Excerpt: Murder^3

It was four in the morning. Nick was dead asleep. Cameron came in after his shift, showered, and went to bed.

The phone went off. Nick was so deeply asleep that he didn’t hear it. Cameron picked it up. “Cameron Davis,” he said softly, running a hand through his hair. “He’s asleep, but I’ll wake him up. Hang on one moment.”

He set the phone on the nightstand. “Nick, wake up,” he cooed, shaking him. Nick let out a grumble and rolled over, but didn’t wake up. “Come on, Nick,” he said, a bit louder, and with a more violent shake. Nick reached up and pushed Cam’s arm away. Finally, Cam stood up straight.

“Nick, I just threw a couple of steaks on the grill.”

Nick’s eyes flew open and he scrambled out of bed. Cam laughed. “Phone.”

“Damn you,” Nick muttered. As he grabbed the phone, he glared at Cam. “You owe me a steak.”

He pulled the phone up to his ear. “Larson.” He listened intently, brow furrowing. Cameron slipped out of the room to make coffee. “Okay. I’ll be there soon.”
He hung up the phone and ducked into the bathroom to change clothes. When he emerged, clean-shaven and fully dressed, Cam already had his Thermos ready.

“Be careful out there,” Cam said, handing him the Thermos and a few boxes of raisins.

“You too.”

Nick slipped into his shoes before heading out the door.

When he arrived on-scene, an ambulance was driving away. Nick looked around, clutching his Thermos to his chest and savoring the warmth. Lt. Parker was standing by the tape. He looked upset.

“Larson,” he said, walking over. He put a friendly hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I have bad news.”

“Is it the Rubik’s Murderer again?” Nick asked.

“Yes, but that’s not the bad news.” He heaved a sigh. “Nick, Danny was one of his victims.”

Nick put a hand on the hood of his truck to steady himself. He closed his eyes and wavered where he stood. Lt. Parker put a steadying hand on his back and ushered him to the back of the truck, where he had Nick sit on the tailgate.

“Nick, he’s alive. Whoever this man is, he left Danny alive. He’s badly injured, but as of right now they think he’s going to survive. Hopefully Danny will be able to tell us about the killer.”

Nick was silent, shell-shocked.

“Nick, I need you at a hundred percent. Are you going to be all right?” He watched Nick carefully. “Nick? Nick!” He lightly slapped Nick’s face.

Nick shook himself. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m all right.”

“Nick, I want you to stay right here. Finish your coffee. I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”

Nick nodded, taking a tentative sip of his coffee. Lt. Parker slapped him on the back and walked away.

When he returned, Nick was looking considerably better. “You said they left him alive?” he said quietly.

“Yes. I just got a call from the hospital. He’s stable, but he’s been badly injured. They took him to the OR, he’s got a few bad breaks.”

Nick looked wistfully at his truck as they moved towards the scene. Lt. Parker caught him.

“Here’s the deal: Clear the scene and you can take the day off to go see him.”

Nick nodded, ducking under the crime scene tape. The cube was laying in the center of the scene, on top of one of the bodies. Nick grabbed a camera from one of the men working the perimeter and started documenting.