Brandilyn Collins
2) Violet dawn
Something sinuous in the water brushed against Paige’s knee. She jerked her leg away. What was that? She rose to a sitting position, groped around with her left hand. Fine wisps wound themselves around her fingers. Hair? She yanked backward, but the tendrils clung. Something solid bumped her wrist. Paige gasped. With one frantic motion she shook her arm free, grabbed the side of the hot tub, and heaved herself out. Paige Williams slips into
...3) Dark justice
All words fell away. I pushed myself off the path, noticing for the first time the signs of earlier passage—the matted earth, broken twigs. And I knew. My mouth turned cottony. I licked my lips, took three halting steps. My maddening, visual brain churned out pictures of colorless faces on a cold slab—Debbie Lille, victim number one; Wanda Deminger, number three . . . He'd been here. Dragged this one right where I now stumbled. I'd
...As I drew, the house felt eerie in its silence. . . . A strange sense stole over me, as though Bland and I were two actors on stage, our movements spotlighted, black emptiness between us. But that darkness grew smaller as the space between us shrank. I did not know if this sense was due to my immersion in Bland’s face and mind and world, or to my fear of his threatening presence. Or both . . . The nerves between my shoulder blades began to
...6) Amber morn
The whole thing couldn't have taken more than sixty seconds. Bailey hung on to the counter, dazed. If she let go, she'd collapse—and the twitching fingers of one of the gunmen would pull a trigger. The rest of her group huddled in frozen shock. Dear God, tell me this is a dream ... The shooter's teeth clenched. "Anybody who moves is dead." On a beautiful Saturday morning the nationally read "Scenes and Beans" bloggers gather at Java Joint
...8) Deceit
The noises, faint, fleeting, whispered into her consciousness like wraiths passing in the night. Twelve-year-old Erin Willit opened her eyes to darkness lit only by the dim green nightlight near her closet door and the faint glow of a street lamp through her front window. She felt her forehead wrinkle, the fingers of one hand curl as she tried to discern what had awakened her. Something was not right . . . Annie Kingston moves to Grove Landing
...11) Crimson eve
Carla stared at the gun and David Thornby—or whatever his name was. Her mind fissured, one side pleading this was some sick joke, the other knowing it was not. Her throat ran dry, air backing up in her lungs. She swallowed. "Please. You must have the wrong person. There's no reason for someone to want me dead. I don't have any enemies." "Then you'd best rethink your friends." Realtor Carla Radling shows an "English gentleman" a lakeside estate—and
...12) Coral moon
The figure remained still as stone. Leslie couldn't even detect a breath. Spider fingers teased the back of her neck. Leslie's feet rooted to the pavement. She dropped her gaze to the driveway, seeking ... what? Spatters of blood? Footprints? She saw nothing. Honed through her recent coverage of crime scene evidence, the testimony at last month's trial, the reporter in Leslie spewed warnings: Notice everything, touch nothing. Leslie Williams hurries
...13) Always watching
14) Web of lies
She was washing dishes when her world began to blur. Chelsea Adams hitched in a breath, her skin pebbling. She knew the dreaded sign all too well. God was pushing a vision into her consciousness. Black dots crowded her sight. She dropped a plate, heard it crack against the porcelain sink. Her fingers fumbled for the faucet. The hiss of water ceased. God, I don’t want this. Please! After witnessing a shooting at a convenience store, forensic
...15) Dark pursuit
“Ever hear the dead knocking?” Novelist Darell Brooke lived for his title as King of Suspense—until an auto accident left him unable to concentrate. Two years later, reclusive and bitter, he wants one thing: to plot a new novel and regain his reputation. Kaitlan Sering, his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, once lived for drugs. After she stole from Darell, he cut her off. Now she’s rebuilding her life. But in Kaitlan’s
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