rel="nofollow" href="#u8556f7cd-e6ca-5d82-bc03-4193ccaab9c5">Dear Reader,
Welcome to my debut book in a different genre! Writing for Love Inspired Suspense has been a new and exciting adventure for me. For the past five years, I’ve been immersed in the historical old West. Switching from bonnets and wagons to cell phones and cyber security has been both challenging and fun.
No matter the genre, all writers have their own unique and personal method for creating plots and characters. For me, it’s important that I see the opening scene clearly in my head. In No Safe Place, Beth Greenwood is facing a moral dilemma. The decision she makes at the beginning of the book transforms her life. I’m fascinated by stories involving ordinary people forced into extraordinary circumstances. I hope this book will be the first of many suspense adventures!
I love hearing from readers and would enjoy hearing your thoughts on this story. If you’re interested in learning more about this book or other series I have written, I have more information on my website: sherrishackelford.com. I can also be reached by email at [email protected], or at P.O. Box 116, Elkhorn, NE 68022.
Happy Reading!
Sherri Shackelford
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
—Mark 8:36
To Jessica Alvarez and TR, my partners in crime!
Contents
Today was a good day to die, as far as days went.
Beth Greenwood focused on the steady blink-blink-blink of the cursor on her screen. One click and her life changed forever, possibly even guaranteeing her death unless she disappeared indefinitely. As her trembling index finger hovered over the mouse button, she glanced at the single photo perched on the bare expanse of her desk. Her dad’s unwavering stare gave her courage.
Her heartbeat stuttered, and her palms grew damp.
A Chicago cop, he’d suffered a debilitating stroke two months before his retirement. His death had been shattering, but knowing he was no longer suffering gave her a modicum of peace. Never much for talk, Officer Greenwood had lived his faith and had led by his example. Though his job had exposed him to temptation, he’d seen his dedication to truth as a higher moral calling. For what shall it profit a man, he’d quote the Bible, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
What, indeed? She checked the email attachment and then clicked the option to schedule the message for arrival the morning after the bank holiday. A muffled thump startled her upright, and her pulse thrummed in her ears.
She whipped around, shooting her mouse off the side of the desk, searching for signs of a lingering coworker. The building usually emptied early on the Friday afternoon before a holiday. She leaned out of her cubicle, and her shoulders sagged. An overflowing trash bin sat in the center of the aisle. Probably the cleaning crew getting an early start on the weekend. She retrieved her battered mouse and set it beside her keyboard.
She logged out of her computer with a few rapid clicks, then stood and reached for her dad’s photo. She’d supplied the FBI with the evidence she’d discovered about the money laundering. It was time to disappear from Quetech Industries for good.
Not that she’d miss the place.
Her job as a forensic accountant was transient by nature, and she’d worked in plenty of office buildings over the years. Quetech Industries
