Next of Kin

Trouble for one—trouble for all.

Beth Venable has seen too much. Witness to a major mob hit, she’s placed in protective custody until the trial. But after her third safe house is riddled with bullets, she goes off-grid to save herself. What the FBI can’t do, her kinfolk will.

The beautiful but forbidding Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky welcome Beth back, dirt roads and rustic shacks a world apart from L.A. But her homecoming—even her blissful reunion with strong, silent Ryal Walker—is made bittersweet by the fight she’s brought to the clan’s doorstep. Hidden in a remote cabin with the man she’s always wanted, Beth begins to dream of a new life: her old one. But after so long, with such dangers stalking her…impossible.

But love can distill life down to its essence: an elixir of pure hope, nerve—and the will to survive.

Praise for the novels of

“Vivid, gripping…

this thriller keeps the pages turning.” —Library Journal on Torn Apart

“Sala’s characters are vivid and engaging.”

—Publishers Weekly on Cut Throat

“Sharon Sala is not only a top romance novelist,

she is an inspiration for people everywhere who wish to live their dreams.” —John St. Augustine, host, Power!Talk Radio WDBC-AM, Michigan

“Veteran romance writer Sala lives up to

her reputation with this well-crafted thriller. ” —Publishers Weekly on Remember Me

“[A] well-written, fast-paced ride.”

—Publishers Weekly on Nine Lives

“Perfect entertainment for those looking for

a suspense novel with emotional intensity. ” —Publishers Weekly on Out of the Dark

Next of Kin

Sharon

Sala

www.mirabooks.co.uk

I’m dedicating this book to my families, because

“When life gets rough—when you need a friend— you can’t go wrong with your next of kin.”

If that statement wasn’t so long,

I’d have it made into a bumper sticker.

Family is everything to me. I often talk about

the people who I’ve lost, and what holes they leave in my life. I don’t talk enough about the ones who are still here, who make my days brighter and my life worth living, so I’m naming them now. Listen up, my sweet babies, ’cause I’m bragging on you.

My mother, Iris, is and always has been

the perfect example for me of how a life should be lived— in the service of others. She was a teacher.

My son, Chris, and his wife, Kristie, are the

perfect example of how a marriage should work. Their daughters, Chelsea, Logan and Leslie, have been taught from an early age to respect their elders, appreciate what they’ve been given and love each other.

My daughter, Kathy, and her husband, Ashley, are an

A+ example of making a blended marriage work. Each has a son, and the boys not only get along but really love each other. Even though the boys don’t live together full-time, they are still brothers of the heart, if not by blood.

My niece, Crissy, and her husband, Andy,

work hard every day to make sure they’re giving their three girls everything they need to succeed in life. The girls, Destiny, Devyn and Courtney, know they are treasured in every way.

I come from a long line of people—the Shero family

and the Smith family—who love and protect their own.

I am blessed.

Contents

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

One

Rebel Ridge, Kentucky

Ryal Walker couldn’t sleep. He’d fought the bed until the covers were in a mess before he finally gave up, thinking maybe a little fresh air would help clear his mind. It was nearly 2:00 a.m. when he pulled on a pair of sweatpants, then walked barefoot through the darkened rooms of his home and out onto the front porch. Upon his arrival, an owl took flight from a nearby pine.

“Sorry about that,” he said softly, aware that he’d trespassed by disturbing the status quo around the house.

A slight breeze quickly cooled the sweat from his body as he sat down on the porch steps and rested his elbows on his knees. He couldn’t figure out what was bugging him. He hated to admit it, but he knew something bad was going to happen. He’d had the same feeling ten years ago when he learned Beth’s parents had moved in the night, taking her away from him. He hadn’t understood it then any more than he understood it now. Up on the mountain, it wasn’t uncommon for distant cousins to marry. Her mother and his mother had been fourth cousins and not even close friends at that. And the difference in his and Beth’s ages wasn’t uncommon, either. He’d been twenty-five to her seventeen.

It was weeks later before he learned the move had nothing to do with their love for each other. Instead, he and Beth had been the victims of a much larger problem. Once he’d found out what had happened, he’d tried to contact her, but all his letters had been returned unopened.

None of the other Venables would talk to him or seemed willing to interfere with her family’s decision to cut themselves off from Rebel Ridge. Today, people would call their unrequited love affair collateral damage, but back then it had been a tragedy, at least for him.