Ten years of frustration and heartbreak caring for his son John, born with a catastrophic heart defect, have convinced Rick Morrow that the world is stacked against his family. And on what should be the best day of their life — the day when John will finally get a new heart – an even worse nightmare begins, when the helicopter carrying the heart crashes, destroying the heart and the hopes of the Morrow family.
Rick’s heartbreak turns to rage as he begins to suspect that the accident was no accident at all. His pursuit of the truth puts him on a collision course with the giant Cera Corporation and the powerful family that runs it, who have an agenda of their own and will stop at nothing to make it come true. The escalating conflict threatens Rick’s reputation, his safety and even his marriage. It reaches its gut-wrenching climax with Rick and his wife Mary facing and even more terrible question; will they sacrifice all they believe in to save their own son, at a cost almost too high to imagine?
HEARTLESS by Brian Fitzgerald is a tour de force medical thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It takes on so many issues revolving around transplants, family stressors, corruption, money, and personal and medical ethics as you follow a couple with a child who needs a heart transplant. I find it hard to believe this book has not made it on to any must read or book club list.
Rick and Mary Morrow have dealt with frustration, fear, and hope of having one of their young sons on the national heart transplant list for ten years. Right when they believe all hope is gone and their marriage is shattering, a heart becomes available. A decision is made to fly the heart between hospitals in a new experimental container. Rick follows the helicopter from the ground but realizes there is something wrong. It is coming down. Rick was a helicopter mechanic in the service and knows something is not right with the scene.
Rick’s heartbreak turns to rage as no one believes him. He continues to question everyone involved, but he runs onto a wall put up by the conglomerate Cera Corporation and the powerful family with their own agenda behind the scenes. With escalating threats, Rick and Mary face the ultimate question of what they will sacrifice to save their son?
Mr. Fitzgerald drops you into the lives of Rick and Mary with a writing style that pulls you immediately into their story and does not let go. The thriller plot moves at a fast pace with an ever-escalating tension between the truth and the cover-up with plenty of twists and surprises throughout. You also have the dichotomy between the Morrow’s financial situation and the unlimited funds of the Cera Corporation which leads the reader to ethical and moral dilemmas to contemplate. And then you get hit with a personal moral choice that the Morrow’s are cornered into making for their son. This book will stick with you for a long time after you close the cover because you will continue to think about what choices you would have made.
I highly recommend this medical thriller and hope many, many more people read it!
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About the Author
Over the course of career in marketing and technology Brian made his living through storytelling, communicating in print, online and national broadcast TV. During that time, as head of communications for a billion-dollar information security firm, he had a role in some of the most tumultuous events in cybersecurity including major breaches and global privacy issues. Brian has worked with (and at times been at odds with) the media, academia and even America’s intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. These experiences have informed his fiction writing, as he strives to bring to life the human consequences of advances in technology, medicine and social media.
Christmasville, Maine, is the only place where Kelsey Hendricks has ever felt happy. When she loses both her job and her boyfriend, the move is a no-brainer, especially when she sees a listing for a position as Christmasville’s social media manager. Surrounded by twinkling lights and candy canes and with the perfect job, this tinsel town is working its magic on Kelsey. With two heartthrobs vying for her attention, her life is now just like a Christmas movie.
Except for the murders.
The first one is dismissed as an accident. But after the second, and definitely the third, it becomes abundantly clear that Santa is leaving coal in someone’s stocking this year.
Determined to bring back the holly jolly spirit to the town before tourists begin canceling their reservations, Kelsey must sleuth her way out of a chilling murder mystery and back to a holiday rom-com.
A KILLER FOR CHRISTMAS by Kim Harrington is an entertaining holiday cozy mystery read for all lovers of the combination of Christmas spirit, a possible rom-com holiday romance in cute small-town Maine, and murder. This combination may sound crazy, but you know there is a group of us who are all out here looking for this book…Ho, Ho, Oh no!
Kelsey Hendricks quits her job and flees a bad break-up in Boston to the one place that always brought her joy and happiness, Christmasville, Maine, where it is Christmas every day. She lands the job as the town’s social media manager and checks into a local family-owned inn. It would all be a great start to a new life if she did not continue to come across dead bodies. The first may have been considered an accident by the mayor and police chief, but two, and then three?
