Cause of Death Read online

  He had meant the comment to be a joke, but there was something unintentionally profound about the comment that made him uncomfortable.

  “Anywhere in particular?”

  “I have a friend with connections to a very exclusive island in the Virgin Gorda—St. Thomas area. He’s always asking me to come visit, so I think it’s about time to take him up on that offer.”

  Chase’s smile grew.

  “Excellent. I—”

  Her phone buzzed and she took it off her hip and stared at the call display.

  The smile slid off her face.

  “I’ve got to take this,” she said, her eyes still locked on the phone.

  “Chase?” Beckett said softly.

  “Yeah?”

  Beckett opened his mouth to speak, but sensing that she was preoccupied, instead of the words he had initially intended, he simply said, “Thank you.”

  Chase offered him a tired smile.

  “Take a break, Beckett. You’ll be fine.”

  With that, Chase answered her phone and turned, making her way slowly down the hallway as she barked into the mouthpiece.

  Beckett watched her go.

  Chase was wrong, of course; he wouldn’t be fine. In fact, he doubted he would ever be fine again. After all, Craig Sloan had changed him.

  Beckett had said thank you, but what he really wanted to say was, Craig got what he deserved. I killed him because he was going to kill again. He wasn’t going to just hang it up after he completed the pathology exam—the test was only the beginning. I stopped him the only way I knew how: by killing him, by smashing his head in with the rock until it was covered in his brains and blood and bits of skull. And Chase? I liked it.

  It was this last part that scared Beckett most of all.

  I liked it, Chase, and I’m afraid that I’ll do it again someday.

  TO KEEP READING, grab your copy of Book 3 in the DAMIEN DRAKE Series, DOWNLOAD MURDER, TODAY!

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents in this book are either entirely imaginary or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or of places, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © Patrick Logan 2017

  Interior design: © Patrick Logan 2017

  All rights reserved.

  This book, or parts thereof, cannot be reproduced, scanned, or disseminated in any print or electronic form.

  Sixth Edition: January 2018