Greed: An Amber Monroe Crime Thriller Book 1 Read online

  Greed

  by

  C. M. Sutter

  Copyright © 2018

  All Rights Reserved

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This book is a work of fiction by C. M. Sutter. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used solely for entertainment. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  C. M. Sutter is a crime fiction writer who resides in Florida, although she is originally from California.

  She is a member of numerous writers’ organizations, including Fiction for All, Fiction Factor, and Writers etc.

  In addition to writing, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family. She is an art enthusiast and loves to create gourd birdhouses, pebble art, and handmade soaps. Hiking, bicycling, fishing, and traveling are a few of her favorite pastimes.

  C. M. Sutter

  http://cmsutter.com/

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  Greed: An Amber Monroe Crime Thriller, Book 1

  Washburn County Deputy Amber Monroe is following in the footsteps of her sister, Jade. She devours everything she can during her detective training in hopes of being promoted soon.

  Living in small-town USA has its advantages, like a sense of security, and disadvantages, like being close to Milwaukee and its crime. Washburn County has become the dumping ground of murder victims, courtesy of its neighboring county to the south.

  When two men are discovered on the outskirts of North Bend, each with a bullet to the head, Amber’s team, led by Lieutenant Jack Steele, hits the highway in search of a killer.

  Assisted by the Milwaukee PD, they go deep into Brew City’s underbelly, which reveals far more than anyone ever expected. Crimes involving murder and counterfeiting keep the team running in every direction, but it’s Amber’s attraction to a new man in North Bend that puts her front and center on the killer’s short list.

  She doesn’t get far before the entire case turns upside down.

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  http://cmsutter.com/available-books/

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 1

  McKinley listened to the background noise of the laser printers whirring in that large rented warehouse. His ears perked at the clack of footsteps growing closer to his office. He looked up and waited. Moments later, a heavy rap sounded on the steel door.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s Joe.”

  “Come in.” McKinley sat behind his imported teak desk with paperwork spread out in front of him. As the door pushed inward, he slipped off his reading glasses and set them down. “What is it?”

  “We have a problem.”

  McKinley raised a brow. “Rephrase that, please. I know with one hundred percent certainty that I don’t have a problem unless you are about to cause one.”

  “I wasn’t expecting my cousin to stop over. He caught me completely off guard as I was putting the bleached bills in boxes.”

  “Get to the point.”

  “He saw it, all of it, and put two and two together. He wants in, or he said he’d squeal us out.”

  McKinley sneered, “Who is this piss ant that’s threatening my enterprise?”

  “Like I said, he’s my cousin. His name is Charlie Dupree.” Joe wiped his brow. Anxiety was taking over his thoughts and every inch of his body. He was living his worst nightmare—being on the wrong side of McKinley Moore.

  “He wants in, huh? Does he have any skills?”

  Joe shrugged. “I don’t know, but anybody can be taught this job, right?”

  “Don’t be flip with me. Even with the small responsibility you have in this business, you still find a way to screw things up!” McKinley pounded the desk and nearly tipped over his half-full coffee cup. He grabbed it before it fell to the floor. “Bring your cousin in. I’d like to have a word with him. Meanwhile, where’s the damn paper?”

  “It’s in the cube van. I’ll back the van in, unload it, and then go get Charlie.”

  McKinley took in a deep breath and leaned back in his butter-soft leather office chair. He pressed his fingertips against his forehead and tried to rub out the stress. “Yeah, okay, bring him in. He damn well better be blindfolded the entire way here. Better yet, lock him in the back of the van.” He jerked his head toward the door. That was Joe’s cue to leave. “Now go. Get Royce to help you unload the paper. I want this bullshit out of my mind before noon.”

  Joe extended his hand to shake Mr. Moore’s. He seemed grateful.

  McKinley’s clenched hands remained on the desk as he stared at the half-minded punk. “Seriously? Get the hell out of my office.” He waited until Joe closed the door behind him, then he unlocked the lower right desk drawer and studied the contents carefully. Moments later, he picked up his phone and scrolled to Juan’s number. “Hey, it’s me. I want you to ride shotgun with Joe. He’s picking up someone, and I want you to make sure that person is locked in the back of the van. I don’t trust that idiot. Call me the second you guys get back here. Got it?”

  “Absolutely, Mr. Moore, and it looks like he’s about to leave. The van is empty.”

