Shadow Protector
Книга "Shadow Protector", авторами которой являются Литагент HarperCollins EUR}, Jenna Ryan, представляет собой захватывающую работу в жанре Зарубежные детективы. В этом произведении автор рассказывает увлекательную историю, которая не оставит равнодушными читателей.
Автор мастерски воссоздает атмосферу напряженности и интриги, погружая читателя в мир загадок и тайн, который скрывается за хрупкой поверхностью обыденности. С прекрасным чувством языка и виртуозностью сюжетного развития, Литагент HarperCollins EUR позволяет читателю погрузиться в сложные эмоциональные переживания героев и проникнуться их судьбами. EUR настолько живо и точно передает неповторимые нюансы человеческой психологии, что каждая страница книги становится путешествием в глубины человеческой души.
"Shadow Protector" - это не только захватывающая история, но и искусство, проникнутое глубокими мыслями и философскими размышлениями. Это произведение призвано вызвать у читателя эмоциональные отклики, задуматься о важных жизненных вопросах и открыть новые горизонты восприятия мира.
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Table of Contents
About the Author
JENNA RYAN started making up stories before she could read or write. Growing up, romance alone always had a strong appeal, but romantic suspense was the perfect fit. She tried out a number of different careers, including modelling, interior design and travel, but writing has always been her one true love. That and her long-time partner, Rod.
Inspired from book to book by her sister Kathy, she lives in a rural setting fifteen minutes from the city of Victoria, British Columbia. It’s taken a lot of years, but she’s finally slowed the frantic pace and adopted a West Coast mindset. Stay active, stay healthy, keep it simple. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the read. All of that works for her, but what she continues to enjoy most is writing stories she loves. She also loves reader feedback. E-mail her at [email protected] or visit Jenna Ryan on Facebook.
To Samoa and Serendipity.
Part of the new Lucky Seven.
Prologue
The dream unfolded piece by resistant piece in Serafina Hudson’s sleeping mind.
She heard disembodied voices overlapping inside a viscous black fog. They murmured words like “death” and “danger” and “serial killer.”
The mood altered. The voices grew louder. Fear slithered in, making the blackness cold.
Where was she? Sera wondered. Why couldn’t she see?
“We look inside too much, Sera. That’s our problem and our burden. It isn’t all about the mind …”
Andrea’s voice joined the mix. But that was impossible …
Because corpses couldn’t speak!
Reality swept in, churning, swirling, spinning the black into blood red. Like the pool of blood her friend and colleague had been lying in on their office floor.
Sera remembered a slow, painful rise from dark to light. There’d been people everywhere, most of them wearing uniforms, all of them unfamiliar to her. Except for Len, the security guard. And Andrea.
Click into clinical mode. She was a doctor. She’d seen blood before.
Just not pooled around a body.
She swore three times. The hands vanished. Lights flashed red and blue. She’d be fine, a stranger promised. As for Andrea …
The voices stopped abruptly. The lights blurred. Her mind stuttered then seemed to wink out.
“Try to remember, Dr. Hudson …”
The mental prod repeated with an eerie echo. A man’s face, hazy at first, solidified. He had creased, careworn features. He looked sixty and tough, yet she sensed an underlying kindness.
She also knew a cop when she saw one.
“I’m sorry your colleague’s dead, Doctor. I wish I could change that, but I can’t. Neither can you.”
Had she thought the man was kind?
“You need to concentrate,” he pressed. “We found a white bandanna at the murder scene. It’s the signature of a serial killer. A phantom. You saw the person who did this—we’re sure of it. You called Security. You screamed. The guard was down the hall, less than ten seconds away. He thought you were both dead when he found you …”
His voice trailed off. This really was a nightmare, Sera decided. Maybe if she did as the cop suggested and concentrated, she could erase some of the more gruesome aspects.
Determined, she willed the man away, shut out the blurred lights and, because she knew it was important, concentrated on the throbbing pain at the base of her skull.
For a heartbeat, the world went dark.
When it relit, she was being ushered through a door. And, damn, there he was again. The careworn cop.
“You’ll be safe here, Doctor. Leo and I have been partners for twenty years. We haven’t lost a witness yet.”
She was a witness? Her mind snapped to attention. Had she seen Andrea’s killer? Please, God, no, had she watched her die?
The walls and fixtures distorted. Two men spoke in the distance.
“Captain thinks there’s a leak at headquarters, Leo. I agree with him.”
“You’re a pair of old ladies.”
“She saw him. I know she did. If we can buy her enough time, she’ll remember, and we’ll have that bastard Blindfold Killer cold …”
The image of a white bandanna floated in. It fell over Andrea’s lifeless, staring eyes.
Sera’s mind gave a single convulsive shudder that had her surging upright in bed.
“Sera!”
The cop’s voice cracked the night shadows like a whip. He caught her by the shoulders, held her steady and stared into her eyes. “Are you awake?”
Was she?
Sera’s heart settled as the image of Andrea’s rigid features faded.
“Yes.” She breathed in, then out. “I had a nightmare.”
“You only had the beginnings of one, Doc. Worst part’s still to come.”
Instinct had her bracing. “There’s worse than my nightmare?”
“There’s a leak in the department. I’ve suspected it for a while. I’m sure of it now. My partner’s been killed. This place isn’t safe.”
Questions raced through Sera’s head, too many to ask. She wanted this to be part of her dream, but she knew it wasn’t.
