#Payback in Death

[lizabethstucker]

Payback in Death by J. D. Robb

5 out of 5

In Death 57

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is barely back from her vacation with Roarke when she is called to the scene of a dead body. The body is Martin Greenleaf, retired Internal Affairs Bureau captain. Although an attempt to indicate suicide was made, it was too sloppy. Not to mention that neither Greenleaf's protege from the department, Detective Webster, nor his wife believe he would ever commit suicide.

Narrowing down the possible suspect list will be the biggest problem, especially considering Greenleaf was a righteous and dedicated IAB investigator, dealing with black and white, not grey when it came to dirty cops. Eve has to go by the book, but her instincts are already screaming about who is involved if she can only prove it before anyone else dies.

Starting with a visit to Roarke's family in Ireland was an endearing chapter and hinted strongly at the thread of family, both blood and chosen, that wove through this story. As Dr. Mira said, family's where you make it. But unfortunately sometimes that feeling of family and/or friendship may be only one-sided.

I know this is a much repeated refrain whenever I review the books of J. D. Robb and Nora Roberts, but the characterization is the real shining star. We know these people, not just the main characters. The supporting side people, friends and coworkers, hit just the right spots, giving a familiar ambiance to everything happening. It is what keeps the reader coming back time and again.

I honestly couldn't stop reading as I got farther into the book the second day. I kept thinking that I would go just a little bit more and then put it aside to finish cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc., but I just wasn't able to. I found this a winner and look forward to the February installment.

[thereadingcafe]

[bookdivareads]

Book Review: PAYBACK IN DEATH by J.D. Robb

TBDR reviews PAYBACK IN DEATH by #JDRobb, a #recommendedread. #fiction #suspense #policeprocedural #romanticsuspense #StMartinsPress #InDeathSeries #recommendedseries

Payback in Death, In Death #57, by J. D. RobbISBN: 9781250284099 (hardcover)ISBN: 9781250284105 (ebook)ISBN: 9781250902283 (digital audiobook)ISBN: 9781250902276 (audiobook on CD)ASIN: B0BVKTFTVL (Audible audiobook)ASIN: B0BQGJ182N (Kindle edition)Page Count: 368Publisher: St. Martin’s PressRelease Date: September 5, 2023Genre: Fiction | Romantic Suspense | Suspense | Police Procedural A retired…

[themistymountainscold]

stede: truth or dare?

izzy: dare.

stede: i dare you to kiss the hottest person on the ship

izzy: hey ed?

ed, nervous: uh yeah?

izzy: can you move? i'm trying to get to frenchie.

[billciphermeme]

Gravity Falls Meme:

What if... Emperor Belos (The Owl House) was sent to Theraprism as a Fate Worse Than Death after he was stomped to death by the heroes?

(Spoilers for Gravity Falls' The Book of Bill)

[warmcoals]

ppl are saying among us in Glass Onion foreshadowed that someone was sneaking around and murdering the cast, vaguely suggesting it's a link to miles. but that's just sort of the plot of any murder mystery, hence amogus existing in the first place via ancient mystery game Mafia. no, it goes deeper.

what makes amogus special is three things. one, it is known for its special emergency meetings and body discovered votes, in which imposters are given a much greater number of opportunities for misdirection and lying and turning crewmates against each other (usually over loud voice chats where highest charisma wins).

two, it is known for the imposter having the ability to physically sabotage the environment to obfuscate their deeds.

helen frequently demanded answers, launched tirades, or gave a long detailed story multiple times in the movie, in and out of her "andi" character. helen pretended to be incompetent at searching her environment or talking for clues but she was actually amazing at both. helen pretended to be a terrible drinker unlike her late sister but she didnt act drunk until benoit mentioned, and even reflexively went for her fancy drink later. helen made the same mona lisa victory look we see andi used to do as she looks right into the camera as the last shot of the movie. helen literally sabotaged electrical.

when an imposter is accepted by all to be a crewmate, the crewmates lose...or, rather, the imposters win. and as a viewer of the game from the outside, innately, you want the imposter to win. it's the coolest that way.

