Cold as concrete E-Book

Anne Schöller

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Cold as concrete In the shadows of the big city, where life is harder than the asphalt, the hardy Lena and the impulsive Timo find themselves in a whirlpool of betrayal, violence and deadly secrets. What begins as a seemingly simple coup turns into a merciless race against a ruthless smuggling cartel that will stop at nothing. As they collect evidence, plant bombs and uncover the truth, it becomes clear: There are no heroes in this world - only survivors. A thriller full of harsh dialogue, darker intrigue and more explosive action. In a city that never sleeps, justice becomes the most dangerous weapon.

Leseprobe

Title: Cold as concrete

Author: Anne Schöller

Biography:

Anne Schöller, born and raised in a small town in the Ruhr area, discovered her passion for stories and exciting tales at an early age. After training in the commercial sector, she worked for several years in various industries before deciding to give her creative side more space.

Schöller often finds inspiration for her novels in everyday life - in conversations, urban environments or the grey facades of big cities that always seem to hide a secret. Her books are characterized by sharply drawn characters, ruthless realism and a touch of black humor.

Anne Schöller now lives on the outskirts of the Ruhr area, where she writes her stories when she is not busy pursuing her passion for travel or good food.

Chapter 1: A New Case

The smell of rotting flesh hung heavy in the air as Lena Fischer pushed open the door to the apartment. It was the typical stench that men associated with Cologne's red-light district, the musty-sweet scent of neglected, dirty corners, mixed with the acrid aroma of cheap perfume and stale cigarette smoke. In this area, you never knew whether the stench was coming from a dead rat or a corrupt person. The apartment was small, the furniture sparse, almost pathetic. A worn sofa that probably had more secrets than the entire district, a table with a half-empty glass of vodka on it, and in the corner a bed that looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Lena pulled her jacket tighter around her and took a deep breath. Her nose burned. The sight of the dead body was nothing new to her. She had been to many murders, but this one stood out. The body of a young woman, barely twenty, lay on the floor, her face twisted in a grotesque expression. Her eyes were wide open as she looked at her murderer with horror.recognized. The body was naked except for a torn latex stocking dangling from one foot, as if he had refused to play the game. The killer had cut her throat with brutal precision- a clear sign that he knew what he was doing. No panic, no hasty movements. Just cold blooded.

Lena knelt down and shook her head. "Shit," she muttered, her eyes flickering around the room. No blood on the floor, no chaotic mess. The killer had obviously placed the body with care. Nothing seemed to be missing, but something was wrong. She felt it in her bones. And that instinctive suspicion that there was more than met the eye gnawed at her.

"Lena," a deep, rough voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and saw the private detective Timo Krüger standing in the doorway. The man she had known for years, but whose disrespectful attitude and cynical humor still got on her nerves. He was tall, with wild, dark eyes peeking out from under his cap. His shabby leather jacket looked as if it had been through more street fights than he himself. And yet he was always the first tocases. "Do you know how many times I've seen this kind of shit? This smells like another fucking asshole who thinks he can take advantage of this misery because he doesn't have the balls to look a normal woman in the eye."

Lena snorts and stands up. "Come on, Timo. You're not a damn psychopath. What did you see?" She looked him straight in the eyes, a hint of anger in her voice. "You're the only one who always knew everything better."

"Oh, now keep it down," Timo said as he entered the apartment and dusted off his jacket with a curse. "I've seen more corpses than you'll ever fuck in your whole life, and believe me, this is no coincidence." The guy who did this didn't do it on a whim. Look here," he pointed to himself on the table, where a half-smoked cigarette lay, still glowing. "That's the sign for 'I've got time.'"

Lena went to him and looked at what was shown to him. "You're right. But why all the effort? No robbery, no trace, nothing. Just cold." She bent over the corpse that had gracefully slipped from her eyes, a cheap doll that had beentoy seller was thrown away.

"Wait a minute," said Timo, leaning forward. "There's something on the neck. Look at it."

Lena took a moment and carefully felt for the spot he had indicated. Under the bloodless skin, a small wound shimmered, untouched by a knife. It looked like a small needle that had been left behind. "Damn, that's new," she muttered. "Whatever that was, the killer wanted to leave a message."

