Whispering Springs
The first secret is personal. The second one is a killer…This school reunion was a shot at redemption and maybe a second chance for army man Dylan Burkhart and his old flame, Ava North. But a secret-telling game turns up a murder confession, with the killer hiding among them…
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The first secret is personal. The second one is a killer…
The trip with old friends to Whispering Springs should have been a happy reunion. Yet former army ranger Dylan Burkhart suspects there’s something darker at play. It doesn’t take long before a game of anonymous secret-telling stirs the embers of a decade-old tragedy. A time when Dylan and Ava North stole a night of passion…and one of their friends died.
Then Ava stumbles upon a written confession of murder. Unable to trust anyone else, Ava and Dylan must confront the truth of that terrible night—and their hidden attraction for each other. Now their reunion has turned into a reckoning. They must find which of their friends is a killer…and fight for their lives and their love.
“It was my choice. And for what it’s worth, it was the second-best decision I ever made.”
Now it was Ava who hesitated. “What was the first?”
“Telling you how I really felt. Laying all my cards on the table. I never had to look back with regret. I never had to wonder what-if.”
Her hackles rose in self-defense. “You assume that I have?”
“I never said that. I speak only for myself.”
The conversation was getting a little too intimate for comfort. Ava felt a sense of relief at having survived their first encounter, but now she searched for a subtle excuse to go her own way even though a part of her wanted to just stand there and stare at him forever.
She opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, a scream pierced the night, jangling her nerves and freezing her to the spot. For a moment, she stood in horrified silence, unable to breathe, unable to move until a second scream propelled her straight into Dylan Burkhart’s arms.
AMANDA STEVENS is an award-winning author of over fifty novels, including the modern gothic series The Graveyard Queen. Her books have been described as eerie and atmospheric, “a new take on the classic ghost story.” Born and raised in the rural South, she now resides in Houston, Texas, where she enjoys binge-watching, bike riding and the occasional margarita.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Ava North—Trapped by raging floodwaters and stalked by a ruthless killer, assistant DA Ava North teams up with a man who mysteriously disappeared from her life ten years ago.
Dylan Burkhart—A former army ranger turned security consultant, he’s been hired to protect Tony Redding from a ruthless business rival, but the killer stalking Whispering Springs has a more personal motivation.
Blair Redding—She’s invited her closest college friends to Whispering Springs for a long-overdue reunion. But the gathering is shattered when a killer issues a deadly invitation: Play the game.
Tony Redding—He’s been receiving threatening phone calls from someone he claims is a business rival. But is he the victim or instigator of a nefarious scheme?
Celeste Matthews—A vivacious redhead with a mean streak. What is her real motive for coming to the reunion…and what is her real relationship with Tony Redding?
Jane Sandoval—She’s carried a chip on her shoulder since Lily Callen’s tragic suicide on graduation weekend. Has she come to the reunion to exact her pound of flesh?
Lily Callen—Ten years ago, guilt over Lily’s suicide drove Ava North from Dylan Burkhart’s arms. Now Lily’s ghost haunts their reunion.
Noah Pickett—Whispering Springs had been in his family for generations. Now he is an employee. Does he harbor a secret resentment toward the new owner?
Sarah Rainey—An employee of Whispering Springs, she went out one evening to walk the trails and was never heard from again.
Contents
The bored driver waited for her at baggage claim, placard in hand as he scanned the harried travelers. There was her name in big bold lettering: Ava North.
She was almost embarrassed to wave him over. It wasn’t like she’d been traveling for hours or needed assistance getting from point A to point B. The flight from Houston to San Antonio had taken all of fifty minutes, less time than the commute from her apartment to the airport.
Ava could have easily headed west on I-10 in her own vehicle, but Blair Redding, the former college classmate who had put together this ill-advised gathering, had insisted on arranging all the transportation. No doubt with the intent of making it harder to leave before the week was up. Ava wouldn’t be at all surprised if she and the other guests were asked to relinquish their cell phones once they arrived at the destination. Blair had always been that much of a control freak.
Steeling herself for the coming days, Ava put up her hand to attract the young man’s attention. She didn’t like vacations in general and reunions in particular. Spending time at a remote ranch with the people she’d left behind years ago was a version of hell she would have preferred to avoid, yet here she was. An uncharacteristic outburst in district court had jeopardized not only what should have been a slam-dunk case but also her five-year career as an assistant DA. The judge had threatened to hold her in contempt, and her superior had promised a suspension if she didn’t make herself scarce for a few days.
