COPYRIGHT
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This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are 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. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction, distribution, or transmitted in whole or part in any form or means, or stored in any electronic, mechanical, database or retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
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ASHLEY RIDGE
The Haunted Hearts Series: Book Three
Copyright © 2015 by Denise Moncrief
Electronic Edition
Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Editor: Linda Pitts
Cover Design: Keri Neal
Cover is copyright and trademark of the author, used under license owned.
ASHLEY RIDGE
Trapped in an affair with a blackmailer...
After Ashley Rivers is involved in a hit and run accident, she picks up the pieces of her life and tries to move on, but the tragedy ruins her friendship with the two people most important to her. To fill the void, she falls into a psychologically abusive relationship with a sociopath.
Estranged from the man she has always loved...
Giving up her place in the North Arkansas Paranormal Society isn’t easy for Ashley. She longs to go back to the old ghost hunting days with her partners, Josh and Gray, but the hurt Josh inflicted on her is hard to forget. Distancing herself from him is even harder.
Entangled in a dark web of deceit and revenge...
When a mysterious death on Ashley Ridge stirs up old haunting rumors, Lead Crime Scene Investigator with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office, Josh McCord, fears the ghosts of Ashley’s past have come back to taunt her. Investigating the haunting draws Josh and Ashley together, but Josh fears Ashley will crush his heart again.
Can two wounded hearts repair the damage done by the past and find love again on Ashley Ridge?
DEDICATION
For Larry, who told me the premise for my first book was a good idea and encouraged me to write it.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Special thanks to my long-suffering family, Larry, Katy, and Eric, who put up with my many writing moods and encourage me to pursue my publishing dreams anyway. I would like to also thank the fabulously talented Keri Neal for the beautiful book covers she has designed for The Haunted Hearts Series. Keri takes my vague ideas and brings the concept for each cover to life.
I’d also like to acknowledgment all the readers who enjoyed Laurel Heights and Victoria House and gave me encouraging feedback. I write because it’s an obsession. I publish because I want someone to read what I write. My readers are why I do what I do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
FOREWORD
For those of you who know and love the state of Arkansas, I apologize for mangling the geography. Hill County and the town of Fairview are fictional places and loosely based on multiple locations, a conglomeration of locales woven together to create a setting especially designed for The Haunted Hearts Series.
Each book in the series is written to stand alone, but together they tell the story of one man’s corrupt influence over an entire county and how one bad decision can affect so many lives. I hope you, the reader, enjoy Ashley Ridge as much as I enjoyed writing it.
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
About the Author
Other Titles By Denise Moncrief
Bonus Material: Excerpt from Shaw’s Landing
ASHLEY RIDGE
Chapter One
Ashley Ridge
Halloween 2010
Tree branches clattered and snapped against each other as the wind picked up and howled over the ridge. Cherish Duncan stared through a gap in the foliage at the overcast night sky. A second later, an angry cloud obscured the moon and the forest plunged into thick darkness. She picked up her pace. Zach Halsey held the only flashlight a few feet ahead of her. From the moment he’d suggested a moonlight walk along Ashley Ridge, she’d regretted accepting his invitation. She’d said yes, figuring she couldn’t be any safer on Halloween night than with the sheriff’s grandson.
Zach glanced over his shoulder and caught her eye. “Keep up, Cher.”
She hated it when anyone shortened her name to Cher. She was nothing like the singer. Blonde-haired and blue-eyed, Cherish was petite and couldn’t sing a lick, and she knew it. For most of her life, she’d believed there was nothing at all appealing about her. Plain vanilla when the rest of Hill County was filled with more interesting people. There was only one reason why the quarterback of the Fairview High School varsity football team would want her company.
She no longer wanted to be alone with him. Her stomach jumped when she finally faced the truth, so she wrapped her arms around her middle and kept walking.
Zach’s muted voice wavered over the rising wind. “It’s just ahead.”
She caught up with him and grabbed his hand. “It’s creepy out here. Let’s go back to the car.”
“We’re almost there. It’s over that hill.”
Cherish bit her bottom lip before speaking again. “I don’t want to see it anymore.”
He stopped and turned, presenting her with a condescending sneer, barely visible in the muted glow of the flashlight distorting his face into a harsh mask. “It took a long time to get out here and now you want to go back before we get there. You know I could have asked someone else to come up here with me.”
