Sinful Deception Read online

  SINFUL

  DECEPTION

  LINDA S PRATHER

  and

  M A COMLEY

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling

  authors Linda S Prather and M A Comley

  Published by Jeamel Publishing limited

  Copyright © 2016 Linda S Prather and M A Comley

  Digital Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the site and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  OTHER BOOKS BY LINDA S PRATHER

  Sacred Secrets (#1 Jacody Ives mystery)

  The Gifts (#2 Jacody Ives mystery)

  Bet You Can’t…Find Me (#1 Catherine Mans FBI paranormal mystery)

  Eternal Beauty (#2 Catherine Mans FBI paranormal mystery)

  Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (#1 Jenna James Legal thriller)

  Shadows of Doubt (#2 Jenna James Legal thriller)

  Helena’s Diary (A romantic suspense novel)

  Food to Die Smiling For (Short stories and recipes)

  Clever Deception (co-written by M. A. Comley)

  Tragic Deception (co-written by M. A. Comley)

  Keep in touch with the author at

  http://jacodypress.blogspot.co.za/

  On Facebook

  Twitter @jacodypress

  Subscribe to newsletter

  OTHER BOOKS BY M A COMLEY

  Blind Justice (novella)

  Cruel Justice

  Mortal Justice (novella)

  Impeding Justice

  Final Justice

  Foul Justice

  Guaranteed Justice

  Ultimate Justice

  Virtual Justice

  Hostile Justice

  Tortured Justice

  Rough Justice

  Dubious Justice

  Calculated Justice

  Twisted Justice

  Justice at Christmas (short story)

  Prime Justice (Due out January 2017)

  Clever Deception (co-written by Linda S Prather)

  Tragic Deception (co-written by Linda S Prather)

  Forever Watching You (DI Miranda Carr thriller)

  Wrong Place (DI Sally Parker thriller)

  No Hiding Place (DI Sally Parker thriller)

  Web of Deceit (DI Sally Parker Novella with Tara Lyons)

  The Caller (co-written with Tara Lyons)

  Evil In Disguise – a novel based on True events

  Deadly Act (Hero series novella)

  Torn Apart (Hero Series #1)

  End Result (Hero Series #2)

  Hero #3 (Due out in Spring 2017)

  Sole Intention (Intention Series #1)

  Grave Intention (Intention Series #2)

  Devious Intention (Intention #3)

  Merry Widow (A Lorne Simpkins short story)

  It’s A Dog’s Life (A Lorne Simpkins short story)

  A Time To Heal (A Sweet Romance)

  A Time For Change (A Sweet Romance)

  High Spirits

  The Temptation Series (Romantic Suspense/New Adult Novellas)

  Past Temptation (available now)

  Lost Temptation (available now)

  Keep in touch with the author at

  http://melcomley.blogspot.com

  On Facebook

  Twitter @melcom1

  Subscribe to newsletter

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This book is dedicated to our combined fans without whom this collaboration would never have been possible.

  Special thanks as always go to our talented editor Stefanie Spangler Buswell and to Karri Klawiter for her superb cover design expertise.

  Our heartfelt thanks go to our wonderful proofreader Joseph for spotting all the lingering nits.

  TABLE OF CONTENT

  Cover

  Titles Page

  Copyright

  Other Books by the Authors

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  PROLOGUE

  Slap.

  “I’ve warned you before about messing with my man.”

  Candy Granger rubbed her burning cheek. Why did her mother always have to take their side? It had been the same with the lowlife who had warmed her mother’s bed before the detestable Duke. The scumbag made her skin crawl each time he dared to look at her, always thrusting his crotch in her direction and running his tongue around his lips. “Messing with your man, Mom? He’s the one who had his hands all over me. Open your eyes—he’s been trying to feel me up ever since I turned fifteen.”

  She ducked to avoid a second slap as her mother screamed at her. “Get your bags and get outta my sight. When I was fifteen…”

  Candy stopped listening. She’d heard the “when I was fifteen” story for the last ten years. It always ended the same—with her mother extolling how much she’d sacrificed and how ungrateful Candy was. “Forget it, Mom. I’ll leave.”

  She glared at Duke as she stalked through the living room and into her tiny bedroom. Now that he knows Mom is going to take his side, the gross son of a bitch will get even braver. The sound of her mother screaming at Duke gave her some comfort. What Candy couldn’t figure out was why her mother had come down so heavily on her instead of him. Any decent mother would have thrown out the boyfriend, not her only child. She strained an ear—the shouting had stopped. Then the trailer began to rock. It was always the same.

