{"id":4227,"date":"2026-01-04T00:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/gone-gardner-lisa\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T00:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:14:27","slug":"gone-gardner-lisa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/gone-gardner-lisa\/","title":{"rendered":"Gone &#8211; Gardner, Lisa"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='book-preview'>\n<h3>Book Preview<\/h3>\n<div class=\"s1\">\n<p class=\"calibre6\"><span class=\"none\"> <br class=\"calibre9\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"><span class=\"none\"> <\/span><span class=\"none1\">Tuesday, 12:24 a.m. PST<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">SHE IS DREAMING AGAIN. She doesn\u2019t want to. She wrestles with the sheets, tosses her head, tries to keep the dream version of herself from walking up those stairs, from opening that door, from entering the gloom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She wakes up stuffing the scream back into her throat, eyes bulging and still seeing things she doesn\u2019t want to see. Reality returns in slow degrees, as she registers the gray-washed walls, the dark-eyed windows, the empty side of the bed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She heads for the bathroom, sticking her head under the faucet and gulping mouthfuls of lukewarm water. She can still hear the rain thundering outside. It seems like it has been raining forever this November, but maybe that\u2019s only her state of mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She goes into the kitchen. Note\u2019s still on the table. Seven days later, she doesn\u2019t read it anymore, but can\u2019t quite bring herself to throw it away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Refrigerator inventory time: yogurt, tuna fish, pineapple, eggs. She grabs the eggs, then realizes they expired two weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Screw it, she goes back to bed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Same dream, same images, same visceral scream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">One a.m., she gets up for good. She showers, scrounges for clean clothes, then stares at her gaunt reflection in the mirror.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">\u201cHow do you spell fuckup? R-A-I-N-I-E.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She goes for a drive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Tuesday, 2:47 a.m. PST<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cBABY \u2019S CRYING, \u201d he mumbled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cWake up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cMmmm, honey, it\u2019s your turn to get the kid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cCarl, for God\u2019s sake. It\u2019s the phone, not the baby, and it\u2019s for you. Snap out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tCarlton Kincaid\u2019s wife, Tina, elbowed him in the ribs. Then she tossed him the phone and burrowed back under the covers, pulling the down comforter over her mocha-colored head. Tina wasn\u2019t a middle-of-the-night sort of person.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tUnfortunately, neither was Kincaid. Sergeant Detective, Major Crimes, Portland office of the Oregon State Police, he was supposed to be prepared for these sort of calls. Sound intelligent. Commanding even. Kincaid hadn\u2019t gotten a good night\u2019s sleep in nearly eight months now, however, and was feeling it. He stared sulkily at the phone, and thought it had better be damn good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid sat up straight and attempted to sound chipper. \u201cHell-oh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tA trooper was on the other end of the line. Had gotten called out by a local deputy to the scene of an abandoned vehicle on the side of a rural road in Tillamook County. So far no sign of the owner at the vehicle\u2019s site or at the owner\u2019s legal address.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid had one question. \u201cIs the vehicle on public or private property?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cDunno.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cWell, figure it out, \u2019cause if it\u2019s private, we\u2019re gonna need consent to search the grounds. You\u2019ll also need to contact the local DA for a warrant to search the vehicle. So get the DA rolling, buckle up the scene, and I\u2019ll be there in\u201d\u2014Kincaid glanced at his watch\u2014 \u201cfifty-five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tThe trooper hung up; Kincaid got moving. Kincaid had been with the OSP for the past twelve years. He\u2019d started as a trooper, spent some time on a gang task force, then transferred to Major Crimes. Along the way, he\u2019d acquired a beautiful wife, a big black mutt, and as of eight months ago, a bouncing baby boy. Life was going according to plan, if you included in that plan that neither he nor his wife had slept or chewed their food in over half a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKids kept you hopping. So did Major Crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tHe could hear the rain coming down in sheets off the roof. What a bitch of a night to be pulled out of bed. He kept two changes of clothes in the trunk of his take-home car. Night like this, that\u2019d get him through the first half hour. Shit. He looked back at the bed with a pang and wished it\u2019d been the baby crying after all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tMoving on autopilot, he dug through the dresser and started pulling on clothes. He was just buttoning up his shirt when his wife sighed and sat up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cBad one?