Spotlight
Julia Metcalf’s chilling dream foretells the kidnapping of her wealthy best friend, Mae Arbeson. Mae’s stepson Seth watches the police investigate in guarded silence.
Detective Tony Lange is assigned the case. He finds Julia irresistible. Against protocol, he asks her on a date, during which he gets the news he knows will break her heart.
Will Seth gain control of his trust and inherit millions of motives for murder? The loan sharks to whom he owes money believe Julia will secure their payoff, and they will stop at noth-ing to get it.
Julia Metcalf’s chilling dream foretells the kidnapping of her wealthy best friend, Mae Arbeson. Mae’s stepson Seth watches the police investigate in guarded silence.
Detective Tony Lange is assigned the case. He finds Julia irresistible. Against protocol, he asks her on a date, during which he gets the news he knows will break her heart.
Will Seth gain control of his trust and inherit millions of motives for murder? The loan sharks to whom he owes money believe Julia will secure their payoff, and they will stop at noth-ing to get it.
Excerpt
Julia Metcalf awoke unable to breathe. Her limbs jolted in four different directions as though she were being electrocuted. She gasped for air, frantically scanning her surroundings. As her brain began to recognize the familiar objects in her room, her breathing resumed and the pounding in her chest subsided.
In a flash, she grabbed the journal from her bedside table and began scribbling as many details of the dream as she could remember. A gentle night breeze rippled the lace curtains as she settled back on the flowered pillows.
As she wrote, her vital signs gradually returned to normal, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
I was in the woods, she wrote. It was twilight, and I couldn’t see very well. There were shadows everywhere. Strange moaning and howling sounds came from all directions. I peered into the thicket as hard as I could, but I wasn’t able to see where the noises came from. Suddenly, a dark veil appeared to take over the forest, creeping nearer. I knew I had to get home as fast as I could. I ran and ran, but the blackness was catching up…
I looked over my shoulder and saw a tiny speck of light in the inky sky. It looked like a firefly. I had to rescue it because of that summer when Mae and I caught a whole bunch of them and kept them in a jar. Something inside me was inexplicably drawn to help the poor little thing lost in all of that gloom.
I turned and started to make my way back. A cold wind sliced at me, impeding my progress, and the shadowy veil enveloped me. I couldn’t see anything at all except that tiny bit of light, and I tripped over something that felt like brambles. They bit at my shins and ankles. I kept going, and at last I was close enough to stretch an arm toward the speck.
Gently, I closed my hand over it, just as Mae and I did with the fireflies, and turned. “Hold on tight,” I whispered as I started toward home. The shadows had no end, and there seemed no way back to the forest, so I sat down with my back to the freezing wind. Shielding my fist with my body, I slowly opened my hand.
My heart caught in my throat, and my hands shook. I dropped the speck. It flew back to me as the gloom seemed to wane slightly and it hovered before my eyes. It was Mae. “Help me, Julia,” she said. “It’s so dark, and I didn’t want to come. I think they’re going to hurt me.” Then she faded into the shadows.
Suddenly, it hit Julia. Mae was in serious trouble. She dropped her pen and picked up her phone. She scooped her long, silver-streaked blonde hair over her shoulder and hit her speed dial with shaking fingers.
Click "Read more" or "Read in browser" to see today's deals
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|