Read In the Dead of Night for Free Online Page B

his attention on finding this psycho before someone else gets sliced and diced!”
    “So, I guess everyone figures this is connected to what happened last night?”
    I wasn’t stating the obvious to just pass the fifteen to twenty minutes I figured Fiona and Ed would be inside the building’s offices. I pictured the murder scene already cordoned off, with a chalk outline representing Dickey’s body where it was found. But I wondered if Freddie knew something more.
    “Hell, yeah, man—it’s the top story on Yahoo, dude!” He enthusiastically nodded to confirm how heavy this scene was. “I mean Candi’s death is the big story, but this new chapter is sure to send it on up to become CNN’s biggest story as well. This town will be swarming with a ton of vultures soon!”
    Other news folks had moved closer to us, as if sensing some exclusive nuggets were at hand. I didn’t recognize any of them from last night, so I doubted they realized the first-hand look I had of Ms. Starr’s glazed expression—her final pose for some camera, likely one belonging to a forensic aide fresh out of college.
    “Yeah….It sort of makes sense, I guess,” I said.
    I hoped he didn’t think I was an idiot, and I longed for a later opportunity to fill him in with what I knew—far removed from our current surroundings and audience. He leaned in closer to me and lowered his voice.
    “This one’s a lot worse than the others last night,” he whispered. “I know the examiner who handled the initial forensic investigation of Dickey’s office. He told me the room is covered in blood and splattered tissue. The killer, or killers, since there may be more than one, cut Dickey into pieces after shooting him once in the lower back, severing his spine.”
    “Really?”
    That’s all I could muster. I waited for him to go on, while both of us kept watch on the main entrance.
    “Yeah, man,” he said. “It’s sort of like they wanted to make sure he couldn’t escape. Based on the evidence, whoever did this waited a little before chopping him to pieces…slowly. The bullet injury appears to have severed only the nerves from the waist down. If that’s true, then he felt every skin puncture and tear from the blade used to hack him up.”
    “That sucks…bad.”
    “Yeah, to be him, anyway,” said Freddie, grimacing. “It probably wasn’t much fun for his assistant to find him this morning.”
    That would be Lori Lee Jones, who has her own small claim to fame, in that she is George’s third cousin…or so the assertion goes.
    “I imagine not.”
    Suddenly, I thought about ghosts. New ones. Fresh souls recently acquired by the other side. Sort of a reunion tour between Candi and her boss, along with Johnny and Brenda…such fun for everyone. Completely inappropriate, it made me feel a tad guilty and stirred my longing for Fiona. I couldn’t begin to picture life without her. She and our boys.
    I heard a click from behind us, and saw the boom from a microphone disappear behind a nearby media van. Before I could trace the equipment to its owner, Freddie nudged my arm to reclaim my attention.
    “It looks like they’re done, man,” he said, pointing to Fiona and Ed, who had just emerged through the twin French doors that marked the building’s main entrance.
    At first she didn’t see me, since the crowd had grown significantly after she and Ed disappeared inside. When she did detect my presence, she smiled and lightly waved—which told me I needed to come to her instead of waiting for her to wade through paparazzi camera flashes as they sought to capture this mysterious, beautiful woman leaving the scene of wanton bloodshed. Her large dark sunglasses made her look like some notable songstress…a country maven.
    She moved down the main walkway while I worked my way through the media throng. Ed nodded to a nearby reporter before jogging over to his car.
    “How was it in there?” I asked, thinking about the gruesome details from what