Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery) Read online

  Killer in

  Sight

  A Tom Lackey Mystery

  Other books by Sandra CarringtonSmith…

  The Book of Obeah

  While fulfilling the final request of her departed Grandmama,

  Melody Bennet, a young professional raised in the genteel

  suburbs of North Carolina, is plunged into the clandestine world

  of an ancient West African religion – via the Louisiana bayou.

  In unearthing a mysterious religious manuscript, Melody

  collides with those seeking powers believed to be contained

  within the text, from The Vatican to individuals claiming it as

  their legacy. She accepts the task of safeguarding the book and

  finds lives are threatened, including her own, sometimes from

  unexpected directions. As her knowledge grows and

  perceptions shift, Melody's path is fused with that of the sacred

  book. She risks body and soul to protect both and, unbeknownst

  to her, secures the future of an esoteric, divine prophecy.

  “... captured me from the start and would not let me

  go.”

  Rebecca Cox, Reviewthebook.com

  “An exciting, riveting novel with many twists, this

  book will surely satisfy mystery fans and

  paranormal/mystical fans.”

  Betty Gelean, “Night reader”

  “A fine choice and a highly recommended read.”

  Midwest Book Review

  “A psychological thriller filled with suspense.”

  Stephanie Rose Bird, author of Stick, Stones, Roots and Bones Housekeeping for the Soul:

  A Practical Guide to Restoring Your Inner Sanctuary

  The first book to combine how-to, self-help and spiritual genres to

  address the needs of millions of readers as they strive to detach

  from the Culture of Chaos and embrace a life of balance. It is

  through this inner harmony and balance that one may then create a

  meaningful, authentic reality. With a down-to-earth approach, the

  reader is guided through the process of emotional healing and

  renewal of spirit through the familiar analogy of housekeeping:

  cleaning, organizing, and "airing out" our lives, room by room, task

  by task.

  “...helps us clear out some spiritual cobwebs and

  make our next 'spring cleaning' apply not to our

  homes but to the deepest part of ourselves.”

  Victoria Moran,

  author of international bestseller Creating a Charmed Life

  “...overflows with important concepts presented in a

  style that is fresh and relatable. A unique, 'must

  read' debut from this eloquent author.”

  S.T. Underdahl,

  Clinical Psychologist and author of The Other Sister and

  Remember This

  “A great soul gripping and informative book to live

  by.”

  Dr. Robert E McGinnis

  Coming soon…

  The Rosaries

  Book two of the Crossroads series. After risking her life

  to safeguard the prophecy hidden within the pages of

  the famed Book of Obeah, Melody Bennet thinks her

  life has finally settled into normalcy. Now the tables are

  turning and Melody is once again thrust into uncharted

  territory. As the prophecy closes in, new dangers are

  lurking at the door…

  Shadows of a Tuscan Moon

  A beautiful mother of two mysteriously disappears

  without leaving a trace, apparently swallowed by the

  darkness of a frigid winter night. The local law

  enforcement gets right to work, but as time goes by

  every lead turns into a dead end. Has the woman

  decided to run off and turn her back on her too-tight

  family life, or is her disappearance the work of a skilled

  killer who has left no clues behind? Many shadows lurk

  in the timeless beauty of a small Tuscan town; one of

  those shadows, maybe the darkest one of all, holds the

  key to a terrifying truth…

  Killer in

  Sight

  A Tom Lackey Mystery

  Sandra CarringtonSmith

  This book is a work of fiction. Names,

  characters, places and incidents are the product

  of the author's imagination and are used

  fictionally. Any resemblance to actual events,

  locales or persons, living or dead is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012 by

  Sandra CarringtonSmith

  All rights reserved.

  First Edition

  ISBN-13:978-0-9855558-0-1

  Crossroads Books

  http://www.sandracarringtonsmith.com

  To my guide and muse, P.L.,

  thanks to whom I never walk alone.

  Acknowledgments

  Any time a new book hits the market, the name of the author

  is usually the one that stands out, but truth is that no author

  can produce a book alone.

  There are many people working backstage, and although

  their faces will likely remain behind the curtain, the value of

  their work should share the spotlight.

  I would like to thank my families, the CarringtonSmiths and

  the Faiazzas, and also Riccardo Panessa -- the uncle I always

  wished I could have – for always supporting me.

  I would especially like to send a special thank you to all the

  friends who helped me: Sherrill Suitt-Craig, your wonderful

  graphic designing skills have saved the day; had I been

  doing this on my own, the cover would have featured stick

  people.

  Julie Wall, as always I appreciate your eye for detail and

  your fantastic photographic skills which allow people to

  look at the author page without getting scared.

