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Back The Request Save as PDF
Chapters (104)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The Request
  3. ALSO BY DAVID BELL
  4. Dedication
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  65. CHAPTER SIXTY
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  75. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  76. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  77. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  85. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  86. CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
  87. CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
  88. CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
  89. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
  90. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
  91. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
  92. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
  93. CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
  94. CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
  95. CHAPTER NINETY
  96. CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
  97. CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
  98. CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
  99. CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
  100. Readers Guide
  101. Questions for Discussion
  102. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  103. About the Author
  104. What’s next onyour reading list?

“Of course I’m kicking myself for leaving the phone upstairs.” She did a face-palm. “If I’d had the phone, I could have taken his picture. I could have shown you and the cops. But I didn’t have it. He wasn’t much taller than you, Ryan. Maybe the same height. Not much hair. Kind of haunted-looking in the eyes, like he’d been kicked around by life pretty good. But clean. Not like a bum or a homeless guy. Just kind of pushy. He kept saying he needed to talk to one of you guys. And that he needed to tell me what was going on. If I’d just open the door, he said, he could explain everything, and it would all make sense.”

“But you didn’t open the door to him, did you?” I asked.

Steam started to come out of the spout of the teakettle, and within a few seconds, it whistled, a high, piercing shriek. Amanda turned the burner off with a flick of her wrist. Before she poured anything, she looked over at me.

“I undid the lock so I could talk to him through the little space the chain allowed,” she said. “It was hard to hear through the glass. And it felt kind of rude.”

“Rude?”

“The guy said he knew you. He said he was a friend of yours and Blake’s. How could I know he wasn’t? I still don’t know that he wasn’t.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

“Damn it, Amanda.” I clenched my fists, holding them down at my sides. “He could have kicked the door in once you did that.” I knew my voice came out like a sizzling hiss through pressed lips. “Do you know how easy that would have been?”

Amanda calmly went about her business. She poured tea into two mugs—she didn’t offer me any—and then passed one of the mugs to Sam, who took it with both hands and thanked her. Amanda then turned back to me.

“Do you think I don’t know that, Ryan? Do you think I didn’t learn that in my college self-defense class? Did it ever occur to you that I had my reasons?” Her voice rose a little in anger, although she kept it under control. “Maybe I want to know what’s going on around here. Maybe I thought this random guy had some information that would clear things up. And if that meant I had to open the door a crack to a stranger, I was going to do it.”

“But it’s—”