His comment was sharp and pointed, and pierced her heart. Cherish wasn’t foolish enough to believe she was Zach’s first choice. She wasn’t girlfriend material. He probably asked her because he believed the rumors about her. Maybe Zach thought he’d be the one to take her virginity, but he’d be wrong. She hadn’t taken self-defense classes for nothing. If he tried anything with her that she didn’t want to do, his manhood would be sore for a while. Sure, Monday at school, he’d label her a tease and all the boys would shun her, but she was used to that.
It wasn’t easy being old man Duncan’s granddaughter.
Just as she was about to run the other way, he pulled her forward, and his strength surprised her, although maybe it shouldn’t have. Sudden fear made her heart race. What if she couldn’t stop him if he wanted something she wasn’t willing to give him?
As he had said, the Love Shack was just over the hill. She could make out its outline in the near distance. One of the supports holding up the front porch had rotted until the roof sagged on that end. All of the windows appeared to be shattered. The tin roof was rusted just like in the song by the B-52’s. She’
d never seen the Shack before, but in her opinion there was nothing appealing about it.
The shack on Ashley Ridge was one of two popular Halloween destinations for the Fairview High jocks. Every year someone ventured out to the Ridge and nearly died from fright, or some idiot broke into Victoria House and nearly suffered from a gunshot wound to the backside. She’d never been inside the house. Had never been invited. That was a thing for the popular kids, and Cherish wasn’t part of that crowd.
So what was she doing out on Ashley Ridge with Zach Halsey?
He placed one foot on the first riser and tested its weight before climbing the short steps to the front porch. He turned toward her, a gleam in his eyes that glowed bright even in the darkened night. For the first time since she met him in kindergarten, she was afraid of Zach.
“I’ve heard this place was haunted.” He practically salivated.
She pulled back on his hand. “We aren’t going in there, are we? It doesn’t look safe.”
“Come on, Cherish. What are you afraid of?”
I’m afraid of you.
He released her hand, walked a couple of paces into the small front room, and did a full circle. “This place is a wreck. Perfect spot for a ghost to hang out on Halloween.”
Cherish lingered in the doorless entry.
Zach returned to stand right in front of her. “Probably haunted by the ghost of all the babies made in this shack. I hear more babies are made here than in all the rest of Hill County.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. Moonlight filtered through the torn curtains on the far window and illuminated the smirk on his face. She stepped back.
“I don’t want to make a baby. Not right now. Not with you. Not with anyone.”
He laughed and the sound of his derision shot through her. “Not a problem, babe.” He shoved the flashlight into his jacket pocket and pulled out a foil packet.
She shook her head. “Not happening.” Condom or not, she wasn’t having sex with Zach Halsey.
Zach leaned one hand on each doorpost on either side of her head. “What did you think we came out here for?”
She had known. Deep down the truth had settled into her soul, but she had refused to listen to the little voice in her head that told her Zach didn’t want to be her boyfriend. He just wanted a hook up.
“No.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“Did you expect some place nicer for your first time?” He leaned forward and his face was only inches from hers. “The Shack is good enough for old man Duncan’s granddaughter.”
Without thinking, Cherish clawed at his handsome face.
He pressed his hand to his cheek and then stared at his palm. “You bitch.”
She lifted her knee and aimed for his groin, but he was faster than she was. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her further into the shack. Cherish kicked him in the shin and he released his hold on her. She made a move to run, but once again he was faster and got between her and the door.
Zach grabbed her shoulder, spun her around, and yanked her arm behind her back. “You’re gonna pay for that.”
Cherish twisted, but every movement sent a stab of pain up her arm and into her shoulder socket. When she finally stopped struggling, they were facing the door. She closed her eyes and prayed as she’d never prayed in her life. Oh God, please help me! If she could just get loose from Zach and out the door, she’d run like crazy. She probably couldn’t outrun him, but at least, she’d go down fighting.
The howl of the wind increased, shook the loose pieces of tin on the roof. The house seemed to shudder from the cold air buffeting it. Cherish sucked back a sob. She refused to show fear in front of the jerk. The temperature dropped and she shivered from the sudden loss of body heat.
He released her arm and spun her around to face him in one swift motion, planting his hands on top of her shoulders, his fingers digging in and hurting her through the thick fabric of her jacket and the t-shirt underneath. Her hopes of getting away vanished. Zach was too fast and too strong for her. Tears welled in her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away.
Over his shoulder an amorphous dark mass formed in the center of the room, thicker than the darkness surrounding it. She gasped as it began to take shape and coalesce into something a bit more solid.
“What’s wrong?” He turned to glance behind him and suddenly released her. “What the he—”
The mass shimmered, and then the fuzzy, not-quite-in-focus figure of a man emerged and moved toward them. The apparition’s eyes glowed and seemed to stare right into Cherish’s soul.
