That was the last time I talked to her. By noon the next day, Karen Beaumont Livingston had drifted into a coma. I stayed away after that. From then on, Dave and Kelly and Scott were at her side around the clock, and rightfully so. Three nights later, Dave came home at eleven o’clock—early for him. His eyes were red; his hair was standing on end.
“It’s over,” he said. “Mind if I have a drink?”
“Go ahead,” I said. “Help yourself.”
“I knew it was coming,” he said a few minutes later. “I thought I was prepared. But I’m not. I feel so lost. What am I going to do?” Unchecked tears streamed down his face as he turned away from me.
“You’ll be all right, Dave,” I told him. “That’s what families are for. And friends.”
About the Author
J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family, and Edge of Evil. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.
www.jajance.com
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RESOUNDING PRAISE FOR
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
J.A. JANCE
“J.A. Jance is among the best—if not the best.”
Chattanooga Times
“In the elite company of Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell.”
Flint Journal
“J.A. Jance does not disappoint.”
Washington Times
“Crime and characters are the lifeblood of Jance’s books.”
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“Jance’s [novels] show up on bestseller lists…One can see why.”
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“[Readers] are enthralled by Jance’s ability to infuse life (and death) into her books…Evidence shows that J.A. Jance is a hit.”
The Columbian (WA)
ALSO BY J. A. JANCE
Joanna Brady Mysteries
Desert Heat
Tombstone Courage
Shoot/Don’t Shoot
Dead to Rights
Skeleton Canyon
Rattlesnake Crossing
Outlaw Mountain
Devil’s Claw
Paradise Lost
Partner in Crime
Exit Wounds
J. P. Beaumont Mysteries
Until Proven Guilty
Injustice for All
Trial by Fury
Taking the Fifth
Improbable Cause
A More Perfect Union
Dismissed with Prejudice
Minor in Possession
Payment in Kind
Without Due Process
Failure to Appear
Lying in Wait
Name Withheld
Breach of Duty
Birds of Prey
Partner in Crime
Long Time Gone
and
Hour of the Hunter
Kiss of the Bees
Day of the Dead
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
NAME WITHHELD. Copyright © 2006 by J.A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition July 2006 ISBN 9780061760907
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Name Withheld : A J.p. Beaumont Mystery (9780061760907) Page 29