SILENCE IS HER ONLY PROTECTION
Pulitzer Prizeâwinning photojournalist B. K. (âBrynnâ) Elliot chronicles Baltimoreâs grittier side with her lensâa talent cultivated from her years as a teenage runaway. A reclusive figure, Brynn lives under everyoneâs radar...until a photo from her past plunges her into the crosshairs of powerful enemies.
Detective Parker McCall has devoted fifteen years to trying to solve his brotherâs murder, and with the release of a photo implicating Brynn as a potential suspect, he feels close to finding justice. Determined to get answers, Parker must ignore the inexplicable attraction he feels for the haunted beauty in the photo. And Brynn must decide if Parker will protect her or betray her in his hunt for a killer.
Sweat glistened on her waxy face.
Then her expression changed, her eyes filling with acceptanceâthe same resignation Parker had seen on his fatherâs face before heâd committed suicide.
Denial rose inside him. Desperation screamed through his skull. He had to do something. He had to stop her somehow. But the slightest move, and Brynn would die.
Her trigger finger moved. Knowing it was hopeless, Parker dived off the bed toward Brynn, flinging himself toward her with all his strength. But she was too far away.
The gun went off, the suppressor silencing all but a quiet pop.
Buried Secrets: Three murder witnesses, one deadly conspiracy
Dear Reader,
Desperate people do desperate things. Sadly, for millions of troubled teenagers, this often means running away from home. But life on the streets can be brutal, exposing these vulnerable children to dangers they never expected, making it difficult to stay alive.
Thatâs the premise for my Buried Secrets trilogy. Fifteen years ago three desperate girls left their homes for different reasons, then banded together for protection on Baltimoreâs treacherous streets. But their lives grew even more precarious when they witnessed a murder committed by a powerful manâwho saw them watching. Terrified, they hid the evidence, changed their identities and went on the run to survive.
Now fifteen years later, a chance photograph in the newspaper exposes their identities, blowing the lid off their secret pastâand sending each on a journey more dangerous than theyâd ever dreamed.
I hope you enjoy their stories as they face down their pasts, confront enemies determined to silence them permanently and finally find the love they deserve.
Happy reading!
Gail Barrett
GAIL BARRETT
always knew sheâd be a writer. Who else would spend her childhood grinding sparkling rocks into fairy dust and convincing her friends it was real? Or daydream her way through elementary school, spend high school reading philosophy and playing the bagpipes, then head off to Spain during college to live the writerâs life? After four years she straggled back homeâbroke, but fluent in Spanish. She became a teacher, earned a masterâs degree in linguistics, married a Coast Guard officer and had two sons.
But she never lost the desire to write. Then one day she discovered a Silhouette Intimate Moments novel in a bookstoreâand knew she was destined to write romance. Her books have won numerous awards, including a National Readersâ Choice Award and Romance Writers of Americaâs prestigious Golden Heart.
Gail currently lives in western Maryland. Readers can contact her through her website, www.gailbarrett.com.
To Binnie Syril Braunstein,
a woman with a generous heart.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Iâd like to thank the following people for making this story possible: Tom Beck, Chief Curator and Head of Special Collections at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, for answering my questions about photography; Lesley Gourley of Photohunter, whose phenomenal talent is matched only by her kindness; Wesley Wilson, Chief of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, for taking time out of his busy schedule to give me a personal tour of the library and helping me find a place to hide the film; Loni Glover, Karen Alerie and Mary Jo Archer for their invaluable input and support; and lastâbut definitely not leastâan enormous and heartfelt thanks to Officer Robert Carusone of the Baltimore Police Department for not only answering my endless questions, but letting me tag along with him on patrol. Rob, youâre the best! Any mistakes are definitely my own!
Chapter 1
Cold case detective Parker McCall tightened his grip on the newspaper, his gaze riveted on the photo of the woman splashed across the Baltimore Sunâs front page. She could have been any affluent shopper strolling out of the pricey art galleryâher long, glossy hair tumbling over her shoulders, the collar of her woolen coat turned up against the brisk November wind.
Except for her wary eyes.
The eyes of his brotherâs murderer.