A Trace of Crime Read online

  “I’ll be there,” Keri assured him before quickly moving on. She just couldn’t think about that right now. “What’s the situation with Petrossian?”

  “He’s conscious now, under armed guard at the hospital. He was read his rights but he won’t stop talking, mostly about purification rituals. He claims that you’re an agent of Satan.”

  “He’s hardly the first,” Keri muttered sarcastically.

  “Yeah, well, it looks like his lawyer is already prepping an insanity defense. And this is one of those rare times when it might work. He’s never walking free again but I could see him spending the rest of his days in a pysch ward.”

  “Did he admit to anything?” Keri asked.

  “Not in so many words, but he has made passing references to other towns in his ramblings. The FBI is tracking down every place he’s lived and checking for missing persons cases that match his pattern. I hate to say it, but I think they’ll find quite a few. And that’s not including the other bodies we found in the room beneath the greenhouse.”

  “Have they been identified yet?” Keri asked.

  “One of them has. Carlotta Cantu was the more recent victim, probably killed in the last seventy-two hours. She worked the streets in East LA.”

  “How old was she?” Keri asked, knowing the answer would gut her.

  “She was twelve.”

  “I wonder why he picked her,” Ray said. “She doesn’t seem to fit the profile.”

  “Who knows?” Hillman said. “Maybe there was a connection we don’t know about.”

  “Or maybe,” Ray mused, “she was just for practice.”

  “And the other body?” Keri asked quickly, processing what Ray said but refusing to let it truly sink in.

  “It was just a skeleton so no ID yet. We’re waiting on dental records. But the medical examiner says she was female, between the ages of twelve and fourteen. She’s been dead about three months.”

  Keri nodded but didn’t respond. Ray came over and handed her a cup of tea.

  “Tell her the rest,” he said to Hillman.

  “The rest?” Keri asked quizzically.

  “I wasn’t going to hit you with everything at once,” Hillman said, glowering at Ray. “But I guess I don’t have a choice now.”

  “I guess not,” she agreed. “So spill it.”

  “There’s definitive bad news and a less definitive kind of good news.”

  “Bad news first,” Keri ordered. “Always.”

  “The bad news is that the Internal Affairs investigation is still ongoing. Someone powerful wants to take you down and despite recent events that would work in your favor, they’re refusing to close it.”

  Keri glanced at Ray, who nodded back. They both knew who the “someone powerful” was.

  “And the less definitive kind of good news?” she asked, pulling herself into a more upright position.

  “You’re very popular right now. You just saved a little girl and caught what appears to be a serial child killer. We’ll set aside for now the fact that you weren’t technically a cop when you did it. The media is on your side. And while Chief Beecher has had to navigate some tricky politics when it comes to you, you know she’s always been on your side too. She sees this as a chance to close the door on the whole thing.”

  “How would the door get closed?” Keri asked suspiciously.

  “If she has her way,” Hillman said, “with a formal reprimand for your actions in regard to the Collector. After all, he did abduct your daughter. Most people can understand how you might have bent the rules a bit on that one. She wants to move on from this. And in my experience, when Reena Beecher wants something, she gets it, no matter how powerful the forces on the other side are.”

  Keri was more skeptical but she kept her doubts to herself for now.

  “Thanks, Lieutenant,” she said.

  After he left, she felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her.

  “What time is it?” she asked Ray, yawning despite her best efforts.

  “Almost seven p.m.”

  “I don’t know how much longer I can last.”

  “Yeah, it’s been a big day for you, what with lying on the couch and all,” he said, scooping her up and carrying her into the bedroom.

  “Hey! Don’t tease me. I’m convalescing.”

  “I know,” he said as he placed her gently on the bed and pulled the covers up for her.

  “What about a shower? I haven’t showered all day.”

  “You can shower in the morning,” he whispered as he kissed her on the cheek and turned off the lamp by the bed.

  “Is that all I get?” Keri demanded, trying to sound put out even as she felt her eyelids getting heavy. “Don’t you want to have some sexy time?”

