Shades of Murder (The Mac Faraday Mysteries) (24 page)

Epilogue

In the darkness of the night, with his eyes closed, Mac sensed her looking over at his motionless body. He breathed deeply so that Archie would think he was asleep. It worked. A moment later, she slipped out of his bed and tiptoed out of the room.

Mac counted to three before following.

In the sitting room, he saw her go into the bedroom on the other side of the penthouse and silently close the door. The granite floor was cold on his bare feet when he scurried across it to listen at the door on the other side. The sound of rushing air came from the room. It sounded similar to a hair dryer set on low.

What’s she doing? Drying her hair? Her hair is too short to need a dryer.

Mac cracked the door open to peer inside with only one eyeball. The sound of air blowing became louder.

Her back to him, Archie sat on the bed while adjusting the knobs on what looked like an old fashioned radio set on the night table. A mask and air hose in her hand, she reached up to bring it down over her face and secure it in place with black elastic straps.

His curiosity taking over, Mac opened the door further.

When Archie turned around, he screamed when he saw her face covered with the mask and the hose projecting from her face to where it was attached to the box on the stand. She resembled something from a sci-fi movie.

The mask muffled her shriek. “What are you doing here?”

He pointed at the contraption. “What is that?”

She ripped the mask from her face. “What does it look like?”

“Hannibal Lector, that’s what it looks like.” The mask with the straps over her head did make her resemble the cannibalistic serial killer in the movie
Silence of the Lambs
.

“I know.” Sobbing, she sank down onto the bed. “That’s why I didn’t want you to know.”

Now you did it. When are you going to learn to think before blurting out what you think?

“Know what?” Mac came into the room.
Humor. That always works.
“Don’t tell that you
are
Hannibal Lector.”

“No.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

When she didn’t respond, he began to wonder. The sight of the mask, the hose, and machine. He assumed the worst. Even if he wasn’t quite sure what that worst was. He prayed it didn’tinclude death. “What is it?” He sat down on the bed next to her and took her hand. “Tell me.”

She looked over at him. The shame he saw in her eyes made him tighten his grip on her hands. “I snore.”

Mac waited for her to go on. When she didn’t, he asked, “And…”

“Really bad.”

“How bad? How about those little strips you buy—”

“They don’t even start to help.” She waved the mask at him. “In the college dorm, my snoring could be heard all the way down the hall. Talk about a non-existent sex life. When I slept, nobody slept. It wasn’t until I fell asleep behind the wheel of the car that I went to a sleep clinic. I have sleep apnea. It’s really bad. If I tried sleeping without this machine, my snoring would clear out the whole resort.”

Mac went from wanting to hold and reassure her to wanting to toss her off the balcony. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been thinking that you weren’t spending the night with me because I snored or punched or kicked. Now, I find out it’s you.”

“I told you it wasn’t you.”

“I would have believed you if you had told me that you snored and had to sleep with a vacuum cleaner strapped to your face.”

“Would you have still wanted to spend the night with me if it meant sleeping with a vacuum cleaner hose?”

“If it meant you came with the vacuum cleaner, yes.” Mac grabbed her by the shoulders. “Archie, I love you. I want youwith me. If that contraption is part of the package, then I’ll take it.”

She threw her arm around him. Her mouth found his. With passion that felt as if was going to burst from her body, she held onto him. “You told me that you loved me.”

He nodded his head. “I know.”

“That’s the first time you told me that.”

“Is it?” he asked. “I didn’t notice.”

“I did.” Her voice was husky. “Are you ready?”

Mac sucked in his breath. “Yes, I’m ready.”

She slipped the mask on over her head and crawled under the covers.

Yep, she looks like Hannibal Lector.
Holding his breath to keep from laughing, Mac slipped in next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

The sound of the air rushing through the machine took on a rhythm that soothed both of them to sleep.

Knowing that she would be there in his arms when he woke up, Mac drifted off to sleep.
She may be scary in bed, but I love her and she’s mine.

Gnarly gave up on his master’s return. He jumped up onto the bed, and dug with his paws and snout until he burrowed under the comforter. He stretched out the length of the king-sized bed and buried his head down under the pillows in the master bedroom of the penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn to fall sound asleep.

Ah, it’s a dog’s life.

The End

About the Author

Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime. The first installment in the Joshua Thornton mysteries,
A Small Case of Murder
was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award.
A Reunion to Die For
was released in June 2007. Both of these books are in re-release.

The Mac Faraday Mysteries take place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. The first two books in her series,
It’s Murder, My Son
and
Old Loves Die Hard
have been getting rave reviews from readers and reviewers.
Shades of Murder
is Lauren’s fifth mystery.

The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors.

A popular speaker, Lauren has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.

She lives with her husband, son, and two dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Visit Lauren’s websites at:

Website:
http://acornbookservices.com/

http://mysterylady.net/

E-Mail:
[email protected]

Check Out These Other Highly-Acclaimed

Lauren Carr Mysteries!

