Drop Dead (Tess Skye Book 1) by D.N. Erikson

Author:D.N. Erikson [Erikson, D.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-19T20:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

1 Year Ago

The marshland.

Javy and I driving out to the Groves on the captain’s orders.

To think that everything started with that dead body in the Groves—the swampy jungle wilderness outside the city.

Being set up. Finding the dead woman’s body. Touching her skin. The flash of her memories. Then being pinned down in the mud—and hearing the glee in Dominic Rillo’s voice upon realizing that my abilities were real.

And finally, being dragged through the swamp.

It all comes surging back.

And then I’m fully immersed in the past, in the sweat, and rusted metal, and rotting wood. In a small room that smells like corroded pennies. When I look down, I know why instantly: there’s a small blood pool at my feet, growing wider by the minute.

A gash along my calf drips onto the floor.

I blink and cough, the blood forming little rivers through the cracks in the concrete.

The shutters are drawn. Moonlight peeks through the worn slats.

“Killing a cop won’t go well for you.” My back molar rattles when I speak.

A bald man, not large, but with a presence all the same, emerges from the back room. His shoes scuff against the concrete.

It’s Rillo. I didn’t know it then, but I know it now. Past and present knowledge swirls together in this memory. Vision? Hallucination?

Rillo’s voice roots me back into the past.

“You have a choice, Detective Skye.” He’s holding my badge, staring at it like it’s a curio from a Cracker Jack box.

“Backup is on the way, asshole. Surrender now and maybe you get leniency.”

“You’d need evidence of my involvement.” He flashes an all-too-white smile. “And I leave no evidence behind.”

“Well look who watches Law and Fucking Order.” I strain against the bonds tying me to the chair, and the ropes nip into my wrists.

I bite my tongue and rock back and forth, trying to tip the chair over.

None of my efforts are a rousing success.

“How you struggle.” Rillo looks on with detached amusement, as a circus trainer would a chained elephant. “I admire your fortitude.”

“You’ll admire it less when I put my boot up your ass.”

“I need your assistance with something.” His bald head gleams as he steps into the moonlight. “So I have a proposition.”

“Kidnapping weirdos aren’t really my type, sorry.”

A smile creeps across his face. “Work with me.”

“I’d rather die.” A chill works through my body when I realize that option is on the table. But I stand by the proclamation without reservation.

The smile grows wider, maniacal, obsessive, but totally joyless. “You fail to understand.”

“Then help me understand.”

“I am afraid explaining demands too much time. And your partner will have called for backup by now.”

“Then my answer remains the same,” I say. “Fuck off.”

“I cannot explain.” He clasps his hands together like a yoga guru. “But I can show you.”

“Why do you need my help so badly, anyway?”

“Because you can relive the steps of the dead.” Rillo holds what looks like a small bundle of matchsticks up to my right nostril. They have a sharp scent. My brain begins to go fuzzy.

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.