CATCH ME (EMBRYO: A Raney & Levine Thriller, Book 4) Read online

  EMBRYO 4:

  Catch Me

  A Raney & Levine Thriller

  A Novel

  by

  J.A. Schneider

  PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EMBRYO:

  “It is rare that a book can elicit that much emotion so early in the story. I was blown away. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK!!”

  The Kindle Book Review

  “After reading EMBRYO, I had to take a breath. This was one of the most intense books I've ever read.”

  The Indie Bookshelf

  “Readers will absolutely love it!”

  Literati Literature Lovers

  “What a ride! I literally found myself turning pages until they finally ran out. The action builds up, there is anthropology, genetics, murder, kidnap, romance and danger. As a physician, I saw quite accurate depiction until the end, where it gets into a bit of sci-fi, but even then, intense and stunning. Highly recommend, and like somebody else said, would make quite a movie.”

  John Ellis, M.D.

  “As a nurse, I appreciate the medical details being correct! Stayed up all night to read!”

  Carol Meeker, R.N.

  “OMG, David Levine is the best hero ever!!”

  Becky Sayers, Amazon reviewer

  “Move Over Medical Thriller Author Tess Gerritson…EMBRYO’s writing is superb, the action tense, the characters fully developed, and the research flawless.”

  Gail M. Baugniet, bestselling author of For Every Action

  PRAISE FOR EMBRYO 2: CROSSHAIRS

  “Again, this new thriller deserves so much MORE than the regular 5 star rating!! Embryo 2 is a follow up book to the characters and storyline of EMBRYO, and equally just as good. As I said in my review of the first book, anyone who enjoys a brilliantly paced thriller, with fact and fiction mixed in, will thoroughly enjoy Embryo 2. This will leave you breathless!!”

  The Kindle Book Review

  “Holy hell, what a read!! Both this book, and the first EMBRYO, start from page one and DO.NOT.STOP. The suspense is continuous!”

  The Reading Café

  “Immediately reels you into a whirlwind!”

  Readers Favorite

  “Doctors as a new detective duo, what a concept! Stunning and brilliant in a whole new way!”

  Literati Literature Lovers

  “J.A. Schneider has followed up her first suspense-filled medical thriller with this second one which is as fast paced and non stop emotional. It’s a stunner!”

  Top Mystery Thrillers

  “Just as explosive as the first Embryo!”

  Amazon reviewer Melanie Adkins

  “You fall in love with main characters.... It is the most captivating read I have had in a while. This is a great thriller and leaves you wanting more. Can’t wait for the next one! Excellent! *****”

  Jane Smith, Amazon reviewer

  “I absolutely loved this book! A brilliant follow up to the first Embryo, and I've just learned there's a third in the works! A medical thriller of gripping proportions, I encourage everyone who loves a good psychological thriller to give this series a go!”

  Reviewer Andrew Baker

  “This book had my heart rocketing again, it took a lot to tear me away from my Kindle. There were some truly scary parts (I don't think I'll ever look at a chicken in the same way again!!) The clown ~ arrrgh... I truly dislike clowns and this made me even more certain of that!!”

  Amazon reviewer Emily Graff

  “J.A. Schneider did it again and if I could have given this book a 10 plus rating I would have. To all who have not read this, please do, you will not be disappointed, so do something good for yourself and read this book!”

  Amazon reviewer Louann Van Riper

  PRAISE FOR EMBRYO 3: RANEY & LEVINE

  “...truly scary and chilling with an intense storyline and non-stop action. It goes at a breakneck pace with few lulls to let you catch your breath.”

  The Kindle Book Review

  “Doctors vs. religious fanatics – BOOM!”

  Tricia Simon, Amazon reviewer

  “Hang on for a great ride! I read all three books in 5 days (had to work 2 of those days) or would have finished sooner. Loved the series and just found out #4 is in the works! A great mix of genres, medical, sci-fi, police procedural, and mystery. It grabs from the beginning and doesn't let go!!”

  The Reading Café

  “Once you read the first “Embryo” you will be hooked!! This series is so captivating that I read one right after the other. We will be reading more from this amazing author.”

  Top Suspense Thrillers

  “One of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. It is almost too exciting with something happening constantly. Like the first two I loved it. I even cried, such a great storyteller.”

  Jean Lewis, Amazon Reviewer

  “...a classic murder mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end. The hospital setting, characters, and premise are all fully developed, pulling you into the heart of a gripping story. Masterfully, the author takes you into the minds of the characters, exposing their inner fears, their religious interpretations and, in more than one case, their lunacy. I strongly recommend this book to all mystery lovers.”

