Prologue
Lynda Boxleitner felt tense as she walked down the sidewalk shortly after midnight. She was scheduled to work at a food truck in a few hours, dishing out corn dogs, tacos and more food items to anyone who wanted them during the Founder’s Day festivities that were held each year like clockwork in Reston Hills, Idaho. But before that, she had volunteered to ride in the parade. She was a former high school cheerleader, still shapely and nice on the eyes—if she thought so herself—even at forty-one and three months, to be exact.
Unfortunately, that had proved to be as much a liability as an asset, given the precarious predicament she now found herself in, much as she hated to admit it.
Lynda moved briskly across the concrete, which was damp from the drizzle that was coming down steadily as if it had nothing better to do, matting her long and curly blond hair. She needed to get home, assess the situation and then hope she hadn’t gotten in over her head in the worst possible way.
Or had she played her hand just right—much like her late father, Garrison Boxleitner, a former card shark who plied his trade on riverboat casinos once upon a time? She believed she was entitled to be happy just like everyoneelse. She was an independent woman who had come too far in life to be simply dismissed as an unworthy piece of trash.
She needed to stand up for herself. Certainly no one else was going to. Least of all the powerful man whom Lynda had given everything to, only to receive far too little in return, just empty promises and veiled threats. Or did they go further than that?
Now it was time to turn the tables. But was she being smart about it? Or had she gone too far in making demands that, even to herself, she was beginning to have second thoughts about?
Lynda’s reverie was interrupted as she heard footsteps from behind, causing her bold blue eyes to have a quick look over her shoulder. She didn’t see anyone. Had she imagined it? Maybe so. And yet her instincts told her someone was watching. Waiting. A real threat.
I have to get out of this rain and inside my apartment,where I’ll be safe, she told herself, picking up the pace despite wearing slingback pumps that were uncomfortable on her feet. Her wrap cocktail dress was getting soaked.
It was only in that moment that she began to feel queasy, seemingly coming out of nowhere. This was followed by severe abdominal pains, causing her to flinch from the discomfort. Suddenly, she began to retch the cheeseburger and ranch fries she’d had for dinner.
What’s happening to me?Lynda asked herself, frantic, as she tried to remain upright and make it back to her apartment. Someway. Somehow. She thought she heard more footsteps and turned around, but again saw no one. Was she hallucinating? Or flat-out losing her mind?
Something was terribly wrong with her. But what? And why?
Her coordination became impaired as she had trouble maintaining her balance. Blurriness set in like a thick fog for everything around her, and it became hard to breathe.
Just as she was beginning to figure out what was possibly behind her condition, Lynda felt her legs give out from beneath her as if slipping on ice. She fell flat on her face, breaking her nose in the process. But by that time, she had already become numb to her painful ordeal, losing consciousness before ever realizing she had breathed her last breath as the rain fell cruelly upon her lifeless body.
* * *
THE DARKSUV had slowly but surely trailed her, making sure to keep its distance. Till she dropped like a sack of potatoes and there was no escaping her fate.
He pulled up alongside the fallen woman, who had given him far more trouble than he wanted. And now she was paying the ultimate price for getting out of line, threatening to disrupt, in a major and unacceptable way, all that he stood for.
Getting out of the vehicle under the cover of darkness, he approached her and checked for a pulse. Happy to see there wasn’t even the slightest hint of one, he lifted her up, ignoring the blood that oozed from her broken nose and onto the sleeve of his bomber jacket. He swiftly loaded her into the back of the SUV.
After climbing into the driver’s seat, he drove off and soon turned onto a side road in a wooded area. Away from any possible prying eyes, he removed her clothing and shoes while thinking about how much he’d lovedseeing her shapely stark-naked body when things were good between them.
Almost too good, in fact.
But that was then. And this was now.
She had gotten way two big for her britches. It left him no other choice than to remind her of just who was calling the shots in this little arrangement between them.
It sure as hell wasn’t you, he cursed to himself with a combination of satisfaction and relief. And she had no one else to blame for having her life snuffed out like a candle.
Driving again, he got back on the main road, which soon turned into Hepmore Avenue, where the Founder’s Day parade would commence in a few hours, en route to Reston Hills Park.
Getting there ahead of time, knowing he would be participating in the revelries just like damn near everyone in town, he parked but left the engine running.
After dragging the corpse out of the back of the SUV, he deliberately left her in a spot where she couldn’t be missed. The sooner her death became public knowledge, the sooner it could lead to an investigation that would have the intended results.
Though, if he were honest with himself, there would be mild regrets and lingering fantasies of what might have been. But he fully intended to get on with his life as though she had never entered and upended it in the first place.
After all, what other choice did he have?
He got back inside the SUV and drove off, content he’d rid himself of a problem that had to be solved without boomeranging back at him in the worst possible way.
* * *
