Written by Erica Rose Jackson I've been a little behind on these excerpt blog posts and I apologize for that. Fortunately, with this one for my newest release Magic City Murders, I'm all caught up. I hop you enjoy. String of Murders Shakes Up Bham By Arika Romano Over the past week with less than a month to go until from Christmas, three people have been brutally murdered in Birmingham, Alabama. This vigilante has been knocking their victims unconscious, stripping them of their clothes, and then slitting their wrists. Our killer has chosen a violent way for their victims to leave this world. Each of these victims (if you can call them that) were recently acquitted on charges of violent crimes within the justice system. In fact, our killer leaves behind a calling card to let us know when the injustice occurred. There have been three so far: Without any leads regarding which types of criminals this vigilante is after, there is no telling how many people will be slayed before this person is either caught or killed. So far acquitted victims Mason Scott, Samuel Young, and Anna Allen have been slain. If you have any information on this, nearly, serial murderer please share your knowledge with the police. We will keep you up-to-date with everything we learn as this story continues to develop. Stay safe, Birmingham. Arika finished her blurb on the vigilante killer and emailed it to her editor before she leaned back in her seat, stretching her arms behind her to realign her back. It only took a few minutes before Arika saw her editor waving her into her office. Arika sighed as she stood and made her way into Jackie’s space, closing the door behind her. “Do you want me to rewrite my blurb on the Birmingham vigilante serial killer?” Arika asked, starting the conversation. Jackie shook her head, “No, the story is great. I called you in here because I have an assignment for you, one that will take you right into the depths of this case…” She let her words linger to entice Arika’s interests, not that she needed it. Arika smiled, coyly, “Alright, you have my attention. What’s my assignment?” she inquired, genuinely interested. “I’ve made a few calls and gotten you in with the lead detective on the case,” Jackie began to explain, “He’s also a trained forensic psychologist so he should be able to give you great tidbits for upcoming stories. You’re to meet Detective Richard Riker at the precinct in one hour. You’ll be shadowing him until the case is solved which means excellent content to share with our readers. Do you have any questions?” She followed her explanation of Arika’s story with an open ended question. Arika took her turn to shake her head, “No ma’am, that sounds good to me. I’ll gather what I need from my desk and head over to the precinct to get started, unless there was anything else you think I need to know for this story…” Jackie dismissed her, allowing Arika to walk back to her desk and grab the essentials: a notebook, a recorder, a few pens, her phone, and her tablet before she left her office and made her way to the precinct where Detective Riker worked. Arika arrived at the precinct twenty minutes early and flashed her press credentials to the officer at the desk while explaining that she was supposed to be working exclusively with Detective Riker. The officer instructed Arika to take a seat and that Riker would be with her in a few minutes, at most. Arika did as she was told and sat down in one of the seats in the waiting area waiting to meet her. She had no idea what to expect as she tried to imagine what the detective would look like while comparing those images to each person who entered her line of sight. “Arika Romano?” her attention was diverted when she heard her name coming from a voice in the opposite direction from where she’d been observing everyone. The voice was deep and playful in a way that made her think he could be trouble. She turned in the direction of the voice and raised her hand, “I’m Arika Romano,” she confirmed as she took in the sight of the man who matched the voice. Arika found herself in the presence of a tall and in incredibly good shape gentleman with piercing blue eyes and thick, brown hair, checkered with salt and pepper in a very prestigious and mature way. He also had a full beard and mustache. Everything about him was perfect in her eyes. Detective Richard Riker was dangerously her type. She was distracted by him, instantly because of her attraction to this man she’d never met. She attempted to shake off her feelings as she stood to greet him with her hand outstretched. “I’m Arika Romano,” she began, “I assume you’re Detective Riker?” The attractive man nodded, “That I am, but you can call me Riker, everyone else does,” he introduced himself as he took her tiny hand in his own large one. Even the smallest connection of their handshake sent shivers down her spine along with chills throughout her entire body. “It’s nice to meet you,” she finally said, breaking the silence that had developed between them, “I’m just here to shadow you. Please, continue with your work as if I’m not even here.” A sly grin crossed Riker’s lips as he replied with a flirty tone dancing in his voice,“That’s going to be hard to do when you look the way you do, but I’ll do my best.” He changed the subject as he continued, gesturing for her to follow him, “Based on the previous kills, we have around twenty-four hours until the next victim falls,” he shared as they entered the main room where he’d clearly been working this case with his colleagues late into the night, possibly nights before. Arika took a seat at one of the empty desks in the room and began to pull out what she’d need to take notes and begin working on her story. Riker joined her side again, quickly, after updating the others on her presence in their work area. “What have you gathered from these killings so far?” he asked, genuinely wanting her opinion on the matter since he and his team were currently grasping at straws, though he’d hate to admit to that fact. Arika pushed away her notes as she turned to face him, wishing at the same moment that his eyes didn’t draw her in so easily. “All I’ve been able to gather so far is that this killer is acting as a vigilante since their calling cards share the date that the victims were acquitted by a jury. That’s all I’ve been able to gather so far. From what I’ve researched, there’s no connection between the dates left behind and there’s no specific crime our killer is punishing these people for,” she explained. “That’s very good,” Riker commented after she finished her initial evaluation of the cases, “You’ve figured out more than most of my team in half the time. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about having a journalist tag along, but maybe they sent me their best. We’re about to wrap up for the day. You should go home. Leave your cell number and I’ll call you if any developments arise,” he offered as he half sat/half leaned against the corner of the desk where she’d set up her things. Arika nodded as she wrote down her cell number and replied, “That sounds good to me. Don’t hesitate to call me back in,” she shared. “I want to get everything I can on this story which means I need to see everything I can, even if that includes new victims,” she added, causing him to nod as he took her number and she started her journey home where she hoped her roomate and best friend would be waiting for her.
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