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Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Love best-selling fiction?
  3. Also by McGarvey Black
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. Acknowledgements
  60. A note from the publisher
  61. Love best-selling fiction?
  62. You will also enjoy:

Zoe squinted her eyes at him and shook her head in disbelief. “How does that help the dead man? He’s already dead. You can’t unring that bell.”

“Back up, Miss Thing,” said Sean. “We did the best we could. We tried everything.”

“Tell that to the dead guy.”

“I’m officially changing the subject,” said Sean. “So, this gorgeous person moved into my building today. I think I’m in love. He lives one floor above me. I met him when I walked into my building by the mailboxes.”

Still obsessing about the murder plot as Sean waxed poetic about his new neighbor, Zoe looked over at the clock on the end table. “Can we put a pin in this for now,” she said. “It’s almost eight. Conner will be calling in a few minutes and I want to give your new neighbor conversation my full attention.”

They ended their chat, promising to FaceTime later to watch reruns of Friends on TV together—a regular late-night activity they engaged in whenever Conner was away.

Zoe poured a little more bourbon into her glass, settled onto the couch and waited for her husband’s call. At 7:57pm her phone rang.

“Hey babe,” said Zoe, looking around at the mess in the apartment and glad they weren’t doing a video call. Oy, I have to clean this whole place before Conner gets home. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“Same here,” said Conner, “been a long week. They scheduled all of our sessions with practically no breaks and we even had some evening classes. It’s been non-stop, my head feels like it’s going to explode. Will be nice to get home.”

The buzzer from the lobby sounded. “That’s weird,” said Zoe as she got up holding the phone and walked towards the intercom by the front door. “Hang on a sec, babe, the doorman just buzzed from the lobby.” She pushed the intercom button.

“Ms. Brandt, I’ve got a flower delivery for you. Okay if I send him up?”

“Flowers? Sure, won’t say no to that,” said Zoe, smiling.

She put the phone back to her ear. “Conner, did you send me something else? I thought you were mad at me after our call last night and I was feeling a little anxious about that. That was so sweet of you.”

Before Conner could respond there was a sharp knock on the front door. “Hold on a second, babe,” she said to her husband as she walked down the hall. Looking through the peephole, Zoe saw nothing but flowers on the other side and let out a little squeal. Turning the top and bottom locks, the door swung open. A burly man with dark wavy hair, wearing a delivery uniform, gloves, a face mask, glasses and hat stood in the hall holding a large pink-and-white flower arrangement.

“Zoe Brandt?” he said.