They sought vengeance, p.1
They Sought Vengeance, page 1
THEY SOUGHT VENGEANCE
ZACHARY GOLDMAN MYSTERIES
BOOK FOURTEEN
P.D. WORKMAN
ABOUT THEY SOUGHT VENGEANCE
Get They Sought Vengeance by the amazing PD Workman today to find out if you got it right, before the denouement of this riveting crime-thriller - satisfaction is guaranteed!
ROSEMARY, GOODREADS READER
Such a great series. I love Zachary and Kenzie. I meant to wait and read the rest of the book tonight, but I had to keep reading to find out whodunnit. Loved it!
KANDY, GOODREADS READER
A mystery thriller from USA Today bestselling author, P.D. Workman that will keep you turning the pages!
Deadly Secrets
When hired by four siblings to investigate the circumstances of the death of their father, private investigator Zachary Goldman finds out that not all is as it first appears. As Zachary uncovers more information, he discovers both family secrets and a dark side of John Godfrey’s life. Somehow, he’ll have to find a way to tease the truth out from amongst the web of lies.
Was Godfrey killed out of revenge by someone from his past or one of his own children? Has Zachary unintentionally put himself and his loved ones in the crosshairs of a killer? Will he be able to uncover the truth before it’s too late?
They Sought Vengeance is an enthralling tale full of suspense and intrigue that will keep readers guessing until the very end. Join Zachary Goldman on his journey as he searches for answers and justice for John Godfrey.
Praise for the series:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Very well written. [Zachary] is flawed with a capital F … In spite of his problems, he is a very sympathetic character and doggedly pursues the truth.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What a great story. Fabulous plot with interesting and complex characters. I was totally involved into the wee hours. Many twists and left waiting until the end. Highly recommended
Zachary Goldman, Private Investigator, is flawed with a capital F. Shattered by the tragedies of his own life, he will somehow still manage to pick himself up and dig just a little bit deeper than anyone else to piece together the vital clues and solve the mystery.
Maybe being broken makes it easier for others who have faced tragedy to trust him. Walk with Zachary as he solves cases that will stretch his abilities to the limit.
Even with his own life in shambles, Zachary Goldman is still the one you want on the case.
Looking for a thriller that will keep you up all night and stay with you long after the last page?
Investigate this P.I. Mystery now!
Copyright © 2023 by P.D. Workman
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN: 9781774685150 (KDP Hardcover)
ISBN: 9781774685112 (KDP Paperback)
ISBN: 9781774685143 (Large Print)
ISBN: 9781774685167 (Lulu Paperback)
ISBN: 9781774685129 (Kindle)
ISBN: 9781774685136 (ePub)
ISBN: 9781774685174 (autonarrated audio)
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For secret siblings and sibling secrets
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Preview of She Was Their Target
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Also by P.D. Workman
About the Author
1
The No Grounds for Alarm cafe was quiet. The morning rush was over and most of the staff were wiping down counters and chatting idly with each other, taking the time to restock and get ready for the lunch rush. Sun streamed in the front window. A few customers trickled in, ordered their beverages, and either wandered back out of the cafe with blank expressions on their faces or sought out a table and sat down with a computer or other device to work on something important. Or to check out their social media feeds.
Zachary had arrived before the appointed time to check out the location and ensure he wasn’t late for the appointment. If there was one way to lose a new client, it was by being late. It didn’t matter what the reason was; it could be perfectly legitimate. The client would go somewhere else.
So he sipped his coffee and watched the customers trickle in, speculating which would be Karen Camden. He had a picture in his mind after hearing her voice, but had not run any background on her. He wanted his first impressions to be of her in person, not on social media, in news articles, or wherever else he might find records of her life.
She hadn’t had a lot to say on the phone. She hadn’t been referred by a friend, but had heard his name in the media on one of his other cases, though she didn’t specify which one. A few of them had made the news. Zachary was always a little leery of the potential clients who had seen him in the media. They tended to have unrealistic expectations of what he could or would do. And somehow, those people didn’t seem to understand that they would be expected to pay an up-front deposit and that he would be paid for all of his work, whether he came to the resolution they wanted or not. People who approached him because of a business listing or as a referral from another client were much more realistic and likely to pay their bills.
