“Yeah, Alison and Tamara.” Mackenzie winced at the memory. Seeing those women had rattled her bones. They were dressed impeccably, but their haggard faces conveyed their fear and torment. As did the bruised and swollen skin on their wrists and ankles and everywhere below the neck. “They confirmed what we know. He made them believe he’d make them look more beautiful, give them a fresh start, help them get off drugs, etcetera. And then he threw them in that box of a room after gaining their trust. There was no sexual assault. Only physical torture.”
“Bella was given more freedom because she was able to manipulate Preston into thinking that she was on his side. That’s also why she had no signs of physical assault, unlike the other women. She made him believe that she would help him find new faces and girls,” Nick said.
“It was Bella who helped Preston take Alison,” Mackenzie added. “To prove her loyalty to Preston, so that he would allow her more freedom.”
Nick nodded. “They all thought that Bella was his partner. But we think she did all this so that she could collect evidence against Preston before she went to the police.”
Then the whole situation with Kim and Charlotte became entangled, and lives were lost. Mackenzie shook her head. They all felt the disappointment in the air. The mayhem that ensued from the confusion caused by the twins. Kim showing up in Lakemore had triggered a cascade of events that no one could ever have imagined.
Sully twirled the ends of his mustache. “Well, the good news is that we nailed the bastard. We have plenty of evidence, and three out of four women have agreed to testify.”
One of the women had shown no relief on being rescued. She’d just followed Mackenzie’s lead with dead eyes. It had chilled Mackenzie. Later, they found out that she had been living in that room for four years.
“Natalie Cummings dropped him as a client. She doesn’t like being lied to. He’s going to spend a very long time in prison.” Nick smiled, but his eyes spelled fury.
“And Charlotte Harris is going to plead guilty to all charges,” Rivera declared, haughtily. “Congratulations, detectives. It was a bumpy ride, but I’m glad that we wrapped this one up.”
“What a waste.” Nick clicked his tongue. He’d had his hair cropped shorter on the sides, revealing dots of gray. “She ended up killing the person she thought she was protecting.”
“So Ben Harlan had nothing to do with Preston’s operation?” Sully asked.
“Nope. He was a blip in the case. An abusive ex-boyfriend who followed Kim.”
“He did a lot of damage for a blip,” Sully snorted. “Anyway, the tradition is we go for drinks, but I’m swamped. So, tomorrow! I’m looking at you, Mack. Don’t flake out. Have fun once in a while. You always look like you’re about to write an exam.”
They all chuckled. As they began to disperse out of the room, Rivera called her over to one side. Mackenzie braced herself. The new lieutenant paid close attention and had high expectations. She had also maintained a distance from Mackenzie since the incident involving Kim and Ben.
“How’re you doing, Detective Price?”
“Good. Good.”
“I realized I didn’t check in with you after what happened. I should have.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t one of my best decisions.”
“Take some time off if you want,” Rivera hitched her shoulder up. “Spend time with your father and husband.”
Mackenzie faltered, but nodded.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She turned before Rivera’s prying could pull out any revelations from her. She walked back to her desk, gnashing her teeth and chewing the insides of her cheeks. Now that the case was solved, her past was screaming like a banshee inside her head.
Her desk was cluttered. Pens and papers lay haphazardly. Her keyboard had crumbs of bread lodged in the crevices. There was a ring of fading brown liquid—no doubt from Nick placing his coffee there at some point.
Dark tendrils spread across her skin, coaxing her to clean. But she wanted to resist until she was alone.
“How about I buy you a drink? Prepare for Sully tomorrow night,” Nick asked.
“Sure. Give me ten minutes.”
Nick cast his eyes over her desk and the emptying office knowingly, and nodded.
Mackenzie threw her head back and laughed. She hadn’t heard herself laugh uncontrollably in a long time. She almost didn’t recognize the baritone of her voice.
“You haven’t even finished a drink,” Nick gasped from her side.
They were seated at the bar in the Oaktree—the go-to bar for Lakemore PD, being the closest one to the station. It was like a furnace inside compared to the biting cold outside. The place was packed, much to Mackenzie’s surprise, since the television wasn’t even turned on. But people huddled around the pool table and the karaoke machine. A new foosball table had been added to expand the entertainment. It was the holiday season. But once the festivities died down, Lakemore would return to being angry.
“I’m laughing at the song.”
“Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette played on the speakers. When Nick realized, he looked uncomfortable. “I never liked that song.”
