Read Online When a Heart Stops by Lynette Eason - Free Book Online Page A

serial killers. Women fall in love with them and marry them even though the killers will never get out of prison. Men want the fame of being the copycat. Of garnering national attention. They study the transcripts of trial cases, get all the details just right, and then they strike.” Howard grunted. “But you know all that. So what do you need from me?”
    â€œI guess we need to know about Lindell’s family. Only his daughter sat in on the trial. Apparently she’s had nothing to do with him since. Changed her name, her address. So far, we haven’t been able to pin down her location.”
    A gray brow rose. “Yes. Gwendolyn. His daughter. I remember her well.” Howard rubbed his chin, got up and paced to the window. He pushed the curtain to the side and looked out, keeping his body well away from exposure. Serena realized he was a prisoner in his own home.
    Which was probably why the yard looked like it did. Howard looked at the floor, then back up as he returned to his seat. “Do you blame her for wanting to disappear?”
    â€œNot at all.”
    Howard settled back against the antique armchair. “As for the sons, they’re mostly a greasy lot. Only one of them turned out decent if I remember correctly.”
    Dominic nodded. “Nate Lindell. He’s a lawyer here in town. We plan to speak to him too.”
    â€œNate. Right. Kind of a quiet fellow. I think I remember him.He didn’t come around much. Avoided the media and tried to stay hidden.” Tapping the folder against his palm, Howard said, “This guy, Drake, he owned a janitorial business, made good money and lived in a nice neighborhood.” He pursed his lips. “He was crazy. Certifiable. But you’d never know it looking in from the outside. He came from a good home as a kid, was a great dad from all that we could tell. His kids were crazy about him. Had a wife that doted on him.” Shaking his head, he raised a hand to rub his chin. “Nothing about his behavior made sense. Why start killing people all of a sudden? It just didn’t add up.” He met their eyes. “His wife killed herself the day they found him guilty.”
    Serena felt a chill wrap around her.
    Dominic lifted a brow. “That wasn’t in the report.”
    Howard shrugged. “I read about it in the paper the day after it happened. By then the case was closed and we’d all moved on to other ones. You know how it is. When it came time to testify, I had to study my notes for days to make sure I had all the details straight in my head again.”
    â€œI know.”
    Serena watched as Howard stood and paced from one end of the room to the next. He never stopped in front of a window. And he kept his back to the wall. Or he walked between the stacks of . . . stuff . . . papers, newspapers, furniture.
    She felt sure her initial observations about Howard being trapped in the home were accurate. She’d been hanging around cops too long to think she was imagining things. Her father, a former cop turned lawyer, had trained her well, and she found she enjoyed the company of those in law enforcement over “the normals,” as her dad used to call those not in law enforcement.
    She and her cop friends shared the same weird sense of humor.
    And Howard was a retired cop. Old habits died hard, she supposed. And yet . . . it seemed to be more for Howard. “Are you afraid of something, Howard?”
    He jerked, sighed, and looked toward the kitchen, then back at them. “There’s a lot about this case that just . . .” He shook his head.
    â€œJust what, Howard,” Dominic pressed.
    â€œStill bothers me.”
    â€œLike what?”
    Another shake of the gray head. “They said he killed nine.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œBut in that shed, there were unaccounted-for hair fibers, trace evidence that didn’t link to any of the known