Timo took a step back and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. "Maybe the guy is a real sadist who likes 'razor sharp'," he said with a crooked grin. "Or he just wants to torture his victim before he pushes her away." I bet you can find an expensive dildo somewhere around here that will serve as a clue."

Lena ignored him and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call the rest of the team. We need to search the crime scene thoroughly before someone else comes here with a mop."

“You do it,” said Timo as he leaned against the window frame and blew the smoke into the air."I'll go out and ask the guy who lives across the street. He might have some new drug information. Murderers like that usually like to go to the asshole if they're already failing at sex." He shook his head as if he'd made a private joke.

"Are you going to grow up?" Lena let out a quiet sigh and turned to the door. "At least take a look at the damn apartment before you waste your time with your stupid sayings again."

"Was? "I'm still waiting for you to tell me the secret to giving a good blowjob," he called after her. "But you always have to play the cold bitch." Very charming."

Lena stepped out with a slight shake of her head as she pulled her bag tighter around her shoulder. "Sometimes I wish you would just shut up, Timo," she muttered, more to herself than to him. But she knew he was always there when the going got tough. Timo was an ass, but he was a useful ass.

Lena goes back to the car, her eyes fixed on theAsphalt. The case would not be easy, but she would solve it. Even if it cost her her mind.

Chapter 2: The Dead Angel

Lena got in the car, started the engine and drove through the gloomy streets of Cologne. It was late and the rain was pelting against the windshield like a swarm of flies fleeing death. The sky was low and dark, the city lights glowed through the wet streets, a flickering mosaic of colors and shadows. The air smelled of wet asphalt and the acrid smell of diesel. She was fed up with all of this. Fed up with this fucked up city, with the dirt she had to endure day after day, fed up with the constant back and forth with the assholes who left their shards in this damned neighborhood.

Timo hadn't kept them waiting long. They knew he would be the first to show up if there was any snooping to do. The man had his own moral compass - and it always pointed in the direction where he felt best. Her cell phone vibrated. She picked it up and read the message from him:"Are you going to save my ass today or should I take on the case alone?" I found something interesting. Timo". Again that damn humor. Heknew that she depended on his tips, but he couldn't resist getting on her nerves.

They got out and saw him standing at the door. Timo, the unflappable cynic. "Are you back in your little parallel world or have you finally moved your ass?" she asked as she approached him.

"I have to see what you're wearing before I decide," he grinned and gathered her up from head to toe. "Tell me, did you really think you would find anything here, were you surprised?" "Or are you just so stubborn that you still hope for clues even from a dead dog?"

"Believe me, I hope you don't have to put up with me any longer today," she growled, pushing him aside to get into the building. "You know what really pisses me off? All this shit we're pulling here, as if we came empty-handed. The murderer isn't just trying to fool us, he's turning the tables. There's something you're not telling us."

“And what, you want to tell me that you stilldon't stick your finger up your ass to crack the case?" "You're the first to put up with this filth," shouted Timo, polishing the floor with his worn coat.

"Shut up and show me what you found," she hissed back, marching down the narrow staircase. The walls stank of feces and cheap cigarettes, and the smell hung around her like a stinking cloak.

Timo opened the door to the apartment. "Tada," he said with a sneer. "Don't think this is the jackpot for you, but see for yourself." The room was chaotic, but not surprising. Magazines, empty bottles and the remains of disgusting fast food were scattered on the floor. A few crumpled pieces of clothing were hanging over the sofa and there was a window in the corner that let in only a faint light.

“What exactly is wrong?” Lena asked, her voice finding only a whisper echo in the dead room.

“Believe me, you won’t like hearing it.” Look at this.” Timo held out a small, torn piece of paper, which quickly fell into a pile of garbage.would have disappeared. It was damp, a little sticky, but he had managed to save it. Lena took the paper and turned it over in her hands, deciphering the words.

"'Whoever dares to kill the angel will pay the price,'" she read aloud. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the writing. "That's no coincidence, is it?"

