TEARS IN THE SAND

Masson Murder Mystery
Book 1

Someone’s killing the richest men and women in the world, and they’re doing it in the most inexplicable way.

New York City Detective Masson was a lone wolf. It had been 15 years since the murder of his last, and only partner. Faced with the most diabolical case he’d ever encountered involving a strange poison that caused the corpses to age abnormally fast, he took a risk and joined forces with a female rookie. And then, the unthinkable happens, his worst fear is realized, and she too is murdered.

More determined than ever to solve the case or die trying, Detective Masson comes face-to-face with the madness when a mysterious woman is spotted in each of the cities where the murders occurred. He tracks her down in Colorado but finds no solid evidence that she committed the murders herself, and her evasive answers to his questions only baffle him. At what cost, what higher price must Detective Masson pay in order to solve the case?

First Chapter Excerpt

Eric Masson, a lone wolf on the New York Police force, was a Detective with twenty years on the force. He was working on his own; and for the past ten years the reports of his arrest told it all. Even though his Captain insisted he had to have a partner, he would do everything he could to discourage them. After only a couple of trips with him they would ask for a transfer or a new partner because working with Masson was impossible. He had been close to his partner ten years ago, but he was shot in the line of duty and Masson took it really hard. He thought it was his fault and therefore he refused to work with anyone else.

Eric didn’t need to play nurse maid to a runny nose kid just out of the academy. Most of the partners he had been teamed with had more than enough experience to be a good partner if given half a chance. All had worked their way up the ladder just like he had.

Eric was a good cop and his track record excellent. His arrest record was always on the up and the bad guys always convicted without question. He did everything by the book, never waving even an inch out of line.

Being a very good looking guy – six foot tall, black wavy hair, muscles on top of muscles – the women all threw theirselves at him. Though single and a great catch, he wasn’t interested in women – or men. Married to his job, everyone said. He only had one mistress; he only needed one in his life right now and he made it very plain to anyone that set their sights on him. Dating on occasion, he never took any of them seriously.

He was of Italian blood, and with the bulging muscles showing through his shirt you could tell they were all well defined. His dark olive skin looked as though he lived on the beach. Even in the wintertime he looked well tanned. He worked out at the police GYM daily and many of the officers that worked out there were somewhat intimidated by his appearance. He thought it was funny that when he walked in several of the officers would leave.

Nearly three o’clock in the morning the telephone rang waking him from a sound sleep. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was the Captain calling. Not wanting to answer he moved slowly, reaching for the receiver and moving it up to his ear. He never called this late unless it was very important. It was Friday and the last time he had seen his bed was two days ago. He had just solved a case he had been working on for the past six months. He always got his man with his persistence and he never stopped to smell the roses as they say.

It was the beginning of spring, his time of the year when all the crazies came out of the wood work. It wasn’t too cold or too hot. He could turn off the heat and you really didn’t need air conditioning. Being on the fourth floor he could open up the windows to let the light breeze blow in. When he walked into his apartment this was the first thing he would do. The gentle breeze blew into the room making the air fresh and renewed. Taking his clothes off and laying them across the chair beside his bed he watched the white curtains covering the windows blow in the wind. Lying in his queen size bed he could feel the breeze and saw the movement of the curtains became hypnotic, and his eyes gently closed with deep sleep following. He loved this time of the year which made him feel he could whip all the bad guys by himself.

The interruption of the telephone ringing wasn’t what he was looking for. Lying there, he tried to get his nude body to move, but it was refusing. Eric finally sat up on the side of the bed. He looked at his gun and thought about shooting the telephone.

“Yes.” He wiped the sleep from his eyes. He tried to make sense of what the captain’s words were telling him.

“Masson, this is Captain Harris. I need you to go over to 1648 Vine Street over in West Islip. You know the area; it’s in the Estates area. The address is 1648 Vine Street; do you have it? It’s the home of Samuel Huges.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“He’s dead.” Captain Harris’s voice began to rise.

“So?” Masson, still half asleep, wanted to go back to sleep.

“So, he is only the richest man in the city. He built an empire on Wall Street. He also owns most of this city.” The Captain was becoming annoyed could feel his blood pressure rising.

“So?”

“Look, the Mayor got the call first and he called me. He wants our best man on this case to wrap it up quickly before anyone gets a word about it.”

“Captain, this sounds like any of the other detectives could take care of it. Just because he was rich and knows, or knew the Mayor why do I have to be the one. I just got to sleep, and haven’t seen my bed for over two days. Okay I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Look the Mayor said our best and you’re it. Officer Davidson is on the scene and he said it looks like he died several days ago. He also said the body looks funny and therefore it’s your job to find out why he looks funny.”

“Okay Captain, I’m on my way.” Slamming the telephone down and mumbling to himself, he headed for the shower. Looking into the mirror and he could see dark circles under his eyes and his face looked pale. Not bothering to shave, he dressed and headed out the door.

He didn’t usually question the Captain, but since this guy was a big tycoon and as it looked like the Mayor was going to get his way, he knew the Captain would be hearing from the Mayor if he didn’t go to the scene. And everyone else in the city with any high up status would be calling also.

He was dressed in a dark blue suit and a light blue shirt with a matching tie. He looked down at his shoes and could see they needed polishing, but he didn’t care right now. He took the elevator down to his car. He loved his shiny black 2010 Chevy Camaro. Nobody touched his car. It had jet black interior and he kept it shining like his shoes. It had taken him nearly six months of bargaining with the motor pool manager to finally let him sign for it.

With the pedal to the metal it took him nearly an hour to arrive at the huge estate of Mr. Huges. Mr. Huges had made millions on the stock market and from the properties he owned. His wealth was known worldwide. He surrounded himself with beautiful women, lots of security with guns and special automobiles which were all bullet proof. Everyone in his employment were checked out and rechecked several times before they were hired.

There had been an auto accident that tied up the traffic to the Island. Pulling into the driveway he saw the huge black iron gates which were being guarded by two security guards who looked like they belonged to the mob. There were a couple of New York uniform police also at the gate. He promptly showed his badge and waited for them to call up to the main house for instructions. The large iron gates began to slowly open. Their movement impressed him with the smoothness; no jerking or any noise was heard. They had to be at least twelve feet high and made of steel and painted jet black. The brick wall looked at least ten feet tall around the perimeter of the property. There was no way anyone would have scaled the wall or the gates. Over the radio he heard instructions to proceed up to the front door.

 

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