A woman stepped in the door and looked around the coffee shop rather than immediately going to the service counter. She was slim, probably in her mid-twenties to early thirties. Dark brown hair and blue or gray eyes. She had an attractive face but was made up in a very plain style, her hair pulled back in a no-fuss ponytail that made her seem severe. The woman wore a dark green skirt, a white short-sleeved blouse, and black flats.
Zachary smiled and raised his hand slightly. She walked over to his table.
“Mr. Goldman?”
“Zachary.” He stood up and offered his hand, which she shook firmly. She had long tapered fingers and dry, warm hands. Her perfume was a combination of light florals with a hint of citrus. “Nice to meet you, Miss Camden.”
“That’s missus. But you can call me Karen.”
She wore no wedding ring. No jewelry except for a gold chain around her neck that disappeared into her blouse and might have a locket, stone, or charm on it. Zachary ran his hand over his own very short black hair, aware that she was also evaluating him. He had shaved for the meeting, but usually had a few days of stubble, which tended to make people look away and discount him. For once, he didn’t look too gaunt. The cocktail of medications he was on no longer included drugs that made him nauseated. Kenzie didn’t let him forget to eat, and they indulged in a few too many restaurant meals, leading to her working hard to keep from putting the pounds on and Zachary filling out and reaching what his doctor considered a healthy weight for once.
Introductions and initial evaluations out of the way, Zachary suggested, “Why don’t you grab a coffee, and then we can get down to it?”
She nodded her agreement and went over to the counter. She glanced at the densely-written blackboard only briefly, and had either been there before and knew the menu, or already knew what she wanted. What she brought back to the table looked like the cafe noir—plain black coffee. Not one of the fancy, calorie-laden varieties that covered the board.
Karen pulled out a chair for herself and sat down. She wrapped both hands around the coffee mug as if she were warming her hands and stared down at the black, shimmering surface. Zachary waited, having a sip of his own cafe noir. It was often difficult for a client to bring their troubles to a stranger. Jumping right in and explaining what they needed was a big step. There might be small talk first. Questions about Zachary’s background and references. Fishing to find out his knowledge on various topics or situations while they weighed his words to see whether he was really the right man for the job or if they even wanted to hire anyone. Somet imes it was just too much but, usually, given a period of silence, each would speak up and tell him a bit of their story.
“My father recently passed away,” Karen said eventually, not yet looking up from her coffee. “It was unexpected. The police looked into it but said it was a natural death. He had some health conditions.” Her shoulders rose and fell. “The coroner said it was heart failure. He had cardiovascular disease. But it wasn’t expected,” she reiterated. “And… we think that there’s more to the story. It was too sudden. There was no warning.”
Zachary nodded. “It can be difficult when someone passes away so suddenly.”
Karen grimaced. She took a sip of her coffee and put the cup down again. “You think that we’re just imagining things because it was unexpected. But there’s more to it than that.”
“We? Who else is concerned about it?”
“My brothers and I. There are four of us altogether. Three boys and a girl. And the others think that something is wrong too; it isn’t just me. We kept going back and forth on it, and we finally decided to… hire someone independent to look into it.”
“So the four of you think… what?”
Karen sighed. She looked out the window at the people walking by on the sidewalk. “We think… he was poisoned.”
That seemed oddly specific. But maybe something about his death had led them to think that it was poisoning.
“You think he was murdered.”
“Yes.” She nodded, one jerk of her head. “I guess… yes. That’s what we think. Or what we are hoping that you can prove or disprove.”
“It might be hard to disprove. There are hundreds of poisons that could have been used. Who do you think killed him? You have a suspect in mind?”
Maybe her mother or a business partner or rival of her father. When people came to Zachary, they had often already built up the story in their minds. And despite the preponderance of murder mysteries on TV and in books, murders were usually obvious and the killer easy to identify. If they thought they knew who the killer was, they were probably right. Maybe the mother, since they had all met together to discuss it and agreed to hire someone.