Kelsey and her newly made friends must deal with a mayor that will believe anything but the truth to save the town’s tourist income, an on-line troll calling themselves the ChristmastimeKiller, and two men who could either be her rom-com dream or a killer?
This is a fun holiday cozy mystery read with just the right amount of interesting small-town characters and/or suspects, with periods of threat or uncertainty thrown into the mix. Kelsey is a protagonist that is relatable and the dialogue between her and her new friends is fun and believable. I enjoyed the characters, but I did not feel an in-depth attachment to them, except for Kelsey. The murder plot moved well throughout the story after the second murder with a climax I did not see coming. (I like when that happens.)
This is the one, if you are like me, and like a little murder and possible romance to go with your holiday cheer.
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About the Author
Kim Harrington is the author of A Killer for Christmas, her debut adult mystery coming in 2026 from Crooked Lane Books. She is also known for her teen novels Clarity, Perception, The Dead and Buried, and Forget Me, as well as books for younger readers including Revenge of the Red Club, the Sleuth or Dare series, and Gamer Squad series. Her books have been published in ten countries. She lives in Massachusetts with her family and never leaves the house without a book. Find her online at kimharringtonbooks com.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BLACKOUT (Jake Bendall Thriller Book #3) by J. Luke Bennecke on this Partners In Crime Virtua; Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Godd luck and enjoy!
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Book Description
THE LIES SHINE BRIGHTEST WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT.
The assassination was only the beginning. When the President of the United States is killed in a coordinated drone strike, the nation spirals into chaos. But this isn’t terrorism. It’s strategy.
Behind the attack stands a brilliant and ruthless leader of a shadowy global cabal known only as New3—a group convinced the age of American dominance is already over.
They’re just speeding it up.
Their plan is devastating in its simplicity:
First, kill the president.
Then cripple the nation’s power grid.
Finally, plunge the United States into darkness long enough for rival superpowers to make their move.
Civil engineer Jake Bendel never expected to be part of that war. As one of the architects of America’s AI-driven energy grid, he helped design the very system now being turned against the country.
As blackouts spread and order begins to fracture, Jake teams up with FBI agent Kristi Konnors to follow a trail of digital clues—only to uncover a conspiracy far bigger than a cyberattack. One that could hand America’s collapse to China and Russia.
Then it becomes personal.
Evidence emerges that Jake’s wife, Cynthia—presumed dead for years—may still be alive, trapped inside the organization behind it all.
Now Jake is running out of time. Because if the lights go out across America, the invasion won’t be far behind. And the system he built may be the only thing that can stop it.
Genre: High-Concept Thriller Published by: Jaytech Publishing Publication Date: October 6, 2026 Number of Pages: 436 ISBN: 9798990527386
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My Mini Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
BLACKOUT (A Jake Bendel Thriller Book #3) by J. Luke Bennecke is another fast paced, action-packed techno thriller/geopolitical thriller addition to this series featuring an unlikely hero, civil engineer Jake Bendel. With the character carryover and overarching plot of a global cabal trying to take over the world, I feel this series is best appreciated and enjoyed if read in order of publication.
This plot starts with a bang and does not let up. Jake is once again pulled into a world of super villains, that are a bit over the top, but fun to read about. Even as the characters are exaggerated to the edge of belief, the main terrorist plots are always terrifying and quite believable. Jake is a brilliant engineer and while he is mentally handling fighting the cabal better than in previous books, with the help of a new female FBI character, a huge twist involving his dead wife has been thrown into the mix.
I recommend this addition to this exciting thriller series that always leaves me more informed, but also more worried about terrorist engineering threats to our country.
***
Excerpt
FACTS:
1. The United States power grid is divided into three largely independent systems, considered one of the most complex machines ever built with over 160,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. Large portions of the grid infrastructure are decades old.
2. Modern societies rely on electricity for nearly every critical system including: water treatment plants, fuel pipelines, telecommunications networks, hospitals, and transportation systems.
3. GPS signals are surprisingly weak and vulnerable to interference.
4. The largest blackout in North American history affected 50 million people in August 2023 involving eight states and Canada.
