Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8)

                  
By Morgan Kelley

        
 
©
Copyright 2014 by
Morgan Kelley LLC
All rights

          reserved. No parts of this publication may be

          reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

          means, electronic or mechanical, including 

          photocopy, recording, or in an information storage 

          or retrieval system without written consent from

          the author. All characters are fictional

          and any similarity to real life or individuals is

          coincidental.

        
 
©
Copyright 2014 Cover photo Richard Gunion

             
Purchased from Dreamstime.com December 30,

             
2013        

Other works by Morgan Kelley:

FBI stand alone Thrillers

The Junction 

Serial Sins   

The Blood Betrayal

FBI Thriller Series

The Killing Times (Book 1)

Sacred Burial Grounds (Book 2)

True Love Lost (Book 3)

Deep Dark Mire (Book 4)

Fire Burns Hot (Book 5)

Darkness of Truth (Book 6)

Devil Hath Come (Bo
ok 7)

Consumed by Wrath (Book 8)

Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series

Celestia is Falling (1)

Vegas is Dying (2)

Christmas is Killing (3)

Littlemoon Investigations

Blood Red Rage (Book 1)

         ~~~~       About the Author    ~~~~

Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children.  After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books.  She put them both together and began her career as a writer.  Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.

Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Blood Red Rage (1), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2) and Christmas is Killing (3)

Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her
[email protected]
, or visit her blog at
www.morgankelley.blogspot.com
.

There’s no place like home... maybe.

~Prologue~ 

He was a simple man.

There was no doubt that he liked the basic pleasures in life and could find happiness in the smallest things.

What gave him
the greatest joy was a freezer full of meat and a belly that was full of food at the end of a long day.

Who didn't like that?

In life, you had to take the small moments and cherish them as if they were your last. To some, a meal was never thought of more than a daily task, but to him it was an adventure.

Coming home to food was a luxury that he
would never overlook or be ungrateful for. It meant too much to him on so many levels. Having the lingering scents of a home cooked meal assault you, as you walked in the door, was like that warm pair of socks that you slid into on a cold morning. Food offered you comfort and a peace of mind.

It gave you pleasure.

And most importantly, it sustained you.

When he first decided to consume human flesh,
there had been some wariness. After all, there was nothing more taboo in the world of man. Eating another person was just wrong.

Wasn’t it?

Then, he had his first taste and all the preconceived notions fell away and realization dawned.

It was fantastic!

At that initial bite, it coated his tongue like butter and gave him an endorphin rush. That moment alone, had cemented into his mind that he couldn’t live without it.

It became his obsession.

At first, the compulsion began to slowly grow. A whole body could last almost a year, as he peppered his hunting and grocery shopping with a human delicacy. Unfortunately, as his lust for flesh increased, so did his need to kill.

Something about it held him in its grips and controlled his every waking
thought.

In all honesty, it turned his stomach to hear their pleas
for mercy to be set free. When he tried to explain to them that he needed them to die so that he could have food, they always looked horrified. A part of him couldn’t blame them, and yet he wasn’t able to stop.

Eventually, he began rationalizing it away. To him
, they were offering up the ultimate gift.

It was
the same with beef or pork. The cow and pig were revered to him and almost sacred. Without them, there would be no steak or bacon. Well, to him, the victims were the same thing. Without human flesh, he would be missing his favorite meal.

Barbeque.

Whenever anyone tried his ‘secret’ recipe, they would ohhhh and awwww over it, and for good reason.

It was spectacular.

When he used any other flesh, it didn't taste the same. So, the sacrifice had to be made. He needed the succulent flesh to be that of a human. It was his undisclosed ingredient, and one that he could never go without.

Some might find it vile or
revolting, but he found it to be a testament to his great strength. Not everyone could sit down and eat a friend. Eventually, logic prevailed and rules had to be established. Why hurt those he cared for? When he ‘shopped’ for his next meal, he only picked people who he didn't like.

It was logical, right?

Why eat your buddy, when you could eat the person who cut you off in traffic or made your life difficult that day? It was, after all, the final payback for being disrespectful or rude.

But now, he had a
few problems.

The people who he had
been taking were beginning to draw attention. Who knew that a few missing people a year would draw suspicion? He was careful to not leave evidence and to only pick the ones who really deserved it.

When
no one missed that first man, he believed that he was in the clear.

Now, his freezer was almost empty
, and he was addicted to the hunt.

It was becoming time once more to go out on the
prowl and find the perfect person to give him what he needed.

What he d
eserved.

W
hat he wanted.

What he craved.

For now, he needed to refill his stock of fresh meat in his freezer and his belly.

Part of him tried to rationalize with logic, warning him that he was going to get caught one day, but the
piece that had become addicted to the meals was fighting back hard. The inner dialog battled back and forth, but ultimately the hunger overcame logic.

It always would for him.

He needed to work out a plan. He couldn’t just randomly pluck a person off the street. In case this person drew more suspicion, he needed to have a well thought out strategy. In time, the next meal had been planned. There was one person who came to mind, as he pondered the myriad of people who he could choose from.

This person wasn’t too fat.

He wasn’t too thin.

Fat equated to greasy meat, and that
didn't sit well in his stomach. The heartburn was hell, let alone having to strip away all the subcutaneous fat before cooking.

It was disgusting
.

There had to be balance.
It was like the perfect recipe. If you didn't pay attention to the ingredients, you didn't get a delicious meal.

Quality mattered.

The meat on this man was relatively perfect. He wasn’t too muscle bound, and he wasn’t scrawny either. From experience, he knew that sinewy, stringy muscle didn't cook as well either. Even if you slow stewed it for hours, it wasn’t right.

The only thing that he had going against him was age. Most of the people
who he brought to his kitchen were younger, but alas, he would give him a try. If worse came to worse, he would have to spend some time creatively tenderizing him before cooking. He had a meat mallet and plenty of elbow grease.

Then again, t
here wasn’t anything a stew couldn’t hide or make palatable, if served with a loaf of crusty bread. This man’s flesh wouldn’t go to waste.

Besides, he was poking around
and asking too many questions. He was becoming the burr in his side. The man was apparently too nosey for his own good, and while he appreciated people who were thoughtful and intelligent, he didn't want his ruse to be discovered. While no one else had suspected anything, this man was digging into a past that he should simply let die.

Like his victims.

But no….

He just kept digging and that was a big problem. So, his fate was sealed. His
body was next on the list to fill his freezer. He only prayed that he could get away with it. Hopefully, once this man went missing, the truth would be buried forever. This time, the police would remain clueless.

Then
, he laughed at the absurdity of that statement.

Who the hell was he kidding?