Lethal Peril Sneak Peek

Elizabeth screamed and thrust her hands into her hair. It was a nightmare. It had to be. Soon she’d wake up to find that she was still in her bed, away from the horror she’d witnessed. Her heart sank to her feet, and on trembling legs she staggered forward.

The crowd had backed away, leaving an open path. Frantically, Elizabeth made her way to the scene and looked down at the tracks, before she thought better of it. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she hugged her arms around her waist, rocking back and forth as she wailed with distress.

Amanda was dead.

Elizabeth turned and moved away from the disaster, hardly able to see through her burning tears. She bumped into a row of wooden seating. Instead of sitting down, she slumped against the wall and slid to the floor, shivering uncontrollably. Images of the incident flashed through her mind. The man had pushed Amanda. She’d witnessed it; seen it with her own eyes.

Looking up through blurry vision, Elizabeth couldn’t pick the man out of the crowd. Gone. He’s gone. Shock engulfed her, rendering her speechless and preventing her from moving. She reeled with confusion. Why? It was so senseless.

Elizabeth put her hands over her eyes and sobbed. Amanda was gone. It was a tragedy, one that couldn’t be undone. Confusion addled her brain. She scanned her memory, trying to get a grip on what had transpired, but was unable to sift out the truth.

Why would anyone want to kill Amanda?

*****

A cacophony of voices and people moving about drew her attention. Elizabeth had to do something, tell someone. Numbed by the loss of her friend, she stood on shaky legs and returned to the rails, having no concept of how long it had been since the accident.

The police were there, questioning a few people. The crowd had noticeably thinned. She put her hand on the arm of a cop holding a walkie-talkie. He looked down at her and frowned. “Did you see what happened? Did you know the deceased?”

Tears rolled down Elizabeth’s cheeks. “She was my friend. We were together. Her name is Amanda Moreau. She’s…was a journalist.”

The cop lowered his radio and gave her his attention. “Did she jump?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. No.”

“Was she drunk or high?”

“She was…murdered.”

The cop didn’t seem alarmed. “Do you realize what you’re saying?

His disbelief cut through the haze, stirring anger. “Yes. I do. I saw it happen. A man pushed her.”

“And what’s your name?”

“Elizabeth Foster.”

“Lady, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but do you know there have been over eighty deaths this year alone, from people falling on the metro tracks? Most are suicides, the rest are accidents, as a result of intoxication with alcohol or cocaine.”

Elizabeth glared at him, irritated by his reciting of statistics. “I don’t care. I’m telling you that my friend was pushed.”

“We’ve spoken to the motorman. He didn’t see anyone else. What he did see was a woman’s body plummet to the tracks in front of the train, so he hit the emergency brake and laid on the horn.”

The denial of her allegation infuriated her.

The cop’s gaze hardened. “So where have you been, then…if you saw it happen?”

“I was…over there.” Elizabeth waved her hand toward the wall. “I couldn’t get to her. I couldn’t…do anything.”

After a moment, the cop huffed. “I need you to give a statement, then. Let’s go down to the station.”

He proceeded to escort her to his vehicle, and, considering his attitude, it was surprising that he didn’t cuff her. The cop talked on his radio, letting the station know he was coming in. Elizabeth rested her head against the seat and stared up at nothing.

This was all a horrible mistake. It had to be. She’d known Amanda. The woman didn’t have enemies. She’d worked an entry-level position at a daily paper. Not the stuff notoriety was made from. She hadn’t developed the kind of career that could get her killed.

Elizabeth struggled to recall if Amanda had mentioned anyone in her private life who posed a threat, but came up blank. Amanda dated but wasn’t hooked up with anyone. There was no man who’d abused her or wished her harm. Not that she’d spoken of.

When Elizabeth closed her eyes, the image of her silk bomber jacket filled her mind. Her gut twisted as she recalled the pink, sparkly garment that Amanda had worn to her death. Elizabeth’s eyes flew open. Oh my God. Could that be?

Spotting Elizabeth would have been an easy task, even for a man who hadn’t seen her before. The logo on the jacket was a giveaway. Even those who hadn’t seen Elizabeth’s cartoon drawings recognized the logo. That vector image of an eagle was plastered in news media, on publications that printed her art, and, most prominently, on her jacket.

Amanda had looked enough like Elizabeth to be her twin. From the back: same height, hair color, and style. Both had on jeans and boots. Yet there was one significant difference, the one thing that set them apart—the logo jacket.