we never really get detective's confirmation that andi ever died, in any capacity. nor does miles ever at any point in his fits of pride and idiocy stumble into admitting he did it. he killed one guy, and he was gonna kill countless ppl with his shit inventions, and he's a narcissist and manipulator and all around villain. he's the bad guy, no question. nobody wants to see this imposter win.

but there's one more thing that makes among us special. the default, always-used rules.

the game is played with ten people. and with ten players, there are always two imposters. in extreme circumstances, one winds up storytelling and shooting the other to win.

helen is andi all along. good for her 💆‍♀️

[eagleeyethree]

Original vs Definitive Edition

[redfurrycat]

[At IceMav's]

Bob, Jake, Javy, Mickey and Reuben telling Mav about their favourite medical TV-show while Bradley and Nat handle the dessert.

Reuben: I got hooked up with Grey's Anatomy since the beginning. Can't get enough of the staff sleeping with each other.

Mickey: No way, man! The Good Doctor is the best show. I love Dr. Murphy! He's the best!!!

Javy: Not bad, dude, but I freaking love House M.D. There's no better one-liners than House's.

[Javy and Mickey high-fiving.]

Bob: I used to watch every Dr Quinn Medicine Woman rerun with my mum.

Mav: Good one, Bob. It's Ice's favourite too! You should come here on Wednesday, he loves to watch his favourite episodes.

Reuben: What about you, Jake?

[Javy snorts because HE KNOWS.]

Jake, dreamily distracted: ER. For one character only... Greene.

Mav, spitting out his beer through his nose: ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME?!

Jake: Nope. There's no sexiest doctor than good ol' Dr. Mark Greene.

The other men but Javy: What? What's going on? Show us Mav!

[On Mav's phone:]

Mickey: DUUUUUUDE. YOU'RE SO PREDICTABLE SOMETIMES.

[They all tease Jake who's as cool as a cucumber. He's not ashamed! The guy IS good-looking and reminds him a little of...]

Bradley: Why you guys laughing? What did we miss?

Jake: Bradshaw! As I live and breathe. Did you bring me back my cheesecake?

[ohkate]

@lingy910y I would never have Ian kill Mickey unless it was with his dick.

[suprcomputranimalracingsimulatr]

Memory Run (1995)

[vaalthus]

The Final Steps (spoilers)

Ok, the idea of Xan looking towards Warlic as a protective buffer to keep things that are making him uncomfortable away from him is absolutely hilarious.

Ya see I still don't like the sound of that while we don't know what the intent of the other Magesters, beyond Ostromir and Vseslava, are at the moment, even with the knowledge that many of them will be dead in a short amount of time.

One thing I have noticed so far is that Zvezdana has shown consistent interest in us as a means of studying new applications and effects of magic that are not readily present in the Azaveyran continent. She mentions she doesn't have us all figured to the degree that she wishes but so far she has at least shown a good amount of insight of understanding where we stand in terms of morals and ethics, I'd say that goes for more characters in party than just the hero. What I'm getting at here it seems pretty clear for now at least that our relationship is little more than useful data collection to her.

Beyond that though I'm curious as to what these new approved pursuits the Shapeless intends to endeavor because I foresee problems arising if they found a new interests in Doom or recreating Alexander's...condition.

Hmm perhaps we should have conscripted some elves or werewolves for this fight or maybe Nikki at least.

Either way, this is some good lore on the elemental affinity a soul produces on its own or when the body is altered significantly. We already knew of course that the human body contains minute traces of all the prime elements within it, but, as anticipated, this quest just proved these elements do not exist equally within every human being on Lore, even those that have not been pushed so far into one elemental direction like Xan or Sepulchure.

Feel like the easiest way to have tested this is by having another dragonlord and their dragon in attendance since we know the others are capable of swapping the elements of their dragons as needed. Though I wouldn't be too surprised if being one of the twin dragons was all it took for Draco to be protected from the overflow of mana.

Oh what gave it away Zvezdana, my non-canonical class armor?

