He cupped her cheeks, and gave her a quick kiss. “Seriously? You just sold a book? And you’re not moving?”
She grinned into his palms.“Yep.”
After kissing her again, he pulled back and held her shoulders. “First, congratulations on the book,” he said, the concern in his eyes belying his words.
“What?” she asked.
“The Network deal was your dream job. If you decided not to do it because of…us, I guess I worry that—”
“There’s nothing you need to worry about.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his short hair. “Did I tell you I like the new do?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Maybe.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, it’s okay. When I was at Long’s house, holding a broken plate and preparing for the worse, I decided that if I got out of his house alive, I wasn’t going to let my career dictate my life anymore. I need you with me.”
“Always,” he murmured, and gave her a long, lingering kiss. “I can’t imagine life without you.”
Tears swelled in her eyes. “That’s a line I’d like to hear every day.”
He smiled. “Count on it.”
THE END
Other CORE Titles Available by Kristine Mason
Shadow of Danger - Book One of the CORE Shadow Trilogy
Shadow of Vengeance - Book Three of the CORE Shadow Trilogy
Ultimate Kill - Book One of the Ultimate CORE Trilogy
Ultimate Fear - Book Two of the Ultimate CORE Trilogy
About Kristine Mason
I didn’t pick up my first romance novel until I was in my late twenties. Immediately hooked, I read a bazillion books before deciding to write one of my own. After the birth of my first son I needed something to keep my mind from turning to mush, and Sesame Street wasn’t cutting it. While that first book will never see the light of day, something good came from writing it. I realized my passion and found a career I love.
When I’m not writing contemporary romances and dark, romantic suspense novels (or reading them!) I’m chasing after my four kids and two neurotic dogs.
You can email me at [email protected], visit my website at www.kristinemason.net or find me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kristinemasonauthor and https://twitter.com/KristineMason7 to connect with me on Twitter!
HAUNTED BY DEATH
BY Dale Mayer
Death haunts anthropologist Meg Pearce...
In her last summer before college, an innocent camping trip ended in a friend’s murder...and destroyed her life.
She lost everything. Her innocence. Her plans for her future. Her best friend and lover. Seventeen years later, she returns reluctantly to the same area, hoping to move on. But a gruesome discovery sends her reeling back to that dark time.
Detective Chad Ingram has spent the last seventeen years trying to solve the mystery of that camping trip so he too can regain his life…and the lost love of his life.
Only death isn’t done shaking up their lives…and this time they are in the crossfire.
HAUNTED BY DEATH
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing
Copyright © 2013
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher..
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CHAPTER 1
The clouds swept across the sky, whipped by a blustery northerly wind. The sun was high, shining brightly over the lake and shore. It was a perfect summer's day at the lake. Not far from the water's edge, where multiple brightly colored tents sprawled, Chad Ingram followed his buddies up the beach for a short hike. Bruce and Josh, his best friends, were in charge of today's adventure. The girls had elected to stay behind.
This was their last camping trip of the summer before college started next week. The long-standing group of three young males and their three girlfriends had made the most of the summer weather to get out and enjoy their time together. This weekend, Tim, and Bruce's cousins, Anto and Pero, who'd moved to the US a couple of years ago, had joined them.
Chad liked them both and although Pero was easy to get along with, his dark, broody brother Anto was, by contrast, hard work. But so long as he was on his best behavior, he fitted into the group just fine. Some of the group had worked full time for the summer, others only part time, and one of their number was doing summer school. Making time together had been a challenge.
And they all knew it was the end of an era. And that making time for each other was important. Next week, each would be starting on the pathway of whatever future they'd chosen. This weekend was a last chance to let loose before life intruded. Good thing too. Futures were serious business.
Josh had organized this day hike, which was intended to be a fun couple of hours exploring this side of the lake. With only t-shirts, shorts and runners, they weren't equipped to do more. Chad liked to do at least one trip a day when they were out. Not going too far and not putting out too much effort, just a break from the beach and swimming and beer drinking. Well maybe not that last one, as several of them usually carried an open can of beer with them.
This was their second trip to the popular northern Washington area. They'd camped at the other side of this same lake early in the summer, close to where several members of Bruce's extended family owned cabins. That trip had been such a blast that they all wanted to come back and check out the opposite side of the lake, the less popular side. Where they'd first camped out were hundreds of cabins up and down the lakeshore. That area was open and sunny with lovely sandy beaches. All of which made it a big attraction for kids and families.
This time the group wanted a different experience. They wanted seclusion, isolation, privacy and a chance to enjoy their last bit of freedom without having to follow curfews and noise restrictions.
And from the looks of the tightly grown forest and steep incline on parts of the hill behind them, they had it.