\u201d she whispered softly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cDon\u2019t know. Abandoned vehicle over in Bakersville.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cBaby, what\u2019s that got to do with you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cDriver\u2019s-side door\u2019s open, engine\u2019s still running, and purse is sitting in the passenger\u2019s seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tShe frowned. \u201cThat\u2019s weird.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cBaby, I hate the weird cases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid pulled on his sports coat, crossed to his wife and planted a big one on her cheek. \u201cGo back to sleep, honey. Love you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Tuesday, 1:14 a.m. PST<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">SHE CAN \u2019T SEE A DAMN THING . Her wipers are on high speed, flailing violently across her windshield. It makes no difference. The rain comes and comes and comes. Bend in the road. She takes the turn a little too late and promptly hydroplanes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She is breathing hard now. Hiccupping. Is she crying? It\u2019s hard to tell, but she\u2019s grateful to be alone in the dark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Easing off the gas, she steers carefully back into the proper lane. There are advantages to being out this late at night. No one else on the road to be punished by her mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She knows where she is going without ever telling herself. If she thought about it, then it would be a conscious decision, which would underline the fact she has a problem. Far easier to simply discover herself pulling into the parking lot of the Toasted Lab Tavern. Half a dozen other vehicles are sprinkled across the graveled lot, mostly wide-cab pickup trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">The hard-core drinkers, she thinks. You have to be hard-core to be out on a night like this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">What is she doing here?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She sits in her car, gripping the steering wheel hard. She can feel herself starting to shake. Her mouth is filling with saliva. She is already anticipating that first long, cold sip of beer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">For one moment, she hangs on the precipice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Go home, Rainie. Go to bed, watch TV, read a book. Do something, do anything but this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She is shaking harder, her entire body convulsing as she hunches over the wheel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">If she goes home, she will fall asleep. And if she falls asleep . . .<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tDO NOT climb those stairs. DO NOT open that door. DO NOT peer into the gloom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">There is so much darkness inside of her. She wants to be a real person. She wants to be strong, resolute, and sane. But mostly she feels the darkness move inside her head. It started four months ago, the first few tendrils fingering the corners of her mind. Now it consumes her. She has fallen into an abyss and she can no longer see the light.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Rainie hears a noise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Her head comes up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She sees a large figure loom ahead suddenly in the pouring rain. She doesn\u2019t scream. She grabs her gun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">The drunken cowboy lurches past, never knowing how close he came to losing his ass.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Rainie sets her Glock back down in the passenger seat. She is no longer trembling. She\u2019s wide-eyed. Grim-faced. A stone-cold sort of crazy, which is far, far worse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She puts her car into gear and heads back into the night.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Tuesday, 3:35 a.m. PST<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tBAKERSVILLE, OREGON, was a small coastal town smack dab in the middle of Tillamook County. Nestled in the shadows of the towering coastal range inside Tillamook County. It featured endless acres of verdant dairy farms, miles of rocky beach, and from a detective\u2019s point of view, a growing methamphetamine problem. Pretty place to live if you were into honky-tonks and cheese. Not much else to do if you weren\u2019t, and didn\u2019t the local kids know it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tIt should\u2019ve taken Kincaid fifty minutes to hit Bakersville. On a night like this, with zero visibility, slick mountain passes, and driving sheets of rain, it took Kincaid an hour fifteen. He pulled onto the lit-up site, breathing hard and already feeling behind the eight ball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tIn the good-news department, the first responders had done their job. Three strategically placed spotlights glared into the night, high-powered beams slicing through the ribbons of rain. Yellow crime scene tape roped off a decent-sized perimeter, outside of which the vehicles were starting to pile up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid noted a deputy\u2019s truck, then the sheriff\u2019s, then a slick black SUV with all the bells and whistles, which he figured belonged to the Tillamook County DA. They would need more bodies if they decided to launch a full-scale search, and they would need the forensic lab and Latent Prints to process the scene, but those would be his calls to make.