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>Blake Pierce

      Blake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes fifteen books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising thirteen 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 three books (and counting); of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising three books (and counting); and of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising three 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 © 2019 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 #4)

      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)

      ONCE MISSED (Book #16)

      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)

      BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)

      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 MURDER (Book #2)

      A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

      A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

      A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

      CHAPTER ONE

      Mackenzie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, bracing herself and trying to stop the pain. She had read so much about the whole breathing method thing and now, as Ellington rushed her to the hospital, all of it seemed to have slipped right out of her head. Maybe it was because her water had broken and she could still feel it along the leg of her pants. Or maybe it was because she had felt her first legitimate contraction about five minutes ago and she could feel another one coming on.

      Mackenzie pressed against the passenger seat, watching the city pass by in a blur of darkness, sprinkling rain, and streetlights. Ellington was behind the wheel, sitting rigid and staring out the windshield like a man possessed. He laid down on the horn as they approached a red light.

      “E, it’s okay, you can slow down,” she said.

      “No, no, we’re good,” he said.

      With her eyes still closed against Ellington’s driving, she placed her hands on the large bump of her stomach, grappling with the idea that she would be a mother in the next several hours. She could feel the baby barely stirring, perhaps just as scared of Ellington’s driving as she was.

      I’ll see you soon, she thought. It was a thought that brought more joy than worry and for that, she was grateful.

      The streetlights and signs went blaring by. She stopped paying attention to them until she saw the directional signs pointing toward the hospital emergency room.

      A man stood outside at the curb, waiting for them under the awning with a wheelchair, knowing they were coming. Ellington carefully brought the car to a stop and the man waved and smiled to them with the sort of lazy enthusiasm most nurses in the ER at two in the morning seemed to have.

      Ellington guided her to it as if she were made of porcelain. She knew he was being overprotective and urgent because he, too, was a little scared. But more than that, he was good to her. He always had been. And he was proving now that he was going to be good to this baby, too.

      “Hey, hold on, slow down,” Mackenzie said as Ellington helped her into the wheelchair.

      “What? What is it? What’s wrong?”

      She felt another contraction coming but she still managed to flash a smile at him. “I love you,” she said. “That’s all.”

      The spell he’d been under for the last eighteen minutes—between hopping out of bed to her announcement that she was going into labor to him helping her into the wheelchair—broke for a moment and he smiled back. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the mouth.

      “I

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