Innocent Prey
To save innocent lives, they'll have to risk their own.Self-help superstar Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown have finally given in to their overwhelming attraction to each other, but neither of them is ready to let physical passion turn into full-blown romance, so they carefully maintain an emotional distance. Then a judge's daughter disappears, and Mason has a terrible sense that it's connected to the most recent case they solved together: the abduction of Rachel's assistant.The discovery of a string of missing women - all young, all troubled - seems like a promising lead. But there's no clear connection between the missing girls and the high-profile young woman Mason is trying to find. He realizes that once again he'll have to rely on his own well-honed instincts and Rachel's uncanny capacity to see through people's lies in order to catch a predator and rescue his captives. But can they do it before Rachel becomes his next victim?
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To save innocent lives, theyâll have to risk their own.
Self-help superstar Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown have finally given in to their overwhelming attraction to each other, but neither of them is ready to let physical passion turn into full-blown romance, so they carefully maintain an emotional distance. Then a judgeâs daughter disappears, and Mason has a terrible sense that itâs connected to the most recent case they solved together: the abduction of Rachelâs assistant.
The discovery of a string of missing womenâall young, all troubledâseems like a promising lead. But thereâs no clear connection between the missing girls and the high-profile young woman Mason is trying to find. He realizes that once again heâll have to rely on his own well-honed instincts and Rachelâs uncanny capacity to see through peopleâs lies in order to catch a predator and rescue his captives. But can they do it before Rachel becomes his next victim?
Praise for the novels of Maggie Shayne
âA tasty, tension-packed read.â
âPublishers Weekly on Thicker Than Water
âTenseâ¦frighteningâ¦a page-turner in the best sense.â
âRT Book Reviews on Colder Than Ice
âMystery and danger abound in Darker than Midnight,
a fast-paced, chilling thrill read that will keep readers turning the pages long after bedtimeâ¦. Suspense, mystery, danger and passionâ no one does them better than Maggie Shayne.â âRomance Reviews Today on Darker than Midnight [winner of a Perfect 10 award]
âMaggie Shayne is better than chocolate.
She satisfies every wicked craving.â âNew York Times bestselling author Suzanne Forster
âShayneâs haunting tale is intricately woven⦠A moving mix of
high suspense and romance, this haunting Halloween thriller will propel readers to bolt their doors at night.â âPublishers Weekly on The Gingerbread Man
â[A] gripping story of small-town secrets. The suspense will
keep you guessing. The characters will steal your heart.â âNew York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner on The Gingerbread Man
â[Kiss of the Shadow Man is] a crackerjack novel of romantic suspense.â
âRT Book Reviews
âShayne crafts a convincing world, tweaking vampire legends
just enough to draw fresh blood.â âPublishers Weekly on Demonâs Kiss
âThis story will have readers on the edge of their seats
and begging for more.â âRT Book Reviews on Twilight Fulfilled
Brown and De Luca Novels
WAKE TO DARKNESS
SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON
The Portal
BLOOD OF THE SORCERESS
DAUGHTER OF THE SPELLCASTER
MARK OF THE WITCH
Secrets of Shadow Falls
KISS ME, KILL ME
KILL ME AGAIN
KILLING ME SOFTLY
Bloodline
ANGELâS PAIN
LOVERâS BITE
DEMONâS KISS
Wings in the Night
BLUE TWILIGHT
BEFORE BLUE TWILIGHT
EDGE OF TWILIGHT
RUN FROM TWILIGHT
EMBRACE THE TWILIGHT
TWILIGHT HUNGER
TWILIGHT VOWS
BORN IN TWILIGHT
BEYOND TWILIGHT
TWILIGHT ILLUSIONS
TWILIGHT MEMORIES
TWILIGHT PHANTASIES
DARKER THAN MIDNIGHT
COLDER THAN ICE
THICKER THAN WATER
Look for Maggie Shayneâs next novel
DEADLY OBSESSION
available soon from Harlequin MIRA
Contents
Near Taos, New Mexico
Halle didnât think he knewâuntil he held out the test-kit wand and pointed firmly at the bucket in the corner that had been her only toilet for the past ten months.
Ten months, as near as she could figure. It must be getting close to her nineteenth birthday, and she had no reason to think she wouldnât still be here for her twentieth. She hadnât kept track of the days until after the first week or so, when sheâd realized he was going to keep her alive, at least for a while. Sheâd never expected that she might be rescued. There was no one to come and save her, no one even to notice she was gone. The first time she woke up and was almost unable to remember what day it was, she knew she was going to have to start marking time somehow. Now she kept track of the days in the dust way underneath the bed. He couldnât wriggle under that far even if he wanted to, the fat fucking pig.
It was a nice bed. The nicest thing in the tiny basement dungeon. But that was only because he was so often in it. She wasnât supposed to sleep in it herself, though. She was only allowed into the bed to service him. Her bed was a dog bed. A circular one, with a single blanket, at the foot of the plush bed. In the other two corners were her bucket toilet and her shower: an ordinary cold water spigot set high in the wall, with a drain in the concrete floor underneath it.
If she slept in the bed, he would know. He always knew. And he would punish her. He would snap her ankles and wrists into the shackles attached to the wall, and he would torture her for a little while. Hot wax. A lit cigarette. Whips and paddles and clothespins. It wasnât sexy. It wasnât a turn-on. It wasnât about pleasure or surrender or any of that stuff people who consider themselves sexually adventurous fantasize about. It was horrible. It was a nightmare. It was a living hell. Pain wasnât pleasure. Pain was just pain. And this guy wasnât Christian Grey. He was a sick, perverted bastard who enjoyed hurting and humiliating women.