  “Okay, go now.” McKinley
clicked off Speakerphone, returned the phone to its base, and rounded the desk to the window. He turned the wand on the blinds and watched as the van drove away from the garage next to the loading dock. He scanned the area before closing the blinds. Several boarded-up warehouse buildings filled the space between his rental unit and two others at the end of the dead-end street. Being located in Milwaukee’s worst neighborhood was a good thing—nobody was stupid enough to stop by.

  It was ten o’clock when he made another check of the time. An hour had passed, and the van would be returning soon. McKinley cleared the paperwork off his desk and neatly organized every sheet into its own file cabinet folder. He closed the cabinet, turned the key in the lock, and dropped it in his front pants pocket. The sound of the overhead door lifting alerted him. His desk phone rang, and he picked it up as he walked to the window again.

  “We’re back, boss. No problems.”

  “Yes, I’m watching the van drive into the building. Blindfold that new guy before you let him out. He doesn’t need to see our operation until after I meet him.”

  “Will do.”

  McKinley heard complaints and cursing as footsteps got closer to his door. A hard knock sounded, and he told them to come in. Juan, Joe, and an obviously pissed-off man blindfolded with shop rags entered his office and stood in front of his desk.

  “Close the door and take that shit off his face.”

  Juan pushed the door closed with his foot, and Joe reached for the knotted rags at the back of his cousin’s head.

  Charlie jerked away from his grasp. “Leave me the hell alone. I’ll do it myself.” He reached behind his head, untied the rags, and dropped them to the floor.

  McKinley gave Juan a nod and asked him to leave the room. “So, Mr. Dupree, you think you’re hot shit, right?”

  Charlie jerked his head and, with a smug response, answered the question. “From this side of the desk, it looks like I’m going to be calling the shots. I know exactly what this operation is and the kind of money you probably make—literally.” He laughed at his own quick wit.

  McKinley laughed with him. “Nice comeback.” He gave Joe a glance and saw relief spread across his face. “Here’s my proposition, your position, and your cut if I hire you.” He opened the bottom desk drawer.

  Charlie huffed. “From where I stand, you don’t have much of a choice.”

  McKinley pulled out the loaded .38 Smith & Wesson revolver, cocked the hammer, and fired two shots, one to the forehead of each man. He watched as the impact threw them against the wall, then they slid to the floor. Blood spray and bone fragments spattered the room. “That’s where you’re wrong, smart-ass. There’s always a choice.”

  Chapter 2

  Jack placed his phone on the base and called our two daytime detectives into his office. Billings balled up his cookie wrapper, wiped his mouth, and rose from his desk. Clayton followed Billings and closed Jack’s door behind him.

  “What do you think that’s about?” I jerked my chin toward the office. The framed plaque at eye level on the door read Lt. Jack Steele.

  “Don’t know. It’s probably above our pay grade.” Kate gave me one of her oversized grins.

  Less than two minutes later, the door swung open, and Jack, Billings, and Clayton poured out.

  Jack pointed at us. “Amber and Kate, tag along with Clayton and Billings. There’s trouble on Paradise. I have to call the ME and Forensics.”

  I closed the folders that were spread out across my desk, guzzled the last of my soda, and rose. Until we were promoted to sheriff’s office detectives, our jobs were to do whatever we were told to do as we transitioned from deputies to investigators. “Don’t you mean there’s trouble in paradise?”

  Clayton waved us to the door. “Let’s go, ladies. Somebody just called in two dead bodies lying in the ditch on Paradise Drive.”

  Kate leapt from her chair, shouldered her weapon, and headed for the security door that separated the bull pen from the rest of the departments. “Come on, Amber. I’ll drive.”

  We took the stairs to the ground floor, and without missing a beat, Kate grabbed a set of cruiser keys from behind the counter. Clayton and Billings had already reached the parking lot and were climbing into their car.

  “Jeez, can’t they wait?” I stepped up my pace.

  Each cruiser sat in a numbered spot, and the key rings had the corresponding number on the fob.

  I looked back as Kate ran out the door. “Which car?”

  “Number three.” She double-clicked the fob, and the door locks popped up.

  “Hurry, Kate. Those guys are almost to the street.” I dove into the passenger seat and fastened my belt.

  Kate climbed in behind the wheel, turned the key, and gunned it. “What did Clayton say? Two dead men or women?”

  “He didn’t. He just said two dead bodies.”

  We caught up with the cruiser ahead of us and reached the location on Paradise, near South Oak Road, in under ten minutes. With our cruiser tucked in the gravel at the ditch’s edge, we climbed out and followed Clayton and Billings. Two patrol units had already arrived and had the scene barricaded with their vehicles. A lone truck, with two people standing next to it, sat parked along the shoulder a hundred feet east of the bodies.

