Murder By The Book Lauren Elliott Novels & Stories

Her shoulders trembled. The prosecutor continued. "Forensic analysis shows the child didn't die instantly. If he had received timely medical treatment, his survival rate would have exceeded 70 percent. It was the defendant who personally prevented rescue efforts and directly caused her son's death. "This was not negligence, and it wasn't an accident. It was a premeditated murder. She simply killed the wrong person." Esther's lawyer had no response. In the end, the judge brought down the gavel. Esther Lawson was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

She had slammed right into the innocent victim. Zachary saw the footage too. Just before Gigi was arrested by the police, Zachary rushed to Gigi's house in a frenzy and stabbed her. It felt like he had looked up the most effective way to kill someone. As soon as he stabbed her, blood gushed out of her. Gigi crumpled to the floor, her eyes wide with shock. She died before the ambulance even got there. The police were alerted and came right over to arrest Zachary. Looking into the camera of a surrounding spectator who was recording on his phone, he tearfully cried out, "I've avenged you, Mom!"

" My head shot up as my eyes locked on Alex, bloodshot and wild. My voice was raw as I barked furiously, "And when they were done, when they finally realized what they did, they panicked. Those cowards—those killers! They smashed Sharon's face in with rocks! "Then they dumped her like trash… off the steepest cliff in Deadman's Hollow!"

"Food, blankets, a change of clothes?" "A shower," he says, and he manages a weak smile. "And maybe some aspirin." I pat his hand. "You got it." "Here, buddy. Let me help you up." Davis hauls Lee up and gently guides him down the hall and to my guest bathroom. Marybelle is already pacing the living room. "It's only a matter of time before they figure out the coin at Hawthorn is a fake." "If they haven't already." She stops pacing to stare at me. "Then why are they still there?"

Realizing he hadn’t yet spoken to Brandon that evening, Aaron asked, “How have you been, Brandon?” He finished chewing and took a drink of his soda before replying, “Pretty good, I guess. Can’t complain too much. You guys doing all right?” “Yeah, busy as usual,” Aaron replied nonchalantly. Cadence caught his eyes for a second, her expression pressing him to elaborate. Aaron hesitated, not sure if the information she wanted him to share would even be important to Brandon, but after a moment, he finally continued. “We, uh, caught the Hunter that killed Elliott last week.”

“People do terrible things when jealousy consumes them. She saw Bella as the reason her marriage ended, her life fell apart. She wanted to destroy what you built with her.” I took the folder with shaking hands and drove back to the hotel in a daze. The city lights blurred through the windshield. When I got to my room, I spread everything on the bed and read it again. Slowly. Carefully. Each piece of evidence felt like another knife in my chest. Lauren had done this. She had tried to kill Bella. She had taken Avery from us. She had nearly taken Amie too. The realization broke something inside me. I sat on the edge of the bed and cried deep, gut-wrenching sobs that shook my entire body.

Still, because I had become used to the excruciating sensation of vervain, I chose to ignore that it was causing the skin on my hands to burn. I gave him a wink and replied, "That's for me to know and for you to never find out." This infuriates him even further since he quickly grabbed another book and began rereading it. "1775. Kurt Luke, accused of murder, was found dead by the creek. He was ripped to shreds. I've been to many different towns and heard stories about this. People are being murdered without any explanation. There is no evidence to support the case. They call it the Pearl. You never know who the victim is going to be, and you never know how they're going to die. One day, out

" Her fingers trembled. Slowly...She handed it over. I opened the gallery. There they were. Photos. Videos. Every single one, I deleted, opened the recently deleted folder, and cleared them. I tossed the phone back into her hands. "If even one copy exists..." I let the sentence hang. Ralph finally caught up, stopping at the doorway. His eyes swept across the room. The ripped uniform. The bruised cheek. His jaw tightened. I knelt beside Elissa. "Can you stand?" She nodded weakly. Her knees buckled. I caught her before she hit the floor.

"We give him what he wants. All three hybrids. In the same place. At the same time." "That's suicide." "No. That's bait." Her gold eyes burn. "We let him try to drain us. And when he does, we drain him back." --- **[End of Chapter 119]**

“Who was at the crash scene with you?” Victor remained silent. ⸻ Too silent. ⸻ Then suddenly— Daniel’s phone vibrated again. He answered quickly before his face lost color completely. ⸻ “Aaron…” A pause. ⸻ “Olivia is dead.” ⸻ Silence detonated across the room. ⸻ Elara stared blankly. Edward looked horrified. ⸻ But Aaron’s expression became terrifyingly still. Because dead people couldn’t testify. ⸻ And Victor Hale had just erased the one person who could expose the mole network inside Blackwood.