Her friend may not have had enemies, but Elizabeth sure did. Playing the role of the rebel hadn’t endeared others to her, even her own family. And recently, she’d been on the outs with them. Yet she couldn’t envision it was sufficient motive to kill.

But the alternative, that the killer had been after Amanda, didn’t ring true. It was more likely, as absurd as it seemed, that the killer had been sent to take out Elizabeth. She shuddered. Her family was wealthy, rich from billions handed down for many generations. Old money garnered from the lucrative shipping industry.

There was no doubt that her family had the resources to remove any person that got in the way of finance. But murder? That was beyond any improprieties she had knowledge of. Yet could she really put it past them?

And who would commit murder…who was that desperate? Certainly not her father. But other than him, Elizabeth considered any family member capable of such a deed. Not personally, of course. But for the right price, a killer could have been hired. A tingle of fear ran up her spine. However incredible, she was unable to brush aside her suspicions.

Elizabeth sat up. The cop glanced over at her, then turned into the parking lot. She needed her lawyer; things were out of hand. Pulling her phone from the pocket of the leather jacket, she dialed the family attorney.

“Who are you calling?”

“My attorney,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll have him meet me at the station. You’ll just have to wait until he arrives.”

The cop clenched his jaw.

“I’m not under arrest, am I?”

“It’s just an interview.” The cop pulled into an open parking space. “You’re the one that’s so anxious to turn this into a murder investigation.”

“Hardly.” Elizabeth glared at him. “But a friend of mine died. I’m not about to keep quiet.”

*****

The police station was no more welcoming than the subway had been. Thomas Stapleton, attorney-at-law, had represented the family for as long as Elizabeth could recall. He was a welcome sight, striding toward her, sporting an expensive leather briefcase. Even on such short notice, he’d managed to arrive in a tailored suit.

“What can I do for you, Elizabeth?”

Thomas didn’t seem all that surprised to find her at the police station. He had been around so long he was like part of the family, thus he knew of her escapades. Yet this went far beyond her mischievous games. This was for real.

Elizabeth gave him the punch line first, letting him know that she’d witnessed a murder. He raised his brows. “We need to speak alone before you agree to an interview.”

The cop reluctantly agreed to let them have an empty office, and Elizabeth proceeded to relay her version of the event. She clarified that the cop asserted the death had been an accident, and was skeptical of her claim that it had been murder.

Having heard the blow-by-blow of what had happened that morning, Thomas expressed concern over her emotional state. After her assurance that she was all right for now, he leaned back in his chair. “I can’t advise you to give a statement at this time. The situation is quite volatile. If you are to be interviewed, it should be in a formal setting where I am present. I’d like to look over all the facts, and the police investigation, before such an interview takes place.”

It wasn’t lost on Elizabeth that her attorney’s first priority was the family’s reputation. Any story that involved Foster International, or any member of the Foster family, spread like wildfire. Mere rumors turned into headlines overnight. An incident involving alleged murder would spiral out of control.

Elizabeth studied her attorney. “So I can count on you to keep this quiet?”

“What do you mean by quiet?”

“I’d rather you not tell anyone just yet.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Your uncle should be told. He will be furious if something like this is withheld from him.”

Elizabeth shrugged. Martin Foster, her father’s younger brother, would hit the roof when he heard about this. But she needed time. “Yes, but my uncle knows me.” She gave Thomas an impish grin. “He won’t blame you. I promise not to tell him that I called you to the station. I’ll take the fallout for any upset.”

“Elizabeth…”

“Really, I promise. So please, just for a day or two, until I can figure things out. And it’s a given that you won’t relay any of this to my father either.” That last stipulation likely wasn’t necessary, but she had to make sure.

Thomas shook his head. “Against my better judgment. But I need your agreement not to speak to the authorities unless I’m present.”

“Deal.”

“You realize that your uncle will find out anyway, as well as your father?”

“But not immediately. And when it does come up—because I’m sure the police won’t keep a lid on a story like this—you can use your standard line that the family wishes to maintain their privacy.”

Thomas stood and lifted his briefcase from the table. “Okay, but I insist on driving you home.”

*****

Home was a three-story mansion in Manhattan, where Elizabeth had lived with her father for many years. It had five fireplaces, a basement swimming pool, and two gardens. She found no joy in the fact that she had it all to herself.