  Jon Batson, I don’t have enough words to thank you for

  helping me format the book files, as all who know me are

  also aware that I should probably receive disability for being

  so technically challenged.

  Many thanks also to Dara Lyon Warner who helped me edit

  parts of the book, and to all the friends who read the story

  and offered critique and blurbs: Scott Schultz, Tracy White

  (the amazing sheriff deputy who helped me with police

  protocol), Ed Powers, Thomas Smith, Victoria Roder, Don

  Vaughn, Debby Marshall, Alice Osborn, Elaine Estes and my wonderful agent Natalie Kimber from Sunrae Literary

  Agency.

  Special thanks also to Donna Freeman, Toni Overby and

  Pam Scarboro for the emotional support they are always

  ready to provide.

  Tremendous gratitude must certainly be extended to my

  husband John and to my children, Stephen, Michael and

  Morgan, for always believing in me and for being eternally

  patient.

  Last but not least, this book is dedicated to you, the

  unknown reader. Thank you for giving my work a chance; I

  hope you will enjoy the story.

  Chapter 1

  Tracey Newman held her breath, afraid the man

  could hear her. He was close now—she couldn’t see him

  in the darkness of the stuffy room,
but she could

  somehow detect his presence nearby. She closed her

  eyes, as if trying to delete this moment from her reality,

  and her nostrils picked up a pungent smell, but she

  couldn’t decide what it was or where it came from. It

  was a strange, earthy scent—a mixture of mildew and

  something else—slightly offset by the fragrance of

  honeysuckle that filtered in through the open door.

  Tracey shivered even though the temperature in the

  room was hot and the air was still, and she wanted to

  wrap her arms around herself in a gesture of comfort,

  but was too afraid to move. Where is he? Has he left? Her mind raced back to the last few days, and she

  thought of her family. Her mother had celebrated a

  birthday the previous weekend, and Tracey planned to

  fly home to St. Louis a week from today to surprise the

  whole family, especially her half-sister Alexis. It was

  hard for a physician assistant to get time off, and she

  had to sweet-talk the supervising doctor into allowing

  her to take five days of vacation. Now she wasn’t sure

  her travel plans were going to work out after all. This

  was so surreal! She quietly opened and closed her fists

  just to feel movement, to know that she wasn’t trapped

  in a nightmare. Unfortunately, she was awake and not at

  all sure she would still be breathing even a few minutes

  from now. The thought of dying made her head spin and

  her stomach tighten. Her ears were buzzing, and for a

  moment she thought she was going to faint. She could

  hear the sound of water dripping in the distance, but

  couldn’t determine if it was coming from inside the

  cabin or outside. It wasn’t raining when she came in, but

  the weather in North Carolina was crazy this time of

  year, and anything could be expected. March had left

  with a bang—violent storms and widespread power

  outages had dominated the greater part of the month—

  and April was already blistering hot, with temperatures

  that were a bit uncharacteristic so early in the season but

  quite welcome after the unusually cold winter. Rain was

  often elusive in this part of the country, and it usually

  showed up either on weekends when she and her friend

  Shannon planned to go kayaking, or when she washed

  her car.

  A creaking sound exploded in the silence of the

  room, and Tracey’s heart jumped to her throat. He was

  getting closer, she just knew it…what could she do

  now? She could remain hidden and hope he would not

  find her, or she could try to escape outside again. Maybe

  she would run into someone else out there, and she

  would be safe.

  “I know you are in here, Tracey. It’s not nice to

  hide.”

  Tracey did not respond, and swallowed hard to

  smother the deep scream which threatened to rise from

  her stomach. She could taste the salty, silent tears that

  ran unchecked down her face and over her lips.

  “You are just making this harder for yourself,

  Tracey. I promise it will be fast. You will barely feel a

  thing.” The man’s voice was sickeningly condescending

  and fatherly, and Tracey was so distraught and confused

  that she almost considered his words for a moment; but

  as she glimpsed reflected light from the blade of a knife,

  something else came over her. A primal scream erupted

  from her pounding chest and ripped through her throat,

  as she ran past the man toward the door. He lunged to

  grab her and slid on the floor, the knife landing with a

  metallic clunk on the wooden surface. Tracey ran

  outside, unsure of where to go. She had jogged through

  these woods dozens of times, but now the trees appeared

  to connect together, forming a black wall that spread out

  in all directions. It was barely dusk when she ran into

  the unlocked cabin looking for a place to hide, after she

  noticed she was being followed, and now it was pitch

  dark—how long had she been in there? Her mother had

  warned her often about jogging alone, but Tracey

  always brushed off her mother’s worried comments with

  a smile, believing in her heart that she could take care of

  herself. Maybe she should have listened.