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tAn hour and forty minutes after the first call out, they were still covering the basics: Did they, or did they not, have a crime? Most taxpayers probably liked to think the police went into these situations full bore. Notify the crime lab, bring in the National Guard, call in the choppers. Yeah, well, those same taxpayers kept hacking away at the OSP\u2019s budget, until Kincaid now had three and a half detectives working for him instead of the original fourteen. Real-world policing meant all decisions came attached to dollar signs. For better or for worse, these days he was operating on the cheap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid pulled in behind the monstrous black Chevy Tahoe and cut his engine. No way around it. He opened his door and stepped out into the deluge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tThe rain nailed him square on the forehead. For a moment, he paused, steeling himself against the onslaught. Then, his hair was soaked, the water trickled beneath the collar of his Columbia raincoat, and the worst of it was over. He no longer had to worry about getting muddy and wet; he was already there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid trudged around to the trunk of his Chevy Impala, pulled out the giant plastic bin containing his crime scene kit, and ducked beneath the tape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tTrooper Blaney trotted over, black Danner boots splashing through the muck. A good doobie, he was wearing full department-issued rain gear, including a black-and-blue OSP jacket that looked like a biker coat gone bad. No one really liked the jacket. Kincaid kept his stashed in the trunk for the rare occasions the press was around\u2014or a superior officer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tBlaney had obviously been standing outside awhile; his coat looked slick as glass beneath the high-powered lights, while beneath the cover of his wide-brim hat, the water ran in rivulets down his square-jawed face and dripped off the end of his nose. Blaney stuck out his hand; Kincaid returned the favor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cTrooper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cSergeant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tThe Tillamook County sheriff and a deputy had followed in the trooper\u2019s wake. Blaney made the introductions as they all stood in a rain-soaked huddle, teeth chattering, arms tight against their sides for warmth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tDeputy Dan Mitchell had been the first responder. Kid was young, farming stock, but trying hard. He didn\u2019t like the look of things\u2014the open door, headlights on, engine running. Seemed kind of Hollywood to him. So he\u2019d called Sheriff Atkins, who hadn\u2019t been wild to be pulled out of bed on such a night, but had headed down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tThe sheriff was a bit of a surprise. For one thing, he was a she\u2014that would be Sheriff Shelly Atkins to you. For another, she had a firm handshake, a no-nonsense stare, and apparently didn\u2019t feel like beating around the bush.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cLook,\u201d she interjected halfway through her deputy\u2019s energetic spiel, \u201cTom\u2019s waiting\u201d\u2014she jerked her head toward the DA, who Kincaid now saw was tucked back inside his SUV. \u201cWe got a search warrant for the car and, per your trooper\u2019s instructions, we\u2019ve confirmed this is public land. Now, I don\u2019t know what the hell happened here, but someone left that car in a hurry, and that\u2019s a source of concern for me. So let\u2019s get this ball rolling, or there won\u2019t be anything left to find but a bunch of soggy police reports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tNo one could argue with that logic, so their little scrum moved toward the car, edging carefully toward the open door.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tVehicle was a late-model Toyota Camry, white exterior, blue cloth interior. Nice, but nothing fancy. The driver had pulled well over, conscientiously trying to get off the road. To the left of the driver\u2019s door was the winding backwoods lane. To the right was a steep embankment leading up into a heavily shrouded forest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tAs the trooper had reported by phone, the driver\u2019s-side door was slung wide open, tip of the door scraping the edge of the asphalt. Kincaid\u2019s first thought was that most people didn\u2019t open their doors that far. Maybe if they had really long legs. Or maybe if they were loading something in and out of the car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tSomething to think about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tFrom this angle, Kincaid could make out the shape of a brown leather handbag sitting in the passenger\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cDid you check the purse?\u201d he asked no one in particular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cI picked it up,\u201d Deputy Mitchell reported, already sounding defensive. \u201cTo check for ID, you know. I mean, it just seemed strange to find the car, lights on, engine running, door open wide as day. I had to start somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cDid you find a wallet?