With a cheerful wave, the woman turns and makes her way down the block.
The post office is just a few doors in the opposite direction. These last two envelopes-the ones to be delivered right here in town-must go out in this morning’s mail.
It’s important that they be mailed from here, so that the recipients will realize that the sender is nearby.
The timing is just as crucial. All four cards need to arrive at their destination tomorrow, on the anniversary.
The others went out first thing yesterday morning-one to Boston, one to Connecticut. That excursion was uneventful. It was raining, and there were no witnesses…
Unlike today.
Now isn’t the time to start taking chances. Not after months of painstakingly laying the groundwork. Not when it’s finally about to begin at last.
Millie.
That’s her name.
The post office can wait. The first pickup won’t be for at least another hour.
What a shame, Millie.
What a shame you weren’t more careful.
Dear Reader,
When our wonderful editor, John Scognamiglio, asked me to participate in writing a novel with fellow writers Lisa Jackson and Wendy Corsi Staub, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. After all, who wouldn’t want to collaborate with two of the most talented suspense/thriller authors in the business? Lisa came up with the basic idea and created the background for the story and the characters. She wrote the first third of the novel, telling the story from St. Elizabeth’s alumna Kristen Delmonico’s point of view. Then Wendy took the book from Portland, Oregon to New York City, and gave us Lindsay Farrell’s story. I came in for the final chapters, taking readers down South where Rachel Alsace lives in Huntsville, Alabama, and then back to Portland for the twenty-year reunion that brings these old friends together for the first time since high school.
Police detective Rachel Alsace once worked for the Chattanooga P.D. with another female officer, Lindsay (Lin) McAllister, and now Lindsay is a private detective for the Powell Agency in Knoxville, Tennessee. Rachel takes note of a serial killer case making headlines in many area newspapers-The Beauty Queen Killer case-because she knows her old friend has been personally involved in tracking this vicious murderer.
When Chattanooga millionaire Judd Walker’s wife, a former Miss Tennessee, was murdered, Lindsay assisted the lead detective on the case. During the investigation she found herself falling in love with the victim’s husband, a man on the edge of self-destructing. Filled with agonized grief and a mad thirst for revenge, Judd hired the Powell Agency, headed by his long-time friend Griffin Powell, to conduct an independent search for his wife’s killer. Four years and numerous murders later, the Beauty Queen Killer is still on the loose, and Judd has still not come to terms with the death of his wife.
Look for Lindsay McAllister and Judd Walker’s story in my next romantic thriller, THE DYING GAME, April 2007. And for those of you who have been clamoring for Griffin Powell’s story, I have good news. You will get the chance to learn more about this to-die-for billionaire P.I. and his mysterious past as he works with Lindsay and Judd to track down a killer who has outsmarted not only the Powell Agency for four years, but also local law enforcement and the FBI. All of Griff’s secrets will be revealed as he’s drawn into a very deadly and a very personal new game of murder in his own novel coming in February 2008.
I always love to hear from readers. You can e-mail me at bbarton@beverlybarton.com. For more information about my books and me or to sign up for my e-mail newsletter, go to my website at www.beverlybarton.com.
Thank you for reading MOST LIKELY TO DIE. Now, take a sneak peek at the prologue of THE DYING GAME!
Warmest regards,
Beverly Barton
The intensely bright lights blinded her. She couldn’t see anything except the white illumination that obscured everything in her line of vision. She wished he would turn off the car’s headlights.
Judd didn’t like for her to show houses to clients in the evenings and generally she did what Judd wanted her to do. But her career as a realtor was just getting off the ground, and if she could sell this half-million-dollar house to Mr. and Mrs. Farris, her percentage would be enough to furnish the nursery. Not that she was pregnant. Not yet. And not that her husband couldn’t well afford to furnish a nursery with the best of everything. It was just that Jennifer wanted the baby to be her gift to her wonderful husband and the nursery to be a gift from her to their child.
Holding her hand up to shield her eyes from the headlights, she walked down the sidewalk to meet John and Katherine Farris, an up-and-coming entrepreneurial couple planning to start a new business in Chattanooga. She had spoken only to John Farris. From their telephone conversations, she had surmised that John, like her own husband, was the type who liked to think he wore the pants in the family. Odd how considering the fact that she believed herself to be a thoroughly modern woman, Jennifer loved Judd’s old-fashioned sense of protectiveness and possessiveness.
When John Farris parked his black Mercedes and opened the driver’s door, Jennifer met him, her hand outstretched in greeting. He accepted her hand immediately and smiled warmly.
“Good evening, Mr. Farris.” Jennifer glanced around, searching for Mrs. Farris.
“I’m sorry, something came up at the last minute that delayed Katherine. She’ll be joining us soon.”
When John Farris raked his silvery blue eyes over her, Jennifer shuddered inwardly, an odd sense of uneasiness settling in the pit of her stomach. You’re being silly, she told herself. Men found her attractive. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t do anything to lead them on, nothing except simply being beautiful, which she owed to the fact she’d inherited great genes from her attractive parents.
Jennifer sighed. Sometimes being a former beauty queen was a curse.
“If you’d like to wait for your wife before you look at the house, I can go ahead and answer any questions you might have. I’ve got all the information in my briefcase in my car.”
He shook his head. “No need to wait. I’d like to take a look around now. If I don’t like the place, Katherine won’t be interested.”
“Oh, I see.”
He chuckled. “It’s not that she gives in to me on everything. We each try to please the other. Isn’t that the way to have a successful marriage?”
“Yes, I think so. It’s certainly what Judd and I have been trying to do. We’re a couple of newlyweds just trying to make our way through that first year of marriage.” Jennifer nodded toward the front entrance to the sprawling glass and log house. “If you’ll follow me.”
“I’d be delighted to follow you.”
Despite his reply sending a quiver of apprehension along her nerve endings, she kept walking toward the front steps, telling herself that if she had to defend her honor against unwanted advances, it wouldn’t be the first time. She knew how to handle herself in sticky situations. She carried pepper spray in her purse and her cell phone rested securely in her jacket pocket.
After unlocking the front door, she flipped on the light switch, which illuminated the large foyer. “The house was built in nineteen-seventy-five by an architect for his own personal home.”
John Farris paused in the doorway. “How many rooms?”
“Ten,” she replied, then motioned to him. “Please, come on in.”
He entered the foyer and glanced around, up into the huge living room and to the right into the open dining room. “It seems perfect for entertaining.”
“Oh, it is. There’s a state-of-the-art kitchen. It was completely gutted and redone only four years ago by the present owner.”
“I’d like to take a look,” he told her. “I’m the chef in the family. Katherine can’t boil water.”
Feeling a bit more at ease, Jennifer led him from the foyer, through the dining room and into the galley-style kitchen. “I love this kitchen. I’m not much of a cook myself, but I’ve been taking gourmet cooking lessons as a surprise for my husband.”