The Murder Book by Lissa Marie Redmond

Author:Lissa Marie Redmond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: CVR05152018;lissa redmond;lisa marie redmond;cold day in hell;cold case mystery;cold case mystery series;mystery;mystery novel;mystery fiction;mystery series;police procedural;pi;private investigator;lauren riley;cold case investigation;cold case series;buffalo;new york;CVR11152018;CVR11302018
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2018-12-18T19:41:07+00:00

29

Back in Lauren’s Ford, she clenched the wheel with both hands as they sat in their parking space. Shoppers, hip stay-at-home moms, and artsy types filed past the SUV. Elmwood Avenue was alive with people crowding the sidewalks on both sides of the street. The shops were in full Christmas swing. Lauren watched a woman on a rickety step ladder three shops up from their parking meter hanging another string of lights around her candle shop. “I’m calling Reese,” she told Charlie as he tried to arrange himself in her seat.

“You two can’t let anyone know about Rita yet,” he reminded her, finally getting the seat belt to click.

“Call Reese,” she said out loud to her dashboard.

In a pleasant, canned English accent, her car replied, “Calling Reese.”

“Does this car wipe your ass too?” Charlie asked in skeptical amazement. He shunned technology as much as living in the modern world would allow.

The display on the dash showed Reese’s cell number while the speakers amplified the ring tone throughout the car. After two rings Reese picked up. “Yeah?”

“Reese? It’s Riley. You’re on speaker. I need to meet you at headquarters, but not right now; after shift change. Can you wait there for me?”

“Sure I can. What’s up? Do you need Joy to stay too?”

“No.” She hoped that didn’t come out as harsh. “I’ll meet you there at six thirty.” She glanced at the time on the dash display. It was just after noon. “I think I got something on my case. You can’t tell anyone, not even Joy, and I can’t talk about it over the phone.”

There was a long pause, then: “You sure? Just me?”

“Positive. Just you. I’ll see you at six thirty. Meet me at the police memorial.”

The Fallen Officers Memorial was just south of headquarters on Franklin Street, past St. Joseph Cathedral. A ladder of stone guided water down and into a round pool. Engraved in black lettering around the gray granite encircling the pool were the names of every police officer who had lost his or her life in the line of duty while serving on the Buffalo Police Department. At six thirty on a Tuesday, after rush hour, that end of Franklin Street would be deserted.

“Are you okay? Is everything all right?” Concern tinged Reese’s voice.

“I’m fine. I’ll explain everything. See you at the memorial.” As she clicked off, it occurred to her just how close she had come to becoming one of the names on that memorial less than a month ago.

Turning to Charlie, she put the car into drive. “I’ll drop you off. After I get into the file room, I’ll let you know what we’ve got.”

His voice was grave. “Keep me in the loop on this. I’m not kidding. Those guys? The Schultzes? They’re old-school. Family always comes first. Rita ain’t nothing to them.”

Lauren waited for a break in traffic to pull out. “Neither was I,” she reminded him and headed south on Elmwood toward the Skyway.

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