The Perfect Cover
Charlotte Byrd
Contents
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The Perfect Cover
1. Tyler
2. Isabelle
3. Isabelle
4. Tyler
5. Isabelle
6. Tyler
7. Isabelle
8. Isabelle
9. Isabelle
10. Tyler
11. Isabelle
12. Isabelle
13. Isabelle
14. Isabelle
15. Isabelle
16. Isabelle
17. Tyler
18. Isabelle
19. Tyler
20. Tyler
21. Isabelle
22. Tyler
23. Isabelle
24. Tyler
25. Isabelle
26. Isabelle
27. Isabelle
28. Tyler
29. Isabelle
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Copyright © 2020 by Charlotte Byrd, LLC.
All rights reserved.
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Cover Design: Charlotte Byrd
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This book is a word of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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“BEST AUTHOR YET! Charlotte has done it again! There is a reason she is an amazing author and she continues to prove it! I was definitely not disappointed in this series!!” ★★★★★
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“Extremely captivating, sexy, steamy, intriguing, and intense!” ★★★★★
“Addictive and impossible to put down.” ★★★★★
“What a magnificent story from the 1st book through book 6 it never slowed down always surprising the reader in one way or the other. Nicholas and Olive's paths crossed in a most unorthodox way and that's how their story begins it's exhilarating with that nail biting suspense that keeps you riding on the edge the whole series. You'll love it!” ★★★★★
“What is Love Worth. This is a great epic ending to this series. Nicholas and Olive have a deep connection and the mystery surrounding the deaths of the people he is accused of murdering is to be read. Olive is one strong woman with deep convictions. The twists, angst, confusion is all put together to make this worthwhile read.” ★★★★★
“Fast-paced romantic suspense filled with twists and turns, danger, betrayal, and so much more.” ★★★★★
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“Sexy, secretive, pulsating chemistry…” - Mrs. K, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★
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About Charlotte Byrd
Charlotte Byrd is the bestselling author of romantic suspense novels. She has sold over 700,000 books and has been translated into five languages.
She lives near Palm Springs, California with her husband, son, and a toy Australian Shepherd who hates water. Charlotte is addicted to books and Netflix and she loves hot weather and crystal blue water.
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Also by Charlotte Byrd
All books are available at ALL major retailers! If you can’t find it, please email me at [email protected]
The Perfect Stranger Series
The Perfect Stranger
The Perfect Cover
The Perfect Lie
The Perfect Life
The Perfect Getaway
The Perfect Couple
All the Lies Series
All the Lies
All the Secrets
All the Doubts
All the Truths
All the Promises
All the Hopes
Tell me Series
Tell Me to Stop
Tell Me to Go
Tell Me to Stay
Tell Me to Run
Tell Me to Fight
Tell Me to Lie
Wedlocked Trilogy
Dangerous Engagement
Lethal Wedding
Fatal Wedding
Tangled Series
Tangled up in Ice
Tangled up in Pain
Tangled up in Lace
Tangled up in Hate
Tangled up in Love
Black Series
Black Edge
Black Rules
Black Bounds
Black Contract
Black Limit
Not into you Duet
Not into you
Still not into you
Lavish Trilogy
Lavish Lies
Lavish Betrayal
Lavish Obsession
/> Standalone Novels
Dressing Mr. Dalton
Debt
Offer
Unknown
The Perfect Cover
When Tyler McDermott escapes from prison, he takes me hostage. No, I do not fall in love with my captor.
Tyler is an innocent man who was framed for a heinous double murder.
Of course, I do not know that yet.
All that I know is that he has a knife to my throat. All that I know is that if I want to live, I have to let him in.
This simple act of courage will change my safe life forever and show me that true love is possible after all.
But what happens when that love is not enough?
Tyler
When I leave…
Last night was my thank you to Isabelle for everything she had done for me.
Last night was also my goodbye.
I knew I was going to leave as soon as we got to Ohio, the first place we stopped. I needed her help to get out of her neighborhood and all of the roads that were blocked. I needed to get at least a state away.
But after that?
I can’t have her endangering her life for me anymore.
I know that Isabelle won’t let me leave on my own. I know that she wants to protect me, but I can’t let her.
This is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to endure and that includes identifying my wife’s dead body, standing in the courtroom, and being convicted of a murder that I didn’t commit.
Isabelle and I leave in the middle of the night. Blackness is still hanging in the air all around us.
I give her a kiss right before I get into the trunk of the 2002 Honda Accord that she bought from an ad on Craigslist. No one knows that this is the car that she’s driving and it’s going to be a while before all of the official forms are filed with the state in her name.
Standing in her garage, I press my lips softly to hers. She’s shivering. I rub her shoulders to warm her up, but the goose bumps don’t go away.
She’s not cold. She’s nervous.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper.
She gives me a slight nod and then gets up on her tiptoes to kiss me again. After a moment, we just hold each other in our arms.
It’s hard to explain how surprised I am that any of this is happening. When I first escaped from a maximum-security prison and hid in the home of the woman I only knew as a child, I had hoped that I could keep her sequestered in her room so that she wouldn’t find out my identity.
