Liars, Cheaters & Thieves
Read Liars, Cheaters & Thieves Online
Authors: L. J. Sellers
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #General, #Police Procedural
Books by L.J. Sellers
The Detective Jackson Series
The Sex Club
Secrets to Die For
Thrilled to Death
Passions of the Dead
Dying for Justice
Liars, Cheaters & Thieves
Rules of Crime
~~
The Suicide Effect
The Baby Thief
The Gauntlet Assassin
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Text copyright © 2011 L.J. Sellers
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Thomas & Mercer
P.O. Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN-13: 9781612186214
ISBN-10: 1612186211
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012943269
Cast of Characters
Wade Jackson
: veteran detective/violent crimes unit
Kera Kollmorgan
: Jackson’s girlfriend/nurse
Katie Jackson
: Jackson’s daughter
Rob Schakowski (Schak)
: detective/task force member
Lara Evans
: detective/task force member
Michael Quince
: detective/task force member
Denise Lammers
: Jackson’s supervisor/sergeant
Sophie Speranza
: newspaper reporter
Rich Gunderson
: medical examiner/attends crime scenes
Jasmine Parker
: evidence technician
Joe Berloni
: evidence technician
Rudolph Konrad
: pathologist/performs autopsies
Victor Slonecker
: district attorney
Jim Trang
: assistant district attorney
Molly Pershing
: fraud victim
Prez
: homeless man/witness
Rafel Mazari
: military veteran/homicide victim
Sierra Kent
: Rafel’s wife/animal clinic assistant
Adam Mazari
: Rafel’s son
Sasha Altman
: Rafel’s sister
Zain Mazari
: Rafel’s father
Joanna Mazari
: Rafel’s ex-wife/Adam’s mother
Laura McKinsey
: Joanna’s sister
Jake Pittman
: Rafel’s best friend/military veteran
Hailey Pittman
: Jake’s ex-wife
Cody Sawyer
: Rafel and Jakes’ friend
Matthew Dolan
: Jake’s ex-boss
Sheila Dolan
: Matthew’s wife
Dr. Davidson
: Sierra’s boss/veterinarian
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
Thursday, November 10, 10:17 p.m.
Prez woke with his face in a puddle of vomit. He remembered getting sick, but not much else of the afternoon. Darkness engulfed him, and he shivered against the damp, frigid air. He never got used to the cold, no matter how much time he spent outside or how many layers he wore.
A whistling noise caught his attention and he sat up. From his cardboard tent, he peered across the grassy strip that separated the little canal from the tavern’s parking lot. A figure in dark clothing moved quickly toward the vehicle in the corner. He’d seen the Jeep parked there many times before, but this time the driver was inside, hunched over the steering wheel. By the size, Prez assumed it was a man, but the distance and darkness made it impossible to tell if the tall person approaching was a man or a woman. Prez had a fleeting moment of disappointment. If they’d
both been women, he would have hustled over and hit them up for money. But two men in a tavern parking lot could be trouble.
The intruder stopped whistling and tapped on the driver’s-side glass. In the quiet, Prez heard the hum of an electric window, then the muffled sound of a brief conversation. The person on foot leaned in until their faces were next to each other, and Prez realized they were probably lovers. His body relaxed. A couple was not likely to harass him. He looked around for the pint of Jim Beam he’d bought earlier, wanting to wash the sour taste from his mouth. He found the bottle wrapped in a dirty blanket, swallowed one of the last mouthfuls, and looked back at the couple in the parking lot.
The man in the Jeep laid his head back, and the woman reached in her pocket for something. Maybe they weren’t a couple, Prez thought. More likely a drug buy. It only mattered because he considered himself an astute observer of human interaction—when he was sober. He’d taken sociology during his one year of college, and much of it had stuck with him, although it hadn’t prevented him from derailing his own life through a series of bad decisions. And a drinking problem he’d come to accept.
The woman gripped something in her hand and stared at the relaxed man for a long moment. She whispered something, a soft hiss in the night, then plunged a blade into the man’s throat and, in one smooth motion, slashed it open. The move was so violent, so unexpected, Prez jerked back under his cardboard cover.
What the hell? Maybe it wasn’t a woman.
Footsteps pounded toward the canal, and Prez held his breath, hoping the attacker wouldn’t look over at his little camp in the brush. He prayed that, in the dark and in a rush, the attacker wouldn’t see him. He took the last swallow of Jim Beam and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he didn’t see the person. Maybe he’d imagined the whole thing. His mind sometimes played tricks on him.
Prez heard a tiny splash as something hit the water; then the footsteps retreated. After a moment, he leaned out and watched the figure hurry across the parking lot toward West Eleventh Avenue. He glanced at the Jeep. The man was not moving, and blood flowed from his throat. Prez decided it was time to find a new camp. He didn’t want to be here when the cops came.
Friday, November 11, 11:05 a.m.
Molly Pershing’s mouth fell open, and she stared at the bank teller in disbelief. “What do you mean my account is below the limit?”
The young woman glanced at her computer screen. “You made an automatic transfer to the Veterans Relief Fund in the amount of seven thousand, leaving only three hundred in the account. So we charged you the monthly maintenance fee because your account fell below the minimum.”
“That’s a huge mistake!” Molly raised her voice, something she rarely did, and her heart pounded erratically. “I didn’t give them all of my money. Who would do that?”
“You set up a monthly payment online last month,” the teller insisted, even though her pudgy young face was starting to show alarm. “Then it looks like you increased the amount Tuesday evening before the scheduled payment went through on Wednesday.”
“No!” Molly’s legs shook, and she gripped the counter. “I mean, I set up the donation, but it was for fifty dollars.” She’d only been using a computer for a few months, and online banking had seemed like such a convenience. Her friends had warned her it wasn’t safe. Why hadn’t she listened?