  Candy packed her backpack and left her bedroom. The sound of her mother and Duke having sex filled her with disgust. Mother was never going to change; neither were the men she dragged home with her. All her lovers had tried it on with Candy, eventually. Candy opened the front door then let it slam shut behind her. Dammit, all I needed was one more month. Ms. Tyson had promised to help me get my work paper.

  Leaving the trailer park, she sighed heavily, relieved in a way to be out of there. The park was well known to the NYPD. Her mom’s drug habit in particular had brought several officers to their door over the past few years. Nevertheless, it had been a place to sleep. What now?

  The conun
drum played on her mind during her trek to the city. Without any money, no close friends, and no family she knew of, there was no place to go. She couldn’t go to the shelter, not after the problems her mother had caused the last time she’d found Candy there.

  “Shit!” she exclaimed as a pebble pushed its way through the sole of her shoe. She glanced at the sky. “Is that all you’ve got? My feet were already hurting.” A sudden gust of wind struck up, driving the dust from the road into her tired eyes, blinding her for a second. Candy laughed and sat beside the road, rubbing at her eyes. Cursing God might not be the brightest idea I’ve had.

  Candy heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up beside her and peered through the darkness as the door to a Winnebago opened. An older woman smiled at her.

  “You look lost, child. What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere all by yourself?” the kind-looking woman asked.

  Candy hesitated for a moment, thinking of all the horror stories she’d heard on the news recently, but her aching feet and the way the woman was smiling warmly at her soon dispersed her fear. “I was headed into town, but the road dust blinded me.”

  A robust older man leaned forward over the steering wheel and asked, “Do you need a lift?”

  “No, it’s okay. Besides, you’re going in the wrong direction. I don’t want to put you out.”

  “Nonsense,” the woman said quickly. “When was the last time you ate a decent meal, child? You look like a good strong wind would blow you away.”

  Candy realized she hadn’t eaten anything but snacks in two days. “I’m all right. I’m not hungry.” Her stomach rumbled noisily, disputing her claim. “Guess that’s my body’s way of calling me a liar.”

  The three of them laughed. “Hop in. Our girls have already eaten and gone to bed. Plenty of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans left.” She patted her husband’s protruding stomach. “I’d be shot if he didn’t get at least two proper meals every day. What do you say, child?”

  Candy hesitated again. She was hungry, and maybe if she were lucky, they would let her sleep in the motor home, giving her one more day to figure out what she was going to do next. “I don’t want to impose on your kindness. I’ll be fine. I can see the city from here, and it won’t take me long to make it on foot.”

  The man revved the engine of the Winnebago. “Leave the girl be, Elisa. You’re too pushy sometimes.”

  The woman swiped her husband’s arm. “Hush now, John, what if it was one of our girls? I’m only trying to keep the child safe.” She turned to face Candy again. “Does your momma know you’re out here all on your own? We can drop you off at home.”

  Her head dipped. “She doesn’t care. She kicked me out a few hours ago. She was in bed with her boyfriend when I left.”

  “Such a shame. What about the rest of your family? Maybe we can drop you off at one of their homes.”

  “I don’t have anyone else. I was going to stay at a shelter tonight until I figured out what to do.”

  Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. “How dreadful. Then you’re definitely accepting a ride from us. We’ll take you into the city, and if we can’t find a decent shelter, we’ll put you up in a hotel for the night.”

  The more the couple interacted with her, the more she trusted them. Her view of adults was skewed by her years in the trailer park. What harm could it do to take a ride into the city? It would only take ten minutes instead of the hour or so she predicted it would take her to walk. “Okay, if you’re sure I’m not putting you out.”

  The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Here, honey, take this. It should get you a decent room for the night.”

  “Thank you.” Candy stuck the money in her jeans pocket.

  The woman jumped out of the vehicle and opened the side door. “Get in. I’ll fix you something to eat before we drop you off.”

  “Wow, this is beautiful.” Candy placed her bag on the floor. “I can’t thank you enough for pulling over and offering to help me out like this.”

  “Nonsense.” Elisa shushed her. “Do you want to use the bathroom to freshen up? I’ll heat up the food for you. Third door on the right.”

  Candy made her way to the bathroom, glancing into the bedroom on the left. The two bunk beds were occupied, but all she could see was long hair. She felt better knowing John and Elisa had children of their own. The smell of fried chicken seeped through the bathroom door, making her tummy rumble even more. Elation wrapped around her at her good fortune. So there are some kind people left in this crazy world. She rinsed the dirt out of her eyes, washed her hands and face, and dried them on the monogrammed beige towel hanging on the rail. Then she opened the door and rejoined her hosts. Glancing out the window, she realized how close they were to the city.

