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Time of Death
Beverly Barton
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
AVON
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF
First published in the U.S.A by Kensington Publishing Corp. New York, NY, 2010
TIME OF DEATH. Copyright © Beverly Barton 2010. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks
Beverly Barton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
Source ISBN: 9781847561404
Ebook Edition © JUNE 2011 ISBN: 9780007412228 vERSION: 2018-07-09
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue
There it was again, that odd sound. It must be…
Chapter 1
Lorie Hammonds slept until nearly eleven and woke with a…
Chapter 2
Derek Lawrence arrived late. He wouldn’t have even considered attending…
Chapter 3
Barbara Jean met the potential client at the front door,…
Chapter 4
He exited the small commuter airplane, hoisted his vinyl carryall…
Chapter 5
“I want to assure you that the sheriff’s department will…
Chapter 6
Derek parked his Vette in the driveway, got out, locked…
Chapter 7
After locking the door and securing it so that no…
Chapter 8
Maleah and Derek had agreed to split the day guarding…
Chapter 9
Lorie walked Paul Babcock to the door. “I’m glad you…
Chapter 10
The Powell jet landed shortly before noon, Eastern Standard Time.
Chapter 11
He was dying. His doctor had delivered his death sentence…
Chapter 12
The sun heated their naked skin as they played together…
Chapter 13
“Buddy!” Mike bellowed the deputy’s name.
Chapter 14
After the unsettling night before, Lorie had decided not to…
Chapter 15
On Saturday morning, Special Agent Hicks Wainwright held a press…
Chapter 16
When he had phoned Abby and explained the situation, she…
Chapter 17
Mike called her at 10:05 P.M. “We need to talk.”
Chapter 18
Mike Birkett dropped his kids off at school and headed…
Chapter 19
Jeff Misner rammed into his wife, his upper thighs slapping…
Chapter 20
Lorie had almost forgotten the sound of her mother’s voice.
Chapter 21
Ransom Owens lived alone in the brick house built by…
Chapter 22
Deputy Buddy Pounders lived a quarter of a mile from…
Chapter 23
Lorie wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not that…
Chapter 24
When Nicole Powell woke, she found herself alone in bed.
Chapter 25
Casey used his friend Jason’s cell phone to make the…
Chapter 26
During the past couple of weeks, Lorie and Mike had…
Chapter 27
He had three days to make it happen. Three days…
Chapter 28
Lorie had just stepped out of the shower and wrapped…
Chapter 29
He stood in the woods, darkness surrounding him, as the…
Chapter 30
“There’s a problem with Mrs.
