The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 154 Pleasantries Jack While the Sheriff parked his car, | took one look at his dark menacing face and it was enough to send a chill down my spine..

I've seen him mad before, but this was the first this eyes were dark with rage. Yet, in their depths, there was something else...

Anguish... Misery... Torment.

Liam took a step forward, obviously wanting answers, but | blocked him with my arm. He looked at me, his brow furrowed, as if questioning why, so | answered him by slowly shaking my head and giving him a warning look.

That look on the Sheriff's face... I've seen that look before... in the eyes of desperate, hopeless men. In my experience, disheartened men usually ended up doing harrowing things. | didn’t want anything to trigger the Sheriff into doing the unthinkable. | knew my conscience wouldn't be able to handle something like that.

Liam impatiently pursed his lips and placed his hands on his hips, annoyed he had to hold back and give the Sheriff tto calm down. Eventually, he nodded his head, finally agreeing it was best if we allowed the Sheriff his space.

Just like Liam, | wanted answers too, but seeing Sheriff Combs in that state, frightened me.

Earlier in the day, as instructed by the Sheriff, | drove to the Bismarck Police Precinct to speak to Detective Matthews. | saw him patiently waiting forat the information desk as | walked into the police station.

He wasn’t what | expected. | thought I'd be meeting a young inexperienced rookie in a suit. However, the man who greetedlooked as if he was nearing retirement. He looked as old. as the Sheriff, bald except for the fluffy white hairs sticking out from the sides of his head. He had a sharp pointed nose, a brown haired moustache with several errant strands of gray hair, beady blue eyes and bushy brown eyebrows. He was wearing a simple brown suit paired with a dark shirt and red necktie while on his feet were a pair of scuffed up black leather shoes.

“Undersheriff Emery,” he greetedwhile extending his hand. “I'm Detective Matthews. | really appreciate you coming to see me.” 1/6 12:10 Thu, Apr 4.

CHAPTER 154 Pleasantries | grabbed his hand and shook it enthusiastically “Hello, Detective Matthews. Nice to meet you. The off extends his apologies for not being able to meet with you. Aside from all the investigations our department is conducting, he was injured at a riot this morning and had to go to the hospital for stitches. He's been ordered bed rest by the doctor.” “Sorry to hear that. Do tell the Sheriff | wish him a speedy recovery. Anyway, pleasantries aside, I'm hoping you can helpwith my investigation. Let's talk in my office,” he said, releasing my hand and gesturing forto follow him. “You drink coffee?” He asked, stopping at the small coffee station situated at a corner.

“Of course. Cream and two sugars,” | replied. He nodded his head.

“Donut?” “Sure, why not,” | answered nonchalantly. Using a napkin, he took a powdered donut from a he white box and handed it to me. After filling two disposable cups with brewed coffee, nudged his head towards a door with his non the office doorlight.

While | situated myself comfortably in a wooden chair in front of his desk with my donut of and cup of coffee in my hands, he quickly sat in the chair behind his desk, placing his cup coffee on a coaster, and began shuffling through the papers in a file folder.

“You must be terribly busy. | heard about the death of the former mayor of New Salem. Is it true the nurse administrator of St. Elizabeth Hospital killed him while under the hospital's care?” Detective Matthews asked. He was apparently up to date with his current events.

“According to her suicide letter, but it’s still under investigation,” | answered, sipping my coffee. | felt myself relax as the bitter taste of the coffee swirled in my mouth.

“And the nurse who inadvertently killed Theodore Cohen? | heard he’s no longer in your custody.” “Well, he was able to hire himself a good lawyer | replied.

“| see. Seems you have your hands full, so I'll just get right to it. There were two incidents that have happened recently and both seem to be connected to New Salem. One was at the Silver Spoon Diner and the other at Huff Hills Mansion. I'm afraid it has been one blood bath after the other,” he said, showingpictures of both crscenes. | noticed each photo contained images of people lying in a pool of their own blood. “Both places are owned by CMD Enterprises whose CEO and founder is a certain Cynthia McDowell, a resident of New Salem.

According to our intel, both crscenes are believed to be related to sdrug war. When | spoke to Sheriff Combs, he said Cynthia McDowell passed away. Can you tell 2/6 2.68 CHAPTER 154 Pleasantries how she died?” “She was shot inside her own hwith a sn iper rifle,” | answered. His eyes widened in alarm. “Based on our investigation, we suspect she and her son, Peter McDowell, may have double-crossed someone. After her death, Peter disappeared. According to a close friend of his, McDowell is most probably out of the country. We've been trying to locate him, but have been unsuccessful. We believe he might have changed his nand appearance. Truth be told, none of us had any idea the McDowells were tangled in this sort of stuff. You see, Peter McDowell kept to himself mostly and worked as an interior designer for a small contractor. His mother, on the other hand, did charity work and was even the head of a local church organization.” The detective nodded his head while he took down notes.

“And his mother, what was her occupation in New Salem?” the detective asked.

“She was into real estate and had several businesses,” | answered.

“When | spoke with your sheriff, he mentioned a Marla Lawrence. There happens to be one lone survivor of the Silver Spoon massacre, a young man identified as Riley Harris, who is currently at Bismarck General Hospital.

