Read Particles of Obsession (A Shadow of Death Romantic Suspense Book 2) for Free Online

that I watch her lips form each letter. “I didn’t expect to find you here. I thought you would have been at your office.”
    She hasn't released my name to the media yet. I suspect it's because she doesn't want all of the attention--the endless headlines questioning if the police are giving me special treatment because I worked beside them, or about how a simple science nerd committed murder right after Detective Stolz had seen me ready to kill the victim. It must be an embarrassment for her and I'm sure she wants to redeem herself by arresting me.
    But, now, she's just toying with me. Either she has another plan or she wants to get a confession out of me while there's a witness.
    “Well…I just thought you might be busy,” I say. “So I thought I’d question some people for you. With Alex Shirokov's murder, it seems like somebody who didn't realize they would leave forensic evidence behind, right? If I were going to commit a murder, I can't see myself ever leaving evidence behind.”
    "If you committed murder, I would think you were in an extreme mental state, so I suspect you would leave evidence behind," she says. "Alex's killer could have been in a rush. It doesn't matter. The killer left forensic evidence behind in multiple areas that they wouldn't be able to explain away."
    "Maybe your suspect was at the crime scene, but after the victim died."
    "That would be a very short time frame," Stolz says. "But if you have suspicions, why don't you come to the police station with me?"
    “I have no need to go to the station.”
    “Yeah, but it’s Macmillan’s birthday and I thought you might want to come by and celebrate with some cake.”
    Macmillan’s birthday is in March.
    “I’m really busy,” I tell her. “But I hope you’ll wish him a happy birthday for me."
    "You don't want to tell me about your suspicions?" she asks, her question almost a taunt.
    "It doesn't sound like you're ever going to believe me, so what's the point?"
    "The point is that you can’t keep disappearing," she says. "I'll do what it takes to serve justice. I will keep visiting your parents and track down everyone you know if I have to.”
    “You sound a little blinded by single-mindedness,” I say.
    “Or maybe I just want justice. If you really want something, you get creative, and I really don’t want to let you walk free after I let you get away once.”
    There’s a bang that feels like a knife in my ear drum and for a second, I’m disoriented enough to think Justin knocked over his vacuum again. But the truth sinks in and I can see the realization hit Stolz at the same time.
    I watch her sprint into the building. As I move toward the door, Justin grabs my arm.
    “What was that?” he asks.
    “Gunshot,” I mutter before running out of the room. I should take this time to escape, but it can't be a coincidence that Kiona left with a gun and a gunshot went off in her dorm building.
    I don't see anybody on the second floor, so I continue on down to the first floor. I find a crowd gathered around room 130 with Stolz pushing her way through the crowd.
    I approach the room, making sure to stay as hidden as possible behind the students. I peek around everybody. It looks like a young, deceased woman with long blond hair. As Stolz crouches over the woman’s body, I turn and leave.
    “Witnesses?” I hear Stolz bark. “Did anyone see the shooter?”
    “The person was all in black, wore a mask.”
    “I think it was Kiona!” another hysterical voice shouts.
    “Dammit,” Stolz says.
    I’m already running down the hall. I have to find Kiona.

    * * *
    E verything is an illusion .
    My father used to tell me that, but it isn’t because he believed in solipsism. He didn’t believe that the external world and other people were just a creation of the mind. He had simply studied magic enough that he questioned everything he saw. While I’m not a fan of conspiracy theorists—creating whole concepts out of minimal evidence that could