  She could hear the man’s steps crunching leaves in

  his path, and his breathing was labored. Tracey wanted

  to turn around to see if he was behind her, but she

  couldn’t risk stopping. The eerie silk of a spider web

  touched her forehead, but even though she was terrified

  of spiders, she kept running blindly through the dense

  forest. The path was gone, and all the trees looked alike;

  menacing hands seemed to be reaching out in the night,

  to capture her and deliver her to the man who was after

  her. An owl hooted frighteningly nearby, as if to signal

  the man of her whereabouts, and Tracey tripped on a

  root poking from the ground but didn’t fall. Suddenly,

  she heard her name being called, and the voice was a

  familiar one…someone else was in the woods, someone

  who knew her! She thrust herself toward the voice,

  knowing her assailant was only steps behind and safety

  was near. She could feel branches scraping her ankles as

  she ran, but she was numb to pain.

  “Tracey! Where are you?”

  She could see a shadow in the woods, running

  toward her with a flashlight. She wasn’t at all certain

  who the person was, but she was happy someone else

  was there. Oh yes, thank you, God! Please watch over

  me. I’m coming… Tracey ran faster, nearly throwing

  herself into the arms of the person who had come to

  rescue her. Her body shook with deep sobs as she

  looked up, and her eyes registered surprise when she

  saw who it was. It didn’t matter. She tried to formulate

  words to convey what was happening. “He is coming

  after me! I don’t know why he is doing this! He has a

  knife!” Her voice was so shrill she almost couldn’t

  recognize it as being her own.

  “It’s going to be okay, Tracey. I’m here now, and I

  will take care of things.”

  Tracey nodded, and turned toward the man who was

  quickly approaching. He stopped and spoke, and his

  voice echoed in the stillness of the woods. “I’m sorry. I

  shouldn’t have let her get away. I screwed up.”

  Tracey shook her head, struggling to grasp what was

  happening, but when she turned to look at her rescuer,

  her eyes locked with the cold mouth of a revolver

  pointed at her. Words jammed in her throat, and her legs

  almost collapsed beneath her.

  “I’m sorry, Tracey. I didn’t want to be the one to do

  this, but you leave me no choice. Goodbye, Sweetheart.”

  Before Tracey could speak a word, even to ask why,

  the gun went off, and she fell into a heap on a bed of

  leaves. Before she died, she looked at the two people

  who were standing there—waiting for her to take her

  last breath—knowing she would never see anyone else

  aga
in. Their features were photographed by her fading

  eyes, but sadly, nobody would ever see them.

  Chapter 2

  The phone rang just as Tom Lackey got ready to sit

  down for breakfast with Kathy Spencer, his girlfriend of

  over ten years. People often wondered why Tom and

  Kathy were not married after being together for so long,

  but neither worried enough about the opinions of others

  to actually care. Both in their mid-forties—Tom was

  going to be 45 in just another month, and Kathy had

  turned 43 in February—and both with failed marriages

  behind them, they had come to see marriage as

  chloroform when applied to a relationship. Tom and

  Kathy were happy just the way they were; Tom was

  confident that Kathy loved him and was attracted to

  him, even if his hairline was slightly receding and a

  small tire had begun to inflate around his midsection.

  Aside from those two age markers, Tom still had a good

  build and a handsome face devoid of wrinkles, and his

  full lips and deep brown eyes—a bit droopy and

  hauntingly soulful—were still his most attractive

  features. Despite his own good looks, Tom felt his lucky

  star had shone brighter the day he met Kathy. Aside

  from being a beautiful woman, with sparkling, sapphireblue eyes, she was also extremely intelligent, and her voice was as soft and as smooth as velvet.

  Kathy took a look at the caller ID and handed the

  phone to Tom. “It’s for you…the station.” That was his

  Kathy, a woman of few words.

  Tom took the receiver, tucking it between his ear

  and shoulder while he buttered a piece of toast.

  “Lackey.”

  “Lieutenant, Sergeant Parker asked me to call you.

  A couple of joggers found the body of a young woman

  in Durant Park a short while ago. We have already taped

  the area.”

  “Have you identified the woman?” Tom hurried to

  spread some jelly over his toast, knowing that he was

  not going to have much time for breakfast today.

  “No, Sir. We haven’t looked around yet, but she

  doesn’t appear to have any ID.”

  “Okay, I will be there as soon as possible. Keep

  everybody away, especially the media.” Tom clicked the

  phone off, placed it down on the table, then he took a

  hurried sip of coffee and bit into the toast as he walked

  briskly toward the small table near the door to grab his

  car keys. “I don’t know what time I will be home. They