Wicked Lies

Wicked LiesPerfect Crime Series - Book 6 Clara Lewis Copyright © 2023 Clara Lewis – All rights Reserved This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.www.claralewis.com Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Epilogue The End of Perfect Crime Series Review This Book Also by Clara Lewis About the Author Connect With Clara Chapter 1When the rest of the team found Leon, he was at his desk with his head in his hands. It wasn’t like him to be so down. He wasn’t even like this when the first case he worked on turned out to be cold within a few months. Internally, he knew that the case wasn’t solely on his shoulders. He had thought it was for a long time, but he had recently realized that he couldn’t control many things in his career. What people decided to do was up to them, and he couldn’t prevent it, no matter how hard he tried. However, Dr. Evelyn’s disappearance…no, her kidnapping could only be blamed on him. He had left them vulnerable and tired at the station. Sure, some officers were ready to help. But the station was overworked. Between dealing with the public’s issues, be it domestic or petty crimes and larger ones that resulted in death, as well as the effect of Danny Goodman’s article still being in circulation, the officers were burnt out. Leon couldn’t blame them, but one person had been running around, getting himself hurt and leaving his two team members instead of bringing them along. It was him. He had long figured that Dr. Evelyn’s features suited the killer’s preferences. However, he had blindly written that off because she was in her early thirties. Most of the killer’s victims were between nineteen and twenty-two. For someone who liked to second-guess his theories and ideas, Leon had let go of a rather important one. The killer wasn’t looking for a young girl necessarily. He had chosen New Hope simply because it was an easy-access area.Maybe he even had a personal connection to it, but that thought didn’t so much as raise some excitement in Leon’s blood. Instead, all he could feel at that moment was shame, guilt, regret, and anger- mostly directed at himself. He had been so stupid. Sarah and the others approached him cautiously. They wore looks of confusion on their faces upon seeing how devastated Leon was. Through his fingers, Leon saw Sarah nod at Will to go do something. He left immediately afterward. He returned within a few more minutes and whispered something in her ear. Her expression immediately dropped, and she couldn’t control her next words. “What do you mean Dr. Evelyn’s gone?” Lee dropped his cup. It was then that Leon finally lifted his head to meet Lee’s eyes. A silent conversation passed between them, with Leon’s gaze searing a message into Lee’s head. Do. Not. Blame. Yourself. Lee did nothing wrong. This was all on Leon. It was his fault for being distracted. “I-I didn’t know,” Lee stuttered out. He then pointed at the chair where Dr. Evelyn was last seen at. “She was right there, I swear. I didn’t know that someone had taken her.” Sarah’s face began to turn red. She was angry about something, but Leon wouldn’t allow her to get angry at Lee. Dr. Evelyn was an adult woman who would have smacked Lee on the head if he ever tried to police her on what to do and where to go. Leon, on the other hand, realized grimly that he should be saying the same thing about himself. However, that was one thing that he was too stubborn to agree with. Instead, he focused on Sarah again and rose out of his seat to stand between her and Lee. Todd, noticing the trouble brewing, stepped in before Leon could. In his clear, deep voice, he had ordered them to stop. “Do we have enough time to be arguing when we have one of our own out there?” Everyone had stopped. It was like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over each and every one of them. While the others looked at the floor, only Leon dared to lift his head. “You think I haven’t tried?” he asked, “To get to Dr. Evelyn, we have to solve the case. Look around you – everything that we have done led to nothing. So you think we’ll solve the case now just because Dr. Evelyn had been taken?”Todd shook his head in a manner that Leon remembered his father doing when he would fight with his siblings. “Shouldn’t this be an incentive that we should be up and working right now?” Todd challenged. “Not here fighting and blaming each other for something that was out of our control.” Leon shook his head, but Todd raised his hand.“Don’t start blaming yourself now,” he warned. “The moment you do, you degrade, and I’ve seen how affected you were when we started this case. Just because I’m not there half the time doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes, Graves. I notice things.” His words were the truth. Leon finally looking to the floor, distraught. “What if he kills her?” Leon asked, his voice