5. Small inexpensive drones can now carry lethal payloads.
6. The U.S. military (under DARPA’s OFFSET program) have tested drone swarm “curtain” formations.
CHAPTER 1
Friday, September 27 – 8:49 a.m. –
AIRPLANE #1 – Private Gulfstream Jet – Coast of Venezuela
The day was perfect for flying, sipping Russo-Baltique vodka—and an assassination.
In exactly eleven minutes.
Ominous black clouds churned miles beneath the Gulfstream cruising high above the Atlantic. Far away, 1,600 miles north, thick fog rolled across the runway at Tampa International Airport—with Air Force One descending on approach.
Tracy strode the cabin aisle, air thick with sweat and heavy leather. Her smartwatch pinged. Florida ground team: Eight minutes tolaunch. All good.
Fiddling with her charcoal pearl necklace, she eyed the dozen technicians, each tracking a sliver of the covert op. Right on schedule. She halted behind her lead coordinator, Boris, bent over a pulsing, colorful weather map.
When Tracy placed her hand on his shoulder, Boris stopped typing and adjusted his headset. She stood erect, arms crossed and chin high, her gold silk blouse complementing her team’s black combat uniforms like a leather-banded Swiss watch.
Seeds of anarchy thrive in a nation stripped of electric power.
The enormous gravity of today’s operation weighed on everyone aboard. Their goal: to plant kernels of chaos.
She clucked her tongue, gave a sharp nod and pointed to a green and yellow blob on his screen. “Tell me that’s not fog.”
Successfully executing their mission—polished for years—would bring infamy to her name and enter Tracy Daniela Ciacchella into the history books alongside John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. Not desirable, but exitus acta probat: the outcome justifies the deeds.
“It is, but ma’am, your yacht is in perfect position in Old Tampa Bay,” Boris said, a hint of a Russian accent slipping through on certain syllables. “All four hundred drones fully programmed, ready for activation and deployment from boat deck. We have new problem.”
A sitting US president hadn’t fallen since ‘63. Today’s mission was the culmination of years of planning, subversion, and digital sleight of hand. No bullets. No lone gunman. Just 400 Semtex-laden drones guided by a matrix of stolen GPS coordinates and a rigged FAA exemption buried three years ago by one of her assets.
A clean kill.
Boris nodded. “Not worried about fog, ma’am, but light rain, not good for drones. Moved in faster than expected.”
Each drone carried a two-pound brick of homemade Semtex.
Washington had talked counter-drone defense for years. But as was typical with US leadership, nothing actually got done. No productive decisions. Only political wrangling and posturing—mixed with unhealthy levels of toxic masculinity.
Incompetent politicians. Yet another reason to raise my curtain of death—weather permitting.
For the final time, Tracy confirmed the ground team in position. On her iPad, she tapped open the video chat app connected with her two generals: first, the captain on her yacht in Old Tampa Bay, Florida; and second, her trusted, longtime friend Bob Huffington—nicknamed
Huff—perched atop the Macy’s roof near I-275. Positioned a mile south, Huff had an unobstructed view of the final approach flight path for runway 1R at Tampa International.
Although Tracy herself was nowhere near Florida, both video feeds from her team streamed clean and crisp via satellite. Rolling fog thickened, obscuring her views.
“Wind speed?” she asked Huff.
“Twenty-two knots. For now, acceptable, but if gusts start pushing above twenty-five, our chances drop to ten percent.”
Getting Goldberg into place had been her masterpiece. After today, with President Whitehead out of the picture, Vice President Goldberg would give Tracy direct access to the power levers controlling the federal government. Her puppet would be in perfect position for the next phase of world domination.
It was now or never. Time for the all-important decision.
Even if the wind began gusting, the drones might still fly close enough to do catastrophic damage.
Tracy brought her iPad close and announced into the tiny speaker, “Green. Repeat, we are green for Operation Black Flock.”
On her screen, both generals nodded in confirmation. Now—shadowy iPad feeds showed Huff entering the launch code while workers on the boat peeled off a massive blue tarp to reveal a cargo container with four hundred off-the-shelf quadcopter drones—all made in China—packed inside a customized carbon fiber lattice. Each carried a two-pound payload of Semtex and a pre-programmed set of GPS-coordinated waypoints—latitude, longitude and elevation—to travel to.
