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on>Blake Pierce

      Blake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes fourteen books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising eleven books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising five books (and counting); of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising four books (and counting); and of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising four books (and counting).

      An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

      Copyright © 2018 by Blake Pierce. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright robsonphoto, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

      A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

      THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)

      THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)

      THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)

      THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)

      CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

      NEXT DOOR (Book #1)

      A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)

      CUL DE SAC (Book #3)

      SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book 34)

      KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES

      IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)

      IF SHE SAW (Book #2)

      IF SHE RAN (Book #3)

      IF SHE HID (Book #4)

      IF SHE FLED (Book #5)

      THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES

      WATCHING (Book #1)

      WAITING (Book #2)

      LURING (Book #3)

      TAKING (Book #4)

      RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

      ONCE GONE (Book #1)

      ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

      ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

      ONCE LURED (Book #4)

      ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

      ONCE PINED (Book #6)

      ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

      ONCE COLD (Book #8)

      ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

      ONCE LOST (Book #10)

      ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

      ONCE BOUND (Book #12)

      ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)

      ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)

      ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)

      MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

      BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

      BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

      BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

      BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

      BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

      BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

      BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

      BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

      BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)

      BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)

      BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)

      BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)

      AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

      CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

      CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

      CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

      CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

      CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

      CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)

      KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

      A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

      A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)

      A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

      A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

      A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

      PROLOGUE

      Jerry Hilyard pulled his Mercedes Benz into his driveway just after one o’clock on a Monday afternoon and smiled wide. There was nothing better than owning your own business and being rich enough to call it a day whenever you wanted.

      Jerry looked forward to the look of surprise on his wife’s face when he told her he was taking her out for a surprise lunch. He wanted to make it a brunch, but he knew Lauren would still be nursing a hangover from the night before. She had stayed out way too late, going, for reasons he still did not understand, to her twenty-year high school reunion. By lunchtime, she should be less cranky—and maybe even up for joining him for a Bloody Mary or two.

      He smiled when he thought of the good news that he would be sharing with her: he was planning a two-week getaway to Greece. Just him and her, without the kids. They’d be leaving next month.

      Jerry walked to the door, briefcase in hand, excited about how the afternoon might turn out. He found the door locked, which wasn’t unusual. She had never been a trusting sort of woman, even in a neighborhood as well-to-do as theirs.

      As he unlocked the door and made his way into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of wine, he realized that he could not hear the bedroom television. The house was just as quiet as when he had left. Maybe the hangover had not yet run its course.

      He wondered how the reunion had gone last night. She hadn’t really spoken about it that morning. He had been in her same graduating class but he loathed sentimental nonsense like high school reunions. All it was at its core was an excuse for classmates to get together ten or twenty years later to see who was doing better than everyone else. But once Lauren’s friends had convinced her to go, she’d gotten almost excited about seeing some of her old classmates. Or so it had seemed. The intake of alcohol last night indicated that it might have been a rough night all around.

      These thoughts were parading through Jerry’s head as he made his way through the upstairs hallway toward their bedroom. But as he neared the doorway, he stopped.

      It was very quiet.

      Sure, this was to be expected if Lauren was indeed taking a nap and had not put on Netflix to finish binging whichever show had been her fancy for the week. But this was a different kind of quiet…a total lack of movement or motion that seemed out of place. It was like a silence he could hear—a silence he could literally feel.

      Something’s wrong, he thought.

      It was a frightening thought but still, he moved toward the door quickly. He had to know, had to make sure…

      Make sure what?

      All he saw at first was red. On the bedsheets, on the walls, a dark red so thick

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