for you this morning.” She smiled. “It's like one Leine got yesterday with no return address, but a different woman delivered it to the set. I left it on your desk.”

“Thanks, Paula. You say Leine got one, too?”

Paula nodded. “Yeah. She told me to call if any more came for her.”

Without a word, Gene did an about-face and headed to his office.

The plain cardboard box perched on top of his desk. He took a pen from his pocket and sliced through the packing tape. Lifting the flaps he glanced inside, at first thinking someone had sent him some kind of seafood. Soon, the realization dawned on him and he stepped back, appalled.

A piece of paper had been taped to the underside of one of the flaps. Gene peeled it off, fighting a panic attack.

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