Hello everyone and welcome back to another installment of my Choose Your Own Adventure style free read, The Murder Collection! Part 3 involved Dean running from Mob-Man Charlie and was confronted with the option of either climbing down or jumping from the fire escape of his building. The overwhelming majority of you are looking to get him into trouble, and chose jump!

If you’re new to The Murder Collection, you can go here to read Part 1 – 3. And be sure to leave a comment, as reader participation is required!

The Murder Collection Blurb: Dean Stewart recently graduated from a prestigious art college in New York City. Riding the high of a major success that has put him in the spotlight of the art community, there’s tremendous pressure for Dean to unveil his next collection. The only problem is, he doesn’t have one. In fact, Dean hasn’t felt any inspiration in months, and the funds from his first major sale aren’t going to pay for his apartment and work studio forever.

Just when Dean can’t afford a single distraction, he gets noticed by homicide detective Jiro Watanabe, and not in a good way. Without warning, Dean is thrust into a world of mystery and murder, when all he wants is for Jiro to ask him out on a date that doesn’t involve the police station.

The art world just got a whole lot more cutthroat.

–

This was not going to end well.

But I didn’t have time to back down. One more second on the fire escape and I’d have a bullet in my head.

So I jumped.

I flailed and grabbed at the air as I dropped like a lead balloon before my fall was suddenly broken, and I collided with a passerby below.

“Son of a bitch!” they shouted as we both crashed to the sidewalk.

I landed right on top of the guy’s chest, splayed across his body like a bug on a windshield. “Ow,” I groaned. “My elbow….”

He took a strong breath, and I rose with it. “My everything,” he protested with a hiss.

I raised my head to look at my unplanned for savior.

Dear God, I almost killed a model! He was Japanese-American, with thick black hair, stern eyebrows, and a really sexy goatee.

“Er— hi,” I stated.

Model-Guy opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes widened as he stared past my shoulder. He suddenly wrapped his arms around me and rolled us to the side, where I ended up underneath him.

Another shot cracked the air, and I realized Charlie from above tried to fucking shoot me again!

“Stay here,” my model demanded.

“Where am I supposed to go with you on top of me?” I protested.

He narrowed his eyes and scrambled to his feet just as Charlie jumped down from the fire escape. Model-Guy reached into his open coat but froze when Charlie trained his gun on him.

“Don’t even think about it, pig,” Charlie warned. Despite breathing heavy from the chase, his voice was deep and instilled a fear that bore down into my bones.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret,” my model said, slowly removing his hand from his coat and raising both to show he wasn’t a threat.

“As if I’d ever regret shooting a cop,” Charlie barked.

Cop?

Model-Guy had his back to me— he was the only defense I had against certain death.

I let out a breath. The white puff dissipated into the cold air. A sideways glance had confirmed that nearby pedestrians had run from the area.

It was just the three of us, in a standoff that wasn’t going to end in my favor.

But then I heard sirens.

Not far off either.

A block, maybe two at most.

The gunfire from the chase on the fire escape must have roused someone to call 911! Thank God!

Charlie lowered his gun and in turn raised a finger like a weapon, mock pulling the trigger at Model-Guy. “Bang. You’re dead too, pig.” Charlie turned and fled down the street.

“Shit.” My model started to run after him.

“Wait!” I protested. I got onto my hands and knees, staggering to my feet. When I looked up, Model-Guy was shoving into my personal space and backing me up against the wall of the building. “Raise your arms,” he ordered.

“What?”

“I said raise them,” he said again.

“Hold up, I don’t have a weapon!” I said when he started roughly patting my clothes and touching my body in a very clinical, not-sexy manner. “That guy tried to kill me!”

“That guy is Charlie ‘Doc’ Houdini,” Model-Guy answered.

“His real name is Charlie?” I asked. What’re the odds of that.

“That name doesn’t ring a bell with you?” he asked me.

“Should it?”

The sirens were getting louder.

“Turn around,” he said.

“Why?”

He grabbed my arm roughly and forced me to face the building. “Because you were just in a shootout with a wanted murderer and I don’t like you.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” I said as he held me firmly against the cold, brick wall.

“We’ll see.”

“Christ, guy!”

“Watanabe.”

“Huh?”

“Detective Jiro Watanabe, homicide.”

“I can’t believe I fell into the arms of a cop.”

“You fell on me. I didn’t intend on catching you.”

“Aren’t you sweet,” I muttered.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Dean Stewart.”

“Dean,” Watanabe repeated and okay, yes, I really liked the way he said my name. “What were you doing on the fire escape?”

I saw flashing lights at the end of the block from the corner of my eye. “I was— oh fuck.” Everything had been a whirlwind, but now that I had half a second to recover my sanity, I remembered the water closet. “There was a dead guy!”

Watanabe turned me around. He stared hard. Definitely a cop face. “Where was there a dead guy?”

I swallowed and raised a finger, pointing upward.

Watanabe didn’t look away from me.

“I f-found him,” I stuttered. And now I could see the shoulder holster and gun inside his open coat.

“You found a dead man,” Watanabe repeated, like he was trying to rationalize the words of an insane person.

“In my water closet.”

“Are you on drugs?”

“No.”

Watanabe, still gripping my arm, walked me away from the building. He moved to the road and waved at the incoming cop cars.

That’s when I said probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever uttered in my entire life.

“You’re really gorgeous. I’d love to paint you.”

 

CHOOSE DEAN’S ACTION!

1. Dean denies the comment and claims momentary insanity.
2. Dean rolls with the outcome.

Please leave your choice in the comments below and I’ll see you again on July 18^th!

 

C.S. Poe
xo

(audiobook)

It’s Christmas, and all antique dealer Sebastian Snow wants is for his business to make money and to save his floundering relationship with closeted CSU detective Neil Millett. When Snow’s Antique Emporium is broken into and a heart is found under the floorboards, Sebastian can’t let the mystery rest.

He soon finds himself caught up in murder investigations that echo the macabre stories of Edgar Allan Poe. To make matters worse, Sebastian’s sleuthing is causing his relationship with Neil to crumble, while at the same time he’s falling hard for the lead detective on the case, Calvin Winter. Sebastian and Calvin must work together to unravel the mystery behind the killings, despite the mounting danger and sexual tension, before Sebastian becomes the next victim.

In the end, Sebastian only wants to get out of this mess alive and live happily ever after with Calvin.

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C.S. Poe is an author of gay mystery, romance, and paranormal books.

She is a reluctant mover and has called many places home in her lifetime. C.S. has lived in New York City, Key West, and Ibaraki, Japan, to name a few. She misses the cleanliness, convenience, and limited edition gachapon of Japan, but she was never very good at riding bikes to get around.

She has an affinity for all things cute and colorful, and a major weakness for toys. C.S. is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats. She’s rescued three cats, including one found in a drain pipe in Japan who flew back to the States with her. Zak, Milo, and Kasper do their best on a daily basis to sidetrack her from work.

C.S. is a member of the International Thriller Writers Organization.

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