The Second Time Around

Acclaim for THE QUEEN OF SUSPENSE
#1
New York Times
Bestselling Author
MARY HIGGINS CLARK

THE SECOND TIME AROUND

“[Clark] knows how to spin an intriguing tale . . . she's created a convincing heroine in Carley.”

—Booklist

DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL

“Clark certainly has a few tricks left in her bag.”

—Boston Globe

“Her best in years . . . a tightly woven, emotionally potent tale of suspense and revenge. . . . With its textured plot, well-sketched secondary characters, strong pacing, and appealing heroine, this is Clark at her most winning.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Few stories of obsession will grab readers quite like this one.”

—Ottowa Citizen

“A fast and fascinating read.”

—Knoxville News-Sentinel
(TN)

“Daddy's Little Girl
is the best book Clark has written in two years. Her work seems somehow more solid, the plotting more deft. The . . . ending is so unexpected and harrowing I just had to sit back and allow the story to run through my mind until I absorbed the depth of all I'd just read.”

—
Tulsa World
(OK)

ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE

“Is a reincarnated serial killer at work in a New Jersey resort town more than a century after he first drew blood? That's the catchy premise that supports Clark's 24th book. . . . This is a plot-driven novel, with Clark's story mechanics at their peak of complexity, clever and tricky.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A suspenseful page-turner that will delight her many fans.”

—Booklist

“The cleverly complex plot gallops along at a great clip, the little background details are
au courant,
and the identities of both murderers come as an enjoyable surprise.
On the Street Where You Live
just may be Clark's best in years.”

—
Amazon.com

BEFORE I SAY GOOD-BYE

“Mary Higgins Clark knows what she's doing. . . . This savvy author always comes up with something unexpected. . . . A hold-your-breath ending.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“Romantic suspense has no more reliable champion than Mary Higgins Clark. Her characters are . . . breezy and fun, and so is this confection of a book.”

—Publishers Weekly

“For someone who loves plot, Mary Higgins Clark's
Before I Say Good-Bye
should be like manna from heaven. . . . [The] ‘Queen of Suspense' clearly knows what her readers want. Here she provides it, in spades.”

—Los Angeles Times

“A smooth and easy read.”

—New York Post

“The storytelling skills of the newest grandmaster of mystery writing have never been better.”

—The Hartford Courant
(CT)

“Clark holds the reins the whole way through this tale of mischief and secrets, allowing us to unwind her labyrinth of hidden clues only as she wants them to unfold.”

—The Christian Science Monitor

“Characters so interesting the reader can identify with them in an instant.”

—Lexington Herald-Leader
(KY)

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Epilogue

‘Nighttime Is My Time' Excerpt

Once Again

For my nearest and dearest—

John Conheeney
—Spouse Extraordinaire

The Clark offspring—

Marilyn, Warren and Sharon, David, Carol,
and
Pat

The Clark grandchildren—

Liz, Andrew, Courtney, David, Justin,
and
Jerry

The Conheeney children—

John and Debby, Barbara, Trish, Nancy and David

The Conheeney grandchildren—

Robert, Ashley, Lauren, Megan, David, Kelly,
Courtney, Johnny, Thomas,
and
Liam

You're a grand bunch, and I love you all.

The end of writing a story is the beginning of expressing gratitude to those who made the journey with me.

My gratitude is endless to my longtime editor, Michael Korda. It is hard to believe that twenty-eight years have passed since we first started putting our heads together with
Where Are the Children?
It is a joy to work with him and for the last twelve years his associate, senior editor Chuck Adams. They are marvelous friends and advisors along the way.

Lisl Cade, my publicist, is truly my right hand—encouraging, perceptive, helpful in ways too numerous to mention. Love you, Lisl.

My gratitude continues to my agents Eugene Winick and Sam Pinkus. Truly friends for all seasons.

Associate Director of Copyediting Gypsy da Silva has once again been marvelous and meticulous. Many, many thanks and kudos to you always.

My gratitude to her associates Rose Ann Ferrick,
Barbara Raynor, Steve Friedeman, Joshua Cohen, and Anthony Newfield.

Again and always thanks and blessings to my assistants and friends Agnes Newton and Nadine Petry, and reader-in-progress, my sister-in-law, Irene Clark.

My daughter and fellow author Carol Higgins Clark is always my valued and helpful sounding board. We continue to communicate the highs and lows of creativity—the high begins when the book is finished.

I am so grateful to Clinical Research Associate Carlene McDevitt, who so willingly answered the questions I posed: Suppose? What if? If I got any details wrong when she answered those questions, I plead guilty.

I close with my thanks to my husband, John, and our wonderful combined families, children and grandchildren, who are named in the dedication.

And now, my dear readers, the tale has been told. I truly hope you enjoy.

T
he stockholders' meeting, or maybe the stockholders'
uprising
is a better way to describe the event, took place on April 21 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan. It was an unseasonably cold and wintry day, but suitably bleak considering the circumstances. The headline two weeks earlier that Nicholas Spencer, president and chief operating officer of Gen-stone had been killed in the crash of his private plane while flying to San Juan had been greeted with genuine and heartfelt grief. His company expected to receive the blessing of the Food and Drug Administration for a vaccine that would both eliminate the possibility of the growth of cancer cells and bring to a halt the progression of the disease in those already afflicted—a preventive and a cure that he alone was responsible for bringing to the world. He named the company “Gen-stone,” a reference to the Rosetta stone that had unveiled the language
of ancient Egypt and allowed the appreciation of its remarkable culture.

The headline proclaiming Spencer's disappearance was followed in short order by the announcement from the chairman of the board of Gen-stone that there had been numerous setbacks in the experiments with the vaccine and that it could not be submitted to the FDA for approval in the foreseeable future. The announcement further said that tens of millions of dollars had been looted from the company, apparently by Nicholas Spencer.

I'm Marcia DeCarlo, better known as Carley, and even as I sat in the roped-off media section at the stockholders' meeting, observing the furious or stunned or tearful faces around me, I still had a sense of disbelief in what I was hearing. Apparently Nicholas Spencer,
Nick,
was a thief and a fraud. The miracle vaccine was nothing more than the offspring of his greedy imagination and consummate salesmanship. He had cheated all these people who had invested so much money in his company, often their life savings or total assets. Of course they hoped to make money, but many believed as well that their investment would help make the vaccine a reality. And not only had investors been hurt, but the theft had made worthless the retirement funds of Gen-stone's employees, over a thousand people. It simply didn't seem possible.