Read Because I'm Watching Online
Authors: Christina Dodd
Because I'm Watching (45 page)
“Who?”
“Cops!”
Another collision rammed the right rear fender. Metal scraped. Fir needles rained down. The impact pushed the patrol car sideways, wrenched the stitches over Kateri's ribs. The wound opened, one torn stitch at a time. Icy-hot pain slithered up her nerves. Warm blood trickled down her side.
Moen opened his door.
Kateri heard sirens. The roar of an engine. Was another vehicle going to hit them? Or worseâhad John Senior escaped?
Moen unbuckled his seat belt. “You okay, Sheriff?”
“Yes.” She pressed the pad of her bandage. “Go.”
He leaped out and ran toward the unmoving body in the middle of the road.
Had they inadvertently killed a hostage?
Someone yanked open her door. “Sorry, Sheriff, when you fishtailed, we couldn't stop.” A moment, then a face thrust into hers. “You okay, Sheriff?”
Kateri blinked at the star-pattern of pain before her eyes.
The face belonged to Deputy Sheriff Gunder Bergen. Good guy. Good law officer. Second-in-command. He knew stuff.
“Who did we hit?” she asked. “Did we kill him?”
“Moen's coming.”
Moen stuck his head in the driver's door. He leaned a hand on the steering wheel and one on the seat and spoke to her. “The body was John Junior. He was already dead. Like ⦠there was rigor mortis, so a few days ago, right?”
Bergen inched farther in, leaned a hand on the dashboard. “We're getting the coroner out here, but yeah. What killed him?”
Moen switched his attention to Bergen. “Gunshot wound.”
“Close range? His father shot him?” Bergen asked.
The two men were talking over the top of her. Which was as annoying as hell. “He shot his son so he could use the body as a diversion?” Kateri clicked her seat belt and let go.
The buckle smacked Bergen on the thigh.
He jumped back, bumped his head on the roof, looked surprised as the dog who ate the bumblebee.
“No. I mean, maybe, but the shot was long range, entered the right side at about the liver. He bled out.” Moen looked hard at Kateri and did a double take. “Sheriff, you don't look much better than the corpse.”
Bergen nodded. “Ambulance just pulled up. We'll send her to the hospital.”
Kateri said the obvious. “Don't be silly. I'm fine.”
“You sound just like my wife right before she collapsed with a ruptured appendix,” Bergen said.
“I'm fine,” she repeated. “Did we get John Senior?”
Moen clearly didn't want to give this report. “The diversion worked. He gunned it. No one could get past us. He's gone.”
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ALSO BY
CHRISTINA DODD
Love Never Dies
The Relatives
The Listener
Candle in the Wind
Treasure of the Sun
Castles in the Air
Priceless
Greatest Lover in All England
Move Heaven and Earth
Once a Knight
Outrageous
A Knight to Remember
That Scandalous Evening
The Runaway Princess
Someday My Prince
Rules of Surrender
Rules of Engagement
Rules of Attraction
In My Wildest Dreams
Lost in Your Arms
A Well Pleasured Lady
My Favorite Bride
Scandalous Again
Just the Way You Are
One Kiss from You
Almost Like Being in Love
A Well Favored Gentleman
Some Enchanted Evening
Close to You
The Barefoot Princess
Dangerous Ladies
Trouble in High Heels
The Prince Kidnaps a Bride
Tongue in Chic
My Fair Temptress
Scent of Darkness
Touch of Darkness
Thigh High
Into the Shadow
Into the Flame
Danger in a Red Dress
Storm of Visions
Storm of Shadows
In Bed with the Duke
Chains of Ice
Chains of Fire
Taken by the Prince
Secrets at Bella Terra
Revenge at Bella Terra
Betrayal
The Smuggler's Captive Bride
Last Night
Kidnapped
Wilder
Wild Texas Rose
Stone Angel
Lady in Black
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New York Times
bestselling author
CHRISTINA DODD
builds worlds filled with suspense and adventure, and creates the most distinctive characters in fiction today. Her fifty-six novels have been translated into twenty-five languages, featured by the Doubleday Book Club, recorded on Books on Tape for the blind, and been called the year's best by
Library Journal.
Dodd herself has been a clue in the
Los Angeles Times
crossword puzzle. With more than fifteen million copies of her books in print, her legions of fans always know that when they pick up a Christina Dodd book, they've found, as Karen Robards writes, “an absolute thrill ride of a book!”
Enter Christina's worlds and join her free mailing list for news, exclusive excerpts, and book sales at her Web site,
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CONTENTS
The Woman Who Couldn't Scream
Teaser
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
BECAUSE I'M WATCHING.
Copyright © 2016 by Christina Dodd. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photographs: handprint © Trevor Payne/Trevillion; Woman's face © Harold Braun/Plain Picture
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Dodd, Christina, author.
Title: Because I'm watching / Christina Dodd.
Other titles: Because I am watching
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin's Press, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016012736 | ISBN 9781250028457 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250028440 (e-book)
Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Romance / Suspense. | FICTION / Suspense. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3554.O3175 B43 2016 | DDC 813/.54âdc23
LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016012736
e-ISBN 9781250028440
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