Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | FINAL

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with the LAST INSTALMENT of “The Murder App” – Chapter 10!

Detective Steven Evans laughed aloud. A cruel, cold sounding laugh as Ella pushed against the restraints. Now that the blur from her head had cleared, she realised that she was tied to a metal chair, in the middle of a basement room. The Murder App killer that she and Steve had been chasing the last few weeks, the one that had killed several woman – including someone she had known in university – was standing in front of her. Her partner was a killer.

‘Steve, what are you doing? Let me go and let’s talk about taking you in.’

Steve laughed again, this time stopping suddenly and returning his face to a deadpan expression. ‘You know that’s not how this ends.’

‘Why then? Why do this Steve?’ She manoeuvred her hands and felt the restraints loosen a little. Obviously, Steve had tied them in a hurry.

‘Because, you found my blood at Jessica’s crime scene.’

Recognition must have crossed her face, because Steve nodded and leaned in closer. ‘There really was only two options for me. Run, or kill you – the only other person in that house who noticed, or mentioned the blood splatter.’

‘Someone else will find it, it’s still over Steve.’ She felt the restraints shift again, and she wriggled discretely until one of her hands was free.

‘Ah, but I’ve already taken care of it when you left. As you said, you could smell the bleach in the house, so one more touch didn’t do any difference.’

‘So now, you’re going to kill me?’ she asked, releasing her second hand and keeping them in place. She wanted to take Steve by surprise.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

Before he could reply, Ella lunged forward and the gun Steve had been holding slammed to the floor. They rolled and fought for control, but Steve was stronger. He pinned her down and she reached up towards him, landing an open handed hit to his cheek. As he recoiled and pulled back his hand for a response, Ella spotted the gun just within reach.

Without thinking, she reached for it just as the impact of his fist landed on her face. The pain sliced through her, but she ignored it as she raised the gun and fired into Steve’s side. Once, twice, three times. The man jolted and fell off of her, and she gritted her teeth as she raised up onto her knees. Blood trickled from his mouth as he tried to crawl away from her. She didn’t let up, shooting him again – this time in his chest twice.

The man who had been her partner fell to the ground – his eyes open just like Jessica’s. Rage and fear was his last expression. The one that her partner, who was supposed to be catching the killers, would have forever. She dropped the gun and looked around the sparse room. Steve had left her phone on a metal table at the other end of the room, and Ella crawled towards it. Still in pain, she dialled for backup and sat alone in the room while they traced the phone.

Steve lay across from her, dead. She’d killed her partner. She’d gotten justice for those women, but she’d had to kill a man to get it. If only he’d turned himself in when the blood had been found – or chosen to run. But he hadn’t. He’d forced her to take things into her own hands.

When backup finally arrived, she’d answered several questions, and had gotten the all clear from the paramedics. Ella let an officer driver her home. The blur of thanks, and walking to her front door melted away at the sight of Ted in the doorway. When he noticed her, the bag of rubbish in his hand dropped and he sprinted into her arms. Picking her up, Ella didn’t complain as he carried her into the house, and onto the couch. Making sure she was okay, he moved into the other room and left her alone.

She would tell him everything that had happened, of course. She would go over all the details, and release the pain in tears, but right now, she was silent. The events of the night washed over her as Samson cautiously approached, licking her hand that hung over the side. She smiled and patted his head as tears started to fall. Sounds of Ted making food in the other room started, with scents of her favourite soup filling the house.

It was over. She had found the Murder App killer, lost her partner, and experienced the trauma of abduction and killing all in one night. Now, it was time to be with her family. Her dog; her husband; her home. She would have time to process it all later. The Murder App case was closed, and she could finally put it to rest.


I hope you enjoyed the final instalment of the Murder App!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | NINE

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter 9!

The coffee shop wasn’t too crowded, but not empty either. A few couples were hunched over and quietly talking with each other at a few tables around her. Ella could hear the communication of her team in the inner ear device, but didn’t dare respond. If anyone overheard her talking to herself, she might scare away the potential killer.

What were the odds that the first person she met up with was really the Murder App killer? It would probably be a false alarm, and she’d have to do this over and over again a few times before they really stumbled upon him. Hopefully before he killed another innocent woman. In any case, she waited with a cup of coffee already ordered, and half drunk. He was late.

This guy was either a flake – and not the guy they were after – or he was making her wait. Why would he do that? A test to see if she would react a certain way when he finally showed up? Did he take one look at her and decide she was too much of a challenge?

She needed this one to be the one. The sooner he was off the street – or internet as it were – the better. As she was contemplating calling it quits, a car slammed into another right outside. Both driver’s got out and started yelling to each other, but before she or her team could react, a sound behind her startled her. Before she could turn around, Ella felt a sharp pain slam into the back of her head. The edges of her vision started to darken and blur. The outline of a figure came into her view, but before she could focus on who it was, the world went black.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

Ella felt her head throb before she opened her eyes. Slowly the memory of the car accident, the coffee shop, and the hit on her head came back to her. She flew her eyes open and groaned at the pain. The room was dimly lit, but the blow to her had been hard, and she was feeling the pain.

‘Ah, you’re awake.’ The voice was somewhat familiar, but Ella was still too blurry to recognise it. The shadow of a man slipped into her view from the side, back lit by the strange lighting. The room she was in started to come into focus, and Ella took in what she could. A basement. She was pretty sure this was some kind of basement room, with a swinging light above her, and standing light in the corner. The one in the corner was the only light on in the room.