The group took off up the hill in good spirits. Chad walked last in line, smiling at his friends' antics up ahead. Their laughter preceded them, filling the dense woods even as the sun fought to see through into the old growth and tightly grouped stick trees on the left. The air was filled with a heavy pine-scented atmosphere. Although the walk up the hill on the left side had started out easily, it hit the way-too-much-work-to-be-bothered category very quickly. Besides, they hadn't brought enough beer to fortify themselves for that much hard work.
"Hey Chadwickie, what's taking you so long?" Josh yelled back from up ahead. He'd been leading the group of males for the last ten minutes but had stopped to see what was holding his friend back.
"I gotta take a piss." Chad called out. "That beer is running right through me."
"Weakling! Jesus, you really can't hold your liquor, can you?" Raucous laughter filled the air.
"Ha, ha! I can hold it that way just fine. I wasn't the one slobbering all over the girls last night like you and Bruce were."
Chad, or Chadwickie, as his buddies liked to call him to rile him, stepped further into the dense woods and slightly off the path, and opened his fly. Immediately, a bright stream hit the mossy ground and ferns in front of him. He tilted his head back and sighed with relief that was enhanced by the mild buzz going on in his head. Life was good.
"Aren't you done already?" One of his friends called back; it was probably Bruce. "It's almost time to go back to the girls. You're taking so long."
"When you gotta go, you gotta go," He
murmured quietly with a contented sigh. He could hear his friends moving further away but they were still within hearing distance.
The stream went on and on. Finally, he tucked himself back inside and zipped up his khaki shorts. He turned to look for his buddies. There was no one in sight.
Shit.
"Hey Josh? Bruce?" He spun around. "Where the hell are you guys? Anto? Tim?"
There was not a sound, not a whisper of laugher or crackle of leaves. Nothing! Crap. Where were they?
"Pero?"
Just then, the sun went behind a cloud and the air around him darkened, giving a sinister overtone to his growing fear. Crackling noises off to the left had him bolting to the right. "Hey, guys!"
Nothing.
Laughter from the way ahead weaved through the air. He ran toward it. Tripping over roots and piling through bushes, Chad chased after his friends. They would hide from him for hours – or for as long as they were having fun – if he didn't find them first. They were all jokesters in the group.
But going for a two hour hike as part of the group was one thing; getting left behind and lost was another thing altogether. That was not something he wanted. The group had been making hiking and camping trips for the last year. They had been a blast. But they'd all been on fields or beaches, in open terrain where it was easy to see the surrounding area. It had been easy to pinpoint landmarks to avoid getting lost. Never had they been in woods like this, but, of course, that had been the attraction this time around.
Open spaces were fine; beaches were good – great even. This place was eerie in a good way. Kinda like ghost stories around a campfire; a creepy kind of good.
Besides he knew his buddies and he trusted them. This was all in fun. He'd take his hit now and dish out more to the others later.
Just to the guys though. The girls didn't prank like the guys did. And he should know. One was an ex-girlfriend and the other – she was the love of his life. There had been a little occasional camping with both of them, but he hadn't gone out with Cia since last Halloween. He'd hooked up with Margaret, or Mags as they all called her, in February. She was special. He'd had several girlfriends already but she had been the first one to touch him inside and make herself right at home with him. She belonged with him. He loved that connection, that specialness of knowing he'd found the right partner.
His friends thought he was nuts and were always pointing out other chicks and telling him to test drive a few more models before he made a decision. The thing was he'd already done that. Cia had been one of the worst ones. And his friends just didn't get it. There was no decision to be made. It had been done for him. He couldn't explain this to someone who'd never experienced such a feeling, but Mags was his and he was hers. Finished.
Chest heaving, he stopped his headlong rush and caught his breath while he searched the hillside for his friends. There was still no sign of the others. Shit. How far ahead could they be? The incline now looked to be a half mile deep. He checked his watch. Jesus. They'd been gone forty-five minutes already. Given that they were close to the time of returning anyway, the others may have circled back toward the lake already.
And that was a damn good idea. They'd always said if someone got separated from the rest, they were to return to base. He should have done that right off. They could be anywhere by now. He didn't want them to send out a search party looking for him. His friends would never let him live that one down. If it wasn't for the steep incline, he'd be seriously worried, but the lake had to be down somewhere at the bottom, so how lost could he be?
Still, he'd go back to the girls while he could still find his way and before he'd take the chance of getting really lost out here.
A flock of birds flew up in a cacophony of sound right behind him. He dashed around a huge trunk and slammed up against it, his heart racing in shock. Shit. Somehow a fun afternoon's exploration had stopped being fun. He took a deep breath, hating the nerves-induced adrenaline snaking through his system. There was a lot of country out here.
And he was starting to freak himself out.
He'd never been lost or alone in the woods before. Didn't like it much either. Talk about feeling small and unimportant in the vast world of Mother Earth.
