Azrael

By M.T. Ellis

Emily thought her ordeal was over after she escaped a brutal kidnapping. She's wrong. He's coming for her again.

The body Detective Rose is looking at bears a striking resemblance to Emily, a woman who survived a horrific, sexually motivated abduction five years ago. Her fear is confirmed when Emily goes missing again. When another woman, Grace, is abducted, Detective Rose finds herself doubting the instincts that tell her the disappearance is the result of domestic violence. She connects the cases and recruits Grace's partner, Ethan, to help in the search. Together they must find Grace and Emily before it's too late.

“From the very start, I was hooked! Azrael is a twisted and intense character, however this book is so well written, you find yourself understanding how he became that way! The last few chapters grabbed me and wouldn't let go until I found out the fate of the girls, even if it did include a few gasps in shock from me! I eagerly await the next book in the series.” -Bianca

“A compelling suspense story. I couldn't put it down - always wanting more. It's great having an ending that surprises you too! Looking forward to the next Detective Allira Rose Series book, MT Ellis.”
-Lyndy Atkinson

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.T. Ellis
• Release date: Aug 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9780648043836

M.T. Ellis

M.T. Ellis is a Brisbane-based author. She got kicked out of high school in year 11 for non-attendance. She then went on to attempt a Business Management degree at University but dropped out half-way through. Despite these failures, she managed to get a job and is currently driving boats for a living. Her dogs, Opal, Zeus and Matilda, occupy a lot of her time. She would write books about their adventures if she thought people were even half as interested in them as she is. Dollhouse, the second novel in her Detective Allira Rose series will be out on October 1, 2018.

Book preview

One

The sun was just starting to rise when she arrived at the scene. Detective Allira Rose, she said as she flashed her badge to the uniformed police officer blocking entry to the cordoned-off crime scene. This is my partner, Detective Calvin Todd.

According to her name badge, the officer guarding the area was Constable Vivienne Charles. She handed Rose a clipboard and a pen. You’ll both have to sign in. Charles was in her twenties and looked to be fresh out of the academy. She looked away nervously when Todd spoke to her.

Is your partner talking to a witness? Todd nodded toward another cop standing a few metres away speaking with an old woman in her dressing gown.

No, she woke up just before dawn and was having a cup of tea on her balcony when she looked down and noticed someone lying on the ground, Charles said as she pointed up to one of 10 balconies that overlooked the carpark of the complex. She went down to have a look and called us when she realised it was a body.

Any other witnesses? Rose asked as she lifted the crime scene tape and ducked under it. Charles shook her head. Rose lifted the tape for Todd, pulled on a pair of latex gloves, and walked towards the body of a woman slumped next to a pair of grey metal dumpsters. There were old black tyre marks on the ground where a garbage truck had previously struggled to lift the weight of the bins.

Rose looked down at the petite woman, who seemed to be in her late teens, maybe early twenties, wearing jeans and a white singlet. Her long dark brown hair was messy and had bits of dirt and leaves tangled in it. Her jeans are still on, so hopefully that’s a sign she hasn’t been sexually assaulted. We’ll know more after her autopsy, Rose said as she lifted the woman’s singlet. There are two large bruises on her abdomen. He has either hit her with something solid or kneeled on her.

Is that chewing gum? Todd asked as he pointed to a little green lump on the ground near the victim’s face.

Let’s get that DNA tested. It looks like it fell out of her mouth, but you never know, the killer might have dropped it.

Todd wrote the details in his notebook.

Rose noticed the woman had bruising and gravel rash on her face. She could see little rocks embedded in the wound. She figured the victim’s face must have hit the ground at some point, or the offender could have hit her with a brick or a lump of concrete. This looks to be quite a violent episode; a lot of anger on the perpetrator’s part. I wonder if she knew the attacker.

Could be an ex. Todd looked up from his notepad. I guess we’ll find out if she had any enemies when we get her ID.

Yeah, could be. Rose hoped it wasn’t another domestic violence situation. Although it made it a lot easier to find the offender, intimate partner violence got under Rose’s skin. Your partner should always be there to protect you, not hurt you.

