The Killing Game (Rafferty Family, Band 5) - Softcover

Bush, Nancy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1420134663 ISBN 13: 9781420134667

Verlag: Zebra, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

"Nancy Bush always delivers edge-of-your seat suspense!" --Lisa Jackson, New York Times bestselling author

From New York Times bestselling author Nancy Bush comes a tense, intricately plotted novel of suspense, as one woman becomes the focus of a killer's warped game of revenge and murder.

The Rules Are Simple:

It's the ultimate test of strategy and skill. The killer chooses each opponent carefully, learning each one's weaknesses. Every meticulously planned move is leading to a devastating checkmate. Because in this game, all the pretty pawns must die.

First You Play

Andi Wren is fighting to keep her late husband's company safe from vindictive competitors. When she receives an ominous note, Little birds must fly, she turns to P.I. Luke Denton. But though Luke has personal reasons for wanting to take down Wren Development's opponents, his investigation suggests this is deeper and far more dangerous than a business grudge.

Then You Die. . .

In a basement on the outskirts of town, police detectives unearth piles of skeletons. As they learn the shocking truth about each victim's identity, their case collides with Andi's, revealing a killer's ruthless plot and a chilling, lethal endgame. . .

Praise for Nancy Bush's I'll Find You

"A fast-paced page turner." --The Parkersburg News & Sentinel

"A page-turner chock full of suspense and intrigue. Once again, Bush does not disappoint." --RT Book Reviews

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Nancy Bush is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 30 novels, including The Killing Game, Nowhere to Run, I'll Find You and Hush. She is the co-author of the Colony series, written with her sister, bestselling author Lisa Jackson, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Lisa Jackson and Rosalind Noonan. A former writer for ABC's daytime drama "All My Children," Nancy now lives with her family and pug dog, The Binkster, in the Pacific Northwest. Please visit her online at nancybush.net.

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The Killing Game

By NANCY BUSH

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

Copyright © 2016 Nancy Bush
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4201-3466-7

Contents

STALKING ANDI, 
Books by Nancy Bush, 
Title Page, 
PART I - OPENING, 
PART II - MIDDLEGAME, 
PART III - ENDGAME, 
PART IV - CHECKMATE, 
Epilogue, 
Copyright Page, 

CHAPTER 1

Andi gazed down at the toes of her black flats, her most comfortable work shoes. The right heel was scuffed from long hours resting on the carpet of her Hyundai Tucson as she'd pressed down on the accelerator. She supposed she really ought to put some polish on it. It wasn't going to get better by itself.

She sat in a chair with polished oak arms and a blue cushion, her vision focused on the commercial gray carpet that ran the length of the reception area. Minutes elapsed, their passing accompanied by a flat hum in her ears. She'd been in this same suspended state for over three months, ever since Greg's death. Friends and family had consoled her over losing her husband, murmuring words of encouragement and hope, and she'd tried to acknowledge their kindness.

But what if you don't feel anything? What if your husband's infidelity creates a different truth? What if your grief is from the shock of change and not the actual loss of your spouse?

The only person she'd told her true feelings to was Dr. Knapp, her therapist, the woman to whom Greg had steered her when she'd been so depressed, and that was before his death.

But you loved Greg once, didn't you?

She reopened her eyes. After four years of marriage, three failed IVF procedures, one ugly affair — his, not hers — where Greg's lover had turned up pregnant — oh, yes, that had happened — her love for him was a whole lot harder to remember.

She looked around the waiting room. A twentysomething woman with dark hair and the drawn, faraway look of the utterly hopeless sat across the room. Andi wondered if some terrible fate had befallen her. She suspected she'd had that same look on her face when she'd learned the last IVF implantation hadn't taken. And she may have looked that way when she'd learned Greg's Lexus had veered off the road that encircled Schultz Lake and plunged into the water. One moment she was lost in her failure to start a family, the next she was a widow.

Greg's two siblings, Carter and Emma, were grieving and sympathetic to Andi's loss until they learned she'd inherited 66 percent of Wren Development, the family business started by Douglas Wren, Carter and Emma's grandfather, whereas they'd only gotten 17.5 percent apiece. Andi had become the major stockholder upon Greg's death. Now they couldn't stand dealing with her, especially since she'd become part of the company. Couldn't stand that she was "in the way." Her business degree didn't matter. They just wanted her gone.