"Hey? Josh? Bruce? Very funny, guys… Where are you? Pero? Anto?"
No answer from any of them. Shit.
He hated this. He couldn't see anything but more brown trees and moss and green bushes in every direction. That wasn't good. His friends were good people but they were assholes when they pranked each other. But he had been as guilty as they were.
A branch cracked off to the left. His heart jumped, and he hid behind a tree. He held his breath. What the hell was that?
The undergrowth crunched as if someone – something – was walking heavily on it.
All other sounds had stopped.
He swallowed hard and slithered downward to the base of the tree. After a long moment, he peered around the edge of the tree trunk. He couldn't see anyone. Yet he could hear a stealthy noise – barely. Branches were rustling, leaves were sliding against each other and the birds had gone silent, as if they could see something he couldn't. The noise could have been from an animal. A bear? But he wasn't so sure. It hadn't been his friends. He knew that. They didn't have the skill to move so quietly. They were all elephants.
But there were hundreds of cabins here – and likely thousands of people between homes, campgrounds and the park. He waited, still peering from his hiding spot, but he couldn't hear anything else.
Then it hit him. The noise had come from the direction of the lake. From where they'd left the three girls alone.
Alone…oh, Mags.
For the first time he realized how stupid they'd been. His heart went into overdrive and he could barely breathe. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit!
Taking a deep breath, he plowed through the brush the way he'd come, around trees, ducking under branches, jumping over fallen logs and dodging the bushes that reached out to slow his progress. He had to get back. Something was wrong. He knew it. He just didn't know what.
He crossed what seemed like dozens of miles. He wished he knew where his buddies were right now, but it was the thought of the girls that scared him. They should never have been left alone, never.
He broke through the tree line, gasping in pain, his body trembling with panic, sweat coursing down his back and soaking his t-shirt. And, at last, he came to a dead stop.
Mags was there, with Stephanie. The two girls were in the lake, floating on air mattresses about twenty feet from shore, talking and paying no attention to anything but their conversation. Relief washed through him at the sight of Mags' long, lean body stretched out under the sun. He bent over, struggling to breathe.
She was fine.
Even as he watched, she was pointing out something in the sky to Stephanie. He doubted they even knew he was there. Those two had been close friends for years and could talk about nothing for hours. Confused, he straightened slowly and looked around.
The area was peaceful. Normal. And it was this normality that made him feel like an idiot for overreacting.
But where was Cia? She wasn't emotionally close to the other two females. And she wasn't the type to share confidences with other girls. She was all about the guys. And that had made it a little hard with all the relationship-switching that had happened within the group. She'd been the one to break up with Chad and a good thing it had been too. It had saved him the job. For all her good points, Cia came with a couple of really negative characteristics.
Normally, she could always be found sitting to one side reading one of her never ending books. He spun around, looking for her, but there was no sign of her.
Maybe she was napping as she'd been tired, and complaining of the heat when they'd left.
"Mags," he called out, "Where's Cia?"
Mags twisted around, saw him and gave him a warm smile. "She went to lie down. She has another headache."
Right. Of course she had. Cia go
t major migraines. He'd never known anyone else to have them before. It had been quite an education as they completely crippled her at times. Feeling better, he walked to the water's edge and splashed cool water on his face. If anyone realized how completely he'd overreacted, they'd make fun of him for days.
As he straightened up, his face cooler and his heart no longer trying to escape his chest, he realized that the inner disquiet hadn't been fully calmed. Not able to let it go until he was sure, he walked over to Josh and Cia's tent. "Cia? Are you in here?"
He hated to wake her but he had to know for sure.
The flap was down, so he lifted the corner and peered inside.
Empty.
He straightened up, cupped his hands around his mouth and called across the water, "She's not here. The tent is empty."
Just then the rest of the guys came thundering through the trees half running, half crashing into each other, and all laughing and joking. "There you are." Josh grinned at Chad as he jogged over to him. "We got into a crazy game of Hide and Go Seek in the woods. We weren't sure if you were with us or not at that point."
Bruce and Tim approached, gasping for breath, but still scrapping over who had arrived first and second.
"I wasn't," Chad snapped, hands on his hips as he glared at his friends. "And no thanks to you guys. You could have waited for me."
The others grinned, totally digging him being pissed off. He couldn't blame them. If their positions had been reversed, he'd have been the same. There was no sign of the Novak brothers. He spun around to see them; Anto first, coming through the trees and there was Pero, much further down. Damn. He turned back to the gathering crowd.
"I can't find Cia. The girls said she went to lie down and have a nap, but she's not here."
The responses came from all of them at once.
Bruce brushed the news off with a shake of his head. "Stop worrying, she won't be far away."
"Probably grabbed her book and found a shady spot to read."
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