The man moved towards her slowly, twirling what looked like her gun in his hand. ‘You know, I didn’t want things to end up this way Detective.’ He knew who she was. The whole encounter had probably been a trap. Ella wished she could recall the voice, but things were still fuzzy. She wasn’t even sure words would form yet if she tried.

‘You know, the women in this town are far too picky,’ the man continued, moving closer. ‘They never seem to want the good guys. They never want the ones who will genuinely care about them. A Tom Hanks to their Meg Ryan. They’d rather have a Captain Sparrow.’ The man stopped walking and Ella felt the final fuzz in her head clear as he cautiously stepped into view. The twisted smile on his face was not what she’d grown accustomed to seeing on her partners face.

‘Steve?’


I hope you enjoyed this instalment of the Murder App.
Come back next time for the LAST chapter!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Fiction The Murder App

The Murder App | EIGHT

A serial killer, technology, and a detective determined to find the truth. Come along on a murder mystery adventure, with The Murder App – Chapter 8!

Ella walked through the open door of another house. Another crime scene, another body, another life robbed of potential. As she moved into the kitchen, the struggle for this killing was evident. Jessica Town had put up a fight.

‘I see you made it,’ Steve said as he stood upright from his crouching position beside the body. They hadn’t cleared it away yet, and Jessica lay with the classic red tie around her neck. Bruising was already forming, and her face was forever halted in a position of rage and fear. She had fought to come out on top, but ultimately the man who killed her was stronger.

‘Yes. What do we have? Leave any evidence this time?’

Steve shrugged with a small shake of his head, ‘Nope. This guy is still leaving no forensic evidence behind. And we checked the dating app for Jessica Town, but he’s already removed any and all communications and profiles for himself. Again.’

Ella dropped down to look closer at the woman. The woman who thought she was just meeting up with someone for a date. Someone who could have potentially been the one for her. The one that would complete her – if that was even possible. She struggled to find her breath, but a small splash of red caught her attention just underneath the sink cupboard doors.

‘What’s that?’ she asked quietly. Most of the other officers had already moved out of the room to inspect other aspects of the property and log their finds. Behind her, Steve had heard her question and joined her. ‘What’s what?’

‘It looks like…’ she pushed her face closer to the spoltch, then nodded as she decided it was what she thought. ‘It’s blood.’

‘Probably the victims I suppose,’ Steve said with a sigh as he stood.

Ella shook her head, ‘I don’t think so. She has markings under her fingers from a fight with the killer, but the hands look clean. Almost as if someone bleached them right before he left, plus I could smell it halfway down the block.’ She stood and pulled out her phone. ‘He drenched the place.’ As she was dialling, Steven put a hand over hers and smiled with sad eyes.

‘Ella, go home. I’ll call this in.’ He shrugged and motioned to the woman on the ground between them. ‘I know how hard you’re taking this one, so let me handle it from here and get some rest.’ She was about to argue when he held up a hand. ‘I promise, if you want to you can go back to the office, or go home, or do whatever you want. I will keep you fully updated, and make sure you’re in the loop if anything urgent comes up.’

Reluctantly, Ella thanked her partner and left. Driving to the office, she wasn’t quite ready to go home yet. Ted had been amazing to arrange everything, but the murder had put a damper on her mood. She may as well try to get some work done while she could. Pulling up her dating profile on the office computer, Ella checked her messages. Most were from obvious hook up attempts, a few genuine seeming contacts, but the final one caught her attention.

A new profile, looked like he hadn’t been on the site for very long. His answers made him look perfect, his pictures made him look perfect, but something was off. Something about the look in his eye looked staged. Something about the answers felt forced. Ella clicked onto the message again and read through it carefully.

He’d seen her profile and thought they’d hit it off. He wanted to meet for coffee, as he preferred face to face contact over silly online dating. Would she meet him tonight?

Carefully considering the options, Ella finally sent him a message and agreed. As she was emailing her boss, she got a response. He would be there in an hour, and was excited to meet her. Ella sent the email and let a few officers around her know about the meet up, and that she was going home to get ready. Now she just had to tell Ted.

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

As she walked into their house, Samson slammed into her in an excited greeting. Ted was hanging back until the dog had been given enough attention, then kissed her and smiled. ‘Nice to see you home again so soon. I thought with another body you’d be holed up in the office for the night.’

She hesitated, but decided ultimately she needed to just blurt out the truth as soon as possible. Noting her pause, Ted raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. ‘What is it?’

‘I’m going on a date tonight.’

He raised both brows at the statement and she smiled softly. ‘It’s not a real date. It’s a sting for the Murder App killer. I think this is the guy. I think we can end it all tonight.’

‘You’re meeting up with a serial killer for a coffee date? That seems safe,’ Ted said, moving away from her. His back facing her, Ella felt a familiar guilt settle over her. Ted would never outright ask her not to put herself in danger – he respected her and her job too much – but she knew he was concerned. Any rational husband would be.

‘I know. But the team has been notified, and they’ll be running surveillance. It’s all perfectly safe.’

‘I suppose Steve will be in the surveillance van outside too,’ Ted said with a soft chuckle.

‘Actually, he’s seeing some evidence to the forensic lab, so he might be a little late. But we have a good team besides my partner, Ted.’

With a small shrug, Ted leant over and kissed her again. This time, it was lingering and mixed with emotions. The one he gave her when he was truly worried if he’d see his wife again. She exhaled deeply and moved towards the bedroom. ‘I have to get changed.’ Turning, she waited until her husband was looking into her eyes before she added, ‘I promise I’ll be safe.’



I hope you enjoyed this instalment of the Murder App.
Come back next time for another chapter!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace