Darkness on the Edge of Town
J. Carson Black
Language: English
Pages: 219
ISBN: 1939145139
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Laura Cardinal Book I
Used to be kids played outdoors until time for dinner, now social media’s the new game in town. These days, they play on their smartphones. But with more freedom comes greater danger. Mobile devices are a conduit into a child’s life, not just for friends but for those who intend harm. This is the message of J. Carson Black’s Daphne du Maurier Award-nominated thriller, DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.
Laura Cardinal, a detective with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, troubleshoots homicide investigations in small towns where resources are scarce. When Laura investigates the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl found in a town’s park bandshell, she knows immediately what she’s up against: a cunning sexual predator. But why is she plagued by the abduction of a schoolmate eighteen years earlier?
In a runaway case that propels Laura from a lavish Tucson estate to the secretive heart of a north Florida town, she must confront the ghosts of her own past. Then another child goes missing--and Laura must race the clock to find her.
cap and sloshed some of the liquid on the floor. The smell hit Laura, the rank high smell of pure gasoline. The thing she feared most was dying in a fire. Summer, whimpering with fear. Get your fingers around— Galaz produced a silver lighter from his pocket. Paused. Laura could see he was still working it out in his mind, seeing the evidence the way the fire marshal would see it, the detectives, the ME. Get your fingers around the knife— The sound of the train abating, now, the wheels the
for the dog: shampoos, soap, nail scissors, pet-grooming equipment. Financial records, receipts, check books, credit card information. Tools. His car, his yard, his garden shed. Victor remained in Tucson, catching up on the paperwork they’d accumulated so far. Buddy took the bedroom. Laura started in the living room and moved on to the kitchen. The stainless steel appliances would show fingerprints, smudges, if they had not been wiped clean with glass cleaner. She didn’t know if he had cleaned
we have laws and we have precedence. You will not turn this court into a Star Chamber. The de Serouxs have been through enough, and I will not permit this witchhunt.” “What was that about the de Serouxs?” Laura asked Redbone as they walked down the steps of the courthouse. Redbone said, “The Judge doesn’t like extra work, and this qualifies. He doesn’t want to come under any scrutiny. He just keeps a low profile so he’s retained every few years. Well,” he patted her arm. “I’ve got to be going.
Mrs. Descartes doing?” He leaned his back against the railing. His eyes looked like dark pebbles in his face, which seemed unusually slack. “About as well as you’d expect, which is not good at all.” “I should have gone with you. I feel responsible.” “It wasn’t your fault.” He said it, but she could tell he didn’t believe it. “Will she be all right? Financially?” “She and Andy belong to the Church of Christ. Don’t have to worry about making ends meet, not in this town. We take care of our
left the motorhome to Victor and drove the few blocks to DPS. Hard to believe that Lundy had been under their noses all this time. Hidden in plain sight. Although they had cops crawling all over the Benson Highway area, FBI agents at the airport, Highway Patrol and sheriffs in four counties looking for a white GEO with a Colorado license plate, Lundy had slipped through the net. He could be anywhere. She went to see Charlie Specter. He looked up from his computer. “I was just going to call