Other than the maids who came in to clean, or the maintenance man who tended to the upkeep, Elizabeth rambled through the spacious quarters quite alone. The reason saddened her, yet she was at a loss on how to make her life any different than it was.

After Thomas dropped her off, she went up to the rooftop patio to gaze at the scene below. It was one feature of the house that pleased her. Up so high, with a view of the city, Elizabeth was above it all. She often gained perspective on things while lounging on the terrace, alone with her thoughts.

She would have much preferred for her father to join her, but that was no longer possible. Only months before, the sudden onset of Alzheimer’s had taken him away. For his own safety, her loving father Stephen Foster had been placed in a nursing facility with twenty-four-hour care.

Plopping into a cushy patio chair, Elizabeth looked up at the sky. It was a gorgeous shade of eggshell blue with a few wispy clouds slowly drifting, languidly progressing over the city without a care in the world. If only she could claim the same.

Until a week ago, Elizabeth had spent much of her week as an accounting department employee at Foster International, doing her part to keep the books straight. She wasn’t destined to be an accountant, but her father had employed her in that department due to her talent with software and computers.

She’d grown up using computers, so it was no special talent. Or so she claimed. Yet she understood such things better than some, and she tinkered incessantly, playing around with software as a hobby. It was interesting, which was something she needed.

Yet now she’d been removed from that function and her father was locked away in a facility. Elizabeth was acutely aware of her lack of friends. It was to her disadvantage that she’d been somewhat antisocial growing up. It wasn’t that she had a particular dislike of others, but more that she tended to entertain herself. Sketching her cartoons, or plunking around on computer keyboards, occupied too much of her time. Now that she was in dire straits, she suffered a pang of regret about not connecting with anyone else much sooner.

It hadn’t been all bleak. Elizabeth had bonded with Amanda. On reflection, maybe she shouldn’t have, as she was more and more convinced that her friend’s death fell on her shoulders. She could have warned Amanda that hanging around with her could mean trouble. But in her wildest imaginings, Elizabeth hadn’t dreamed such a relationship involved lethal peril.

The wind whipped across the terrace, and Elizabeth wrapped the jacket tighter around her. The transparent panels around the rooftop, intended to block the wind, were inadequate. There were heaters to handle the chill from the rapidly dropping temperature, but she couldn’t muster the initiative to get up and turn them on.

With her feet on the chair, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. In the quiet of her rooftop respite, she dug deep for answers. Now that her father was incapacitated, her brother Kyle ran operations at the shipping company under her Uncle Martin’s supervision. She had no issue with that, as she certainly didn’t want the duty.

She didn’t have any responsibility for medical decisions concerning her father either, as he had given power of attorney to his brother Martin. Once the illness had been diagnosed, her uncle had taken charge. Not that Elizabeth would have done anything differently. Her father was sick and needed expert care. He was better off in the facility, as he couldn’t be properly cared for at home.

It didn’t matter that no particular duties fell to Elizabeth. Her family had no faith in her, and hadn’t for some time. Only her father gave her credit, probably more than she deserved, for her abilities. But now he barely recognized her when she visited.

There was no one to turn to. It was out of the question to go to her uncle with her dilemma. He wouldn’t listen to her anyway. And her brother was well intended but naïve. The idea that he’d believe that her friend was murdered was ludicrous. He’d accuse her of imagining the whole thing.

Her friend had died, and if Elizabeth’s theory was correct, the incident had some connection to past transgressions. But she had no idea what acts had been significant enough to provoke murder. Yet if the killer was after her, he would soon enough realize his error.

Her life was in danger. She’d told her attorney about the murder, but she’d kept silent about her concern that it was in some way connected to her. If she had breathed a word of that, Thomas would have insisted that she hire a bodyguard. In the past, she’d adamantly refused to be guarded like a prisoner.

Elizabeth had been safe enough in her daily life. But these were unusual circumstances. Hiring a bodyguard wasn’t such a bad idea. The more she pondered it, the more it seemed like the right thing to do. She was in a tight spot and needed help.

There was no one she could turn to—except for one man. Elizabeth pulled out her phone and punched the button for the airlines, before she could change her mind. She booked an early flight for Los Angeles, then went downstairs to pack.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Grave Peril by Emily Jane Trent ©2017 All Rights Reserved

Published By Camden Lee Press