Deadly Sins: Greed: Sloane Monroe Stories, #4

By Cheryl Bradshaw

It was just another day for mob boss Giovanni Luciana until he took his car for a drive.

 

On a calm summer evening, Giovanni takes his young son Luca for drive. A car pulls alongside, and when the window comes down, the driver is holding a gun. He aims, showering Daniela's car with gunfire. Who is this man? Why has he taken Daniela? And will Luca survive? 

 

Praise for the Deadly Sins series: 

 

"You feel like you are watching the events unfold."

"Grips you from first paragraph. I wasn't able to guess the murderer until the end."

"If you are not familiar with the series, or this author, this is a good introduction." - Marsha Jo, Vine Voice

 

--> New to Sloane Monroe? There are two book collections in the Sloane Monroe series. The first is a novel series with 8 titles (as of 2019). The second is this short story spinoff series, featuring the same characters from the main series.

 

Series order: 

 

Sloane Monroe Mystery/Thriller Series

 

1. Black Diamond Death

2. Murder in Mind

3. I Have a Secret

4. Stranger in Town - Shamus Award Finalist 

5. Bed of Bones - USA Today Bestseller

6. Hush Now Baby - USA Today Bestseller

7. Gone Daddy Gone - USA Today Bestseller

8. Smoke and Mirrors - August 2019 New Release!  

 

Sloane Monroe Stories - Mystery Novella Series

 

1. Deadly Sins: Sloth

2. Deadly Sins: Wrath 

3. Deadly Sins: Lust 

4. Deadly Sins: Greed 

5. Deadly Sins: Envy Coming August 2020

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pixie Publishing
• Release date: Apr 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393447184

Cheryl Bradshaw

Cheryl Bradshaw is a New York Times and 11-time USA Today bestselling author writing in multiple genres, including mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, supernatural suspense, and poetry. She is a Shamus Award finalist for best private eye novel of the year, an eFestival of Words winner for best thriller, and has published over fifty books since 2011. When she's not writing, Cheryl loves jet-setting to new countries, playing with her grandkiddos, high tea, and pursuing a wishful side career as a professional food tester of wine and cheese.

Book preview

title

This book is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner.  Any similarity to events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2019 by Cheryl Bradshaw

Cover Design Copyright 2019 © Indie Designz

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means whatsoever (electronic, mechanical, etc.) without the prior written permission and consent of the author.

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble.

—Abraham Lincoln

In a letter to Col. William F. Elkins

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

About Cheryl Bradshaw

Books by Cheryl Bradshaw

CHAPTER 1

Giovanni Luciana pulled the black 1930 Ford Model A Coupe into the garage, gliding it to a gentle stop behind another of his other collectible cars, a 1969 Ferrari 365GTS. His auto collection was pricy and rare, and though the Model A had been purchased for a modest amount in comparison to most of the other vehicles, it was the only one with sentimental meaning, which set it apart from the rest.

He exited the car, taking time to slide the door ever so gently to a close. Running a hand along the smooth, refinished exterior, he paused, taking a moment to appreciate what it meant to have the car back in his family’s possession.

The history of the Model A was a scandalous one, having first been commandeered away from its owner, Robert Johnson, by Giovanni’s great uncle, John Dillinger, in 1934. Dillinger and his top two lieutenants, Hommer Van Meter and John Red Hamilton fled from federal agents after President Roosevelt and J. Edgar Hoover ordered the capture of the infamous Dillinger Gang. Dead or alive. Sliding into the rich, brown interior seat, the notorious Dillinger, sensationalized for robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations, had wasted no time shattering the glass, jutting his tommy-gun out the rectangular back window, and opening fire on the onslaught of Feds following close behind. Pelted with bullets, the Model A had soldiered on, and just as he had so many times before in the past. Dillinger managed to elude police. Only this time, his victory would be short lived. A few months later as Dillinger left the Biograph Theater, over twenty agents had positioned themselves outside. Dillinger’s luck had run out. There were no avenues for escape. Shot four times, the fatal bullet entered the back of his neck, exiting beneath his right eye and killing him instantly.

At the tender age of thirty-one, Dillinger was a dead man.

He was also a mafia legend.

The Ford was eventually returned to its original owner. Upon assessing the barrage of bullet holes and blood-soaked interior, he’d decided it was of little value and shoved it away inside a garage. It was eventually sold and restored decades later by movie producers who used it on the set of Public Enemies. It was then put up for auction, where it found its way back into Giovanni’s possession.