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Chapter One

Spread across the recently polished coffee table, twenty letters were open and faceup The faint sered in the air, a scent that rerandmother’s house Granny Gore had been obsessed with Pine-Sol like it was a geriatric version of crack cocne Everything, including the hardwood floors, had been doused in the stuff As a small child, Alana had spentthe hallway downstairs in the quiet home as a Slip’N Slide

Granny had always kept everything neat and clean, to the point that it was borderline disturbing, which explained why Alana, as an adult, couldn’t stand things to be displaced orhad to be in order and have a purpose

And as resting on her coffee table definitely was not a part of the plan—of any plan

Alana took a deep breath and let it out slowly “Well, shit on a shitter”

Granny rolled over in her grave

Cursing was unladylike, and while Alana strived to e, in private, she cursed like a street thug in the one baaaad A habit she’d picked up in high school and hadn’t been able to break since

She leaned forward and picked up the most recent letter, the one that had arrived in thesince February

After working to repair the notorious reputation—which she had done so spectacularly, like always—of Chad Gamble, all-star pitcher for the Nationals, she’d decided to stay in Washington, DC There was so about the nation’s capital that had drawn her in, and she really hadn’t put roots down in LA, not the kind that had her yearning to return ho for work All she had there was a small condo, and besides, she’d wanted out of the city for other reasons

Like the letters lying on her table

In herto DC should’ve stopped this, because ould’ve seriously put effort into finding her clear across the country, in a different time zone? Someone as absolutely psychotic

And, well, that was problematic

Sain A nice, juicy little F-bo She was fine They were just stupid letters fros Letters couldn’t hurt people

But these letters…

Alana picked up the newest one, her lips coive her premature wrinkles A shudder worked its way down her spine as she read the letter for the tenth time

“God,” she whispered, shaking her head

This letter wasn’t much different than the nineteen that had co, but nothing major, because after all, she’d made more enemies than friends over the last couple of years But this one terrified her Made her feel overexposed and paranoid, as if so her

“Obviously so her hand to stop tre

The envelope the letter had come in hite and this titon, Virginia Before, they’d come from the San Fernando Valley, California

The letter itself was plain, cheap printer stock Thin and without any embellishant flowery border? She snorted, but the humor was short-lived The words on the paper weren’t funny

Bitches like you don’t deserve to live when all you do is ruin lives

What a charht The letter went on fro about how she shouldn’t be able to sleep at night and that he—she assu difference this time, besides the fact that he’d found her in DC, was the ending

I’ll be seeing you tonight

Her breath caught and pressure seized her chest

It didn’t matter how many times she’d read that last line Each time her eyes crawled across those five words, she felt the burn in her throat, the building in the back of her mouth She wanted to scream, and she never screamed

Placing the letter beside the others in a neat line, she then stood on weak legs Her fingers icy and nu roo street below Traffic was snarled due to the rush hour and sidewalks were packed Branches on a few late-bloo cherry blossoms in the distance swayed

Her gazealong the sidewalk and darting across the street, dodging taxis and towncars

Could he be down there right this second, watching her?

No

She stopped herself fro into fear, and squeezed her eyes shut No way could she allow herself to think that She’d end up like her mother then She wouldn’t let this…this fker do this to her Only she had control of her life and her choices

“Focus,” she said, rubbing tiny circles along her temples

She twisted away from theand opened her eyes The rooray As a kid, she’d wanted everything to be in Rainbow Brite colors That was before she’d developed so called taste

Or before she’d ended up with the stick up her ass

Wasn’t that what Chad had said to her once during her assignment? He wouldn’t have been the first to say it Or the last

Her heels clicked off the hardwood floor as she went back to the coffee table She dropped her hands to her hips, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses She had to fix this, gain control of the situation It was the only option But doing so required that she take the threats seriously Ignoring these letters, like she had been for the last year, was like ignoring an ache that wouldn’t go away No good shit comes from that

She needed to figure out as behind these letters, and that wasn’t going to be easy Granny always said that her brass balls—lovely—were never going to win her any friends or a husband

Apparently, they had won her a stalker, though

That had to count for so

Alana had quite the list of people who had reason to be upset with her, too But to send her threatening letters for a year? The latest even going as far as to warn that he’d be seeing her tonight? Sure, she ticked people off with her hard-nosed tactics, but those facts had to narron the pool of suspects While she had excellent sleuthing skills, that’s not what she needed tonight

She needed protection

And she kneho to go to