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cNo, sir. But then I opened the glove compartment and found the vehicle registration. I pulled the name off that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cPurse was empty?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cNo, sir. Lots of stuff in the purse\u2014cosmetics, pens, PDA, etc. But I didn\u2019t see anything that looked like a wallet. I placed the purse back just how I found it. Swear to God I touched nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cExcept the glove compartment,\u201d Kincaid said mildly, but he wasn\u2019t really angry. The deputy was right\u2014you had to start somewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tThe car\u2019s engine had been turned off; the trooper had done it to preserve the tank of gas. Always useful when you found an abandoned vehicle, to see how much gas was left in the tank. But the engine had been running fine when Deputy Mitchell had arrived, and at a glance, there was nothing wrong with the tires. Seemed to rule out pulling over due to mechanical problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid walked to the rear of the Camry, eyeing the fender. No sign of dents or scrapes, though it was hard to tell with everything so wet. He made a halfhearted attempt to look for other tire tracks or footprints. The driving rain had destroyed the ground, leaving nothing but shallow pools of muddy water. Sheriff Atkins\u2019s warning had been on the money, but a dime too late.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tHe moved to the interior of the vehicle, careful not to touch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cOwner a woman?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cAccording to the registration,\u201d Trooper Blaney supplied, \u201cname is Lorraine Conner from Bakersville. Sheriff Atkins sent a deputy to the address. No one answered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cDo we have a physical description?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cAccording to DMV records, she\u2019s five six, 120 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid eyed Sheriff Atkins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cFive five,\u201d she supplied. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to touch anything just yet, but at a glance, the seat looks about right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tThat\u2019s what Kincaid thought, too. Seat was fairly close, about what he\u2019d expect. He needed to check the mirrors, of course, steering column, too, but that\u2019d have to wait until after the lab rats and Latent Prints were done. According to Blaney, the gas tank had registered half full before he\u2019d shut down the engine, so while they\u2019d canvass the local gas stations just to be safe, Lorraine probably hadn\u2019t fueled up recently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tHe straightened, blinking his eyes against the rain while the wheels of his mind started to turn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid had spent his first three years as a trooper working along the coast. It amazed him how many of his reports had started with the discovery of an abandoned vehicle. The ocean seemed to draw people, speak to them one last time. So they\u2019d drive out to the coast, catch that final glorious sunset. Then they\u2019d lock up their vehicle, head into the woods, and blow out their brains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tBut in all of Kincaid\u2019s years, he\u2019d never seen anyone walk away from a car like this\u2014engine idling, windshield wipers beating, headlights beaming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tDeputy Mitchell had been right. The scene was too Hollywood. It felt wrong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cAll right,\u201d Kincaid said. \u201cLet\u2019s pop the trunk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Tuesday, 1:45 a.m. PST<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">SHE HAS STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION. She knows this is a bad thing. Once upon a time, she was a small-town deputy, and God knows she\u2019s seen exactly what can happen when, even for a second, a person\u2019s eyes stray from the road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">But she is very tired now. How long has it been since she\u2019s slept? Hours, days, months? Fatigue has eroded her motor skills. Her short-term memory is shot. She tries to remember what she did yesterday, but the image that swims in front of her mind could have easily been from last week. She can\u2019t track time anymore. Her life exists in a vacuum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">The windshield wipers thump, thump rhythmically. The rain beats against the roof of her car. The headlights sway in the night.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">When she was younger, fourteen, fifteen, in the days before her mother was shot, she\u2019d had a boyfriend who loved to go out on nights like this. They would find a back road, cut the headlights, and soar the dark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">\u201cHEEEE-hawwww!