  “Soon,” he said as he closed the door.

  But Keri didn’t hear him. She was already asleep.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  When she woke up the next morning it was 7:08. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept twelve straight hours. She and Ray were having a leisurely breakfast of the coffee and bagels he’d picked up when Keri’s cell phone rang.

  “Can you hand that to me?” she asked, as she was on the couch again and the phone was over on the kitchen table.

  “Your days of convalescing are coming to a close,” he growled playfully as he tossed it to her.

  She looked at the screen. It was the number for Susan Granger’s group home. She answered, and Susan herself was on the other end.

  “What’s up, Susan?” she asked.

  “Are you sitting down?” the girl asked in a tone of voice Keri had never heard from her. She sounded unnerved, almost panicked.

  “I’m lying on the couch. Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I did what we talked about and reached out to some girls I still keep in touch with on the street. One of them got back to me in an email late last night but I was asleep so I didn’t see it until just now.”

  “Okay,” Keri said, the dread in the teenage girl’s voice starting to rattle her.

  “She said that word around town is that the Vista event that happens once a year, the one with the Blood Prize, is happening tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night?” Keri repeated, uncertain that she had fully comprehended the words she’d just heard.

  “Yes,” Susan confirmed. “She said that word is that things are too hot and if they don’t do it soon, they might lose out on this year’s Blood Prize.”

  “Why?” Keri asked, noticing that her voice sounded very distant. Ray was looking at her with a concerned expression.

  “Because the cops are getting too close. They’re calling this year’s prize the mini-pig, because they say she’s the daughter of a cop.”

  “Mini-pig?” Keri whispered, barely able to get the word out.

  “I’m so sorry, Detective Locke. But Darla was right. They’ve chosen Evie. She’s the Blood Prize.”

  Keri could barely hear her anymore. She looked up at Ray but he was blurry. Everything was a swirl of sounds and images. She felt the phone slip from her fingers.

  She recognized the feeling. This was a panic attack, like the ones she used to get, the ones she thought she’d conquered. But now she knew she hadn’t.

  And as she began to slip into the familiar, clammy darkness, one last thought passed through her head:

  I have thirty-six hours to save her.

  And I will.

  By God, I will.

  NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

  A TRACE OF HOPE

  (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 5)

  “A dynamic story line that grips from the first chapter and doesn't let go.”

  --Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone)

  From #1 bestselling mystery author Blake Pierce comes a new masterpiece of psychological suspense. A TRACE OF HOPE is the final book in the Keri Locke series, bringing the series to a dramatic conclusion.

  In A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5 in the Keri Locke mystery series)
, Keri Locke, Missing Persons Detective in the Homicide division of the LAPD, is closer than she’s ever been to finding her daughter. Finally, she gets a fresh lead—and this time, she will do whatever it takes to bring her home alive.

  At the same time, a new, urgent case is assigned to Keri: an 18 year old girl has gone missing after being hazed by her sorority. As the race is on to find her, Keri plunges deep into the world of pristine college campuses, and comes to realize that all is not what it seems.

  A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, A TRACE OF HOPE is book #5 in a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

  “A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”

  --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)

  A TRACE OF HOPE

  (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 5)

  Did you know that I've written multiple novels in the mystery genre? If you haven't read all my series, click the image below to download a series starter!

  Blake Pierce

  Blake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes eleven books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising five books; and of the new KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books (and counting).

  ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), and A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Kobo!

  An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

  BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

  RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

  ONCE GONE (Book #1)

  ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

  ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

  ONCE LURED (Book #4)

  ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

  ONCE PINED (Book #6)

  ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

  ONCE COLD (Book #8)

  ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

  ONCE LOST (Book #10)

  ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

  MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

  BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

  BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

  BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

  BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

  BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

  BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

  BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

  BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

  AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

  CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

  CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

  CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

  CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

  CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

  KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

  A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

  A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)

  A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

  A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

  A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)