Not appreciating the shade thrown towards Aegis. He's a good pure and wholesome spirit, woman!

It's actually kind of funny that Aegis is protecting our soul from straining apart given that's what his role will theoretically become when we die and he'll have to protect us until we become fully fledged elemental spirits...ya know unless ya eat him later...

I wonder if this adjustment will have any permanent effect on Alteon considering he's being pushed further towards the energy element or if this will be a temporary change, like the soul self-regulating afterwards.

At first I was a little bit surprised that she no longer labeled all of us as villians that just couldn't or didn't want to see the good she was trying to do especially after she declared Warlic as little more than a manipulator after their confrontation.

Yet that surprise dies away when you realize she doesn't really have a choice but to recognize that our intent was never really all that misguided to begin with. Think about it, her truest closest confidant, the time mirror, showed her that Akanthus, her right-hand man, had betrayed her trust and when she confronted him on this, he merely verified that fact. When confronted with this information what other choice does she really have but to accept that she was being in denial of our motivations in not trusting her actions or at least the man she was allowing to command a good portion of the Rose.

Of course, it doesn't matter if she finally sees the truth about us as she's sunken too much into this plan to turn back now even though she knows her only ally now is a man that could potentially wreak havoc upon all of Lore if, and let's be honest it's more of a when, she fails to supplant the Mana Core's will.

For all intents and purposes, Jaania story still remains a tragedy and while I don't want her dead, the potential for so many ends for her are not looking good. Whether it be in failing to control the core, further betrayal from Akanthus, or us, or even plausibly one of the others in the party, looking at you Zvezdana.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

I've been rereading pez dispenser debris and god Izuku is so much braver then me, if a past version of myself showed up and started sharing my deepest darkest secrets to anyone in earshot I would not be handling it well at all. Like forget having 12 simultaneous panic attacks, I would straight up jump to murder, confirming all of baby me's worst fears. Actual nightmare scenario. Izuku is a saint for real.

Young Izuku: you obviously killed me

Older Izuku: I deserve an award for NOT killing you

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Operation Death Wish | Chapter 4

Masterlist

Synopsis: Jake Seresin knew what it was like to lose people he loved, he’d been losing them his whole life. Yet in the midst of chaos as the world as he knew it ended Jake found somebody he never wanted to lose. But what if he’d already lost her. Warnings: swearing, dystopian descriptions, gore, death, violence, alien descriptions, fighting, sexual images, 18+ (minors dni), angst, some fluff at times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nat pulled the truck into a lay-by in Winterhaven by the California Arizona border. She got out of the truck, bending over and stretching her legs. She’d been driving for 2 ½ hours and she was already feeling the exhaustion taking over. She’d been on her own in the front with little to distract her from the death and destruction outside. Each town you had passed was abandoned, a shell of what it had once been in recumbent serenity. Natasha stood, soaking in the moment of silence. Plants uprooted the pavements, houses without roofs or walls or both, cars abandoned but what hit Nat most was a small child’s bicycle that sat parallel to her, it was soaked in dark red blood and as Nat moved closer she could see the small hunched body beside it, glassy eyes staring wildly back at her. Nats' gut wrenched and she doubled over, gagging and vomiting on the sidewalk. The acid burned her throat as she tried to compose herself, stomach churning. All she could think about was Sophie and the baby, it could have so easily been their bodies that littered the streets.

“Hey Phoenix, you good?” Jake called, hanging out the side of the truck.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Nat croaked back, moving back towards the truck but keeping a hand on her stomach in the hope that it would calm her slightly.

“Do you want me to drive the next part?” Jake was sat on the bonnet as she approached and she simply nodded at her, climbing into the back of the truck. The others had all gotten out to stretch their legs but you followed him round to the passengers side.

“Mind if I ride shotgun?” You’d asked, looking up at him through the window.