"Don't think it's a coincidence," Timo replied. "This is a signal. But whoever is behind this shit will mislead us. The murderer is no novice. He's playing a game - and you're the pawn now."

"And you must have an idea how this game works, you dirty bastard," hissed Lena. She felt the pressure in her chest increase as she turned to the window. "You know what? I'm sick of it. All this filth here. This shitty work. These disgusting murders. Always the same picture.

Always the same game."

"Come on, come on," Timo said, laughing harshly as he lit a cigarette. "Stop crying. It's just another day in paradise. You know shit will catch up with us anyway. But at least it's exciting. At least for me."

"You're a joke," she muttered as she turned back to the room. "What else did you find?"

"Besides this nice letter? A few protective suits and gloves like those used in a job. The killer is a professional, but the mess he left behind here leaves too many questions unanswered. There are no shots, no traces of a fight. Everything was clean. Too clean." Timo took a step closer. "And I bet that this 'angel' is more than just a metaphor."

"Shit," Lena cursed, staring at the body that was already being examined by the forensic pathologists. "This isn't going to be easy. The murderer has us on a leash. If we're not careful, we'll sink into this filth."

Timo shrugged. "You're the boss here, but you know how things work. If you don't get your ass up, this is going to be the easiest case you've ever had. The only problem is that you're not fast enough to get yourself out of this mess."

"You always talk too much, Timo," she growled and turned to the door. "I will answer. You too. But they won't come if we beat ourselves up while we look for the murderer. He has us ina trap, and we are the damned rats."

Timo closed the door behind her and followed her outside, leaving the cigarette smoke behind him. "Oh, you can keep treating the whole thing like a damn mystery." But in the end it's all about one thing: whoever makes the first move wins."

“And whoever does the second one dies,” Lena muttered without turning around.

Chapter 3: The Plan

It was the middle of the night when Lena and Timo sat in the run-down office of the criminal investigation department. The room was oppressively empty, except for a few files lying on the table like undead relics of the past, and a flicker of neon lights above them. The ceiling was streaked with yellow water stains, the light was distorted, and the musty smell of old paper mixed with the smoke rising from Timo's cigarette. Lena stared at the computer screen, which flashed the image of the "angel's" corpse, left with the mysterious letter and the needle mark on her neck.

"You know what pisses me off the most about all this shit?" Lena yelled, without looking at Timo. They knew he wouldn't understand, but she couldn't help it. "There are no clues, no fucking shit that will get us any further."

"The murderer is playing a damn game with us, and we are the ridiculous ones stuck in his filth!"

Timo took a drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke ashe would be the only one who kept his cool here. "You're right. The guy is an asshole, and we're the idiots who keep trying. But you know what? The questions you have are the ones that will help us. This asshole left us with such a pile of shit that all we have to decide is how deep we want to get in."

Lena pressed her finger to her temples. "Shit, Timo. What are we going to do? The guy is a phantom, but he's leaving us clues. The letter, the needle, the clean thing -the murderer wants us to follow him like we were his damn puppets."

"So? Should I spend another hour grilling the guy in the bar who knows how to torture people and then shoot them, or what?" Timo grinned as he thought of all the places he had visited in his past. "You know, there's always someone who was white." But you just have to know where to look."

Lena rolled her eyes. "You're a damn doer, Timo. But you know what? It's exactly what we need. At some point, we'll have to get that damn clue we need. Someone who left the same mess as that guy."

"Come on, stop crying, that's the plan," said Timo, stubbing out his cigarette in an ashtray. "We're going to the usual suspects. The punks who drink a cocktail of coke and meth every night, who always tell us how they play with a knife without actually being able to kill anyone."

"And you think one of them knows what we're looking for here?" Lena looked at him sharply. "Are you stupid? What are you going to do if one of them smashes our faces in and puts us in the closet?"

Timo grinned again, his cynical smile showing a row of yellow teeth. "Lena, that's not my problem. We get in there, get the information and then leave before they greet us with a baseball bat. That's our game. And you know very well that you're not exactly squeamish when you open your mouth. Just do your job."