Stirred

He could sense sessions of therapy in the not-too-distant future.

First the water tower.

That freezing room where a bear had mauled those poor souls to death.

The gluttony room.

And now this…a warehouse filled with muck and freezing water.

Two dead bodies out on a small island in the middle of the swamp.

And near where he stood, one man dismembered, one of his wrists still dangling from a chain attached to the door.

Then a bald man in bib overalls, legs still floating in the water, his torso draped across the concrete shore.

If he was honest, Knight didn’t know how much more of this he could take. It was only his second year on patrol, but they’d called in everyone to canvas this nightmare world for survivors.

He flipped open his notepad and wrote a brief description of the warehouse and the number of victims: four.

Maybe there were more submerged in the muck, but the divers would have to find them. No way in hell was he going to wade out into—

The guy in the overalls coughed.

Holy shit.

Knight jammed his notepad into the pocket of his parka and hurried over to the edge of the water.

He knelt down, grabbed the man’s hand.

“You okay there, buddy?”

There was no response, but the man was definitely breathing.

Knight rolled him carefully over. Gunshot wounds to his legs and arms.

One in the gut.

Oh God—his face. This man had been burned as well. The closer Knight looked, he saw scars over every square inch of his body.

And yet…he was breathing.

He’d held on.

“I’m here, buddy,” Knight said. “We’re go

Knight’s heart was swelling. He’d actually found a survivor. He was going to save this man’s life.

He keyed the mike on his shoulder, tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke, “This is Knight in warehouse three. I’ve got a survivor, repeat, I’ve got a survivor. Multiple gunshot wounds, lacerations all over, but a steady pulse. Need EMT assist immediately. Over.”

As Knight waited for the cavalry to arrive, he sat down beside the mangled, scarred wreck of a human being whose name he didn’t even know.

He held the man’s hand. He prayed for him. He told him again and again that everything was going to be all right.

“You’re going to get through this, buddy. You’re going to get the very best medical care.”

The ruin opened its mouth and said in a raspy voice, “Norco?”

“Absolutely. We’ll get you out of here, shoot you up so you won’t feel any pain.”

Knight couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw the man smile.

“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked.

“Better every day. You’re an angel for taking care of me like this.”

“I’m one damned ugly angel.”

“No, you’re not, Lucy. You’re beautiful. So beautiful.” Luther offered a toothless smile. “Come here.”

Lucy limped over to him. She held his skeletal hand in her claw. Before escaping the hospital, Lucy had the foresight to rob the pharmacy. They had enough pain medication to outlast a nuclear winter.

“I have a contact,” Luther said. “He can set us up with some fake IDs. Good ones, enough to travel with. We’ll leave the country for a while. Go south. Relax. Heal. Have some fun.”

“Why Mexico?”

“Because they aren’t so uppity about murder in Mexico. We could kill a lot of people before anyone even notices.”

Lucy smiled. “Seriously?”

The real Luther Kite nodded.

He felt that feeling again.

That special feeling that had lain dormant during his many years of captivity.

“Little girl, I have a lot of catching up to do.”

THE END

All excerpts from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy are taken from the 1867 translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Be sure to check out Shot of Tequila, the first novel by J.A. Konrath to feature Jack Daniels, available for $2.99 in the Kindle Store…

A gutsy robbery—

Several million bucks, stolen from the mob…

A perfect frame—

All caught on video, with no chance of redemption…

A red-hot recipe for roaring revenge—

Now one man must single-handedly face the entire Chicago Outfit, a group of hardened Mafia enforcers, a psychotic bookie, the most dangerous hit man on earth, and Detective Jacqueline Daniels.

His name is Tequila. And he likes those odds.

Shot of Tequila takes place in the early 1990s and is both an homage to and a re-envisioning of classic action novels by authors like Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Donald Westlake, and Elmore Leonard, but with a more modern twist. The breakneck action is intercut with scenes featuring Konrath’s series hero Jack Daniels, here as a supporting character chasing the main protagonist. Edge-of-your-seat suspense, nonstop action, and dark humor punctuate this heist novel/fugitive-on-the-run thriller. Fans of Konrath’s police procedurals will enjoy the slight departure from his normal writing style, while still finding familiarity with the setting and characters.

To read the first novel by Blake Crouch to feature Andrew Z. Thomas and Luther Kite, check out Desert Places, available for $2.99 in the Kindle Store…

“Greetings. There is a body buried on your property, covered in your blood. The unfortunate young lady’s name is Rita Jones. In her jeans pocket you’ll find a slip of paper with a phone number on it. Call that number. If I have not heard from you by eight P.M., the police will receive an anonymous call. I’ll tell them where Rita Jones is buried on your property, how you killed her, and where the murder weapon can be found in your house. (I do believe a paring knife is missing from your kitchen.) I strongly advise against going to the police, as I am always watching you.”

Andrew Z. Thomas is a successful writer of suspense thrillers, living the dream at his lake house in the piedmont of North Carolina. One afternoon in late spring, he receives a bizarre letter that eventually threatens his career, his sanity, and the lives of everyone he loves. A murderer is designing his future, and for the life of him, Andrew can’t get away.

And finally, don’t miss Serial Killers Uncut, the double novel by Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath featuring Andrew Z. Thomas, Luther Kite, Jack Daniels, Lucy, Donaldson, and more, available for $4.99 in the Kindle Store…

A gigantic double novel featuring twenty-one different serial killers…

For everyone who thinks the bad guys are so much more fun to read than the good guys, this is a book just for you. The definitive volume containing every major villain from the Crouch/Kilborn/Konrath Universe is here.

First, there was Serial, the collaborative smash-hit that has been downloaded 500,000 times and optioned for film.

Then came Serial Uncut, which expanded on that story.