  “Are those the people who called it in?” I asked.

  Deputy Silver, one of my former coworkers in the patrol unit, responded. “Good to see you, Amber, and yes, they called it in.”

  “Who interviewed them?”

  “I did, but feel free to ask them more questions. I told them they had to stick around for the time being.”

  “Good enough.” I shielded my eyes and took in my surroundings. The country was quickly being taken over by subdivisions. Along the horizon to my left stood a farm and likely several hundred acres of month-old corn. A freshly plowed field was to the right of the farm. A mile behind us, closer to town, was a brand-new subdivision. New homes were being erected daily, and I remembered seeing work crews on several rooftops when we passed. I was sure their curiosity would get the best of them and they’d mosey over during their break time to see what was going on. “Who has the crime tape? We need that stretched across the road.”

  Silver offered to take care of that task and walked the opposite shoulder to his patrol car. Kate and I turned at the sound behind us. Two dark vans were heading in our direction.

  “It looks like the rest of the team is here.” Kate cupped her hand to her mouth and yelled out at Silver. “Let them pass before you seal the road.”

  He looked over his shoulder and nodded.

  “I’m going to talk to those folks for a bit and get my own account of what they saw.”

  “Okay, I’ll catch up to Clayton and Billings.” Kate headed toward the group at the ditch.

  I pulled out my notepad as I approached the couple standing next to their Dodge Ram. “Hello, folks, I’m Deputy Amber Monroe. I’d like to get your account of what took place here. I promise this won’t take long, and I apologize in advance if the questions sound redundant, but please bear with us. Let’s start with your names, relationship to each other, your address, and why you were on Paradise Drive.”

  The male took the initiative and began speaking. “I’m Ken Lettley, and”—he pointed at the woman standing to his right—“this is my wife, Elise.”

  “L-E-T-T-L-E-Y?” I asked as I spelled it out.

  “That’s correct, deputy.”

  I nodded. “Go ahead. Your address, please.”

  “We live in Cedarburg.” He rattled off their address as I jotted it down. “We just had lunch at Omicron, which we do twice a month. Anyway, we were headed home. As you may notice, our truck is a bit higher than cars. I guess that gave us a better vantage point if you’d consider coming up on two dead men an advantage. Anyway, I’m sure that’s the only reason Elise saw them.”

  “So, Mrs. Lettley, you’re the one who noticed them?”

  “I’m afraid so. I’m always looking out to the fi
elds. Oftentimes, I see turkeys and deer out there.”

  “I bet you do.” I gave her a quick smile to calm her apparent anxiety. I noticed she was wringing her hands. “Did both of you get out of the truck?”

  Ken rested his folded arms over his large stomach. “Yes, we did, and I’ll be honest, we walked right up to the bodies. I had to make sure they weren’t just people sleeping before we made the 911 call.”

  Mrs. Lettley added her two cents. “The bullet holes in their foreheads confirmed it for us. I never—”

  I patted her arm. “I’m sure you haven’t, ma’am. So neither of you touched them, and you made the call immediately upon visually confirming they were dead?”

  “Absolutely, Deputy Monroe,” Ken said.

  “Okay, that should do it. Here’s my card. I’ll have to clear it with the detectives before you can leave. Give me just a few more minutes, please.” I walked over to where Clayton, Billings, Kate, and a handful of deputies and experts stood. “Clayton, can I have a minute?”

  He turned to me. “Sure thing, Amber.”

  We stepped back a few feet and spoke. “I got another statement from the people who called it in. Silver took their initial statement, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it twice in case they made a mistake the first time. Being upset can throw off a person’s memory, you know.”

  Clayton grinned. “You sure remind me of what’s her name.”

  I laughed. “Thanks, that’s quite a compliment. Anyway, can I cut them loose? I gave them my card.”

  “Sure thing, kiddo. Go ahead. I want you to listen in on Lena’s assessment, so hurry up.”

  “Got it. Thanks, Chad.” I walked back to Mr. and Mrs. Lettley and told them they could leave. I thanked them for making the call, and with a firm handshake, I said goodbye. Back at the bodies, I stepped down into the three-foot ditch and knelt alongside Billings, Kate, and Lena Wayfair, our newest ME. Kyle Miller and Dan Brent, the forensic leads, had already photographed the bodies and were snapping pictures of the surrounding area. Their assistants, Jerry Gundrum and Jeff Peterson, scoured the grasses for clues.