Patterson - Murder is Forever, Volume 2: Home Sweet Murder ; Murder on the Run

Copyright 2018 by JBP Business, LLC

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First Edition: January 2018

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956662

ISBNs: 978-1-5387-4481-9 (trade paperback), 978-1-5387-4656-1 (hardcover library edition), 978-0-316-51492-7 (ebook)

E3-20171206-NF-DA

Dear Reader,

Above all else Im a storyteller. I craft stories for insatiable readers. And though my books may seem over-the-top to some, I find that I am most often inspired by real life. After all, truth is stranger than fiction.

The crimes in this book are 100% real. Certain elements of the stories, some scenes and dialogue, locations, names, and characters have been fictionalized, but these stories are about real people committing real crimes, with real, horrifying consequences.

And as terrifying and visceral as it is to read about these crimes gone wrong, theres something to remember: the bad guy always gets caught.

If you cant get enough of these true crimes, please watch the pulse-racing new television series on Investigation Discovery, Murder Is Forever, where youll see these shocking crimes come to life.

I hope youre as haunted by these accounts as I am. Theyll remind you that though humans have the capacity for incredible kindness, we also have the capacity for unspeakable violence and depravity.

Leo Fisher holds a pair of boxer undershorts to the knife wound in his neck, trying to stop the flow of blood pumping out. The shorts dont seem to be doing much good. The fabric is soaked. His arm is slathered in sticky blood.

The sixty-one-year-old tries to take shallow, calming breaths. A spasm of pain rips through his chest. If the gouge in his neck doesnt kill him, under such stress his heart condition surely will.

Hold on! he tells himself. Stay calm.

The advice seems impossible considering the circumstances. The houses burglar alarm screams around him, a deafening, maddening tone that seems to grow louder and louder with each peal.

Faintly, from beyond the wail of his houses alarm, he can just make out police sirens, getting closer.

Leo is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall next to the hallway leading to the bedroom and his office. He doesnt know where his wife is. He had blacked out and was awakened by the siren going off.

Sue! he calls, but there is no answer. Muffy! he yells again, using his pet name for her.

One of their cats pads down the hall, startling Leo. Its eyes are wild, its hair spiked. Its more than the alarm that spooked it, Leo realizes. The cat is leaving a path of bloody paw prints behind as it runs into the living room.

Sue, Leo croaks, knowing the blood must belong to his wife of forty years.

The police sirens are suddenly very loud. There is a crashing at the door.

Police! a voice shouts.

Leo hears footsteps in the foyer.

He musters all the strength he can to yell out in a hoarse, trembling voice, In here.

A uniformed police officer appears, his gun drawn. Another officer follows close behind.

My wife, Leo croaks. Do you see her?

The first officer drops to his knees to help Leo. The second continues down the hall. Leo cranes his neck to watch the man.

From his angle going down the hallway, the officer can see into the office. A woman lies facedown on the floor next to the desk. The carpet beneath her is a swamp of crimson. Her back appears to be stippled with puncture wounds, with bloodstains blooming like roses through her white sweater.

Her hair is matted with blood.

She isnt moving.

Leo sees the look of horror on the officers face. Thats the last thing Leo is able to takehe passes out. His limp hand falls, pulling away the makeshift bandage that was stemming his blood flow.

Fresh blood pumps out of his neck in rhythm with his heartbeat. Each pulse of blood is weaker than the one before it.