“God. I have to find a divorce lawyer. How do you even go about that?”
“How’re you doing with everything?”
She sipped on her red wine and contemplated. “I feel porous.”
“Porous?”
“Yes.” That was the most accurate description she could conjure up. Everything had punched holes inside of her, leaving her light but weak. Like she could bruise too easily.
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to.” She gulped the remaining wine and ordered another one. “I’m just so sick of myself these days. I’m trying to let loose.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Is that why you waited for everyone to leave before you cleaned your desk?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Baby steps.”
“Explains why the top two buttons of your shirt are undone and your sleeves are rolled up.”
Mackenzie shuddered. She didn’t like it one bit. It made her feel like she was inside someone else’s skin. But she was so determined to change that she told herself this was an adjustment period.
“Quit it.” Nick nursed his precious beer.
“What?”
“You just have to let go a little from here.” He tapped her temple with his finger. “It has nothing to do with anything else. It’s kind of your thing, you know. Looking like a warden and scrubbing water rings clean at bars.”
She grinned and deftly buttoned her shirt back up and rolled down her sleeves, breathing a sigh of relief. Nick chuckled into his beer.
Another glass was placed in front of her, and she took two more large sips. “I… I’ve been stuck for a very long time. I didn’t want to move forward because I didn’t think I could or that I deserved to.”
“I have no idea what you’re saying.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I’m moving on. Actively.”
Nick stroked his chin. “From Sterling?”
“Yes. And my father.” And my mother.
“I thought your father was just away for a few days?”
She didn’t answer. There was one unopened voicemail from him on her phone that she hadn’t deleted. Fortunately, Nick’s father, Alan, hadn’t told his son anything about Charles. She had called him asking to keep it between them, and she was touched by his respect for her privacy.
“Do you think it’d be better if Charlotte didn’t know the truth? If she never found out that she killed Katy?” Mackenzie said.
The corner of Nick’s eyes creased. “Yes. Sometimes it’s better not to know the truth if it doesn’t help. Tough case, wasn’t it?”
“They all are. It doesn’t get easier.”
The bar blared with chatter and music. Drinking together and cracking mundane jokes. Mackenzie made a proactive effort to actually listen and tether herself to the present. It wasn’t eas
y. Every time Nick talked about Luna, her mind wandered to her own lack of attachment in life. When Nick told her about Dennis’s cigar collection, she felt left out and reprimanded herself for not knowing her co-workers that well.
She gripped the stem of the wine glass tighter and swallowed hard. There was time to change. She might never be able to obliterate her past, but she could yank herself out of it.
Nick’s phone rang. “I’m going to take this outside. Too loud in here.”
“Sure.”
She gazed at her wedding band. She hadn’t taken it off. The wine made her head swim and gave her the strength. Quickly, she took it off and shoved it in her pocket. A daring move for her that left her hand feel lacking and foreign. She caught her reflection in the mirror behind the bar.
She saw a rigid woman with a shimmer of optimism. There were still unanswered questions. Where had Melody moved Robert’s body? What lies did Melody tell the authorities? And the biggest one: how much did Charles really know? He had lied before. He could have lied again.
But like Nick had said—sometimes it was better not to know the truth if knowing didn’t help. She took out the necklace Bruce had gotten her from Kenya. She looked at the colorful beads and felt her heart soar.
Determination.
It was something she was good at. And this necklace, crafted on the other side of the world by a strong and determined woman she’d never met, served as a reminder.
Nick returned, clutching his phone.
“Do you want to order a pitcher? If you’re fine with getting a hangover tomorrow.”
“Mack… I’m so sorry. You have to come with me.”
His face was white as bone. Her knees knocked into each other. Her fingers tightened around the necklace.
“Your father’s been murdered.”
Glass crashed somewhere in the bar.
A cloth wiped a surface with a whoosh.
A pool cue struck a ball.
Nick’s words stirred a kind of fear that made her insides turn to liquid. Truth didn’t care about helping. Truth only cared about coming out. And Mackenzie had been naive enough to believe that what happened twenty years ago would remain hidden.
This wasn’t over.
* * *
If you were gripped by Their Frozen Graves you’ll be totally hooked on Little Boy Lost, the third pulse-pounding thriller in the Mackenzie Price series - you won’t be able to stop turning the pages as she fights to bring a young boy home alive.
Get it here!
