The Dying Game. Beverly Barton
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PLAYING THE GAME
After he unlocked the backdoor and eased it open carefully, he stepped inside, and shut the door behind him. Quietly.
Listening for any sound to indicate that his entrance might have alerted her to his presence, he placed the axe against the wall, then patted his soggy jacket pocket. Ah, yes, it was still there, coated with raindrops, but otherwise unharmed. He removed the long-stemmed pink rosebud, then took the tiny key-ring flashlight from his other jacket pocket and used it to search the room. Taking hesitant steps, not wanting to bump into anything and make a noise, he paused as he passed the kitchen table and laid the rose there for safekeeping. He would need it later. A tribute. One lovely flower for another.
He felt inside his pants pocket, checking on the small digital camera. An important part of the game was photographing the kill.
The house was middle-of-the-night quiet…. Sonya was probably sound asleep. She had made this almost too easy for him, as if she were asking for it. But she would never suspect a mysterious stranger would use the key she thought was so cleverly hidden to enter her home.
In the dead of night.
With the intention of killing her…
Books by Beverly Barton
AFTER DARK
EVERY MOVE SHE MAKES
WHAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW
THE FIFTH VICTIM
THE LAST TO DIE
AS GOOD AS DEAD
KILLING HER SOFTLY
CLOSE ENOUGH TO KILL
MOST LIKELY TO DIE
THE DYING GAME
THE MURDER GAME
COLD HEARTED
SILENT KILLER
DEAD BY MIDNIGHT
DON’T CRY
DEAD BY MORNING
DEAD BY NIGHTFALL
DON’T SAY A WORD
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
THE RIGHT WIFE
(available as an e-book)
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2007 Beverly Beaver
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either 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.
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ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4328-6
ISBN-10: 0-7860-4328-8
First Zebra mass market paperback printing: April 2007
First Pinnacle edition: April 2019
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Printed in the United States of America
Pinnacle electronic edition: April 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4331-6 (e-book)
ISBN-10: 0-7860-4331-8 (e-book)
Dear Reader,
Many of you have contacted me to tell me that you enjoy reading books with connecting characters and are interested in learning about Knoxville P.I., Griffin Powell. Griff has appeared in several of my novels as a secondary character. From the moment I first introduced him, I found him fascinating and knew he had a horrible secret past. In The Dying Game, I gave you glimpses of the man he is now and hints about those ten missing years of his life, hopefully whetting your appetite for his book. You were reintroduced to Sanders, Griff’s mysterious right-hand-man, and introduced to the exotically beautiful Dr. Yvette Meng, each a dear friend from Griff’s lost years. And you met FBI Special Agent Nic Baxter, one lady who hasn’t succumbed to Griff’s irresistible charm. In fact, Nic intensely dislikes Griffin Powell, both professionally and personally. And the feeling is mutual.
As you know, Pudge still remained on the loose at the end of The Dying Game. That’s because he’s going to be back in The Murder Game, ready to play a deadly new game— a game of murder. As the clever Game Hunter Killer, Pudge specifically chooses his victims—all women who are both physically and mentally superior. In his sick game, he is the hunter and they his prey. Having outsmarted the FBI and the Powell Agency once before, Pudge finds it amusing to play catch-me-if-you-can with Nic and Griff. When he contacts each with clues and dares and threats, they have no choice but to join forces in order to stop him from killing again and again. But no one knows just how personal the killer’s game will become for Nic and Griff—not until it’s too late.
Warmest regards,
Beverly Barton
To Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, Sonja Henie, Richard Greene, John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Anne Baxter, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Greer Garson, Clark Gable, James Cagney, and countless other movie stars who shined so brightly in black and white on the old silver screen and brightened my childhood, filled my with life with romance and magic, and ignited my innate creativity.
Thank you, Daddy, for sharing your love of classic movies with me.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter