Never Die Alone (A Bentz/Montoya Novel Book 8) (34 page)

“Okay. We.”

Montoya’s grin grew wide and wicked as he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his signature shades. “We’ll get the bastard.”

“Promise?”

“You got it.” He slid his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. “The bastard doesn’t stand a chance.”

Chuckling, Bentz slipped his badge back into its case. “Come on, let’s get out of here. It’s almost Halloween and that means the baby’s birthday party, so I’ve got major dad duties to perform.”

“And you love it.”

“Yeah.” No reason to lie. “I do.”

Montoya laughed as they walked out of the office and down the hallway, but Bentz didn’t quite let go of his dark, worrisome thoughts about Father John.

He hated that son of a bitch.

 

 

As the moon rose over the bayou, he climbed into his new cabin situated over the water. The night was sticky, the mosquitoes thick. He’d been quiet. Leaving well enough alone, but the itch was with him again, the need firing his blood, the sound of bullfrogs and crickets reminding him it was time to hunt.

He switched on the radio and listened to her voice, low and sexy, offering up advice over the airways. He thought of calling her. It was so much easier now with cell phones, but he waited and eyed the cassock hanging from its hook. Detective Bentz would be expecting that move and there was no way Father John was going to be outfoxed by the cop who’d nearly killed him. Oh, no. Their dance wasn’t over. Not yet.

“Just you wait,” he whispered into the night.

Closing his eyes for a second, he listened to the sounds of the bayou and heard a fish jump as he reached for his rosary, the beads winking blood red in the lantern’s glow. For a few minutes, he ran the string lovingly through his fingers. But it didn’t feel quite right, he thought, opening his eyes to the night. Finding his file, he set to work, sharpening each bead to a razor-sharp point, making certain that the wire he’d used to string the beads together in their unique pattern was strong.

Sooner or later the urge would overtake him again.

He could only fight it so long.

And then it was simple: He would have to kill again.

 

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed
Never Die Alone
. I’m lucky that I can revisit some of my favorite characters.

Recently I was asked to write a sequel to
Deep Freeze
and
Fatal Burn
, two of my most popular novels that are currently being repackaged and republished in December 2015 and February 2016. This new novel,
After She’s Gone
, takes up about a decade after the first two books end.

In
Deep Freeze
, Jenna Hughes along with her two daughters has escaped the glam and glitz of Hollywood. Little does the ex-actress know that an obsessed fan, one with murderous intent has stalked her all the way to the shores of the Columbia River and the small town she now calls home. Not only is she in danger, but both of her daughters, Cassie and Allie, too, are in the maniac’s brutal plans.

Fatal Burn
takes up where
Deep Freeze
leaves off. In this story, Dani Settler, a tomboy and friend of Jenna’s daughter Allie, goes missing. The bloody trail turns instantly cold and the police as well as her father are stymied. While Travis Settler frantically searches for his daughter, Dani is running out of time and must rely solely upon her wits to keep herself alive against her would-be hate-filled killer.

After She’s Gone
, a brand-new book, will be in the stores in January 2016. This book takes up nearly a decade after
Deep Freeze
and catches up with Allie and Cassie Kramer, both who have tested the waters of acting in Hollywood with varied success. Allie, the younger sibling is much more famous than her older sister. Jealousy and rivalry have been parts of their lives and culminate when Allie goes missing, and Cassie, never all that stable to begin with, is suspected in her sister’s disappearance. Is Allie dead? The victim of her sister’s jealousy? Is she part of an elaborate publicity stunt? Or is she now the victim of her own insidious stalker with his own malevolent intent. Catch up with the Kramer sisters and find out in
After She’s Gone
.

For those of you who are into my Grizzly Falls series that features Detectives Alvarez and Pescoli, you’ll be glad to know that in late 2016, there will be two more books available.
Expecting to Die
takes up where
Deserves to Die
left off, with a very pregnant Regan Pescoli debating whether she’ll stay on the force or throw in her badge and stay home after her baby is born. Unfortunately an old nemesis plans to take the choice away from her and all her carefully laid plans, as well as the lives of her family, are threatened. Things only get worse in
Willing to Die
where Pescoli and Alvarez battle a foe who is willing to sacrifice everything to extract a deadly revenge.

I think you’ll like the stories. At least, I hope so.

If you’d like more information on these books or any other I’ve written, please check out my website. At
www.lisajackson.com
you’ll be able to see what’s new and read excerpts from upcoming as well as already published books. Also, you can like me on Facebook at Lisa Jackson Fans or follow me at readlisajackson on Twitter.