“Course not,” Jake lent over, throwing the door open for you. “You can be my wingman anytime.” You hopped in beside him, giving him a small smirk. He had his aviators on and was looking incredibly cool as he took the wheel, pushing the keys into the ignition and the engine hummed to life. With the windows down and Jake humming along to a random CD he put on everything seemed normal. For a moment you felt as though you could relax, like it was a normal summer's day and you and your boyfriend were driving to the beach but nothing about this situation was normal. You could feel your engagement ring hanging heavily on the chain around your neck and you turned your gaze from Jake, looking out of the passenger window as the world passed by absentmindedly. Why was this so difficult? Before all this Bradley had been your world, you’d spent all your free time with him and when you were apart you called and texted every night. Bradley had been your rock through so much so how was there a question? But then Jake came along and somehow you thought about Bradley less and less, Jake was exciting and adventurous and he made you feel things that Bradley never had. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You must have drifted off to sleep again because the next thing you remembered was the truck jolting forward and Jake cursing loudly. The engine was smoking and the truck was juddering along the road before finally coming to a screeching halt.

“FUCK!” Jake slammed his hands into the steering wheel before looking over at you apologetically.

“Jake, stop fucking around!” Coyote shouted from the back and Jake turned, glaring at the green canvas separating the compartments.

“I’m not, Dipshit, the fucking radiator’s gone.” Jake threw open his door, climbing out and popping the bonnet to survey the damage. The others all followed suit, climbing out of the truck and crowding behind Jake to get a better view.

“It’s shot,” Nat declared, “there’s no coming back from this, not without a proper mechanic and tools.”

Everyone groaned. “Where the hell is Bob when you need him,” Fanboy grumbled and instantly regretted it from the glare Nat sent his way.

“Bob’s at home with his family, which is exactly where I should be. So while you lot can stand around moaning I’m going to find my wife.” Phoenix grabbed her bag and marched off triumphantly.

“She has a point,” you said, looking up at Jake. “If there’s nothing we can do then there’s no point hanging around here in the open. We’ll be sitting ducks.”

Jake and the others agreed, even if a little reluctantly, grabbing their bags and following Nat down the road.

“We need to find cover as soon as we can,” Natasha informed you, as you hurried to catch up with her. “You ever seen one of those things?”

“What things?” You asked, watching as Natasha’s face wrinkled into a grin.

“Those alien things. The enemy. I don’t know what to call them.”

“The fuckers that ruined the world.” Mickey chimed in, causing you all to laugh.

“That sounds about right,” Jake laughed, his eyes reached yours from over your shoulder and you couldn’t help but stare back at him, he smirked at you causing the colour to flood your cheeks. You turned back around to Natasha. “No, I’ve never seen one. I’ve seen their ships and I’ve seen pictures of them but never one in real life.”

Nat gave you a reassuring smile, “well then you’re in for a treat. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.”

“How long do you think it will take us to walk there?” You asked, turning to Jake. He tried to give you a reassuring smile but you could see it was pained, he didn’t have that normal smirk and his lips were set in a thin straight line.

“Well, we’ve got over 2,000 miles to go so I’m guessing about 30 days at a minimum and that’s without detours or stops.”

“Right,” you said, “well we better pick up the pace.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group continued in silence with only the odd comment pointing out different things you passed. You began to see signs for Phoenix, which everyone except Nat found funny. You reached the outskirts of Tucson by nightfall. The town was eerily quiet, with no street lamps to guide you. The only sound was the group of heavy combat boots thudding against the tarmac and the occasional whispers. There was an abandoned warehouse that didn’t look remotely inviting, with doors screeching noisily and broken windows. It was the last place you wanted to spend the night.

“Fanboy and Payback you take the east side, Phoenix and Coyote you take the North and we will take the south,” Jake said, turning to meet your gaze. “Shout if you see or hear anything. We’ll meet back here in 15.” Everyone nodded before forming groups of 2 and heading off into the darkness. You stuck to Jake’s side like glue, wanting to reach out and grab his hand for comfort but you resisted the urge. You watched as he walked, broad shoulders taunt and stiff, his walk slow and he looked from side to side. He was in full soldier mode, ready to protect you from the slightest thing. Although you were nervous you were still in the Navy, a point that you thought Jake had forgotten. A rustling from your left caused Jake to stop, raising his hand in a fist. You waited with bated breath as something moved in the shadows, lurking. It moved slowly, stumbling over its own legs that creaked and groaned, sounding like a chain being dragged across the concrete floor. Its breathing was heavy, muffled in the darkness as it snuffled about. Your heart stopped as it came into the dim light, its pale form seeming to shine in the moonlight. It had a small head with a beady black eye, sunken into the side of its head and a long nose with a large jaw lined with hundreds of sharp teeth. Its body was thin, each bone protruding sharply out of its flesh, looking almost painful.