“Gusts up to twenty-four knots,” Huff said, nervously tugging at his earlobe before giving her a thumbs up, indicating her ground team had programmed the drones and activated them. Assuming the weather cooperated, the small black machines would follow precise paths using exact signals from dozens of GPS satellites—all in working order as of five minutes ago, according to her inside man at the Department of Defense. Her DOD contact had also confirmed the Air Force One plane on descent was, in fact, carrying President Whitehead, not a decoy.
Boris leaned back in his chair, away from his laptop, and squinted at Tracy. “I still think we could have come up with a better name for this op.”
She nodded, anxiety rising, wondering whether the drones would perform as intended. “Perhaps.”
“How about Operation Kill Racist Xenophobic Pedophile?”
“Come now, Boris. Way too long.” Tracy gave a silent smirk.
A tiny matrix of red and green lights blinked on her iPad, communicating status from every craft, as propellers whirred, creating a bee-like buzzing sound crackling from the embedded speaker.
The swarm of drones lifted skyward and disappeared into the gray blur of rolling fog.
***
Author Bio
J. Luke Bennecke is an Amazon #1 bestselling thriller author who writes about what happens when technology gets smarter—and people don’t. A former civil engineer and longtime executive, he spent decades designing real-world systems in California before turning to fictional ones that fail far more spectacularly. His novels explore artificial intelligence, surveillance, memory manipulation, and the dangerous gap between innovation and ethics. He is currently at work on his tenth novel.
Luke lives in Southern California with his wife of thirty-five years and their four spunky cats. When not writing, he enjoys philanthropy, consulting as an engineering expert witness, traveling, playing golf, creating videos, and voiceover acting.
Huge-hearted Abby loves dogs — and doesn’t think twice about swerving to avoid an adorable terrier in a country lane. Or following along, when the troublesome pup goes darting off into a local vineyard.
But she never expects where the runaway dog is leading her — straight to a corpse!
Clementine Courtenay, elegant matriarch of the May Valley Vineyard, lies floating face-down in a stream.
The police say she must have slipped and drowned. But Abby’s not so sure.
As rumors begin to swirl amid the tangled vines, Abby realizes that no one in Clementine’s inner circle is quite what they seem.
Between jilted lovers, greedy offspring and bitter rivals, Clementine kept her friends close and her enemies closer still . . .
What secrets will Abby find — fermenting in the darkest corners of the Courtenay family cellar?
It’s up to Abby to solve the case before this sweetest vintage turns sour .
MURDER IN THE VINEYARD (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #4) by Liz Fielding is another wonderfully engaging addition to the cozy Maybridge Murder Mysteries series featuring an English horticulturist, wife and mother who seems to always find herself embroiled in a murder. This book can be read as a standalone, but the protagonist’s family and all the Cotswolds characters continue to evolve, and I have enjoyed the entire series in order of publication.
Abby Finch finds herself swerving into a hedgerow after barely missing a small terrier that has darted in front of her car. It is wet and trembling, so she puts it in her car to begin the search for its owner. She meets the woman who runs the local dog rescue, Fancy Day, and discovers the dog was homed to Clemintine Courtenay, who is from an old money family and owner of the May Valley Estates Vineyard. When they go in search of Clemie, they find her lying face down in a stream dead. While Abby has questions, the police feel there is no foul play involved.
Abby promises her new husband she will not get involved, but there are rumors and questions that do not add up. Clemintine was entangled in family greed, drama, and rivalries as well as hiding her own secrets. When another body turns up in the same location, Abby and her friends work to untangle the twisted family vines.
I enjoy this series and Abby’s adventures every time I get a new addition to this series. Abby and her family and friends continue to engage me in every outing. Ms. Fielding’s writing of the character interactions and friendships make me feel as though I could walk right into the story and be a part of the group. Scout the terrier’s journey to becoming a part of Abby’s family is a wonderful addition to the story. The mystery plot in this addition to the series is very smartly interwoven with current and generational family secrets, plenty of red herrings, and the always present horticultural tie ins that I enjoy reading about.
