Three Times a Murder by Nolon King

Author:Nolon King [King, Nolon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sterling & Stone
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chelsea was dimly aware of activity all around her, but she was in a tunnel. A vacuum. A nightmare she’d do anything to wake from. Her hearing was nothing but a faint ringing tinged with a distant hum. Her vision was dimming, nearly black, with auroras and halos winking in her periphery.

“Chels.”

Someone called her name. Who? Why?

The voice was familiar. Male. One she wanted to gravitate toward. One she trusted.

But she heard tension in his tone. Stress. Maybe even fear.

She didn’t want to gravitate toward that.

“Chelsea.”

She reached out, past it, toward the warm glow of flashing lights and the welcoming hum of conversation.

But the glow wasn’t warm. It was harsh. And the conversational hum wasn’t welcoming but accusing.

Chelsea recoiled from it.

“Sullivan.”

Jim.

She went toward his voice, toward him. Rubbed her ears until she could hear properly, then the sound was too loud. Blinked a few times until her vision cleared.

It all came rushing back. The copycat. The crucifixion.

The explosion.

Chelsea covered her mouth and surveyed the scene with wide eyes. Though her instincts told her to get moving, her feet seemed fused to the ground. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been stunned — it had felt like minutes had passed, but as she took a quick assessment, she thought it was probably only a second or two. Some of the crime scene technicians were still on the ground, though everyone seemed to be moving, so that was a good sign.

But their victim? She’d been destroyed. All that remained of her after the bomb were the three appendages that had been nailed to the park sign. It had been bad enough when they had to tell someone’s parents their daughter had been killed and her head and foot had been severed. Chelsea couldn’t even imagine the conversation this time. Let alone the pain they would endure when all they’d have left to bury would be a head, two hands, and a foot. To her knowledge, the original severed foot hadn’t been found yet. This would certainly make everything more difficult.

She covered her mouth, sickened at the thought, and was surprised to find the phone still in her hand. Her fingers trembled, and she nearly dropped it.

Thank God she’d been looking down when the bomb went off. She couldn’t imagine the horror of watching it detonate, watching the body …

It was bad enough thinking this might be her fault.

Could Boundy have triggered the bomb so quickly on that device after they’d ended the call? She didn’t know if he’d had enough time. She’d immediately turned the phone over to try to remove the battery, so she didn’t see if the screen had lit up or anything. She only knew she hadn’t succeeded in getting the cover off the back, let alone taking the battery out.

But maybe it wasn’t her fault. He probably had another triggering mechanism, anyway. She didn’t think this phone had received a call before the explosion. While he hadn’t staged the scene well enough to convince them he was the Grimm Reaper, he’d certainly made careful plans of his own.

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