\u201d he would roar, before taking a swig of Wild Turkey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Later, they would screw like minks in the backseat, a blur of whiskey, sweat, and condoms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Thinking about those days, Rainie feels a pang. It has been so long now since she\u2019s felt young and wild and free. It has been too long since she\u2019s trusted herself to drive blind in the dark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">And then her thoughts veer, taking her to a place she doesn\u2019t want to go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She thinks of Quincy. She remembers the first time they were together. The way he touched her tenderly. The way he held her afterward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">\u201cRainie,\u201d he assured her softly, \u201cit\u2019s all right to enjoy life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">And now she hurts. She hurts beyond pain, she cannot draw a breath. Seven days later, it\u2019s still as if she\u2019s been punched in the solar plexus, and her lips move, but she can\u2019t find any air.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">The road bends. She\u2019s too distracted to react. Wheels spin, brakes squeal. Her car whips round and round and she releases the steering wheel. She takes her foot off the gas. She finds herself letting go, a solitary version of<\/span><span class=\"none\">Thelma &amp; Louise <\/span><span class=\"none1\">, waiting to sail into the Grand Canyon, grateful to just get it over with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">The car spins to the side, whips back to the middle. Old instincts take place, muscle memory from the days when she was an adept, capable policewoman. She catches the wheel. She turns into the spin. She applies the brakes more carefully and eases over to the side of the road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Then she has a nervous breakdown. She places her forehead against the steering wheel and bawls like a baby, shoulders heaving, chest hiccupping, nose running.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She cries and cries and cries, and then she thinks of Quincy, the feel of her cheek against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat in her ear, and she starts sobbing all over again. Except beneath her tears is no longer sadness, but white-hot rage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">She loves him, she hates him. She needs him, she despises him. That seems to be the story of her life. Other people fall in love. Other people are happy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Why is it so difficult for her? Why can\u2019t she just let go?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">And then the images appear once more in her mind. The porch steps, the opening door, the beckoning gloom . . .<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Rainie reaches reflexively for her gun. To fight back, to lash out, to shoot . . . what? She has met the enemy, and it is herself. Which, in her own crazy way, makes her hate Quincy all over again. Because if he had never loved her, then she\u2019d never have to know what she had lost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Her fingers caress her Glock. And just for a second, she finds herself tempted . . .<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">A rap on her window.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Her head jerks up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">The universe explodes in white light.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> <span class=\"none1\">Tuesday, 3:49 a.m. PST<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tDEPUTY MITCHELL DIDN \u2019T UNDERSTAND the contents of the trunk at first. Kincaid could see the awareness finally penetrate as the deputy turned various shades of green.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cWhat the hell . . .\u201d The deputy stumbled back, his arm going up as if to block out the image.<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid reached in a hand and carefully lifted the first page of photos. His gaze shot to Sheriff Atkins. \u201cYou don\u2019t know the name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cNo, but I just started the job last month. That\u2019s really what I think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cOh yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cSweet Jesus.\u201d She stared at the abandoned car. \u201cThis isn\u2019t gonna end well, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \t\u201cNot likely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"calibre6\"> \tKincaid got out his phone and made the call.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style='margin: 30px 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee;'>\n<p style='text-align:center;'>Read the full book by downloading it below.<\/p>\n<p><a href='https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/download-is-starting\/?url=https%3A\/\/mega.co.nz\/%23%21A0owHJrA%21t3vnSGK6_CZ8TxN8JCzjq5RRejUPmEe2jMzhQezlzY4' class='download-btn' target='_blank'>DOWNLOAD EPUB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Book Preview Tuesday, 12:24 a.m. PST SHE IS DREAMING AGAIN. She doesn\u2019t want to. She wrestles with the sheets, tosses her head, tries to keep the dream version of herself from walking up those stairs, from opening that door, from entering the gloom. She wakes up stuffing the scream back into her throat, eyes bulging &#8230; <a title=\"Gone &#8211; Gardner, Lisa\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/gone-gardner-lisa\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Gone &#8211; Gardner, Lisa\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[261],"class_list":["post-4227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lisa-gardner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}