Jake’s hand pressed firmly but slowly against your chest, pushing you back towards the door, without even looking at you. Your steps were in slow motion and you tried to control your ragged breathing. As you reached the door Jake hurried out behind you, closing the door as quietly as he could and letting out the breath he’d been holding.

“We have to warn the others…” you began, moving to follow where you’d last seen Nat disappearing into the dark but Jake grabbed your arm, strong fingers digging into your flesh.

“Not a chance in hell are you going back in there,” he said firmly.

“But Jake, they're our friends. I care about them, we have to.”

“And I care about you,” you could see the pain behind his eyes as he spoke, “I care about you a lot actually and I’m not letting you risk your life. My only goal here is to protect you and that’s what I’m going to do.” Jake had moved closer to you and his large form towered over you. You took a sharp breath, trying to fight the urge to reach up and kiss him. Jake leaned a little further forward. His soft pink lips were within touching distance when the sound of heavy boots appeared behind you. You both pulled away quickly, Jake clearing his throat and watching to see who was coming.

Natasha and Coyote came running around the corner, closely followed by Payback and Fanboy.

“RUN!” Nat shouted, her voice closely accompanied by what could only be described as an animalistic scream. Payback and Fanboy were firing at something behind them, the gunfire lighting up the creature in the darkness. Only this time there were two of them.

“Run!” Jake shouted, grabbing hold of your arm and dragging you after him and you ran. You watched as the others scattered, running into the dark. You completely lost your bearings, tripping over more than once but Jake’s firm hold of you stopped you from tumbling.

Jake pushed you forward before turning to fire a few rounds at the creatures.

“KEEP RUNNING!” Jake shouted and you did as he said, turning back to watch as the creatures approached him. You ran until your lungs were on fire and your muscles burned. You didn’t know where you were running to, you only knew you had to keep running. You’d lost sight of the others and you couldn’t hear their voices anymore, only the sound of gunfire and the creatures' screams filled the night.

When you finally stopped running you collapsed against a tree, gasping for the oxygen that your lungs desperately craved. Your vision was blurred and the only sound you heard was your heart hammering in your ears.

“Jake?” You called out breathlessness but there was no answer.

“Phoenix? Payback? Fanboy? Coyote? Anyone?” You scrambled to your feet, head spinning but you ignored it, desperately trying to gain your bearings.

“Hello?” You kept calling and calling, stumbling around in the darkness. This was the last thing you needed. You held on tightly to your gun, checking the safety was off and raising it slightly, ready to fire at the slightest movement. You crept forward, cautiously avoiding the tree roots as you followed the narrow path. You didn’t know if you were going further in the forest or not, but all you knew is you had to keep moving. A sudden crack beside you caused you to jump, swinging your gun around to face the noise. You went to call out but thought better of it. If it was one of those creatures you’d be dead before the words even left your mouth. You stepped forward cautiously into the gloom as the figure came closer, it wasn’t the creature, no this figure was human. The figure moved forward, shoulders slouched, into the clearing, the moonlight illuminating their face.

“Jake?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @wkndwlff @a-reader-and-a-writer @callsign-phoenix @imjess-themess @averyhotchner @basiccortez @mayhem24-7forever @sunlightmurdock @callsignmaverick5 @ssprayberrythings @smoothdogsgirl @xoxabs88xox @luckyladycreator2 @abaker74 @elenavampire21 @classyunknownlover @okiegirl24 @flashyourgreeneyesatme @airedale17 @shadowolf993 @flyboyjake @topguncultleader @callmemana @marchingicenotes7 @t-nd-rfoot @bradshawseresinbabe @amortentiadrops

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[hylianengineer]

Will my family members please stop fucking dying FOR FIVE MINUTES?!