There are a lot of ligature marks on her neck, indicating he had to retighten his grip, Rose said. Or he was tightening and loosening his grip to prolong the attack and make her suffer. She stood up and looked around. I can’t see any evidence to indicate that he has tried to cover up the crime. So he either feels no shame or doesn’t care if he gets caught. Rose sighed. He could have been so caught up in the moment and full of rage that he didn’t think to hide it. She dismissed the idea that he was completely out of control; he hadn’t beaten the victim to a pulp.

Together they walked over to the black leather handbag on the ground a couple of metres away from her body. The first officers on the scene had taken the victim’s wallet and identification cards out of the bag and laid them on top of it. Rose bent down to get a better look. She wiped her brow with the back of her forearm and smoothed back the strands of wavy black hair that had fallen out of her messy bun. Charmaine Walters, by the looks of this photo. Rose turned over the driver’s licence and looked at the address on the back of the card. She lives a couple of streets over. She must have been walking home.

She doesn’t look dressed up enough to be coming home from a nightclub, Todd replied.

Yeah, you’re right. Maybe she was at work, changed out of her uniform, and walked home.

Rose cringed when she noticed a clump of matted hair covered in dried blood on the ground next to the dumpster. There were tiny, bright red specks of blood on the white cement next to it. He must have dragged her here by her hair.

Two

Sitting in the corner of the darkened room, Azrael counted ten dancers of various ages and sizes strutting around in their heels and g-strings, gyrating on various poles throughout the filthy establishment. He watched an attractive dark-skinned woman with shoulder-length black, curly hair and large breasts twirl seductively around a pole. The dancer maintained eye contact and a flirty smile with the balding fifty-something-year-old white guy standing directly in front of her stage. She sauntered over and winked at him before bending over and allowing the man to tuck five-dollar notes into the top of her white g-string.

As he looked around, Azrael noticed the red lighting appeared to give the strippers a nice healthy glow to their skin, but when the girls got close enough, he could see their imperfections. Cellulite on their thighs, acne scars on their faces, and on some of the girls he could see bruised puncture marks on the insides of their elbows. A petite blonde woman wearing nothing but six-inch clear plastic heels and a pair of lacy black French knickers walked up to him and leaned over seductively. Can I get you a drink, handsome?

Double scotch, on the rocks, he replied as he handed her a fifty-dollar note. And you’re not getting the change either, you filthy bitch.

Sorry, what did you say? The music is so loud, she asked in her whiney voice.

DOUBLE SCOTCH, ON THE ROCKS!

Oh, okay, sweetheart, double scotch. Got it, the waitress said flirtatiously as she walked off towards the bar.

Fuckin’ idiot, he thought.

Azrael took a sip of the scotch as he sank back into the couch. He lifted his arms up and rested his elbows on the backrest. He peered into his glass then looked up to make eye contact with the topless waitress who had just brought him the drink. The woman looked down at him seductively before stepping over to straddle his legs. Would you like a dance, big boy? she asked as she gyrated on his lap.

No, he replied bluntly. It amused him to watch the woman stand up in a huff and give him a filthy look as she walked off towards the next potential customer.

Unfazed by the woman’s tantrum, Azrael sat on the couch, nursing his scotch, and looked around the smoke-filled room. Over near the door he saw a girl wearing jeans and a white singlet with dark hair walk towards the front desk. He overheard her seedy-looking boss say, What are you doing wearing your normal clothes in the club? You should be in costume. He smoothed out his black pornstar moustache. These guys pay for the fantasy, not to see some teen mother on her way to pick up the kids.

I had to come and get my pay before I leave. Besides, I think these guys know that we are actually humans, and we all have lives that don’t completely revolve around a pole.

"Just come and get your pay before you get changed next time," the boss snarled as he held out a white envelope.

That’s if I come back to this shithole, the girl said as she walked away.

Azrael watched the girl take the envelope from the owner and put it into her handbag as she walked out the door. Seeing her dressed in her white singlet and jeans triggered something in Azrael’s brain. It forced him to remember the scene at The Common. He could feel rage build up inside him as he visualised the girl he had abducted lying beneath him, bucking fiercely, trying to get away. He flushed hot with anger as he remembered the bloodied and shirtless girl knocking him unconscious with a rock, crawling out from beneath him, and running into the bush. Azrael flashed back to reality to see the stripper walking away from her boss. He got up and followed her out of the bar.

