by Bill Floyd
“No shit,” she answered brusquely, and we both laughed a little. “Most people walk through their lives oblivious, and for most people that works out fine. Hayden and you both know more about the real dangers of the world than anyone should have to. But danger isn’t everything. Look around you. Think about the fact that you’re here and alive and you’ve recovered from your physical wounds. All of those things are blessings. Your boy is a blessing. Now it’s up to you to make something good out of what’s been granted to you. Scars and all.”
These were the kindest words anyone had said to me since the whole thing started, and I teared up despite my best efforts. Jeanine, who I was starting to recognize as a true class act, fished a tissue out of her purse and politely excused herself while I wiped at my eyes. She walked over to the swing set and told Caleb to sit in the swing next to Hayden, and then she took turns pushing them both. I thought it was a fine thing that she’d finished her brother’s work.
My cell phone started ringing and I took it out of the front pocket of my shorts. The caller ID showed that it was someone from Data Managers calling, even though I’d taken the day off from my job. I knew what that meant. Jim Pendergast, my boss, had pushed his formerly lukewarm romantic overtures into a new phase during the time since I’d returned to work. We’d even been out to lunch a few times, and he was angling hard for a dinner date. I kept brushing him off, telling him it was too hard to find a sitter for Hayden, but in truth I hadn’t been prepared to leave my son alone. Now, watching him push his legs back and forth in the swing, arcing up across the sun like he might take flight and not care about ever looking down, I decided it was time to answer my phone.
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
THE KILLER’S wife
“Fresh plotting, high suspense, and great pacing combine to make The Killer’s Wife a book you can’t put down.”
—Iris Johansen, bestselling author of Stalemate
“Bill Floyd delivers a nuanced, sympathetic protagonist in the form of a killer’s unsuspecting spouse. Six years after her husband’s arrest, people still wonder: How much did she know? When did she know it? And most important, how could she have missed it? Vividly imagined and sharply drawn, Floyd’s debut presents a fresh take on an archetypal story. A welcome voice in a crowded genre.”
—John Hart, bestselling author of
The King of Lies and Down River
“Riveting and original, The Killer’s Wife will force you to question how well you really know your friends and family. This stunning debut will keep you turning pages until the shocking conclusion.”
—Allison Brennan, New York Times
bestselling author of Fear No Evil
“Not since Dennis Lehane’s A Drink Before the War have I read a debut novel with such mesmerizing power … . It’s a story that seizes you from the first page and draws you into the ordinary worlds of richly drawn characters, both sympathetic ones and extraordinarily creepy ones … . Grab this one and hang on for one hell of a scary ride.”
—James W. Hall, author of Hell’s Bay
“Fighting to forget that she slept in innocence beside a brutal serial killer, Leigh Wren is horrified when her ex-husband reaches out from death row to trap her and her treasured young son. You don’t want to read The Killer’s Wife by Bill Floyd. But this compelling debut novel gives you no choice.”
—Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The
Deep End of the Ocean and Still Summer
“The Killer’s Wife hooked me from chapter one and kept me in suspense until the very end. A compelling, skillfully executed read.”
—Mary Jane Clark, New York Times
bestselling author of Lights Out Tonight
“An irresistible look into the life and mind of a serial killer. Bill Floyd shows us a man with all the hallmarks of a real-life killer who also feels so familiar he could be your husband, father, or brother. An utterly haunting, unforgettable read.”
—Stephen G. Michaud, author of the bestselling book
about Ted Bundy, The Only Living Witness
(with Hugh Aynesworth), and Beyond Cruel
“Bill Floyd enters the mind of madness with a pen guided by angels.”
—Keith Ablow, M.D., author of Living the Truth
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE KILLER’S WIFE. Copyright © 2008 by Bill Floyd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Book design by Spring Hoteling
eISBN 9781429939874
First eBook Edition : February 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Floyd, Bill, 1968-
The killer’s wife / Bill Floyd.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37339-9
ISBN-10: 0-312-37339-2
1. Divorced mothers—Fiction. 2. Stalking—Fiction. 3. Stalkers—Fiction. 4. Serial murderers—Fiction. 5. Cary (N.C.)—Fiction. I. Title
PS3606.L687K55
2008
813’.6—dc22
2007042640
First Edition: March 2008