Excerpt from Marnie Malone
"A sudden
realization hit her like one of the bolts of lightning that continued to streak
through the room every few minutes. Oh,
my God! The gun! How could I have forgotten about it? Relief surged through
her body. She was going to get through this alive!
But she had to
hurry. She knew her intruder would be back any second and she needed to be
ready. She quickly turned to her left, stretched out her hands and burrowed them
under Sam’s pillow, expecting to find the revolver she had hidden there.
But she couldn’t
find it. Her heart raced. Oh, my God! What
if he found it while I was unconscious?
The gun was her
only hope. Without it, she was as good as dead. She pictured Sam coming home in
the morning and finding her mutilated body. The word “mutilated” sent a shiver
down her spine. But she knew her attacker was so full of rage he would take it
out on her. It wouldn’t be an easy death. He would make sure she suffered
first."
It’s Marnie’s last
week at the law firm of Cliburn & Reeves and she feels like she’s riding an
emotional roller coaster. Up when she wins the divorce and custody battle for
Callie Jackson against her abusive husband, Jed. And plummeting down when one
witness after another decides not to testify against Mark Hall, an attorney at
another Charleston firm and an “alleged” serial rapist.
Marnie receives
one threat after another and she constantly feels the need to look over her
shoulder, convinced that someone is stalking her. With Sam out of town on
business, she’s alone in the big, old farmhouse and strange things are
happening. Noises in the attic, creaking floorboards and someone watching her
from the woods.
As she tries to
determine the identity of the stalker, the list of men who have grudges against
her grows longer each day. In her line of work she’s made enemies. Is the
stalker someone from the past or one of the men on her list? And, how far will
he go?