Yesterday she had driven out to Williamsburg and returned the cast of Phoebe’s toes and fingers to the Baldwins. She’d also broken the news to them about their daughter. There’d been a lot of emotion and tears had fallen, but there was also a sense of relief that came with closure. Tanya had even commented that at least her daughter was no longer in pain. Amanda wasn’t so sure she could have seen the positive so quickly, but she supposed the Baldwins had been preparing themselves for this type of outcome for many years.
Amanda let herself in her house and dropped her keys in the bowl by the front door. She padded down the hall, and realized before she could drop into bed that there was something she should take care of first. It could wait until tomorrow, but by then she’d probably have come up with a slew of excuses.
She pulled out her phone and tapped a number in her contacts. With each ring, she prayed that her call wouldn’t be answered and then she could excuse herself and say that she’d tried.
Third ring, then, “Hi.”
She stopped breathing, then, “Logan?”
“That’s me.”
“Detective Steele.”
“Who?” There was a smile in his voice.
“Cut it out. You know exactly who I am.”
He laughed, and she rolled her eyes and smiled. He was going to make her work for this. “I was calling to see if you’d like to join me for dinner this coming Friday night.”
“Oh, Friday, I’m not sure if—”
“All right. Well, I tried—”
“I’m just pulling your leg.” He laughed again. “Friday will work great. Where are you thinking and what time?”
“Rein back the hundred questions.” She found herself giggling and named a place and a time.
“I’ll see you there.”
“Yep.” She hung up, smiling. With all the hell of the past couple of weeks, it was as if something had jarred loose within her, a faint impression of the life she used to live coming through in cracks of light.
She got ready for bed and opened the top drawer in her nightstand. She was going in for a sleeping pill but there was something else in there. The six Xanax pills and Freddy’s card.
She’d kept her word to Palmer’s cousin and brought him justice—even at the expense of herself and her family. She took the baggie from the drawer, no longer drawn to pop one of the pills and dumped them in the toilet. Then she tore up Freddy’s card into a million tiny pieces, dropped them in too, and flushed.
When she returned to her room, there was a lightness in her steps. She closed the drawer without taking a sleeping pill, crawled into bed and fell into a deep slumber.
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Books by Carolyn Arnold
Detective Amanda Steele
The Little Grave
Brandon Fisher FBI series
Eleven
Silent Graves
The Defenseless
Blue Baby
Violated
Remnants
On the Count of Three
Past Deeds
Detective Madison Knight series
Ties That Bind
Justified
Sacrifice
Found innocent
Just Cause
Deadly Impulse
In the Line of Duty
Power Struggle
Shades of Justice
What We Bury
Life Sentence (prequel romantic suspense)
McKinley Mysteries
The Day Job is Murder
Vacation is Murder
Money is Murder
Politics is Murder
Family is Murder
Shopping is Murder
Christmas is Murder
Valentine’s Day is Murder
Coffee is Murder
Skiing is Murder
Halloween is Murder
Exercise is Murder
Matthew Connor Adventure series
City of Gold
The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh
The Legend of Gasparilla and His Treasure
Standalone
Assassination of a Dignitary
Pearls of Deception
A Letter from Carolyn
Dear reader,
I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read The Little Grave. If you enjoyed it and would like to keep up to date with upcoming releases in the Amanda Steele series, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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There’s nothing quite like that feeling of finishing a good book. Even as a writer, it’s hard to put it into words. There’s definitely a sense of satisfaction but also sadness at ending a journey with characters you’ve become attached to. I hope you feel this way after reading The Little Grave. If so, I did my job at bringing you a story that sucked you into its pages and let you escape reality for a while.
I first met Trent Stenson and Becky Tulson when writing Silent Graves in my Brandon Fisher FBI series. When it came to pitching a new series idea to Bookouture, I decided I wanted to return to Dumfries, Virginia. And, yes, there’s a story in there as to how that location made its impact on me, but let’s save that for another day.
But if you’re familiar with Prince William County, you’ll know that I took some creative and literary license and, hey, that’s what authors often do. There’s no Hannah’s Diner, but I’m sure there’s a place the locals love to go for their coffee and a woman like May Byrd—though maybe not!
If you loved The Little Grave, I would be incredibly grateful if you would write a brief, honest review. Also, if you’d like to continue investigating murder, you’ll be happy to know there will be more Amanda Steele books. But I also offer several other international bestselling series and have over thirty published books for you to enjoy in everything from crime fiction, to cozy mysteries, to thrillers and action adventures. One of these series features Detective Madison Knight, a female kick-ass detective who will risk her life, her badge—whatever it takes—to find justice for murder victims.
I love hearing from my readers. You can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads, or my website. This is a good way to stay notified of all my new releases. You can also reach out to me via email at [email protected].
Wishing you a thrill a word!
Carolyn Arnold
www.carolynarnold.net
Acknowledgments
I’m grateful to everyone who helped me through the process to get this book published. My husband, George, to whom this book is dedicated, is my best friend and has stood by my side for over twenty years. I love talking murder and bouncing ideas around with him. He has a way of calming me down and keeping me level-headed even as deadlines loom. He’s also my favorite celebrating buddy!
I want to thank First Sergeant Jonathan Perok of Prince William County Police Department for answering my emails, helping me understand the organization, and even for his insights inside Central District. I hope he forgives and overlooks the times I took creative license with building layouts and possibly on some procedure that may be specific to the area.
I also thank a sergeant (who’ll I’ll leave unnamed) with the Dumfries Police Department who was only a call away.
Yvonne Bradley, a former coroner in Georgia, came to my rescue again and helped guide me through what the scene at an ethanol poisoning would be like and the effects of alcohol on the body. When she told me it was often an accidental death, she probably thought that I wouldn’t be happy about that, but this suited my plot perfectly. I wanted there to
be initial doubt as to whether Palmer had been murdered or had just drank himself to death.
I thank Emily Gowers for believing in me and this series idea. I’m also grateful that she worked on this project with me as a partnership, considering my ideas and respecting my opinions.
I also thank my publisher, Bookouture, for helping me bring Amanda Steele to the world.
Last but not least, a shout-out goes to all those who serve the badge with honor, whether it be in Prince William County or anywhere in the world.
Published by Bookouture in 2021
An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Carolyn Arnold, 2021
Carolyn Arnold has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-80019-017-7
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Little Grave: A completely heart-stopping crime thriller (Detective Amanda Steele Book 1) Page 29