Okay TECHNICALLY I'm not related to the most recent person, but he's the father of my mom's best friend / practically adopted sister. Who is also dead as of like two years ago. And her mom died the year before that. And then six months ago we lost a close family friend who was basically my uncle and one month ago my grandpa on the OTHER side of my family got a very nasty cancer diagnosis and he's still here, thank god, knock on wood, but we have no idea for how much longer.

Please god can we have a fucking break? Especially my mom, who is the epicenter of all of it. I'm going through it but she's the one who lost her best friend and also knows all of these people much better than I do. Losing people sucks. Losing this many people in a row is so ridiculous I got this text and literally yelled "will people in our family stop fucking dying for five minutes?!" out loud.

I hate time. Make it stop.

[rotfics]

warning: execution, abuse mention and death (part based on a scene from the walking dead game)

Dredge held the throat of one that Ani had requested him to. He was no slave. He was no soldier. He was a volunteer, for her and Mr. Osbourne, as he called him. Dredge loved and respected them both as authority figures, and often did things for them.

This person he held was a sinner, a sinner deemed by Ani. She never deemed someone a sinner without a reason. Ever. She took her lawful role very seriously.

Ani was a god of punishment, nightmares, darkness, and the like. And she never had someone punished, or executed, without a reason.

A choked voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Don't..D-Don't...I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Dredge did not listen to their begging. Ani had told him what to do, what they had done, and he trusted her. She was never unlawful. His claws squeezed on their throat.

Another voice rang from beside them. "PLEASE! NO! D-don't-"

Dredge rolled his eyes and he looked at the source.

"Don't kill him," The other man said. He looked tired. Sad. Dredge just stared. "He's all I have left."

Dredge just looked at the man.

"I'm sorry he hurt them,"

Dredge huffed, never once releasing his claws grasp. The man choked against the sharp, purple claws against his throat. Dredge turned to stare at the other man. He remained stoic, but grunted.

"Your son hurt people."

"HE DIDN'T MEAN TO- He-"

"I don't care if he meant to or not."

"Please-"

"He did what he did. I won't be the one to judge what happens,"

"What...what does that MEAN?"

"I'm no God of judgement, but she is."

Dredge just huffed and looked behind him to Ani, who glanced at him and gave him a sign to stall. He turned around, starting to grip his massive claws so hard, the man began to choke.

"N-no...NO,"

“No…what? What’s your defense?”

“He didn’t know what he was d-..”

“Yes he did.” Dredge let out a disgusted sound.

“B-but-“

Dredge looked at Ani, who gave a slit throat gesture. He turned back and with zero emotion, gripped his claws until bones audibly snapped; And the body of the man he held went limp. A scream erupted from the still living person in front of him.

"HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?"

"..I dunno, how did your son fuck up all those innocents?"

A sob rang through the lot. "He is all I have left-"

"Was. He was all you had left. Now you got nothin.”

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! HOW CAN YOU BE THIS COLD?!"

With another huff, Dredge blinked. "Your fuckin' son sure left a lot of innocent people suffering everywhere. In the cold."

Shouts rang behind him. "GET BACK HERE- GET BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

Dredge just shook his head as he prepared to open a portal home.

"YOU GET BACK HERE! YOU GET BACK HERE AND FINISH THIS SHIT!"

The sound of the electronic portal rang out.

"DREDGE!"

Dredge didn't even look back as he walked through the portal.

Retribution was upon them all; Living and dead. The marching of Anis ravenous soldiers of the damned got closer and closer.

"Y-YOU PUSSY BASTARD! YO-YOU-YOU-....y-you...n..no..."

Thunder boomed.

“Get back here..”

[hatultaalul]

Hope all the amerikakot that are dancing on our blood will one day experience not only our yesterday but our years and years of survival