As he stepped out of the door, Azrael looked up the street. The woman was walking by herself at the end of the block. He moved silently towards her. He followed her a few more blocks out of the city area and into a residential street lined with ground-floor units and multi-floor apartments. He quickened his pace.

The girl was fifty metres in front of him. He knew his quiet footsteps couldn’t be heard when he saw her slow down to rummage through the black leather handbag she had slung over one shoulder. She pulled out a packet of spearmint chewing gum and put a piece in her mouth. Azrael looked around at the buildings as he crept towards her, searching for any possible witnesses. There was no one around. The young woman put the chewing gum packet back into her bag and started to close the zip just as he quickly and silently stepped towards her. He punched her in the back of the head, right above her spine, sending her sprawling forwards. The girl landed with a thud, face first in the gutter. She rolled to her side, unconscious.

He pulled the petite woman by her hair onto her back and then dragged her into the poorly lit outdoor car park of a nearby apartment building. She woke up and started to scream. The girl scratched at his hands, trying to stop the pain of him ripping at her hair. He dropped her to the ground, sprawled on her back.

When she tried to get up again, Azrael slapped her across the face, hard enough to shock her into silence. He looked down at the blood and hair left matted between his fingers and flicked the clumps to the ground, leaving tiny, bright-red specks of blood on the white cement. He wiped his hands on his jeans.

Azrael dropped his knees into her abdomen, just under her ribs, which pinned her to the ground. The force of his weight made her gasp quickly and silently. He grabbed the woman around her neck. Her eyes were wide and terrified as he tightened his grip. The woman choked and spluttered while tears streamed down her face. She clawed at his hands one last time before she eventually became still.

He dragged the woman’s body to the nearby dumpsters and left her slumped sideways on the ground. Azrael ripped the heart-shaped silver pendant from her neck and walked off without bothering to cover the body or hide any evidence. Her vacant grey eyes lay open and appeared to stare at the piece of chewing gum that had fallen out of her mouth and rolled onto the ground.

Three

Ethan bit his lip nervously as he walked into the jewellery store. What if she doesn’t like it? he thought. This is the hardest decision I have ever had to make in my life.

So, what’s her name? the sales lady asked. When are you going to propose?

Grace, Ethan said warily. How did you know it’s for an engagement?

You have that look about you, that nervous one that says, ‘I’m about to ask the woman of my dreams to spend the rest of her life with me, and I don’t even know what kind of ring she’d like,’ the woman said cheerfully.

Yep, that’s me. Ethan laughed as he looked down at the glass cabinet filled with sparkling gold and diamonds. The rings were displayed in neat rows, with the larger diamonds to the front. Ethan perused the rocks and was more confused than ever.

So, are you high school sweethearts?

Kind of, except that we met at university, he said. I don’t know which ring to get her. Do I even need to get diamonds?

What colour hair does she have?

Auburn.

Emerald it is then, she said as she walked Ethan over to another counter. You can get wedding bands to match all of the rings we have here.

Thanks, Ethan said as he peered into the cabinet. The way the light reflected off the stones reminded him of how Grace’s beautiful green eyes danced when she laughed. That one will be perfect, Ethan said as soon as he laid eyes on the large almond-shaped emerald set on a plain gold band at the back of the cabinet.

Four

Azrael’s heart was still beating fast by the time he arrived home at one in the morning. He didn’t see anyone and could only hear his own footsteps echoing as he ascended the dark stairwell to his second-floor apartment. He could smell mildew as he opened the front door and walked past his twenty-year-old couch with the faded brown-and-orange-striped cushions that dipped in the middle where people had sat. He walked the ten steps past the tiny rundown kitchen into the bathroom to gaze at himself in the mirror. Azrael was pale, and his hands shook as he washed the dry blood from them and rubbed his face. He took off his shirt, squeezed some liquid soap onto the few spots of blood that he could find, and dumped the shirt into the pile of dirty clothes in the corner.