Run, little girl.
The message zoomed through her mind, although she couldn’t audibly hear the words. Before Cherish could respond or even process what was happening, the apparition had enveloped Zach. Terror seized her insides as if her chest was compressing and then expanding, ready to explode. She screamed and backed up a step. Zach’s face seemed to melt and shift, sliding into features that looked nothing like him. Hysteria created a massive clog in her throat, choking off her screams.
Her mind raced. She’d seen that face before, but where?
Zach’s body arched and rose from the ground until he brushed the ceiling. When the apparition separated from Zach, he fell to the floor with a hard thud and the unmistakable crack of breaking bones met her ears.
Once again, she heard the apparition in her head if not in her ears. You’d better run now.
She turned and bolted out the door toward the Ashley Ridge trail only a few yards away. Once her feet hit the path, she headed not toward Zach’s car, but toward the nearest house. It would do her no good to try to use his car. He still held the keys. Her best bet was to run for Laurel Heights and see if Celeste Standridge would help her out.
It seemed ages before she finally banged on the back door. Breathless from her frantic run along the ridge trail, she bent over to catch her breath. When she heard footsteps on the other side of the door, she relaxed a little, relieved that she had been able to get away and get help. She’d beg the old lady to let her use the phone. After a long moment, the door creaked open and she straightened just as a man grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her into the house.
Chapter Two
Hill County, Arkansas
April 30, 2014
Ashley Rivers was late. Hours late. Exhaustion had finally laid her low and she’d slept right through her alarm. Still, she didn’t feel she’d gotten enough rest. She slipped through the back door of the clinic, hoping to go straight to work without having to greet anyone or pretend she wanted to be there instead of at Josh’s hospital bedside. She had been jumpy for days, and she didn’t want anyone commenting on her hyper state.
Yesterday’s call from Courtney Crenshaw had twanged her already spastic nerves. Courtney had disappeared and was wanted for questioning in connection with her husband’s death. For a moment, she had wondered if Courtney begging her to come out to the old Jepson place at night was dangerous. She had reasoned that if Josh McCord was wounded and possibly bleeding internally, as Courtney had said, then Ashley couldn’t ignore that, so she had gulped down her trepidation and gone out to the abandoned farmhouse.
The Jepson place was near the beginning of the Ashley Ridge trail, close to the spot where Jeremy Haskins had died.
She and Josh had always wanted to spend a night out on the Ridge just to see for themselves whether ghosts roamed the trail after dark. There were many variations of the Ridge Trail ghost story and she didn’t believe any of them. As much as she’d wanted to prove paranormal activity existed when she was in high school, she no longer believed in ghosts. A living, breathing human being usually caused things that went bump in the night.
When she had entered the old Jepson farmhouse, Courtney was gone, but Josh was lying on the floor, beaten and bloody. Ashley had done the only thing she could do under the circumstances. She had called Josh’s ex-best-friend Mitchell Grayson to come out to the Jepson place and help her get Josh to the clinic. In his typical way,
Gray had taken control of the situation from the moment he had arrived on the scene.
Since he had advanced to the rank of lieutenant in the Hill County Sheriff’s Department, he had developed an attitude of unquestionable authority. She wanted to laugh when she thought about that. She’d known Gray all her life and didn’t buy his posturing for one minute. She was well aware of every one of his flaws and insecurities.
Gray knew what to do in an emergency. He’d come to Ashley’s rescue more than once and his life had suffered for it. Nothing had ever been the same since he had helped her cover up Jeremy Haskins’s death. Ashley owed Gray. For him to do her one more huge favor…well, her debt to him just kept growing.
The ride into Fairview had been quiet, maybe a little too quiet, as Gray drove toward town with Ashley and Josh in the back seat. When she realized Josh needed more medical help than she could give him, Ashley had begged Terrance Phelps to meet them at the clinic. He hadn’t agreed to treat Josh because of his doctor’s oath. No. He hated Josh. At first Terrance had refused, but his resistance had been a pretense. He had an ulterior motive for doing as she had asked him to do. Treating Josh had given him more leverage over her. She hadn’t wanted to involve Terrance, but she’d had no other choice. She couldn’t involve anyone else.
He would make her pay for dragging him into Josh’s problem.
She walked past the closed door of his private office and grabbed a chart from outside one of the exam rooms. If she dove into work, maybe she could put off the inevitable confrontation with him for a little longer.
She pushed open the door of the exam room. “Good afternoon…” She glanced at the name on the intake form. “Mrs. Preston.”
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