2010 RITA Nominee for Best First Book as well as being
nominated for Best Romantic Suspense
Seven years ago, Beth Dennison was attacked by a
killer named Chevy Bankes. Since then, she’s created a new
life for herself and her daughter, one far removed from the
night that ended in tragedy. But now, Bankes is out of
prison and his chilling phone calls tell Beth he’s coming
for her. Ex-FBI agent Neil Sheridan is driven to investigate
a chain of murders eerily similar to the case that had cost
him his career and his family. When a string of dead
bodies and antique dolls leads to Beth’s doorstep, Neil
finds a beautiful woman harboring dark secrets. And as the
killer marches across the country and closes in on Beth,
they unravel a terrifying scheme of vengeance that will
push her to do the unthinkable in order to protect her
daughter: face Bankes alone.
Excerpt "Hello, doll."
The stranger’s voice came over the answering machine,
low and clear. A finger of fear pressed down.
"Beth. I know you’re there. Pick up the phone."
Beth? The finger turned into a fist. She shot a
worried glance toward Abby’s bedroom. No sound, no
stirring of the bedcovers. Thankfully, Abby had sunk into
the kind of sleep nature reserves for the very young.
"Be-heth. Don’t you want to talk to me? It’s been
seven long years."
Her lungs seized. No. Please, no. It couldn’t be.
"Yes, Beth." And his voice lowered. "Surprise."
The past sputtered to life, the chilling drops of memory
trickling down her spine.
"I bet you thought I’d never find you," he said. "But
I’m a resourceful man. In fact, I’m so resourceful that
I’ve arranged some very special gifts for you. I can’t
wait until you see them." He paused, as if he knew she’d
had to grab the back of the kitchen chair to stay upright,
and that her world was suddenly careening into orbit.
Idiot, Beth said to herself. Of course he knew.
So don’t answer. Just ignore him and don’t pick up the—
"By the way, Beth, how’s your daughter?"
She snatched up the phone. "Bastard."
"Ah, there you are. For a moment I was beginning to
worry."
Red sparks burst behind her eyes. "H-how?"
"How, what? Oh, I guess you haven’t heard. Well, it’s
no wonder, of course. Why would anyone think to contact
you with the news?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Freedom. Comeuppance. Getting what I’ve been denied
all these years."
The room seemed to be in motion. Beth couldn’t even
swear her feet were still on the floor. She closed her
eyes. Think, think. Why, no, how was he calling her? "I
don’t understand," she said.
"I’m sure you’ll find the whole story on the internet
with just a few keystrokes. For now, suffice it to say
that I’m free. I’ve been free a while now, in fact, using
the time to arrange the details of our reunion."
Nausea crawled up the back of Beth’s throat, lodging
there like a burr. Free? Hold on. Stay in control. If
he was out of prison, there was only one reason he would
contact her. And he couldn’t possibly want to dredge up
the past to get it. "I’ll call the police. I’ll tell them
every—"
He chuckled. "No, you won’t. You think you have
everyone fooled, living your pretty life with your pretty
daughter, but you’ve forgotten: I know your secrets. I
know about your little gir—"
She gasped, then bit it back. Too late.
"Oh, that was nice, Beth. Do that again."
"Stop—" She spat the word but caught herself. Quiet,
now. Don’t make a sound. She remembered how much he liked
sounds. Scream, bitch. Cry for me.
"Let me hear your voice again, Beth," he said, and she
gripped the receiver so tight cramps screamed up the
tendons in her arm. "It doesn’t need to be much, not yet.
Just a few small sounds to get the opus star—"
Beth hurled the phone across the room. Fear and fury
coiled in her belly like snakes, and she forced herself to
breathe, letting fury writhe to the top. Damn it, she had
to keep her head. Even as a free man he wasn’t half the
threat to her that she was to him. He was the one who
should be afraid. Besides, the call hadn’t even come from
this part of the country.
Area code 206…Seattle.
Reality sank to the pit of her stomach. This wasn’t a
dream. It wasn’t some vile memory from the bowels of
another lifetime. The calls weren’t from a prank caller
with a six-pack and a phone book, who’d latched on to a
number he liked and kept hitting REDIAL.
It was Chevy Bankes.
The need to see Abby kicked Beth in the chest. She
raced upstairs and peered into the bedroom. Abby lay
sprawled in a puddle of moonlight, a toy cat clutched
against her tummy, a real dog draped over her ankles. The
dog swished his tail and lolled hopefully to his back,
oblivious to the chill creeping through Beth’s veins as she
stood watching the rise and fall of Abby’s stomach: one
breath, two breaths, three. Three was the magic number.
Beth always counted three breaths in a row before she went
to bed at night.
This time she counted ten.
She slipped back into the hallway, the heels of her
hands bullying back tears. Don’t cry. God knows, tears
had never accomplished anything. This wasn’t supposed to
have happened, but she’d always known it might. Bankes
wasn’t the only one with a plan.
Inhale, focus, balance. She called on years of Muay
Thai to center herself, then went to the master bedroom.
She dragged a rocking chair across the room and set it
beside a huge Chippendale chest of drawers. It was an
early New England piece with heavily carved aprons, the
escutcheons all original, the patina rich and dark. Still,
she hadn’t bought this dresser for its age or beauty.
She’d bought it for the cornices.
She climbed onto the tottering rocker and wrenched the
finial on the top right cornice of the dresser. It creaked
and gaped open.
A folded piece of paper sprang out. Beth tucked it
under a sweatband on her wrist and reached back into the
secret compartment. Her fingers curled around the butt of
a 9mm Glock, cool and powerful, neglected but never
forgotten. She lifted it, straightened both elbows, and
sighted the little red light on the phone across the room.
She could do it. If she had to—for Abby’s sake—she
would.
She lowered the gun, climbed down, and unfolded the list
of names from her wristband. Cheryl Stallings, her sister-
in-law. Two attorneys, one who had authored Beth’s will
and another who had a reputation for winning at any cost.
Three early-American furniture dealers, each of whom had
offered cash for a few of Beth’s finer pieces and would buy
them, no questions asked.
Reviewing the list had a calming effect, a tangible
reminder that she had a plan and the resources to achieve
it. She took a deep breath. Despite the hour, she picked
up the phone, then paused. The digits nine and one seemed
to glow brighter than the rest.
I’ll call the police, I’ll tell them everything.
But it was a bluff and Bankes knew it. She couldn’t call
the police. She couldn’t do that to Abby.
Steadier now, she muttered a prayer—forgiveness, just in
case there was a God after all. She cleared her throat and
schooled her voice into the calm, composed tone she’d
perfected years ago. Dialed the top number.
The first lie would be the hardest.
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