Read Online Murder in Vein (2010) by Sue Ann Jaffarian - Free Book Online

still
on the edge of her dream, didn't notice. She shook herself again
to bring her thoughts to the present and faced Notchey with the
will of a stubborn child.
    "I'm tired of looking at those old photos," she told him. "I
told you everything I know. I want to go home as soon as possible. I may not have a posh life, but it's mine. Those people mean
nothing to me."
    With the speed of a striking snake, Mike Notchey grabbed
Madison's hand again, but this time he didn't look at it or stroke
it. He headed for the back door, pulling her behind him like a
reluctant canine at the end of a leash. She growled in protest, but he ignored her. Once inside, he dumped her back in her seat at
the table.

    "Look again, Madison," he ordered. "This is very important.
A matter of life or death for some folks, maybe even for another
girl."
    When Madison didn't answer, Mike picked up a large brown
envelope that he'd brought with him. It had held the photos that
were now scattered on the table. Without a word, he reached
inside and took out more photos. One by one, he slapped three
photos of young women on the table in front of her. They were
enlarged snapshots showing the women, two brunettes and
a redhead, smiling for the camera. All were lovely and around
Madison's age.
    "Recognize these women?"
    Madison casually looked over the photos and shook her head
in a slow, bored manner.
    Mike reached inside the envelope again and pulled out more
photos. He slapped them on the table in the same manner.
"Maybe you'll recognize them now."
    Madison's eyes widened in horror and her mouth went dry
as dust. In front of her were a half-dozen photos of dead women.
In half the photos, the women's necks had been slit in a wide,
curved gash, like a second mouth laughing into the camera while
the face above it stared in horror. The other photos showed their
torsos, each with deep, short cuts covering the naked white skin.
In spite of the cuts and slashing, there was little blood.
    Madison fought to keep her breakfast down. She turned away
from the photos, a hand over her mouth. Mike came behind her
and grabbed her head, forcing her to look at them. She closed her
eyes, but it was too late. The vision of the carnage had already been burned into her brain. Pushing Mike aside with all the
strength she could muster, she ran to the sink and retched several
times. Finished, she clung to the counter, afraid she would collapse if she let go. Tears ran down her hot face, soaking the bandage on the one side and stinging her cuts. Strands of damp hair
clung to her cheeks and forehead. She didn't turn around but
looked out the window, focusing on the playful ripples a gentle
wind was making across the pool.

    "What do you want from me," she finally squeaked out in a
nearly inaudible voice.
    "Cooperation, Madison. Any one of these three women
could have been you. Doug said Bobby Piper was hovering over
your neck when he saw you. That's why Doug attacked him. He
thought you were going to wind up like this."
    For a few minutes, Madison and Mike were silent. The detective waited. Madison tried to digest, then erase, the horrible photos. She ran water in the sink to clean up her vomit. Stripping off
the bulky bandage, she splashed some of the water on her face.
After taking a deep breath, she turned to face Mike, willing herself not to look down at the photos of the dead women.
    "I'll cooperate," she told him in a small, compliant voice. "But
take those pictures away."
    He studied her injuries a long moment in silence, then gathered up the photos of the women and stuffed them back into the
envelope. Madison returned to her seat, weak and broken, and
waited for the next level of hell.
    "These people, Madison," Mike said, pointing again to the
people in the photos spread on the table, "are all involved in local
vampire cults. They're not vampires, but they believe in them,
worship them, even want to be them."

    Madison once again examined