  Readers Favorite

  “Could NOT put this series down!!! I raced through all three of the Embryo books and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The series raises interesting questions regarding IVF and Genetics in obstetrics in general and makes you question whether, indeed, a child could be born outside the mother! Then add to it true nut cases who are bound and determined to kill people, perhaps harm the hospital/institution that provides that genetic development - and you have a clear winner of a series! I have been in medicine for over 40 years and J.A. Schneider has her facts down well - everything is spot on in the medical descriptions and such! Just a FANTASTIC series of books and I HOPE she writes more about Rainey and Levine!!! You feel as though you know them by the end of even book 1!!!! Can't say enough about these books!!! They are real thrillers! Bravo!”

  Karen Miller, R.N.

  “Loved, loved, loved this series!! Hated to finish them!! I'm hoping this gifted author writes more books updating Jesse's progress and life growing up. Loved all the characters but especially the two main characters and the love they have for each other and Jesse. Now I guess I'm going to have to find something (hopefully) to hold my interest until this author maybe (Please!) decides to continue this series and puts us all out of our misery!”

  Teresa Dunnagan, reviewer

  “Wow...a stunning trilogy that I would love to see them make into a movie or mini series. Fast paced…engaging...with so much that MAKES YOU THINK.”

  Holly Simons, reviewer

  PRAISE FOR EMBRYO 4: CATCH ME

  “One of the Best Thriller Series I’ve Read in Years! This entire thrilling series features masterful storytelling and terrific characters. Cannot Wait for the Next One!”

  Hillel Kaminsky, Amazon Reviewer

  “Tension in every line, another fabulous thriller. I’d give ten stars if I could!”

  Literati Literature Lovers

  “The author’s done it again with another heart-stopping stunner. I am so addicted to this series!”

  The Kindle Book Review

  “J.A. Schneider’s brought us another thriller that starts with the first line! How does she DO that? The grabber is these wonderful, original characters, with good guys we’ve come to love!”

  The Reading Café

  “Best of a very wonderful series! I love the family and friends relationships and the constant thrills and chills of adding th
e very scary Couples Killer. I have read every one of J.A. Schneider's books and have loved them all!”

  Lyn Askew, Amazon Reviewer

  “From the tension of the story’s opening line, Schneider lets readers know they’re in for an action-packed ride. A child’s screams, a bloody dead body, another still alive? The police have already dubbed the murders leading up to this incident as The Couples Killer. The little touches, small compassionate comments, are what drew me and held me throughout, and what really gripped my heart.”

  Gail M. Baugniet, bestselling Author of For Every Action

  “Another brilliant addition to the Embryo series! Heart-racing from the first line, with the whimpering toddler running, terrified…”

  Brenda Telford

  “I love this passage: ‘Victims needed a voice, and found it in Jill Raney and David Levine. They felt that hospitals don’t help police as much as they should in cases of assault, child molestation, and sex crimes. The compassion and courage of these two doctor detectives is what makes this series very, very special.’”

  Top Thrillers

  “Doctor Duo Detectives – what a concept! These books really have quite a few amazing dynamics. First is Jill and David's relationship. We have been able to watch it grow and blossom into a deep and serious relationship. Jill is emotional, stubborn, reckless, intuitive, and brilliant - and the teamwork of these two doctors with the police is amazing.”

  Trista Borgwardt, Amazon Reviewer

  “How can you improve on perfection, well J.A. Schneider has with Embryo 4, Catch Me. These books are all spellbinding, explosive. Once you start you cannot stop. All of the characters are great, but I just love following Jill Raney and David Levine, seeing their amazing, supportive relationship as well as their helpful relationship with the police. I got hooked with the first Embryo and with each new book I got more enthralled. Can’t wait for the next one!”

  Louann Van Riper

  New! EMBRYO 5: SILVER GIRL

  A beautiful young TV star, Jody Merrill, dies mysteriously and police are stumped. They are even more at a loss when the grisly remains of yet another actress, Jody’s co-star, are found. Detectives request the help of doctors Jill Raney and David Levine, police friends and detectives on their own. For Jill and David this is personal; they are heartbroken since both young women were their friends. Furiously they resolve to find the killer: to skirt the law as they always do in cases of sex crimes, child abuse and murder, helping where cops’ hands are tied (“No warrant? No problem!”), or in ways that police forensics never imagined.

  The killer, capable of unspeakable savagery, must commit more murders in order to hide…possibly behind the gilded cover of Show Biz Hell. Or as Jody Merrill called it, “That gorgeous, sparkly bubble that closes you in, bloats your ego in some weird, alternate universe where you lose all bearings, lose yourself. Fame is unhealthy.”

  Publisher Information

  Embryo 4: Catch Me is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, institutions or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 J.A. Schneider.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce or transmit this book, in any part thereof, in any form or by any means whatsoever, whether now existing or devised at a future time, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

  For more information about the author, or to join the newsletter to find when new books will be released, please visit http://jaschneiderauthor.net

  To Bob as always, my husband, and an endlessly patient physician who loves explaining medical concepts which I interweave as I write.

