Mind racing with what Sugar had told her, she shifted into Park and cut off the engine. She had three dead men. All batterers. All men who had slipped through the fingers of justice. All dead by different but bizarre twists of fate. All victims, in a strange way, of their own weaknesses. She reviewed the facts in her head. A cokehead overdoses on a drug he had no business having, let alone snorting. A heart patient becomes the victim of the very substance he takes to protect him. A man deathly allergic to bees gets killed trying to avoid being stung while driving. Was there a connection between the three deaths? Or were they nothing more than a weird coincidence? Or divine retribution? Melanie rested her head against the seat back. She closed her eyes, sorting through her thoughts and feelings, acknowledging that she believed the deaths were not accidental. She believed these men were murdered. All by the same hand. All by the same hand. If she was right, that would mean a serial killer was operating in the Charlotte area, targeting abusive men.
