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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:

“She’s shaken up but she’s fine. I can’t say the same for the man who attacked her.”

“You said he tried to strangle Zoe?” said Conner. “Was this the West Side Strangler?”

“I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation, Mr. Brandt.”

“Detective, I’m a special agent with the FBI,” said Conner, switching lanes on the road to pick up more speed.

“I’m aware of that, but we’re still putting all the pieces together and I can’t comment,” said Daryl. “We have descriptions of a man seen in the area of the other attacks. The man your wife killed has a similar physique and hair color. Street camera footage from a few of the other murder locations show a masked man with the same body type as the person who attacked your wife.”

An hour later, Conner Brandt raced into the 24th Street Precinct, flashed his FBI badge and was admitted immediately. A police officer escorted him to a small interrogation room. Zoe was sitting inside talking to the two detectives. When the door to the room opened and she saw her husband she broke down in tears and sobbed. He rushed over to her and held her in his arms. A white bandage with gauze was fixed on the back of her head and her neck and arms had already started turning purple.

“I was so scared,” she cried, clinging to him. “I thought I was going to die. I thought he was going to kill me.”

“Shhh. I’m here now. Everything is going to be all right,” said Conner with his arms wrapped around her. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Looks like we’ve got what we need for the moment,” said Daryl, making one final note on the paper in front of him.

“Are we free to go?” said Conner.

“I can’t go back into our apartment right now,” said Zoe, clinging to her husband.

“I’m afraid you can’t go home, anyway, Ms. Brandt,” said Daryl. “Your apartment is a crime scene. Until we’re finished with our forensic collection and the investigation is complete, you and your husband will need to find another place to stay.”

“One of my co-workers just left for a six-month assignment in California. He asked me to pick up his mail. I’ve got the keys to his apartment,” said Conner to his wife. “We can go there for a few days, okay?”

Still in shock, Zoe nodded and allowed her special-agent husband to take control as he escorted her slowly out of the police station.

44

Sunday—June 7, 2020

For the next couple of days, Zoe and Conner stayed in his colleague’s apartment. When they got an early call on Sunday morning from the police saying they could return to their home, Zoe began to tremble.