  EMBRYO 4: Catch Me

  Title Page

  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

  Epilogue

  Author's Note

  An excerpt from EMBRYO 5

  About the Author

  1

  He weighed forty pounds, and his little skinned knees stung as he ran, terrified.

  Thorns in the brush caught his shorts. The sun was gone and it was getting darker, colder. He struggled forward, his breath coming fast in mewling little cries. The blood on his tee shirt made it stick to his skin but he was unaware as ahead, suddenly, he saw someone running. His heart beat so hard that his vision blurred as he thrashed to the clearing.

  Two giant shapes were emerging from the darker dark of the tunnel, coming closer. His mouth opened, and he burst into wails. He just stood there sobbing, his little body bent at the waist with his fists clenched.

  Beauty had sensed trouble seconds before, had stopped short, and pawed and shied.

  “Hey, easy girl,” Terry Novak said. His partner had already seen the little boy by the side of the jogging trail. “Oh, jeez!”

  Both cops dismounted and ran to him. He was shivering and hysterical. The front of his white tee shirt was blood-soaked, but – they checked – the blood wasn’t his. “Mommy! Mommy!” he wailed as Novak pulled off his jacket, wrapped it around the child, lifted him into a hug and tried to comfort. His partner Rob was radioing for help.

  “Where’s your Mommy?” Novak kept asking gently. The child sobbed, didn’t answer, then finally craned back to where he’d come from and squirmed to get free. “Mommy!” he screamed.

  Novak peered up through the dusk to the sloping stretch of woods between the trail and the wall lining Fifth Avenue. The brush was too thick to see anything.

  Blue-and-whites were already arriving, their lights blazing, doors flying open.

  “Up there.” Novak indicated the slope. Patrolmen saw him holding the bloodied child and headed up. Grimly, carefully, fanning out around what was probably going to be a crime scene.

  And was.

  “Christ, another one,” breathed one man as they approached the couple. Yards apart this time instead of in a lovers’ heap. In the deeper dark under the trees, flashlights beamed on the man, face down in the fall leaves with a wide, reddened puncture on his shirted back. The woman lay on her side, eyes closed, her blouse and shorts bloodied.

  “Man’s dead.” A patrolman straightened from feeling the still carotid. Another man in uniform looked up from the woman. “Still breathing! Where’s –”

  But EMTs were suddenly there. The first detective too, his unmarked car parked below behind the ambulance.

  “Third attack,” Alex Brand said grimly, pulling on latex gloves.

  “The Couples Killer,” a patrolman answered in the same tone. “First time in daylight.”

  “Sunset,” Brand muttered, kneeling to the dead man as EMTs tended the woman. Something caught his eye. “What’s this?”

  He reached to a tightly balled paper feet away. It looked like it had been tossed. Carefully, he opened it, and read. It was comput
er-printed on standard paper. Probably had no prints on it like the last one they’d found; the killer wore gloves.

  “COPS LOSE AGAIN!” read the taunt. Which was signed, “CATCH ME.”

  “Another?” One of the cops leaned closer and knew what he was seeing.

  “Yeah,” Brand said. “This makes two messages. He left nothing at the first attack.”

  “He’s getting more brazen.”

  “Planning more kills, too. This third one makes him a serial.”

  Brand rose, holding the paper. He drew in a long breath, stared out at the Central Park Reservoir to think for a moment. The last glints of warming sunset had left the water, leaving it in gloom.

  He started back down to his partner.

  Kerri Blasco was taking the little boy from Novak, kneeling to him and getting him into her jacket.

  She tried to comfort. “What’s your name, honey?” Kerri asked gently. “Did you see what happened?”

  He had stopped crying and looked in shock. He trembled and his thumb pushed hard into his mouth, but he let her hug him. A second ambulance arrived. Police radios crackled. The woman was alive, Kerri heard.

  Strolling couples, two cyclists, and joggers had gathered, gape-mouthed.

  “Anyone see anything?” a patrolman called out. He and another cop separated the group. “You see or hear anything?” the second cop asked. “Like gunshots?”

  Heads shook. “Traffic’s too noisy…I was wearing my headphones…Just saw joggers.”

  Names were taken anyway as Victorian-style lampposts turned on. People who’d been questioned moved away, troubled, under pools of the lamplight that was supposed to keep the park safe. The sky above had turned mauve and blue and dark blue.

  Kerri’s partner, Alex Brand, came up to her, bent and patted the little boy’s shoulder. The child shuddered, cringed into Kerri’s hug.

  “I’ll go with him in the ambulance,” she said low. “Meet you at the hospital.”

  “Madison Memorial.” Alex gave her a significant look.

  She gave back the same look and quick-glanced at the child. “Think he saw anything?” she whispered.