  Elisa placed the scrumptious food on the plate and set it on the table. “Well, don’t let it go cold now. I’ve poured you some milk. Do you want coffee, too?”

  “No, thank you. This smells fabulous.” Elisa motioned with her hand for Candy to tuck into her food. She did so with gusto before she downed her milk in one go. “That was great. Again, I can’t thank you…” Her tongue refused to work, and her jaw went slack as the woman standing before her suddenly started to look blurry. Before she could figure out what was happening, she tipped sideways onto the bench.

  ~

  Candy woke several hours later, her head pounding as she struggled to remember exactly what had happened. Forcing her head off the pillow, she groaned as bright light hit her aching eyes. She pushed herself up off the bunk. She was no longer in the back of the Winnebago but in an ice-white room, wearing a matching white hospital gown. Maybe John and Elisa had an accident. Candy checked her body over, feeling for injuries. I’m not hurt, so where the hell am I? She walked to the door and tried the knob. Locked.

  She turned to survey the room. It had a sterile quality that screamed hospital, but Candy couldn’t remember any hospital with nothing more than a bed, a sink and commode in the room. Her gaze homed in on the red numbers on the pillow. Thirty-Seven. She moved to the bed and pushed the pillow aside. The sheets had the same number printed on them, as did the blanket. What the hell? Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she pulled her arms out of the gown and turned it around. The number thirty-seven was stamped across the back in red. She pushed her arms through the holes and sat on the bunk. Looks like I’m number thirty-seven, and from what I can see, I’m in the loony bin.

  CHAPTER ONE

  A special news bulletin flashed across the TV screen. “The bodies of three young women were pulled from the New York sewer plant late last night.”

  Alex Fox flipped off the TV and picked up the leash. Dixie, her golden retriever, appeared at her feet within seconds. “Poor Derek,” Alex said. “His second day on the job as commander, and this falls in his lap.” Cinders meowed from his perch on the sofa arm. Alex took a minute to scratch behind his ears. “We won’t be gone long, boy.”

  It was six in the morning, and Alex had managed to roll out of bed a half hour early for extra jogging time with Dixie before her first day with the new team. “Come on, Dixie. I promised Nobby I’d be on his doorstep at seven thirty sharp, and you know how grumpy he gets if I’m late.”

  Dixie led the way through the door, down the steps, and out into the fresh air. Alex hated getting up at six, but she loved their early-morning runs through the park bordering their neighborhood. The early hour also allowed her to avoid other joggers and fitness enthusiasts doing their morning exercises.

  She spotted the man about twenty minutes after they had entered the park. It wasn’t going to be their lucky day, after all. He was young, in his mid-thirties, and even worse, he was walking toward them, grinning broadly. Alex ignored the grin and attempted to jog around him, but he did his best to block her path. “Sorry, sir, I need to get past.”

  His grin turned into a smile when she spoke to him. “No, it should be me apologizing to you. Is that an English accent I detect?”


  The last thing Alex wanted to do was strike up a conversation with him. She hated to be rude, but this guy was asking for it. “If you’ll excuse me, my dog and I only have a limited time each day to exercise, and we’re already five minutes late starting.”

  “No problem, I’ll exercise with you.” He turned and started to jog in the direction Alex was heading.

  She eyed him with a look of disdain. “Forgive me for being rude, but this is my special time with my dog, and I never let anything, or anyone, encroach on our time together.” Alex gave him a smile to lighten the blow. “Goodbye.”

  Alex tugged on Dixie’s leash and took off before the man had a chance to reply. She could sense his eyes boring into her back right before she heard his running feet, and he jogged up beside her. “Do you live around here?”

  Bloody idiot! Alex turned Dixie toward the apartment without answering. Thanks to him, she would have to come home at lunch and give Dixie another run. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye as she climbed the steps and stopped to watch him enter the house across the street. Damn, a new neighbor. A nosey and pushy one. “Looks like we’ll have to find a new place to run, girl.” Alex opened the door to the apartment, her gaze straying to the house again as Dixie rushed in ahead of her. Knowing the Escape Artist was near, Alex was wary of strange men, but the guy’s eyes were wrong, and he didn’t have a British accent. I’d recognize his voice, wouldn’t I? A quick glance at the clock told her she was running late. There was something disturbing about the bloke, and she would make sure she had her gun with her in the future. Alex closed and locked the door, then grabbed the can opener. After she opened up food for Dixie and Cinders and dumped it into bowls, she had just enough time for a quick shower.