I highly recommend this entertaining addition to the Maybridge Murder Mysteries series.
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Author Bio
Liz Fielding worked as a secretary in Africa and the Middle East and was co-ordinator of the Brecon Jazz Festival before writing full time. Her books are published worldwide in multiple languages, she has won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award for both The Best Man & the Bridesmaid and The Marriage Miracle and in 2019 was honoured with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association in the UK.
She is now writing cozy crime for Joffe Books and her first Maybridge Mystery, Murder Among the Roses is available now.
In the 1920s, archeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert—daughter of Lord Carnarvon—whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible.
Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary—and nearly erased from history.
When Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut’s secret tomb, she risks everything to uncover the truth about her reign and keep valued artifacts in Egypt, their rightful home. But as danger closes in and political tensions rise, she must make an impossible choice: protect her father’s legacy—or forge her own.
Propelled by high adventure and deadly intrigue, Daughter of Egypt is the story of two ambitious women who lived centuries apart. Both were forced to hide who they were during their lifetimes, yet ultimately changed history forever.
DAUGHTER OF EGYPT by Marie Benedict is an informative as well as an engaging dual timeline historical fiction novel featuring a young English woman in search of the tomb of a female Egyptian Pharaoh and the life of said Pharaoh from research and the speculation of an author whose books continually satisfy.
Lady Evelyn Herbert grew up listening and learning about the wonders of Egyptian archeology from her father, Lord Carnarvon, and Howard Carter, the archeologist who ran Lord Carnarvon’s digs. Evelyn becomes obsessed with Hatshepsut; finding her lost tomb and discovering why she was nearly erased from history 3000 years previously.
In the 1920s, Evelyn is allowed to accompany her father and Carter to Egypt. While there is disappointment in their first attempts to uncover Hatshepsut’s tomb, they finally make headlines around the world with their discovery of Tutankhamun’s intact burial chambers.
In the second timeline, Hatshepsut tells her story and even though she reigned over a time of peace and prosperity, she was nearly erased from all history. Her bold and visionary rise as a female pharaoh took political and religious maneuvering, but not all accepted her reign.
This is a compelling take on the lives of two strong, ambitious women who lived centuries apart. I knew nothing about Evelyn accompanying her father and Carter on the digs, so I found that very interesting. I love reading and learning about ancient Egypt and the pharaohs and I found Ms. Benedict’s resolution to Hatshepsut’s story as acceptable as any others I have read about previously.
Ms. Benedict consistently brings one or both of her compelling female protagonists out of the shadows and to readers’ attention. Overall, this is another entertaining historical novel that taught me something new.
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About the Author
Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years of experience as a litigator, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. A graduate of Boston College and Boston University School of Law, she is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of DAUGHTER OF EGYPT, THE QUEENS OF CRIME, THE MITFORD AFFAIR, HER HIDDEN GENIUS, THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE, LADY CLEMENTINE, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, CARNEGIE’S MAID, and THE OTHER EINSTEIN. She has also coauthored with Victoria Christopher Murray the New York Times bestselling THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN, a Good Morning America book club pick, and THE FIRST LADIES, Target’s 2023 Book of the Year — and with Courtney Sheinmel, THE SECRETS OF LOVELACE ACADEMY. All have been translated into multiple languages, and many have been selected for national book clubs. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FATAL PATTERN (The King Legacy Book #2) by Kate Angelo on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A COVERT INVESTIGATION
A stalker attacks behavioral analyst Dr. Tori Crew at knifepoint, shattering the fierce independence she’s built since her parents’ unsolved murder. Forced into an off-the-books criminal investigation, Tori must push her expertise–and her fiercely guarded heart–to the breaking point as a killer’s pattern emerges.
A LOOMING THREAT
Homicide detective Blade St. James has been Tori’s friend and protector since childhood. Haunted by his own past of parental abandonment, Blade is determined to build a stable life and find the peace that always seems just out of reach. But when Tori’s life is threatened, his guardian reflexes collide with everything he’s been trying to build.