The inner door opened and a nurse in blue scrubs said, "Mrs. Wren? Dr. Ferante will see you now."

Slinging the strap of her purse over her shoulder, Andi followed after her through the door she held open. They walked down polished floors that squeaked beneath the crepe soles of the nurse's shoes. She hadn't wanted to make this appointment, but the gray fog that wouldn't lift from around her wasn't normal. And the weight on her chest was killing her. Her therapist had prescribed pills for her, but they hadn't seemed to help and she'd stopped taking them.

But she'd been so tired that she'd made an appointment and had blood work done. This was her follow-up.

Dr. Ferante was a middle-aged Hispanic woman with short, curly black hair, white teeth, and a brisk, friendly manner. Andi sat down on the crinkly paper on the end of the examining table and waited for some answers.

Now, she studied the woman who'd been Greg's doctor first, after the family's longtime physician had retired. Greg hadn't known what to think of his first woman physician, but Andi had sensed Dr. Ferante was a straight shooter.

"So, am I going to be okay?" Andi asked, smiling faintly, though it was an effort.

When Dr. Ferante didn't immediately answer, Andi's heart clutched a bit. Oh, God. She hadn't believed she was really sick.

"You're pregnant."

Andi's mouth dropped open. "What! No. I'm not."

"I ran the test three times."

"I can't be. I can't be."

"I assure you, you are. You're a little over three months, best guess."

Andi stared at her. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

"I even checked to make sure your results weren't mixed up with someone else's," Dr. Ferante went on," though it would be highly unlikely. The lab's extremely careful and has a wonderful reput —"

"I don't believe you!"

Dr. Ferante cut off what she was about to say and nodded instead. "I understand this is overwhelming. You've been through a lot in a very short time. But I think this is good news, right?" she said gently.

"But the IVFs failed."

"You've said you've been lacking in energy. That you haven't been able to focus. This is why. This and your grief," she said. "Call your gynecologist and make an appointment."

Andi couldn't process. Boggled, she quit arguing with Dr. Ferante and allowed herself to be led toward the door. Her brain was whirling like a top. Three months ... the baby, of course, was Greg's. They'd had that attempt at reconciliation after the horror of learning about Mimi Quade's pregnancy, which Greg had furiously denied being any part of. Greg had died before any testing could prove otherwise, and in the three months since, there had been no contact with Mimi or her brother, Scott.

Andi's hands felt cold and numb and she stared down at them as if they weren't attached to her arms. She climbed into her Hyundai Tucson and sat there for a moment, staring through the windshield. Then she pulled out her cell phone, scrolling to her gynecologist, Dr. Schuster's, number. When the receptionist answered, she said in a bemused voice, "This is Andrea Wren and I've been told I'm pregnant, so I guess I need an appointment."

"Wonderful!" the woman said warmly. Carrie. Her name was Carrie, Andi recalled.

"I'm having trouble processing this. I just want to be sure."

"How far away are you? Dr. Schuster had a last-minute cancellation today, but the appointment's right now."

"Oh God. I can be there in fifteen minutes. Will that work?"

"Just," Carrie said, then added, "Drive carefully."

Andi aimed her car out of the medical complex and toward the familiar offices of Dr. Schuster's IVF offices, which were across the Willamette River to Portland's east side. She made the trip in twenty-three minutes, gnashing her teeth when it took several more minutes to find a parking spot. Slamming out of the SUV, she remote locked it as she hurried toward the covered stairs on the west side of the building, refusing to wait for the elevator. She hadn't felt this much urgency since before Greg's death.

When she entered the reception room, her face was flushed and her heartbeat light and fast. She scanned the room and settled on the woman at the curved reception counter. Carrie, who was somewhere in her forties, with straight, brown hair clipped at her nape, about Andi's same shade and length, though Andi's was currently hanging limply to her shoulders. She'd combed it this morning, but that was about as far as she'd gotten after showering, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed. She'd thrown on some mascara, the extent of her makeup.

"Go on through," Carrie urged her, coming around the desk to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Zebra
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1420134663
• ISBN 13: 9781420134667
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 416
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Dietmar Rusche; 15110751138; rusche.dietmar@gmx.de; ; Dr.-Willi-Bergmann-Str. 13; St. Andreasberg; 37444; Deutschland