When that didn’t work and she recognized me, I had no choice but to tell her the truth.
I thought that she wouldn’t believe me. I had been convicted of killing my wife, her boyfriend, and her unborn child, the child that I had no knowledge of. The only thing I knew was that my wife’s lover was my partner and he had just taken the business from me. Unfortunately, the prosecutor used that as motive. Therefore, I must have done it.
The cops agreed and didn’t investigate. My wife’s murderer is still at-large and I was sentenced to life in prison.
No one believed me when I tried to tell them I was innocent.
No one except for Isabelle.
Isabelle knew me when I was barely a teenager. We were best friends and we had feelings for each other but neither of us admitted it out loud. She knew who I was at my core and she knew that I did not commit those crimes. I don’t know why she believed me, but she did and for that I will be eternally grateful.
However, her faith in me doesn’t change my circumstances. Every law enforcement officer in the Tri-state area is looking for me and I had gotten injured trying to escape. I thought that hiding out at her home would relieve some of the pressure, but I quickly realized that they were circling in on me.
There are police officers patrolling all the streets in her neighborhood and even pulling people and cars over to give out WANTED flyers with our pictures. There is a $100,000 reward available to anyone who can give the authorities any information leading to our arrests.
There’s an actual bounty on my head.
When I was studying at the University of Pennsylvania and starting my hedge fund, making millions of dollars in the process, I never suspected that I would ever be in this situation; hiding out in the trunk of a car and crossing state lines with the only person who believes in my innocence.
So, why am I leaving her?
I have thought about this a hundred different times and imagined a hundred different scenarios. I need to protect Isabelle, but I also need to get out.
She bought a car that she registered in her name and she took out cash from the bank, all of the savings that she has in the world. I came to her without a penny to my name and I’m leaving with new clothes, a car, a burner phone, and five thousand dollars. And I didn’t need to steal any of it.
The only reason I’m taking it, borrowing it, whatever you want to call it, is that I need to protect her. I need her to go back home and to live her life just like she did before.
It’s cold back here.
The air is still and stale.
It’s dark.
We drive for a long time without stopping and I know that no one suspects a thing. The longer we drive, the more I wonder whether I’m even doing the right thing.
It’s not that I don’t want to be with her. In fact, I want to be with her more than I ever wanted anything. Probably more than I even want freedom, and that’s what makes it so scary.
The cops who found Lester, one of my partners, the guy whose cell was right next to mine, shot him. They executed him without even trying to arrest him. They didn’t report that on the news, but I know that’s what happened. That’s usually what happens with everyone who is deemed armed and dangerous.
Since I love Isabelle, I can’t let that happen to her. I can’t put her life in danger like that.
The car comes to a stop and she hits the steering wheel three times with a loud bang that I hear all the way in the back.
This is my signal.
I know that everything is fine and that she’s just pulling over to let me out.
I feel the outside of my pocket and the jeans that she got me at T.J. Maxx. I trace the outline of the folded up letter that I had written her.
Here, I tried to explain and apologize for everything. I also left her a thousand dollars so that she can get an Uber to a car rental place and then rent a car to get back home.
In the letter, I lay it all out and I tell her not to worry. I promise that I will get in contact as soon as I have everything set out west.
After I emerge from the trunk, in the back of a gas station somewhere along the interstate, I quickly get into the passenger seat so that no one spots me. Wearing a hat that I pull over my eyebrows and popping up the collar to my jacket, I hope that there are no cameras back here and, if there are any, that they don’t see me.
Isabelle says that she’s going to get something from the store and asks what I want. I tell her to surprise me and she waves goodbye.
When I give her a hug, I slip the letter into her purse and make sure that she takes it, even when she just wants to take her wallet.
She doesn’t think anything of it at the moment, but I know that she will as soon as she comes out.
When she disappears around the corner of the convenience store, I start the car and pull away.
Isabelle
When I see him…
The door closes behind me, making a loud dinging sound before it shuts. The chill of the early morning slams into my lungs as I take a breath and look for Tyler.
I go back to where I left the car. It’s not there.
Uncertain as to what to do, I stand holding everything that I had bought in my arms and listen to the uncomfortable crinkling sound of the plastic bag of potato chips.
When the wind picks up, I grasp the stuff tighter, wondering if it’s the only thing I have.
“Tyler, where are you?” I whisper.
My chest tightens as my pulse acceler
ates.
Was it a police officer?
Did they take him already?
No.
If it had to do with law enforcement, then this place would be crawling with them. They’d be blaring their lights and pointing their guns in my face.
At least, that’s what happens on television and everything that happens on television happens in real life, right?
I laugh.
Maybe it was the federal marshals who snagged him. That’s who looks for escaped convicts after all. Maybe they trailed us and took him while I was inside.
But wouldn’t they also have questions for me?
Then something else occurs to me.
What if all of this had been a set-up?
What if Tyler just used me to get this car and some money to get the fuck out of here?
Standing in front of the convenience store, my feet suddenly become too heavy to lift. I try to move but I’m either too weak or the gravitational pull of the Earth is too strong. In either case, I’m stuck.
The Perfect Cover (The Perfect Stranger Book 2) Page 1