A HIDDEN MENACE
As the conspiracy rooted in Tori’s past pulls them deeper, the boundaries of their friendship blur, and the truth neither can deny becomes impossible to ignore. Can they unmask the sophisticated serial killer before they become the final, fatal piece in the pattern?
In this gripping romantic suspense thriller, Kate Angelo delivers pulse-pounding psychological suspense and forensic investigations threaded with slow-burn romance and a heart-stopping cold case.
FATAL PATTERN (The King Legacy Book #2) by Kate Angelo is a fast-paced, emotional roller coaster of a Christian romantic suspense that delivers more answers tied to the over-arching criminal conspiracy plot from The King Legacy book #1, Girl Lost, and a new romance between two members of the previously introduced group of friends. I recommend reading book one first because of the large amount of crossover between the two books.
Dr, Tori Crew has a stalker. Detective Blade St. James has been Tori’s protector since childhood when they were taken into Stryker’s Warriors program for troubled and or delinquent children. As the stalker escalates, Tori and Blade receive information that this may all tie back to Tori’s childhood and the murder of her parents.
The conspiracy is even deeper than they imagined. Her parent’s deaths are leading them to clues that grow into a serial killer investigation and conspiracy in local law enforcement agencies that tie into organ harvesting which almost got their friends killed previously. But who can they trust, and will their discoveries lead them to the killer or their own deaths?
This second book in The King Legacy series is full of surprises and twists. The characters and the over-arching suspense plot from book one around a criminal conspiracy involved in organ harvesting keeps the plot moving with an ever-increasing sense of dread and peril. The killer’s fascination with fractals made an interesting, and to me, unique plot point. Both Tori and Blade had not only a serious investigation to solve but also had to face many of their childhood traumas to move forward and move from friendship to couple. The romance is a slow-burn romance with no sex scenes due to this being a Christian romantic suspense. The author ties the scripture verse in the preface of the story to the denouement perfectly and does not make the reader feel as if they are being preached at throughout the story. There are still more questions to be answered, and I look forward to reading more books in this series.
I highly recommend this thrilling Christian romantic suspense addition to The King Legacy series.
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Excerpt
1
THE COLD EDGE OF THE BLADE kissed Tori Crew’s throat, drawing a rivulet of blood that began its descent down her neck. “Don’t move.” The whisper brushed against her ear. Tori tasted bile at the back of her throat, and for one horrifying moment, she thought she might throw up. Her pulse thumped against the knife pressed to her carotid. Each beat reverberated through the steel and deep into her bones.
The parking lot at the Kingdom MMA Gym stretched dark and empty around her. It was her stupid idea to meet at 4:30 a.m., and now here she was all alone. No witnesses. No help.
Stryker should be here. Setting up folding chairs in a circle near the boxing ring, brewing that industrial- strength coffee that could wake the dead, preparing for morning Bible study with the kids who lived in the residential program.
But Stryker wasn’t coming.
Stryker lay unconscious in a hospital bed, his salt-and-pepper hair loose around his pale face instead of tied back the way he always wore it. Some lunatic had tried to kill her mentor. One of the greatest men she’d ever known, and now—
The blade pressed deeper. “I said don’t move.”
Her knees wanted to buckle, but she locked them straight. Stryker had taught her that. Stay strong. Stay focused. The fighter in her knew what to do. Elbow to solar plexus. Heel to instep. Grab the wrist. Twist. Three seconds and he’d be on the ground. But he had the knife pressed just right. She couldn’t make a move without him slicing through a major artery. One wrong angle, and she’d bleed out before she hit the pavement. She forced her breathing to slow. Fought the adrenaline that wanted to flood her system and make her do something stupid. Assess. Analyze. Act.
The mantra from Krav Maga training steadied her racing thoughts. Observe first. Plan the attack. Strike when the odds shifted.
“You’re bleeding.” His breath was hot against her neck. “I’ve always liked the color of blood.”
She cataloged details. Male. Less than six feet tall, based on the angle of the knife. Maybe 5′9″. Right-handed. Gloves. No discern able accent. No alcohol on his breath. Not impulsive. Calculated. Educated.
He drew in a breath. “Such a pretty shade of red, don’t you think?”
