My cell phone beeps loudly on Paige’s side table and I rush over to grab it, rescuing myself from having to explain. It’s a message from Candace with the address for Andrew Jameson.
“I have to go. I just got the address I was waiting for,” I tell Paige as I shove my cell phone into my bag. Before I walk out the door, I quickly grab on to her and give her a hug.
“Thank you for this,” I tell her softly before pulling away.
“It’s just a little makeup and different clothes. It won’t solve this case for you, but it sure as hell will give you some confidence. You look hot. And if you see Dallas, tell him to suck it,” she says with a laugh.
Dallas makes me feel small and insignificant, just like my parents. I don’t care how much he makes my insides flutter—if I never see him again, it will be too soon.
Paige’s voice stops me as I reach her front door. “Oh, and Lorelei, you better tell me all about this tattoo when you’re finished.”
Double-checking the address in Candace’s text and the location on my GPS, I stare at the house I’m parked in front of.
This can’t be the right place. Andrew Jameson was the CEO of Richard’s company. This house, if you can call it that, has boarded-up windows, a lawn that hasn’t been mowed in years, and pieces of blue tarp covering holes in the roof. I reach over to my glove compartment and pull out my Taser, checking to make sure it’s fully charged.
As I step out of my car, I glance around nervously at the neighborhood. I should have borrowed another vehicle to come here. My Mercedes sticks out like a sore thumb and I’m hoping it will be okay and still parked here when I come back outside.
I make my way up the rickety front porch steps and I forget about my car and just hope I’ll be okay when I come back outside.
Knocking on the door, I quickly stash the Taser in my back pocket. This isn’t the best neighborhood, but Andrew lives here and if I want him to answer my questions, I don’t want to offend him right off the bat by showing him I’m carrying a weapon out of nervousness.
The door swings open and a man wearing ripped jeans and a stained sweatshirt stands there glaring at me. His hair is greasy and he’s got the facial hair of a mountain man. This does not look like the former CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company.
“Andrew Jameson?”
The man grunts and brings a can of beer up to his mouth, taking a swig before belching with abandon.
“Who wants to know?”
I clear my throat and remind myself that I’m dressed to kill and get to the bottom of things. I stand up taller and take a deep breath.
“My name is Lori Wagner. I’m writing an article on the recent death of Richard Covington. I understand the two of you were friends and that you used to work together. Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?”
Andrew crushes his empty beer can and tosses it somewhere behind him. “We were never friends. And as far as I’m concerned, that asshole got what was coming to him. I was there from day one. I helped him develop that fucking heart catheter tool, and after he marries that whore, he suddenly decides he doesn’t need me anymore. Every idea I ever came up with while I worked for him, Richard got the credit for. And it was okay with me at the time; I was making good money. Thirty years of my life and all my good ideas I gave him and what’s the thanks I get? A twenty-thousand-dollar severance package. I told him he could take his money and shove it up his ass.”
Well, no wonder he’s living in a hovel. It looks like he hasn’t showered in months. Was his anger with Richard Covington enough to make him commit murder?
“Do you have any idea who could have killed him?” I ask, fishing for answers. I’m sure it’s not going to be as easy as this guy coming right out and confessing, but you never know.
“I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re asking. I hated that lying sack of shit, but I’m not a murderer. Richard wanted me out of the way because I knew all of his little secrets. You want to know who killed Richard Covington? Ask his—”
Andrew’s voice is cut off by erupting gunshots. I feel a pain in my cheek like someone sliced it with a knife and watch Andrew’s eyes widen in shock. My instincts kick into high gear and I immediately dive forward, slamming into Andrew and crashing to the ground on top of him in the doorway. More shots are fired, blowing out all of his windows. Shards of glass and slivers of wood from bullets slamming into the doorframe are raining down on top of us. I roll off of him, and with my head low, crawl as quickly as I can into the house. I glance behind me to make sure Andrew is following and see him still lying in the doorway.
Shame on Him
Tara Sivec's books
- Shame on Me
- Shame on You
- A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
- A Vision of Loveliness
- Abdication A Novel
- Already Gone
- Armageddon
- Blood Gorgons
- Bonnie of Evidence
- Buried (A Bone Secrets Novel)
- Confessions of a Call Center Gal
- Conservation of Shadows
- Constance A Novel
- Deadly Deception
- Death on a Pale Horse
- Death on the Pont Noir
- Diamond Girl
- Domination (A C.H.A.O.S. Novel)
- Dragon's Moon
- Elimination Night
- Every Contact Leaves a Trace
- Extinction Machine
- Fight Song A Novel
- Fire Stones
- Gideon's Corpse
- Gone to the Forest A Novel
- Harvest Moon
- Hitman Damnation
- Honey Pie (Cupcake Club)
- Honor Student
- Honor Thy Teacher (Honor Series)
- Honor Thy Thug
- Invasion Colorado
- Kind One
- Light on Lucrezia
- Lionheart A Novel
- Montaro Caine A Novel
- Moon Burning
- Moon Underfoot (A Jake Crosby Thriller)
- On Dublin Street
- Once Upon a River
- One Good Hustle
- One Minute to Midnight
- One Tiny Secret
- One Week
- Operation Caribe
- Operation Sea Ghost
- Pandemonium
- Perfection
- Poseidon's Arrow
- Reason to Breathe
- Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend
- Reasons to Be Happy
- Reunion at Red Paint Bay
- Second Hearts (The Wishes Series)
- Secret Reflection
- So Gone
- Sometime Soon
- Son of Destruction
- Suspicions
- The Antagonist
- The Bone Bed
- The Diamond Chariot
- The Falcons of Fire and Ice
- The Exceptions
- The Infatuations
- The London Blitz Murders
- The Only Exception
- The Persona Protocol
- The Ribbon Weaver
- The Saxon Uprising-ARC
- The Second Virginity of Suzy Green
- The Tudor Plot A Cotton Malone Novella
- The Wonder of Your Love
- The Wrong Path
- Theodore Boone The Accused
- The Con Man (87th Precinct)
- Unintended Consequences - By Marti Green
- Unintended Consequences - By Stuart Woods
- Walk on the Wild Side
- You Don't Want To Know
- You Only Die Twice
- Zone One
- The Abduction
- The Adventures of Button Broken Tail
- SIX MONTHS_(A Seven Series Novel Book 2)
- The Blackstone Chronicles
- Blood from a stone
- Blood on My Hands
- Blue noon
- The Blood That Bonds
- The Body Of Jonah Boyd
- Bone Fire
- Boneshaker
- The Bone Chamber
- The Bone Fire_A Mystery
- The Bone Palace
- Butcher Bird_ A Novel of the Dominion
- By Reason of Insanity
- Border songs