Sudden Death
by Peter C Byrnes
Free ebook download: Sudden Death by Peter C Byrnes, legally licensed and available in PDF, and ePub formats.
Home Invasion incidents are becoming more common. Injuries and yes, sudden deaths seem to be the outcome of these senseless activities by complete strangers.
Sudden Death is one of the most downloaded free detective murder mystery books by the author.
Death is with us all. Every day of the week, fifty-two weeks of the year.
If not a close family member, a relative, a work colleague then the hundreds reported as daily ‘flash numbers’ on the nightly news on the radio or TV.
We cannot escape it…either we steel ourselves for the declining health of a loved one…or ourself…the sudden death…the brutal death of countless others across the world…it is a part of our lives.
Some people are more effected by the sudden death of innocent people on the other side of the world…others not effected at all so their existence continues on…for another beautiful day.
Home Invasion incidents are becoming more common. Injuries and yes, sudden deaths seem to be the outcome of these senseless activities by complete strangers looking for easy cash and objects that can be easily hocked for cash to buy the next supply…that will take them far from their mean existence…and sudden death can be their future by others looking for that next high…and possibly a sudden death by a toxic concoction…but with these deaths there are few mourning the loss of a loved one…while others deeply feel the unexpected and sudden loss…
Excerpt:
I stood stiffly to answer the knock on the door. None of my champion guard dogs had issued a growl, a snarl, or a bark. AU2 lifted her head as if to ask, ‘was that a knock at the back door?’ Satisfied that it was, she dropped her head onto her front paws and went back to sleep…she was getting old with a painful gait and often a tail lowered as she partly hobbled to a spot, standing there transfixed wondering why and where was she. Sad to see but she still seemed to see me whenever I came home from work…or had suddenly appeared from an adjoining room. Po and Mo, my two chirpy Maltese X slept through the sudden knock…and the squeaking side gate.
I was curious as only our friends would come in via the side gate. Anyone who didn’t know would always knock at the front door.
Tellie whispered who? I shrugged my shoulders as I slid back the heavy curtains covering the glass door out onto the deck.
Two Uniforms standing at attention...one with a nervous smile which bade bad news.
Not a good sign when coppers knock at your door late at night. My stomach fell to my knees. Danni…something has happened to Danni down in Melbourne…yes?
“Oh! Detective! Sorry…we didn’t know this was your place…” A sudden realisation and identity of me being one of them. “Sorry…arrh…Melisa Lind. She is your daughter-in-law. She has you listed as next of kin…”
I felt Tellie coming to stand by my side, circling her arm through the crock of my arm. Tightly.
“Mel? What’s happened? Is she alright. She’s not, is she, otherwise you wouldn’t be knocking on our back door…what’s happened?” Tellie was approaching meltdown. I tried to calm her down while encouraging the two to tell us what had happened.
“Mz Lind works for the Anti-Terrorist and Drug Intelligence Unit within the AFP. She has been based in Manila, the Philippines for the past two and a half years. She lives within a compound where several countries’ personnel with close ties to the Philippine Government are accommodated…that speaks loads to the current conditions over there…um…sorry, sir…there was an explosion within the compound that caused a two-storey building to collapse…um…Mz Lind is still missing…she has not been located…um…from local feedback there is little chance of any survivors being pulled from the rubble…um…they more than likely would have been killed by the blast effect. The AFP will keep you across any further developments…sorry sir…missus”.
He looked very sorry as though he was about to burst out crying at any moment.
“Um…sir? This is the number in the AFP that you can ring for up-to-date information…um…sorry to be the bearer of sad news…”
He bowed his head as he stepped backwards. Spinning, he followed his colleague who had said little…in fact nothing at all. Knowing the system and how it worked, our spokesperson was either an Officer of a higher grade…or they had flipped a coin on who should be the spokesperson to inform us of Mel’s status.