The Mac Faraday Mysteries

It’s Murder, My Son

An exciting mystery with plenty of intriguing and enigmatic characters, It’s Murder, My Son is not a read that should be missed for mystery fans.

Reviewer: Margaret LaneMidwest Book Reviews

What started out as the worst day of Mac Faraday’s life would end up being a new beginning. After a messy divorce hearing, the last person that Mac wanted to see was another lawyer. Yet, this lawyer wore the expression of a child bursting to tell his secret. This secret would reveal Mac as heir to undreamed of fortunes, and lead him to the birthplace of America’s Queen of Mystery and an investigation that will unfold like one of her famous mystery novels.

Soon after she moves to her new lakefront home in Spencer, Maryland, multi-millionaire Katrina Singleton learns that life in an exclusive community is not all good. For some unknown reason, a strange man calling himself “Pay Back” begins stalking her. When Katrina is found strangled all evidence points to her terrorist, who is nowhere to be found.

Three months later, the file on her murder is still open with only vague speculations from the local police department when Mac Faraday, sole heir to his unknown birth mother’s home and fortune, moves into the estate next door. Little does he know as he drives up to Spencer Manor that he is driving into a closed gate community that is hiding more suspicious deaths than his DC workload as a homicide detective. With the help of his late mother’s journal, this retired cop puts all his detective skills to work to pick up where the local investigators have left off to follow the clues to Katrina’s killer.

Old Loves Die Hard

The fast-paced complex plot brings surprising twists into a storyline that leads Mac and his friends into grave danger. Readers are drawn into Mac’s past, meet his children, and experience the troubling relationships of his former in-laws. New fans will surely look forward to the next installment in this great new series.

Reviewer: Edie Dykeman

Bellaonline Mystery Books Editor

Old Loves Die Hard…and in the worst places.

Retired homicide detective Mac Faraday, heir of the late mystery writer Robin Spencer, is settling nicely into his new life at Spencer Manor when his ex-wife Christine shows up—and she wants him back! Before Mac can send her packing, Christine and her estranged lover are murdered in Mac’s private penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn, the five-star resort built by his ancestors.

The investigation leads to the discovery of cases files for some of Mac’s murder cases in the room of the man responsible for destroying his marriage. Why would his ex-wife’s lover come to Spencer to dig into Mac’s old cases?

With the help of his new friends on Deep Creek Lake, Mac must use all of his detective skills to clear his name and the Spencer Inn’s reputation, before its five-stars—and more bodies—start dropping!

The Joshua Thornton Mysteries

A Small Case of Murder

Independent Publisher Book Award Finalist!

A Small Case of Murder is a GRAND case of murder. Following a style, reminiscent of that of Lisa Scottoline, and David Rosenfelt, Lauren Carr in her debut novel A Small Case of Murder, delivers a powerful and strong detective- legal thriller that has all the makings of a Hollywood movie.

New Mystery Reader

Carr weaves an extraordinary story that is gripping and crafted at the highest level to entertain the reader with its touch familial centerpiece amidst evil and chaos.

Midwest Book Reviews

A Small Case of Murder
is set in the quaint West Virginia town of Chester, where everyone knows everyone, and there is never a secret that someone doesn’t know. In such an intimate town, how many suspicious deaths can be left unquestioned?

Following his wife’s death, Joshua Thornton leaves a promising career in the U. S. Navy’s JAG division to move across country with his five children into his ancestral home. While clearing out the attic they find a letter written to their grandmother postmarked 34 years ago.

In the letter, Lulu Jefferson wrote
“…Remember that dead body we found in the Bosley barn?...I saw him today…I went to talk to the reverend and there was his picture on the wall.” What dead body?
His interest piqued, Joshua asks about Lulu and finds that in 1970 she died on the same day that she penned the letter implicating the pastor in an unreported murder. There is much more to this story than a 34-year-old letter. It’s a 34-year-old mystery!

Today, a double murder has the whole town under a microscope. The state attorney general appoints Joshua special prosecutor to solve the crimes. In a small town where gossip flies as swiftly as a spring breeze, it is impossible to know who to trust. Asking simple questions about events long ago could prove to be deadly for Joshua and his family.

A Reunion to Die For

Lauren Carr writes with a flair that will not only keep you reading but also make you glad you didn’t graduate with this class!

Romance Reviews Today

High school cheerleader Tricia Wheeler didn’t make it to her graduation because a bullet went through her heart and killed her.

Twenty years later, a journalist is investigating Tricia’s supposed suicide for a book. Suddenly, a second cheerleader is dead and the body count in the small West Virginia town continues to rise.

For Joshua Thornton, the case is personal. The reopening of the Wheeler case stirs up memories and feelings for a girl who died without knowing his true feelings for her. Now, the newly-elected prosecutor is challenged to use everything he’s got to find out what had really happened to Tricia and stop the killing.

Coming Fall 2012!

Dead on Ice

A Lovers in Crime Mystery!