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Blake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes eleven books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising seven books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; and of the new KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising four books (and counting).
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES
ONCE GONE (Book #1)
ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)
ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)
ONCE LURED (Book #4)
ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)
ONCE PINED (Book #6)
ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)
ONCE COLD (Book #8)
ONCE STALKED (Book #9)
ONCE LOST (Book #10)
ONCE BURIED (Book #11)
ONCE BOUND (Book #12)
MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES
BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)
BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)
BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)
BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)
BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)
BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)
BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)
BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)
AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES
CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)
CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)
CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)
CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)
CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)
CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)
KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES
A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)
A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)
A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)
A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)
A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)
Prologue
Courtney Wallace felt a familiar burning in her lungs and her thighs. She slowed her jog down to a walk, then stopped, bent over with her hands on her knees, and gasped as she regained her breath.
It was a good, bracing feeling – a much better way to wake up than a cup of hot coffee, although in just a little while she’d have coffee with her breakfast. She still had plenty of time to shower and eat before she had to go to work.
Courtney loved the glow of early morning sunlight low among the trees and the lingering dampness of morning dew still in the air. Soon it would be a hot May day, but now the temperature was perfect, especially here in the gorgeous Belle Terre Nature Preserve.
She liked the solitude as well. She had seldom encountered another jogger along this trail – and never at this time of morning.
In spite of her satisfaction with her surroundings, a feeling of disappointment began to creep over her while she got her breathing back under control.
Her live-in boyfriend, Duncan, had promised yet again to come jogging with her – and yet again he had refused to wake up. He probably wouldn’t get up until long after she’d gone to work at her own office job, maybe not until afternoon.
Is he ever going to snap out of this? she wondered.
And when was he going to get another job?
She broke into a gentle trot, hoping to shake off her negative thoughts. Soon she broke into a full run, and that invigorating burning in her lungs and legs seemed to sweep her worry and disappointment away.
Then the ground gave out from under her.
She was falling – a weird, suspended moment that somehow felt agonizingly slow.
She crashed and crumpled with a brutal thump.
The sunlight was gone, and her eyes had to adjust.
Where am I? she wondered.
She saw that she was at the bottom of a narrow pit.
But how had she gotten here?
She felt a terrible pain shooting up her right leg.
She looked down and saw that her ankle was bent at an unnatural angle.
She tried to move her leg. The pain sharpened and she cried out. She tried to stand up, but her leg collapsed beneath her. She could actually feel the broken bones rasping against one another. Nausea rose in her throat and she nearly blacked out.
She knew she needed help and reached into her pocket for her cell phone.
It wasn’t there!
It must have fallen out.
It had to be here somewhere. She groped about to find it.
But she was partially entangled in a sort of rough, heavy, loosely woven blanket along with soil and leaves. She couldn’t find the phone.
It began to dawn on her that she had fallen into a trap – a hole with the debris-strewn cloth stretched over to hide it.
Was it somebody’s idea of a practical joke?
If so, it wasn’t the least bit funny.
And how was she going to get out of here?
The walls of the hole were straight, with no footholds or handholds. Unable to even stand up, she would never be able to get out of here on her own.
And no one else was likely to come along this trail soon, maybe not for hours.
Then she heard a voice directly above her.
“Hey! Did you have a bit of an accident?”
She breathed a little easier at the sound.
She looked up and saw that a man was standing above her. His figure was silhouetted against pale light, so she couldn’t make out his face.
Still, she could barely believe her luck. After so many mornings of seeing no one on this trail, this morning someone just happened to come by when she desperately needed help.
“I think my ankle is broken,” she called up to the man. “And I’ve lost my phone.”
“That sounds bad,” the man said. “How did it happen?”
What kind of question is that? she wondered.
Although there seemed to be a smile in his voice, Courtney wished she could see his face.
She said, “I was jogging, and… there was this hole, and…”
“And what?”
Courtney was