The Unseen Killer Next Door

The Unseen Killer Next Door

Paula Gardini

5.0
Comment(s)
37
View
9
Chapters

Twenty years. Twenty years our lives had been haunted by the ghost of a distorted lullaby and an antique music box, the only clue left behind by the monster who murdered my wife Jennifer' s parents. Just when a new murder-a replica of the old horror, right next door-offered a flicker of hope, I found myself slammed against a patrol car, my own badge glinting uselessly on the wet asphalt. My wife, Jennifer, stood before me, not with relief, but with eyes full of a terrifying resolve, and cuffed me. My partner, Andy, and Captain Clark, men I' d bled with, stood by silently, staring as the music box' s brass lid supposedly showed my reflection murdering the victim. They believed it. My wife, my partner, my captain-they all believed it, accusing me, a veteran detective, of a preposterous crime based on a magic music box. I stood there, handcuffed, watching the man I' d just tackled, the real running suspect, get set free, wondering if the entire world had gone mad, or if the cold case had finally shattered Jennifer' s mind... and mine.

Introduction

Twenty years. Twenty years our lives had been haunted by the ghost of a distorted lullaby and an antique music box, the only clue left behind by the monster who murdered my wife Jennifer' s parents.

Just when a new murder-a replica of the old horror, right next door-offered a flicker of hope, I found myself slammed against a patrol car, my own badge glinting uselessly on the wet asphalt.

My wife, Jennifer, stood before me, not with relief, but with eyes full of a terrifying resolve, and cuffed me.

My partner, Andy, and Captain Clark, men I' d bled with, stood by silently, staring as the music box' s brass lid supposedly showed my reflection murdering the victim.

They believed it. My wife, my partner, my captain-they all believed it, accusing me, a veteran detective, of a preposterous crime based on a magic music box.

I stood there, handcuffed, watching the man I' d just tackled, the real running suspect, get set free, wondering if the entire world had gone mad, or if the cold case had finally shattered Jennifer' s mind... and mine.

Continue Reading

Other books by Paula Gardini

More
Into The Rival's Arms: The Decoy's Escape

Into The Rival's Arms: The Decoy's Escape

Mafia

5.0

I stood behind the velvet curtain, clutching a positive pregnancy test, waiting for the perfect moment to tell Dante our family was growing. Instead, I heard him laugh. "She is not the bride," Dante told his Consigliere, swirling his fifty-year-old scotch. "She is the bulletproof vest I wear until it is safe for Sofia to enter the city. When the bullets stop flying, we throw the vest in the trash." My world shattered. When Sofia arrived that night, she didn't just take my place; she boiled my beloved cat for dinner. Dante didn't defend me. He told me to clean up the mess or face punishment. To prove his devotion to her, he had his men drag me to "The Pit"—an underground fight club. I was thrown into a cage with a starving Doberman. I looked up at the VIP box, begging the man I loved to save me. Instead, Dante pressed the intercom button, his voice booming over the speakers. "One million dollars on the dog," he said. "She won't last three minutes." He covered Sofia's eyes to protect her innocence while the beast tore the flesh from my arm. That night, Elena Vance died in the dirt. One year later, the grieving Dante Moretti attended a gala for a mysterious new artist in New York. He dropped his champagne glass when he saw me on stage, alive, wearing a dress that revealed my ruined, scarred arm. "I didn't leave you, Dante," I said into the microphone, my voice cold as ice. "You killed me. And now, I'm here to collect my winnings."

My Lucky Day, Her Fatal Flaw

My Lucky Day, Her Fatal Flaw

Modern

5.0

My name is Gabrielle Johns, a rising architect with everything going for me – a dream career, a great apartment, and loving parents who sacrificed for my future. I was heading to my family's lake house for a long weekend, my best friend, Jen, complaining beside me as usual. That' s when the vintage hearse hit my car, a minor fender-bender that Jen immediately declared my "lucky day." Bizarrely, her words seemed to come true: my career soared, and my parents had the full down payment for my new condo. Jen, consumed by envy, became convinced the hearse was a source of "luck," deliberately getting herself hit by it. But her "luck" turned into ruin. The hearse was priceless, and its owners sued her for damages that would devastate her. Spiraling into a paranoid rage, she blamed me for "stealing" her luck. One night, as I left my new condo, her madness culminated in the ultimate betrayal. Jen, my childhood best friend, plunged a knife into my chest, hissing, "This was supposed to be mine." Darkness consumed me, my last thought of my parents and their future, stolen. How could someone I loved become such a monster? Why did she believe my hard work was just "luck" she was entitled to? Why did this happen? Then, I gasped awake. I was in my bed, in my old apartment, on the very morning the nightmare began. My phone buzzed: a text from Jen, "I've got a feeling this is going to be a very, very lucky weekend. ;)" She was back. And this time, I wouldn't be kind.

The Bait Boy's Billionaire Secret

The Bait Boy's Billionaire Secret

Xuanhuan

5.0

The preliminary exam for the Presidential Scholarship was about to begin. I stared at the essay prompt: "The Nature of Ambition." I knew exactly what to write. A flawless essay, every sentence a stroke of genius, destined to secure my spot in the finals and launch my brilliant future. But in my last life, that perfect essay became my death sentence. Mere minutes before I could hand in my paper, my rival, Ethan, uploaded an identical one online. Then, he and my girlfriend, Jessica, launched a brutal campaign, painting me as a fraud, a plagiarist who stole from the school's golden boy. The scandal utterly destroyed me. I was expelled, the scholarship snatched away. The immense stress broke my mother's weak heart; she died, still questioning my integrity. My father, a humble bait-and-tackle shop owner, spent his entire life savings trying to clear my name before he perished in a suspicious boating "accident." Left with nothing, watching Ethan celebrate his Yale graduation online, I extinguished my own life. The cold, hard rage of that injustice consumed me, even in death. How did they know every thought, every perfect turn of phrase? How could they have replicated my genius so flawlessly, systematically dismantling my life while I was powerless? Now, I'm back. In the same exam room, at the same desk, with the same clock ticking down. This time, I' m not just rewriting an essay. I' m rewriting history. And the script calls for a reckoning.

Southern Melody, Broken Heart

Southern Melody, Broken Heart

Romance

5.0

I woke up young again, back in my Southern hometown. For sixty years, I' d been married to Mark, my childhood sweetheart, and I cherished the hope for a perfect do-over. This was our second chance, our love story, chapter two. But then, Mark arrived at the welcome-home BBQ. He didn't even glance my way as he strode to the gazebo, microphone in hand, and publicly declared his undying love for Jessica Miller, the town's golden girl. My heart, still aching for shared pasts, turned to ice. My whole life with him-our sixty-year marriage, our shared memories-cracked and shattered, revealed as nothing but a carefully constructed lie. He began showering Jessica with grand gestures he'd always dismissed as "silly," utterly ignoring me. At the town dance, he publicly humiliated me, accusing me of theft and jealousy. Then, at the talent show, he even sabotaged my guitar, desperate for Jessica to win, trying to silence my last shred of hope. How could the man I spent a lifetime with, the man I thought was my soulmate, inflict such cold, calculated cruelty? Was our entire love story truly just a sham, a convenience concocted by him? Every memory of our intertwined past felt tainted, leaving me heartbroken and desperate for an answer. Just as despair threatened to consume me, a stranger-a music scout-approached me after hearing my raw, pain-filled song. He offered me a chance at a dream I' d long buried. It was time to write a new song, for me, and reclaim a life he never wanted me to have.

You'll also like

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book