“Well, one of us, probably,” Karen said. A blush started at the base of her throat and chest.
“You or your brothers?” Zachary wasn’t sure he had understood her correctly.
“Yes. We’re clearly the ones who benefit from his death. None of us were… close to him. I know it’s probably weird, but we’re all… looking at each other, wondering which one of us did it.”
“So you decided to hire a private investigator? To investigate you?”
“Yes. The four of us.” She shrugged. “I mean, we’re not going to figure it out by arguing with each other. If one of us did it… then that person should go to prison. We might not have been that close to him… but it’s still not right. We can’t just divide up the inheritance and give a quarter of it to the killer.”
Better that a third of it should go to each of the non-killers.
“Is the estate… significant?”
She nodded, jaw clenched tight. “It’s millions.”
2
Zachary tried not to react to this declaration. “The estate is worth millions?” he asked, pulling out his notepad and pencil to start jotting the pertinent information down.
“Yes. Even just the house is a couple million. When you figure in all of his accounts, what his company is worth, and the art and furnishings and vacation property… Yeah. It’s enough to make all of us very comfortable.” She took another sip of the coffee. “It doesn’t matter to me whether I get fifteen or twenty million. My motive for finding out if one of the others killed our father is not to get his share. It’s just… justice. Because the person who did this shouldn’t be allowed to profit from it.”
“Right,” Zachary agreed. His mind boggled at the very idea of inheriting fifteen or twenty million dollars. Why had they chosen him to investigate it? There had to be other private investigators out there who were used to dealing with a bigger fish. Hiring a small one-man—well, two-person—operation instead of one of the big security firms from the city with a whole fleet of investigators seemed like an odd choice. “I am willing to take on the case and have the time for it in my schedule right now. I’ll need an up-front retainer.” He had his usual rates on a card that he handed out to people but, in light of how large the estate was and their expectations, he might have to increase his rates. “I’ll email you the details. And if I need to contract other investigators, I’ll let you know first so you can control costs.”
“We want you,” Karen said firmly, looking Zachary in the face for the first time. “Not anyone else.” Maybe they had seen him on the news lately. “We don’t want word of this getting out. One person can stay unobtrusive, and we can explain why you’re there, but we don’t want strangers running around the neighborhood asking questions.”
“Well… okay, then. Just be warned that it may take longer to get to the bottom of this with only one person. And my full-time admin, of course. She won’t be on site, all of her activities will be remote, and her fees are built into my rates.”
Heather, Zachary’s older sister, helped him with some of the computer investigations and kept him organized. She would be amused at his calling her a full-time admin, but he didn’t want Karen to think she could nix Heather’s involvement too.
“But I need to make sure that you understand… I won’t necessarily be able to prove that it was murder or who the culprit was. I know that on TV, the private investigator always figures everything out and brings the murderer to justice, but real life doesn’t always work out that way. Some cases remain unsolved for years, even decades. You can tell me if you want me to stop investigating at some point. Or I may come to you and tell you that I’ve exhausted all of my leads. And it might not have happened the way that you imagine.”
Karen nodded. “I know it’s a long shot. The coroner already said it was natural causes, so that’s a big obstacle. But he could be wrong. Sometimes they are.”
“I know.” Zachary had experienced that before. Getting the medical examiner to reverse his position was difficult, but it could be done. And Kenzie working in the medical examiner’s office gave him a bit of an “in.” He’d been able to convince Dr. Wiltshire to change his mind and reopen a file before. “I’ve succeeded in getting to the truth in other cases. It’s just a warning… sometimes things are not as they seem. Or we can figure out what happened, but still not be able to prove it and put the culprit behind bars.”
“I’ll take that risk.”
“Okay. Why don’t I get the details from you? Your father’s and brothers’ names. Where or who I should start with. Interviewing you, I assume. And you haven’t mentioned your mother…?”