“Who . . . who are you?” She worked to keep her voice steady despite the tremors threatening to overtake her body. “I’m the one who watches. I’m your . . . shadow. A part of you.” His free hand clamped around her chest, crushing her arms against her ribs. The blade pressed deeper, stealing her breath. “You’ve been busy. Two new cases, six trips to the gym, and you changed your coffee order to vanilla instead of caramel.”
Her stalker. The one who’d been leaving notes on her car. The one who’d been calling and hanging up. The one the police wouldn’t pursue because the “non- violent harassment” apparently didn’t meet the threshold for a credible threat.
He’d been watching everything.
Her stomach twisted, not with fear— she could handle fear—
but with fury. “You think that makes you powerful? It makes you pathetic.”
The knife pressed deeper. Not enough to do serious damage, but enough to elicit another drop of blood. His gloved finger caught the droplet sliding down her neck, then traced it back up to the wound.
“Ah. We mustn’t lose too much. Not yet.”
She analyzed his posture. The way he held the knife. How his chest rose and fell against her back. “What do you want?” “To show you that I can kill you anytime I want.” His laugh was soft, almost tender. “This is just the beginning, Dr. Crew. I’m not done toying with you yet.”
Fight instinct coiled through her muscles, but her mind weighed the odds again and overrode them. Information. Get information. Every criminal had a pattern, a motivation. Understanding him meant catching him. And catching him meant ending this night mare.
She strained her eyes to the right, trying to catch even a sliver of his face in her peripheral vision. “Why me?”
“Because you think you understand the darkness,” he said. “But you don’t. Not like I do.”
A pair of headlights sliced through the blackness, white light stabbing her retinas. The blade lifted from her throat. She spun, fist cocked for a power jab at his face, but she only struck air. Gone. The coward had melted into the shadows along the wall, black clothing swallowed by the darkness as he disap peared into the alley beyond. Her chance—blown. She could have ended this right here, right now. Could have put him down and dragged answers out of him. Instead, she was standing here bleeding while he slipped away like the roach he was.
A car screeched to a halt beside her. The driver’s door flew open. Detective Blade St. James erupted from his unmarked Charger with his hand on his holstered weapon. “Tori? You okay?” Her fingers went to her throat and came away sticky with blood. She stared at the crimson smear. A savage anger bubbled up inside her chest. He’d touched her. Cut her. And vanished like smoke.
“What the—” Blade’s eyes widened at her blood- slick fingertips. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s just a scratch.” Her knees felt shaky. She’d had every skill and training to handle situations exactly like this, and she’d let the stalker get the drop on her.
“What happened? Who was that?”
“My stalker.” She pressed the cut to stem the bleeding. “Stalker?” His voice rose in disbelief. “What stalker? Since when do you have a stalker?”
“Three weeks, give or take.” A crimson droplet had dropped on her knuckle. Perfect. Round. Like a bead of glass. “I’ve always liked the color of blood.”
Ice slid through her veins.
“And you didn’t think to mention this?” Blade had his phone out. “We need to call this in. Get you to a hospital.” “No.” She caught his wrist. “The locals are aware, but you know stalker cases. Nothing they can do.”
“Tori, he had a knife to your throat.” His voice ticked up. “That’s attempted murder.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is that simple. Let’s do this right. Get an officer out here. Take your statement, photos, dust for prints, canvass witnesses—” “There are no witnesses at four thirty in the morning!” She swept her arm toward the deserted street and empty parking lot. “And he wore gloves, so no prints. We’ve got nothing.” “All the more reason to report it. You say this guy’s been watch ing you for weeks, and now he’s crossed the line to physical assault. He’s escalating.”
“You think I don’t know that?” She dropped her hand from the cut and stormed over to Blade’s car.
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Author Bio
Kate Angelo is the Publishers Weekly bestselling author of Hunting the Witness, Selah Award winner of Deadly Holiday Hijack, and Amazon Top 100 bestseller of Driving Force. Kate works alongside her husband championing stronger marriages and families. Her journey from foster care to bestselling author fuels her fast-paced romantic suspense, where flawed characters discover hope and healing through life’s fiercest trials and relationships. When she’s not putting fictional people through the wringer, she’s out creating real-life happily-ever-afters at conferences and events nationwide.
