Page 5 of Thunderstruck

CHAPTER4

Raymond

Igrab my gun out of my shoulder holster and carefully walk around the car until I’m standing next to the body.

Kneeling down, I keep my eyes swiveling back and forth, watching for any movement. Nothing moves. He’s probably long gone. Probably left as soon as Allie did.

My stomach sinks and twists into a knot when I think about the fact that she was here with a killer. The guy saw her. He had to have. And that means she’s a witness that he has to eliminate.

I glance down at the man and my belly knots again.Shit! It’s the fucking mayor.

I quickly search around his car and see a piece of paper partially hidden by the body. I grab a pair of tweezers that I carry with me and pull it out.

“You’ve broken your word for the last time.”

The words are stark and tell me one of the things I need to know. Why.

So who did the mayor lie to and why was it so important?

And what’s going to happen to Allie now?She saw the person who killed the mayor. She’s the only witness to a heinous crime.

I stalk back to the car and call into the station, reporting the murder and that there’s a witness. I don’t tell them who the victim is. That will get out there sooner or later but I don’t want the police scanners around here to hear her name or the name of the victim.

This whole thing is about to blow up into a huge clusterfuck.

I look over at Allie and study her, wondering what she’s thinking. Her hands are wrapped around herself and she’s shaking. “Do you know who he is?”

I almost don’t say it but in the end, I tell her. “Yeah. It’s the mayor.”

Her head whips around and she gasps. “The mayor? Who would want to hurt the mayor?”

“Was he at the gym today?”

“Yeah. He worked with Sylvia. She worked with him for over an hour. He looked mad when he left. He was holding a piece of paper that they gave him at the front desk.”

“That’s where that came from, huh?” I could kick myself when her head comes up and she eyes me. “Was there a note with him?”

“Don’t even worry about it. All you need to do is tell me all you know and then I’ll take care of the rest.”

She glares at me and her dark brown eyes turn black, her fists clenching at her side.

“You don’t need to act like I’m an idiot or something, Raymond. I’m not going to chase after this guy. All I wish is that I didn’t see anything so that I didn’t have to talk to you right now.” Her arms cross over her chest and her pretty lips curl. Where she was snowy pale before, her cheeks are painted with a furious pink and she’s almost snarling.

“Damn, you’re cute when you’re pissed!”

Her head jerks back and her hand comes up to touch her soft curls, pulling them in front of her face so that I can’t see her.

I don’t like that. I don’t ever want her to hide from me. Makes me want to shock the hell out of her so she looks at me again. It also has the dual bonus of helping her out of the shock she was dealing with.

Sirens wail in the dark of the night and I turn to see that two cruisers are pulling in, the officers getting out of the cars, eyeing Allie with suspicion.

A lot of times the person that finds the body has something to do with the crime.

Easy enough to check since there are cameras out here.

“Hey, you guys keep a perimeter around here. Look around and tell me if you see anything. The coroner should be here any minute but I don’t want anybody to move that body just yet.”

I turn back and Allie’s eyeing me like she doesn’t even know me. And maybe she doesn’t. She knows fun, happy Raymond. For my job, I’m serious, don’t trust anybody Raymond. There’s a possibility that anybody can be a suspect. I’ve lost count of the number of times somebody has told me that they’re innocent and I find hard proof that that’s not the case.

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