Authors: Brandilyn Collins
Deceit (33 page)
And I needed to look within myself, through God’s eyes, and root out any deceit that lingered in
me
. I didn’t know what that would do to my work. How do you skip trace without pretexting once in a while? (Pretexting—such a benign word for lying.) Perry said I was “catching the bad guys,” so it shouldn’t bother me. “Cops lie during interrogations,” he told me. “Sometimes they
have
to—to see justice done. You saw that happen with Trovky.”
But was God okay with that?
One thing I did know. If I opened my heart to God’s leading, he would show me any deceit he wanted me to shed.
For fifteen more minutes I sat at Linda’s grave. Praying silently. Talking aloud to her. Telling her how much I missed her.
“Well.” I took a deep breath. Tilted my head toward blue sky. “I should be going. I’ll be back soon.” I struggled to my feet. Brushed off my clothing. “Perry’s coming over for dinner.”
A regular occurrence these days—at least twice a week. Perry had hired new help at the store. So he could spend more time with me, he said.
Not such a bad thing, I thought as I walked away from my best friend’s resting place.
Besides, the smart man always brought Jelly Bellies.
Dear Reader:
Thank you for taking yet another Seatbelt Suspense® ride with me. I hope I’ve entertained you as well as raised some provocative questions in your mind about man’s natural tendency toward deceit. Some willfully dwell in it; some dabble. Others allow themselves to be pulled in, then can’t seem to escape. Thank God that he is able to deliver us from all manner of deception, if only we will allow him to do so.
And now I must thank some very helpful folks.
First, the usual suspects. The Zondervan team, ranging from editor Sue Brower to copy editor Bob Hudson, and all the assistants and proofreaders and marketing people along the way. Julee Schwarzburg, freelance editor, made this a far better book than its original draft. Thank you, Julee!
In my research for the field of skip tracing, I ran across Robert Scott’s
Skiptrace Seminar.com—The e-Book
. Scott, owner of Inter-Agency Investigations in Los Angeles, deserves credit for his detailed work, from which I drew much information. Tips on how to disappear were culled from skip tracer Frank M. Ahearn’s site.
Mike Carlson, retired ER doctor, was a great sport in answering my medical questions. Doc, thanks for allowing me to interrupt a very nice dinner party for a visual lesson in how to fatally stab someone in the back.
Brandilyn Collins
The figure remained still as stone. Leslie couldn’t even detect a breath.
Spider fingers teased the back of her neck.
Leslie’s feet rooted to the pavement. She dropped her gaze to the driveway, seeking…what? Spatters of blood? Footprints? She saw nothing. Honed through her recent coverage of crime scene evidence, the testimony at last month’s trial, the reporter in Leslie spewed warnings: Notice everything, touch nothing.
Leslie Williams hurries out to her car on a typical workday morning—and discovers a dead body inside. Why was the corpse left for her to find? And what is the meaning of the message pinned to its chest?
In
Coral Moon
, the senseless murder of a beloved Kanner Lake citizen spirals the small Idaho town into a terrifying glimpse of spiritual forces beyond our world. What appears true seems impossible.
Or is it?
Available in stores and online
!
Brandilyn Collins
Something sinuous in the water brushed against Paige’s knee. She jerked her leg away.
What was that?
She rose to a sitting position, groped around with her left hand.
Fine wisps wound themselves around her fingers.
Hair?
She yanked backward, but the tendrils clung. Something solid bumped her wrist.
Paige gasped. With one frantic motion she shook her arm free, grabbed the side of the hot tub, and heaved herself out.
Paige Williams slips into her hot tub in the blackness of night—and finds herself face to face with death.
Alone, terrified, fleeing a dark past, Paige must make an unthinkable choice
.
In
Violet Dawn
, hurtling events and richly drawn characters collide in a breathless story of murder, the need to belong, and faith’s first glimmer. One woman’s secrets unleash an entire town’s pursuit, and the truth proves as elusive as the killer in their midst.
Available in stores and online
!
Brandilyn Collins,
Bestselling Author
“Ever hear the dead knocking?”
Novelist Darell Brooke lived for his title as King of Suspense—until an auto accident left him unable to concentrate. Two years later, reclusive and bitter, he wants one thing: to plot a new novel and regain his reputation.
Kaitlan Sering, his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, once lived for drugs. After she stole from Darell, he cut her off. Now she’s rebuilding her life. But in Kaitlan’s town two women have been murdered, and she is about to discover a third. She’s even more shocked to realize the culprit is her boyfriend, Craig, the police chief’s son.
Desperate, Kaitlan flees to her estranged grandfather. For over forty years, Darell Brooke has lived suspense. Surely he’ll devise a plan to trap the cunning Craig.
But can Darell’s muddled mind do it? And—if he tries—with what motivation? For Kaitlan’s plight may be the stunning answer to the elusive plot he seeks…
Available in stores and online
!
A Novel
Brandilyn Collins,
Bestselling Author
When your worst fear comes true.
Someone is watching Kaycee Raye. But who will believe her? Everyone knows she’s a little crazy. Kaycee’s popular syndicated newspaper column pokes fun at her own paranoia and multiple fears. The police in her small town are well aware she makes money writing of her experiences. Worse yet, she has no proof of the threats. Pictures of a dead man mysteriously appear in her home—then vanish before police arrive. Multisensory images flood Kaycee’s mind. Where is all this coming from?
Maybe she is going over the edge.
High action and psychological suspense collide in this story of terror, twists, and desperate faith. The startling questions surrounding Kaycee pile high. Her descent to answers may prove more than she can survive.
Available in stores and online
!