He went into his bedroom and opened the wardrobe. He pulled out an old wooden wine box he’d found when he was a kid. The box was made of unvarnished pine and could house six bottles. He had thrown out the pieces of wood that kept the bottles apart and had used the box ever since to store his treasured possessions.

Azrael sat down on the floor and placed the box in front of him. He was still a bit agitated from all of the adrenaline, and his hands shook as he lifted the lid. He quietly stared into the box, transfixed by thoughts about his past and the murder he’d just committed. He unconsciously pulled the heart-shaped pendant with the broken silver chain he had stolen from the dead stripper out of his pocket. He rubbed the pendant, took a big breath, and instantly started to calm down. He played with the pendant and moved the silver chain around in his hand. He let the cool touch of the chain between his fingers soothe him. Azrael put the necklace down next to the box and took out the thin gold bracelet that he had found in the back of his van after the unsuccessful abduction five years ago. It must have broken away from the girl’s wrist as he was dragging her out of the van. He watched the bracelet’s tiny gold links sparkle under the dim bedroom lighting before putting it on the floor next to the heart-shaped silver pendant.

He continued to rummage through the wooden box and found some other things he had collected over the years. In a matchbox Azrael found the broken skeleton of a baby lizard he had purposely crushed in his hand when he was fourteen. After forgetting where he had buried the lizard, he accidentally found it a year later when he was digging a hole to bury the neighbour’s cat, which had unfortunately ventured into his yard. In the wooden box he also found one of his baby teeth that had not been purchased by the tooth fairy. It reminded him of his parents’ complete disregard for him and the things he found important.

Five

Also in the news this morning, police are still searching for clues in the murder of an exotic dancer on her way home from work in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police believe they have found DNA that links the crime to the attempted abduction of Emily Masters nearly five years ago. If you have any information about either of these cases, contact Crime Stoppers or your local police station immediately. The time is seven minutes past six on this Friday morning, and you’re listening to ABC Local News.

Morning, Gracie, Ethan said to his sleeping girlfriend as he reached over to turn off the alarm on the clock radio on his bedside table. He always waited for the 6:00 a.m. news to finish before waking Grace. When he could see her start to stir, he asked, Are you excited about our big date tonight?

Mmm, morning, baby, Grace replied as she rolled over to put her head on Ethan’s chest. I wish I didn’t have to spend all day at uni before our big date.

I don’t want to go to work either, Ethan said as he kissed her on the forehead before shuffling out from underneath her. I’ll have to go straight to the restaurant from the office. Do you mind meeting me there?

That’s okay, I’ll meet you there at seven, he heard Grace say as he walked towards the shower, dressed only in his favourite green boxers.

*

Ethan looked around the restaurant from the table he had reserved and waited nervously for his soon-to-be fiancée to arrive. He put his hand in the inside pocket of his fitted black suit jacket and touched the red velvet-covered box. Relieved that he hadn’t lost the ring, he poured himself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and put the wine bottle back into the stainless steel ice bucket, taking care not to knock over the two tall white candles softly illuminating the table. He could smell the faint fruitiness of the wine as he took a sip from the round, oversized glass.

He looked at his watch. It was only six forty-five. Grace won’t be here for another fifteen minutes, he thought as he looked out the window at the tiny specks of light coming from the city below.

It was a magical place, this restaurant, sitting high above the treetops on a hill near the centre of the city. Raindrops started to splatter on the window, distorting the city lights.

Six

She looked up at the dark grey rain clouds rolling in over the streaks of red and orange in the sunset sky and decided to twist her long auburn hair into a bun. Even thinking of rain makes my hair curl, Grace thought as she remembered the twenty minutes she’d spent straightening her hair that morning. She had just got out of the car and was making her way into the house to get changed for her date with Ethan.

Grace and Ethan had been inseparable since they met at university three years ago. He had finished his degree in marketing and was working in the city. As Grace walked through the hall of their small, modern three-bedroom brick home, she thought about how she couldn’t wait to finish her finance degree at the end of this semester. She had already been offered an internship with a global company that had an office just a few blocks from Ethan’s, so they would be able to carpool to work and meet each other for lunch.

She went into their bedroom and straightened the ruffled white blanket before putting