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      Selected praise for the heart-stopping debut by

       bestselling author CAMERON CRUISE

      “A first-class thrill ride from a top-notch talent. Cameron Cruise is going to be around for a long time.”

      —John Lescroart

      “Ms. Cruise delves deep into these two characters and comes up with pay dirt. Seven and Erika are phenomenal. Complex and edgy, The Collector is a wild, twisty ride into a dark, creepy terror. As a post note, [it] will have a sequel—maybe even become a series. I hope so. I am not ready to leave Ms. Cruise’s wonderful characters just yet.”

      —Romance Reader at Heart

      “Cameron Cruise is a phenomenal new talent. The Collector is compulsive reading! The details are rich and meaty, the pace brisk and the edge razor sharp.”

      —New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Forster

      “The Collector is an extraordinary multi-faceted novel…Intriguing…a story you cannot forget.”

      —The Mystery Reader

      “Cruise’s debut has a serpentine, impossible-to-adequately-summarize plot and a wealth of interesting characters. But what really makes an impression is the story’s sense of time, place and culture.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKreviews

      “A check-under-the-bed read from Cameron Cruise! Talent and dramatic instinct conspire in this powerful novel.”

      —Bestselling author Stella Cameron

      Dark Matter

      Cameron Cruise

       www.mirabooks.co.uk

      For Jonathan.

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Chapter 25

      Chapter 26

      Chapter 27

      Chapter 28

      Chapter 29

      Chapter 30

      Chapter 31

      Chapter 32

      Chapter 33

      Chapter 34

      Chapter 35

      Chapter 36

      Chapter 37

      Chapter 38

      Chapter 39

      Chapter 40

      Chapter 41

      Chapter 42

      Chapter 43

      Chapter 44

      Chapter 45

      Chapter 46

      Chapter 47

      Chapter 48

      Chapter 49

      Chapter 50

      Chapter 51

      Chapter 52

      Chapter 53

      1

      The first thing Jack heard was the drip-drip of water. The first thing he felt was metal biting into his wrist.

      Handcuffs?

      He felt groggy, like maybe he was dreaming, stuck in those magic moments right before his eyelids fluttered open and he woke up. He tried hard to hang on. Sometimes, he could do it…fall back into the story in his head.

      Jack didn’t like to wake up. Waking up meant being cold and hungry.

      He felt cold, but not hungry. That was different.

      “Jack?”

      The voice sounded far away. Jack looked around the room, squinting in the dim light. He shivered. Someone there? Standing over him?

      He tugged at his hand and heard metal rattling. Handcuffs—the real kind. A rush of adrenaline hit.

      Not a dream.

      He felt sick. He was going to throw up. Shit! What had he gotten himself into?

      He hadn’t done a lot of drugs. Sure, there was always the occasional john who wanted to get him a little loose, giving him a few drinks. Men didn’t like to think they could hurt a kid. Jack always assured them he was seventeen, but could pass for a lot younger. He’d never tell them his real age, fourteen.

      He yanked the hand strung up by the handcuff, trying not to freak out.

      “You’re awake.”

      The voice sounded familiar. Jack blinked up at the blurry image hovering over him and tried to focus. He remembered going to dinner last night, some fancy Italian place where he’d eaten his fill. But he’d only drunk a soda. So why did he feel so weird?

      “You know what they used to call it in the old days? You’ll get a kick out of this. They called it a Mickey Finn. I slipped you a Mickey, Jack.”

      Jack reached up to rub his eyes, only to have his hand stop dead, his wrist tethered to something solid and heavy. He realized he was propped up against some piece of furniture, a desk maybe.

      The guy, the john from last night, leaned closer. His breath smelled minty fresh with Altoids.

      “These days, they call it a roofie. You know what that is, don’t you, Jack?”

      The guy said roofie like he was having fun with it. His lips wrapped around the word, giving it a slight whistle. Through the haze in his head, Jack remembered that smile. Last night, he’d thought it was nice.

      They were in some kind of basement. There was a musty, earthy smell and a naked lightbulb hung in the middle of the room, giving off a bleary glow. The guy was close enough that Jack could see his even, white teeth.

      A roofie was a well-known date-rape drug. Basically, it knocked you out. Eventually, when you woke up, you never knew what hit you.

      “How do you feel?” the man asked.

      “Like an ice pick is having a go at my head,” Jack answered.

      “An ice pike? Yikes.”

      The fuzzy image gelled into longish red hair that feathered around the man’s face, vivid blue eyes and a strong nose. And dimples; Jack remembered those from last night, too.

      The guy was young,

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