Clear Motives by Reis Asher

Author:Reis Asher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: transgender, crime, thriller, murder, lgbt, mm romance, trans, transmasc, trans man, trans male character
Publisher: Reis Asher
Published: 2020-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The doctors wanted Nick to stay a week, but after three days he discharged himself in the middle of the night. The townsfolk had made sure they knew where he was—flowers from Connor and Lillian Long, a card from Roy, and an officer posted at the door courtesy of Thomas Long, whom he suspected was only there to keep an eye on his visitor list. He slipped away during the night, while his handler Officer Candice was taking a bathroom break. He was all too aware that he was wasting time, and that every hour spent under the watchful eye of the Point Clear Police Department was another step taken further from the truth, and closer to another possible killing.

Emily had taken care of a few arrangements for him, and a rental car was waiting outside a disused trailer she handed him the keys to, along with a new cellphone and his pistol. The trailer had belonged to an old lady who'd passed away, and the dated furniture was covered in plastic and a layer of dust. He pulled the covers back, opening the windows to let some of the fusty air out. For a moment, wrapped in his solitude, he imagined this place as his new home. There was something about this abandoned trailer that felt authentic compared to his stark, minimalist city apartment, its grim decor making Nick feel like he'd come back to himself somehow. His CSI days had been full of places like this, abandoned, condemned shells of homes with peeling wallpaper, and a long, storied history of wrongful deaths. Suffering and decay were imbued in these walls, cursing the elderly, the poor, and the marginalized to an invisible corner of this small town. Down here, in the shadows, another world seemed to encroach upon this one, one where the denizens of daylight feared to tread.

Nick reminded himself that it would be all too easy to breathe his last breath in this trailer if he let his guard down. He was surrounded by people with unclear motives, part of some conspiracy he couldn't even begin to unravel. He'd come to this town with ideas of right and wrong, good and evil, but the lines were starting to blur. People he liked were starting to seem suspicious, Roy foremost among them. There was no relief in the idea of arresting a gay man for the murder of a trans woman. He'd learned to trust his community, and yet he knew things were rarely as simple as he wanted them to be. Being a minority didn't excuse one from hateful thoughts. In fact, it often served as a shield to hide them from the world.

If Roy wanted him dead, all he had to do was cross the street and bring a weapon. He could point the finger at Emily. Emily would point the finger at him. With a piece of rope, maybe he could make it look like a suicide. Nick Fabian, the P.I. with post-concussive syndrome and absolutely no leads.

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.