In this explosive new thriller, #1
New York Times
bestselling author Lisa Jackson delves into the deep bond between two sisters and their shared dream that becomes a harrowing nightmare of madness, hatred and jealousy . . .

 

Cassie Kramer and her younger sister, Allie, learned the hazards of fame long ago. Together, they’d survived the horror of a crazed fan who nearly killed their mother, former Hollywood actress Jenna Hughes. Still, Cassie moved to L.A., urging Allie to follow. As a team, they’d take the town by storm. But Allie, finally free of small-town Oregon, and just that little bit more beautiful, also proved to be more talented—and driven. Where Cassie got bit parts, Allie rose to stardom. But now her body double has been shot on the set of her latest movie—and Allie is missing.

 

Police discover that the last call to Allie’s phone came from Cassie, though she has no recollection of making it. Instead of looking like a concerned relative, Cassie is starting to look like a suspect—the jealous sister who finally grew sick of playing a supporting role. As the tabloids go into a frenzy, Cassie ends up on a Portland psych ward. Is she just imagining the sinister figure who comes to her bedside, whispering about Allie—a visitor of whom there is no record? Is someone trying to help—or drive her mad?

 

Convinced she’s the only one who can find Allie, Cassie checks herself out of the hospital. But a sudden slew of macabre murders—each victim masked with a likeness of a member of Cassie’s family—makes Cassie fear for her safety and her sanity. The only way to end the nightmare is to find out what really happened to Allie. And with each discovery, Cassie realizes that no one can be trusted to keep her safe—least of all herself. . .

 

H
e watched.

Carefully.

Paying attention to every detail as the rain sheeted from the night-dark sky and streetlights reflected on the wet pavement.

Two women were running, faster and faster and he smiled as the first passed into the lamp’s pool of illumination. Her face was twisted in terror, her beautiful features distorted by fear.

Just as they should have been.

The slower woman was a few steps behind and constantly looking over her shoulder, as if she were expecting something or someone with murderous intent to be hunting her down.

Just as he’d planned.

As if they heard him, the women raced forward.

His throat tightened and his fists balled in nervous anticipation.

Gasping, the slower woman paused, one hand splayed over her chest as she leaned over to catch her breath beneath the street lamp. Rain poured down from the heavens. Her hair was wet, falling in dripping ringlets around her face, her white jacket soaked through. Again she glanced furtively behind her, past the empty sidewalks and storefronts of this forgotten part of the city. God, she was beautiful, as was the first one, each a fine female specimen that he’d picked precisely for this moment.

His heart was pumping wildly, anticipation and adrenaline firing his blood as an anticipatory grin twisted his lips.

Good. This is
so
good.

Silently he watched as from the corner of his eye, the first woman raced past him just as he’d hoped. Eyes focused ahead, she was seemingly oblivious to his presence, but, in his heart, he knew she realized he was there, observing her every movement, catching each little nuance of fear. He saw determination and horror in the tense lines of her face, heard it in her quick, shallow breaths and the frenzied pounding of her footsteps as she’d flown past.

And then she was gone.

Safely down the street.

He forced his full attention to the second woman, the target. She twisted her neck, turned to look his way, as if she felt him near, as if she divined him lurking in the deep umbra surrounding the street.

His heart missed a beat.

Her expression, at this distance was a little blurry, but he sensed that she was scared to death. Terrified. Exactly what he wanted.

Her lower lip trembled.

Satisfaction warmed his blood.

As if she heard a sound, she stiffened, her head snapping to stare down the darkened alley.

Her eyes widened and suddenly she started running again, this time in a sheer panic. She slipped, lost a high heel and she kicked off the other, never missing a step her bare feet still slapping the wet pavement frantically.

He shifted slightly, giving himself a better view, makes sure that he didn’t miss a thing.

At that moment a dark figure stepped from a shadowed doorway to stand right in front of the woman.

Screaming, she veered a bit, slipped and nearly lost her balance, only to keep on running, angling away from the man.

Too late!

The assassin raised his gun.

Three shots rang out, echoing along the empty street, fire spitting from the gun’s muzzle.

She stumbled and reeled, her face a mask of fear as she twisted and fell onto the pavement. Her eyes rolled upward, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Another bloom of red rose darkly through her white jacket.

Perfect,
he thought, satisfied at last as he viewed her unmoving body.

Finally, after years of planning, he’d pulled it off.

Allie Kramer was dead.

ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

 

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

 

Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Jackson, LLC

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 

To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

 

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

 

 

Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

 

ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3605-0
ISBN-10: 1-4201-3605-4

ISBN: 978-1-4201-3605-0