Little Boy Lost
Detective Mackenzie Price Book 3
The clear sky burst into flames of peach and gold, illuminating the small body leaning against the rocks. He looked even smaller than he had in the photos, purple marks blemishing his neck. His eyes were open, staring ahead at the vastness of the still water.
When three nine-year-old boys go missing on a field trip to Lakemore’s annual spring festival, panic tears through the small town. Detective Mackenzie Price and her partner Nick Blackwood lead the search, but no trace of the boys is found—until one of them is found murdered, a note stuffed down his throat.
“Find Johnny’s killer, or they all die.”
Johnny was supposedly a victim of Jeremiah, a serial killer Nick helped put behind bars nearly a decade ago for the murder of ten young boys. But when Mack and Nick pay him a visit, he claims that he knows nothing—and that he remains innocent of Johnny’s murder.
Then a second boy is found, another clue left on his body, leaving just one left alive. Desperate to save the last boy’s life, Mackenzie and Nick comb over Jeremiah’s case, only to discover proof of a shocking cover-up—and a killer who will stop at nothing to right the wrongs of the past.
Packed full of shocking twists and nail-biting suspense, Little Boy Lost is a truly unputdownable crime thriller, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Lisa Regan and Angela Marsons.
Get it here!
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Books by Ruhi Choudhary
The Detective Mackenzie Price Series
Our Daughter’s Bones
Their Frozen Graves
Little Boy Lost
Available in Audio
Our Daughter’s Bones (Available in the UK and the US)
Their Frozen Graves (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Ruhi
Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for choosing to read Their Frozen Graves. If you enjoyed it, and want to keep up to date with all my latest releases, just sign up here. Your email address will never be shared, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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It has been a joy to revisit the fictional town of Lakemore and Mack Price. I hope you had fun on Mack’s latest adventure. I’m so grateful to you for reading and hope you stick around for the next one—packed with more surprises and answers! If you liked this story, then please consider leaving a review and spread the word to your friends and family. I’d appreciate your support very much. You can also connect with me on Twitter.
Many thanks,
Ruhi
Our Daughter’s Bones
Detective Mackenzie Price Book 1
When Mackenzie opened the door to the kitchen, she froze. Her father lay on his stomach, blood pooling around his head. She lurched forward to touch him, but her mother held her back. Mackenzie felt like bursting. Her twelve-year-old heart couldn’t handle the grief. She would never forget that night, nor what her mother asked her to do…
Twenty years later, Detective Mackenzie Price is back in Lakemore, a town where the woods hide the darkest of crimes. Determined to atone for the sins of the past, she is unstoppable in her quest for justice.
When eighteen-year-old Abigail goes missing, Mack is sure the case is linked to that of Erica Perez, who vanished one year before. Mack’s co-workers believe Abby is just another runaway, but Mack isn’t convinced. Abby and Erica were friends, and when Mack finds Abby’s diary, she begins to suspect Abby knew something about Erica’s disappearance. Something that put her in danger.
Then a body is discovered in the woods and the race to bring Abby back alive becomes even more urgent. As Mack fights to keep her in the spotlight, she discovers a shocking secret that goes back decades. But that is not the only secret lurking beneath the surface, as Mack knows only too well.
The first book in the Detective Mackenzie Price series, Our Daughter’s Bones is a haunting and utterly unputdownable crime thriller, perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Angela Marsons and Karin Slaughter.
Get it here!
Acknowledgments
Writing is a lonely job, but publishing is all about teamwork. I’m extremely grateful to the following people.
My editor Lucy Dauman for her brilliant editing skills and keen insights, for her commitment and diligence, and for being supportive and overall lovely throughout this journey.
Big thanks to editors Alexandra Holmes, Fraser Crichton, and Abby Parsons, the cover designer Chris Shamwana and my publicist, Noelle Holten, for their hard work and passion. The entire team at Bookouture is dedicated and excellent.
My sister and dear friend, Dhriti, for always watching over her loved ones.
My best friend, Akanksha Nair, for helping me become a better writer.
Thanks to all my friends, especially Rachel Drisdelle, Dafni Giannari, Scott Proulx, Kaushik Raj, Danyal Rehman, and Sheida Stephens for their excitement.
Most of all, I am grateful to the readers. Thank you so much for taking the time! I appreciate each and every one of you, and would love to hear what you thought of the book.
Published by Bookouture in 2021
An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London E
C4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Ruhi Choudhary, 2021
Ruhi Choudhary 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: 978-1-80019-246-1
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.
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