Web of Lies

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Authors: Brandilyn Collins

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Other Books by Brandilyn Collins

Kanner Lake Series

1
| Violet Dawn

2
| Coral Moon

3
| Crimson Eve

4
| Amber Morn

Hidden Faces Series

1
| Brink of Death

2
| Stain of Guilt

3
| Dead of Night

4
| Web of Lies

Bradleyville Series

1
| Cast a Road Before Me

2
| Color the Sidewalk for Me

3
| Capture the Wind for Me

Chelsea Adams Series

1
| Eyes of Elisha

2
| Dread Champion

BRANDILYN COLLINS

best selling author

book four

Web of Lies

hidden faces series

The devil . . . was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.

JOHN 8:44

ZONDERVAN

WEB OF LIES

Copyright © 2005 by Brandilyn Collins

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-54319-0

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan,
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Collins, Brandilyn.

Web of lies / Brandilyn Collins.

p.  cm. — (Hidden faces series ; bk. 4)

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25106-4

1. Police artists — Fiction. 2. Women artists — Fiction. I. Title.

PS3553.O4747815W43 2006

813'. — dc22

2005021093

Published in association with Browne & Miller Literary Associates LLC, 410 South Michigan Ave., Suite 460, Chicago, IL 60605.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the
Holy Bible: New International Version
®
. NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.

08 09 10 11 12 13 14
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5

For my pals
Deb Raney and Robin Lee Hatcher.
Heh-heh.
Now you have to read it.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgments

A Note to My Readers

Prologue

Thursday, September 22

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Friday, September 23

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Saturday, September 24

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Sunday, September 25 – Monday, September 26

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Saturday, October 22

Epilogue

Read an excerpt from Dark Pursuit

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

Acknowledgments

M
y deep gratitude, as always, to members of the Zondervan fiction team, who make my books so much better. And to Niwana Briggs, who has critiqued just about all of my manuscripts.

Citizens of Redding, thanks again for letting me “borrow” your city for this series. As with the other Hidden Faces books, I have fictionalized much about your area, including Annie’s neighborhood of Grove Landing, some roads, plus the buildings and certain procedures of the Redding Police and Shasta County Sheriff’s Departments.

Karen T. Taylor, the nationally known forensic artist mentioned in this story, is a real person. You will see Annie employ Taylor’s recognized method for two-dimensional facial reconstruction from the skull. This method, as well as the study of skeletal remains to determine gender, height, race, etc., requires precision and often long hours of work. While
Web of Lies
includes overviews of these tasks, I have had to sacrifice some details in order to keep my story moving. In the end, this is a work of fiction, not a textbook. For an excellent text detailing two-dimensional reconstruction, plus all facets of forensic art, please see Karen T. Taylor’s book,
Forensic Art and Illustration
, or visit her website at www.karenttaylor.com.

A Note to My Readers

“W
hen
are you going to write another Chelsea Adams book?” This is a question I have heard countless times.

My first two suspense novels,
Eyes of Elisha
and
Dread Champion
, featured Chelsea Adams, a Christian woman to whom God speaks through visions. In both of these stories, the visions God gives Chelsea about murder and malice send her on labyrinthine journeys that she would not have chosen, but that God wants her to make for the sake of justice.

Fans of this Hidden Faces series have often added the same question in their letters: “When will we see Chelsea Adams again?”

And so the idea for
Web of Lies
was born.

There were some challenging hurdles along the way, however. The two series were written in very different formats, not the least of which involved character perspective. Annie’s stories in Hidden Faces have been in first person. Chelsea’s stories were not. As a result,
Web of Lies
evolved as a blend of both the characters and the varying points of view from these two series.

By the way, a note for those who haven’t read
Eyes of Elisha
and
Dread Champion
: you’ll find no spoilers for those stories within this book.

And now — off we go on another roller coaster ride. As always, strap yourself in, hold tight, and

don’t forget to
breathe
. . .

Prologue

S
he was washing dishes when her world began to blur.

Chelsea Adams hitched in a breath, her skin pebbling. She knew the dreaded sign all too well. God was pushing a vision into her consciousness.

Black dots crowded her sight. She dropped a plate, heard it crack against the porcelain sink. Her fingers fumbled for the faucet. The hiss of water ceased.

God, I don’t want this. Please!

But this one was strong; no stopping it now. Chelsea’s legs jellied. She stumbled across the kitchen and collapsed into a chair.

The room went black. Chelsea gripped the edge of her seat with palsied hands — and waited . . .

First, an overwhelming sense of evil. It rolled over her, terrifying, oppressive. Crushing her lungs as though she’d been shoved into a black, airless cave. She struggled to breathe.

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