Indelible, Laurie Buchanan [the kiss of deception read online txt] 📗

PRAISE FOR INDELIBLE

“Author Laurie Buchanan has written entertaining and believable characters in her debut novel, Indelible. The investigator McPherson is likable and will carry the series along with a wide fan base! A fun read!”

—JENNIFER GREER, A Desperate Place: A McKenna and Riggs Novel

“Indelible is for the reader who loves a fast-paced page-turner; for the reader who likes some sweet romance mixed in with riveting suspense; and for the reader who enjoys getting deeply involved with each character in a well-written book. And . . . Indelible is for the writer who fantasizes about an enchanting writing retreat like Indelible’s Pines & Quill.”

—PAMELA S. WIGHT, author of The Right Wrong Man and Twin Desires

“A captivating cast, an isolated location, a raging storm, and the threat of death in every dark corner. Indelible reads like the best crime fiction with a shot of adrenalin. Get ready to stay up late because you won’t want to put it down.”

—ANN GARVIN, USA Today best-selling author

“Fast-paced and with plenty of plot twists, you’re sure to be swept up into the story.”

—DEBBIE HERBERT, USA Today best-selling author of Not One of Us and more

“I was hooked from the first sentence. Buchanan’s Indelible is a delicious look at what can happen when you create a writing retreat in the bucolic Pacific Northwest and then populate it with intriguing characters. I was on the edge of my set for the entire wild ride.”

—JOHN DEDAKIS, author of the Lark Chadwick Mysteries, and former Senior Copy Editor, CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”

“Indelible is a delightful read! The perfect book for an escape on a rainy afternoon. The literary hooks Buchanan weaves into the end of each chapter make it hard to put down. I’m looking forward to reading the next Sean McPherson novel!”

—ANN MARGARET JOHNS, author of Clarkston’s Curse: One Child’s Quest to Explain the Series of Tragedies in Her Hometown

“Secrets lie deep behind the pages of this gripping story. Indelible offers readers an expertly drawn cast of characters in an equally dramatic setting. Watching the next move will keep you on the edge of your seat.”

—SHERRY BRISCOE, author Mists of Garibaldi-Tales of the Supernatural, and The Man In Number 7

“Buchanan creates characters I couldn’t help but care for and a setting so beautiful I’d love to visit. The story sucked me right in, and the suspense kept me reading. I can’t wait for my next chance to visit Pines & Quill!”

—ELIZABETH ANNE WOOD, author of Bound: A Daughter, a Domme, and an End-of-Life Story

“Buchanan has given us a new hero in Sean McPherson, a man struggling with his past who is tough and sensitive, yet ready to hunt down evil to defend those who need him. Amid a cast of engaging characters, the suspense builds in a crescendo along the Pacific Northwest coast.”

—SHARON DUKETT, author of No Rules: A Memoir

INDELIBLE

This book is dedicated to authors, their creative muses, and the craft of writing.

Copyright © 2020, Laurie Buchanan

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

Published by SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint,

A division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC

Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 85007

www.gosparkpress.com

Published 2021

Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN: 978-1-68463-071-4

E-ISBN: 978-1-68463-072-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020915729

Interior design by Tabitha Lahr

All company and/or product names may be trade names, logos, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks and are the property of their respective owners.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

While Bellingham and Fairhaven are real towns in the state of Washington, I’ve added fictitious touches to further the story.

PROLOGUE

“Everything must have a beginning . . . and that beginning must be linked to something that went before.”

—MARY SHELLEY

MICK

A bullet explodes between his partner’s eyes. The amount of blood that hits Sean McPherson, “Mick,” is small in comparison to what covers the back of the squad car. The sharp taste of copper fills his mouth.

Mick watches Sam slump forward, the shoulder-belt prevents his weight from hitting the steering wheel, but not from gunning the accelerator. The car surges onto the right shoulder, and Mick braces himself for the inevitable impact of metal against the concrete abutment.

The snap of shattering glass mixed with the high-pitched scrape of steel fills his ears. He chokes on the scream lodged in his throat as the squad car collides with the bridge’s unforgiving underpinning.

It hurts to open his eyes. Mick is aware that the underpass is lit by flickering red and blue lights shimmering on cement. He hears people shouting. “This one’s alive, the other one’s dead.

We’re going to have to cut him out. Get the Jaws of Life,” one of them yells. “Hurry; I smell fuel!”

Mick hovers over Sam. Am I the one who’s dead? He wonders. But I’m not levitating. I’m suspended, held captive by the seatbelt. He sees Sam’s eyes wide open and vacant, mouth parted. He swallows the bitter taste of bile that hits the back of his throat. Sam is more than a partner. He’s Mick’s best friend.

Five years have passed since the accident. Mick remembers the day when Chief Reynolds came to the hospital and said, “I’m sorry, but I have to put you on indefinite medical leave.”

Mick’s sister, Libby, and brother-in-law, Niall, pick him up at the hospital and take him to Pines & Quill, their writing retreat in Fairhaven, Washington, to live in one of their cottages. Libby assures him, “The Zen-like energy of the wooded acres will help you heal.”

Fists clenching the sweat-drenched bedsheet, Mick sits upright in the dark, his body shudders. His heart races. His relief at the realization he’s in his bedroom is palpable. Just yesterday, Dr. Fletcher assured him that nightmares are a typical side effect of post-traumatic stress disorder—PTSD.

Intimate with this now familiar routine, he knows there’ll be