The EMTs who provided onsite emergency care toldhe uttered the nMarla. Who is she and what is her relationship with Riley Harris? “Marla Lawrence is a suspected drug trafficker and Peter McDowell's lover while Riley Harris is one of Lawrence’s closest associates. They were classmates in high school. Anyway, after receiving an anonymous tip, we had assets in place for a buy-bust operation at Marla Lawrence's residence, however she together with a small army were able to neutralize all assets. In their haste to flee from the authorities, they left weapons, drugs and money in Lawrence's home. If memory servescorrectly, all this happened at approximately the stthe Silver Spoon Massacre happened.

“And what about motive? Why kill Riley Harris?” The detective asked.

“Love triangle. Marla Lawrence and Riley Harris were very close. Peter McDowell must have set up a meeting with Riley here in Bismarck with the intention of killing him,” | said. The detective nodded his head while scribbling on the sheet of paper. | waited for him to aska question, but he just continued writing.

Impatient, | coughed to grab his attention..

“Detective, we've cto believe we have a mole in our department. And from what you told the Sheriff, we believe it might be Deputy Randall Evans. He purposely did not inform the Sheriff that Riley Harris is currently in the hospital. It begs us to believe Riley's life may be in danger.” 3/6 CHAPTER 154 Pleasantries “I understand your concern. Riley Harris no doubt has valuable information and could serve as an asset when and if he wakes up,” Detective Matthews said with a smile. “I have uniform personnel keeping a close watch. | assure you, we will protect him, despite the circumstances.” He suddenly pulled out another picture from his file folder and placed it in front of me. This tit was a photo of a small dark room with a filthy bed against a wall with chains hanging above the bed. “This is a small room at the basement of Huff Hills Mansion. It appears to be a torture room. Does Peter McDowell have any prior records for rape or assault...

maybe kidnapping?” Fuck. He knew.

My hands began to sweat.

“No,” | answered curtly. “What have you found, Detective?” “Nothing conclusive, but after finding this room. | believe this isn’t purely about drugs. We suspect human tra The door to Detective Matthews'’s office suddenly opened. | turned my head to find a younger man in a blue suit standing at the doorway.

“Matthews, | need a word with you... in private, the man said.

“Excuse me, Undersheriff,” Detective Matthews said, walking out the door. Once the door closed, | leaned over, my ear to the door, to eavesdrop.

“We got an anonymous call, Matthews. The woman on the phone said there's a plot to kill Riley Harris sometin the evening.

How the f uck? A woman? Could it be Norma? Or Randy's wife? | leaned closer hoping to hear more.

“I'll have Harris moved to another room in the secluded area of the hospital,” | heard Detective Matthews say. “Is that all?” “No. We have a report Huff Hills Mansion is currently burning to the ground.” Oh wow! Pete was covering his tracks? t “Christ! The CrLab isn’t even done processing everything. How bad is it? And how is this even possible? | instructed a team of uniforms to stand guard.” 4/6 12:10 Thu, Apr 4 dh CHAPTER 154 Pleasantries are having “Gas leak and from what | heard, it’s bad. Because of the wind, the firefighters trouble extinguishing the fire. Most of the residents living in the area have been evacuated and reports say, the trees surrounding the mansion are in flames.” | heard Detective Matthews utter a curse. | quickly scooched back to my original position, so | wouldn't get caught eavesdropping. That's when | noticed the open file folder on his desk... so, | decided to take a peek.

There re wasn’t much in the first few pages of the file, but it was clear they were looking into the McDowells and all their close associates. Aside from the photographs and his notes, there wasn’t anything else.

| quickly fixed the file folder back to its original position and glanced at the ceiling, noticing the CCTV camera. | smiled. Before walking into the station, | turned on my jamming device. | was here to snoop, not just answer questions.

Honestly, | was clueless as to why there was a gunfight at Huff Hills last night, but | suspected De Vega was involved. Then again, Lisa said De Vega swore he wasn’t involved in any of this...

Maybe it was someone else... Maybe it was Joy Taylor.

| smirked. Pete was using Joy Taylor's ghost to distract us. If Pete got himself into a jam with De Vega, there must be someone else out there gunning for him.

gone for The fire wasn’t an accident. He must have set the mansion on fire to destroy evidence. Well, that plays to our advantage. Any evidence on the Joan Summers case would be good.

The detective walked back into his office as | was finishing my donut. He didn’t look too happy.

e way. Cris Murdock’s wife can collect “I'm sorry, Undersheriff, but we have to cut our meeting short,” he announced, closing the file folder. “I'll call if | need more information. By her husband's car when she’s free. But | have to warn you. It doesn’t look too good. We happen to believe Cris Murdock’s body may be at the bottom of the ravine. Rest assured, | have K-9 units searching for him.” After one final handshake, | quickly left the station and climbed into my truck. Before turning the corner at the exit, | threw the jamming device into the bushes, knowing they wouldn't find any fingerprints on it. I had silicon on my fingertips.

5/6 © 12:10 Thu, Apr 4 CHAPTER 154 Pleasantries | was a good distance away when | called the Sheriff to tell him what | had overheard.

“Good. They'll expect someone to cat Riley’s old room. They won't seecoming.” As | stared at the Sheriff, who was banging his palms against the steering wheel like a madman, my guess is they did see him coming.

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