Web of Lies
Other Books by Brandilyn Collins
Kanner Lake Series
1
| Violet Dawn
2
| Coral Moon
3
| Crimson Eve
4
| Amber Morn
Hidden Faces Series
1
| Brink of Death
2
| Stain of Guilt
3
| Dead of Night
4
| Web of Lies
Bradleyville Series
1
| Cast a Road Before Me
2
| Color the Sidewalk for Me
3
| Capture the Wind for Me
Chelsea Adams Series
1
| Eyes of Elisha
2
| Dread Champion
BRANDILYN COLLINS
best selling author
book four
Web of Lies
hidden faces series
The devil . . . was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
JOHN 8:44
ZONDERVAN
WEB OF LIES
Copyright © 2005 by Brandilyn Collins
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 Zondervan.
ePub Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-54319-0
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan,
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Collins, Brandilyn.
Web of lies / Brandilyn Collins.
p. cm. — (Hidden faces series ; bk. 4)
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25106-4
1. Police artists — Fiction. 2. Women artists — Fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.O4747815W43 2006
813'. — dc22
2005021093
Published in association with Browne & Miller Literary Associates LLC, 410 South Michigan Ave., Suite 460, Chicago, IL 60605.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the
Holy Bible: New International Version
®
. NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.
08 09 10 11 12 13 14
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5
For my pals
Deb Raney and Robin Lee Hatcher.
Heh-heh.
Now you have to read it.
Contents
Sunday, September 25 – Monday, September 26
Read an excerpt from Dark Pursuit
M
y deep gratitude, as always, to members of the Zondervan fiction team, who make my books so much better. And to Niwana Briggs, who has critiqued just about all of my manuscripts.
Citizens of Redding, thanks again for letting me “borrow” your city for this series. As with the other Hidden Faces books, I have fictionalized much about your area, including Annie’s neighborhood of Grove Landing, some roads, plus the buildings and certain procedures of the Redding Police and Shasta County Sheriff’s Departments.
Karen T. Taylor, the nationally known forensic artist mentioned in this story, is a real person. You will see Annie employ Taylor’s recognized method for two-dimensional facial reconstruction from the skull. This method, as well as the study of skeletal remains to determine gender, height, race, etc., requires precision and often long hours of work. While
Web of Lies
includes overviews of these tasks, I have had to sacrifice some details in order to keep my story moving. In the end, this is a work of fiction, not a textbook. For an excellent text detailing two-dimensional reconstruction, plus all facets of forensic art, please see Karen T. Taylor’s book,
Forensic Art and Illustration
, or visit her website at www.karenttaylor.com.
“W
hen
are you going to write another Chelsea Adams book?” This is a question I have heard countless times.
My first two suspense novels,
Eyes of Elisha
and
Dread Champion
, featured Chelsea Adams, a Christian woman to whom God speaks through visions. In both of these stories, the visions God gives Chelsea about murder and malice send her on labyrinthine journeys that she would not have chosen, but that God wants her to make for the sake of justice.
Fans of this Hidden Faces series have often added the same question in their letters: “When will we see Chelsea Adams again?”
And so the idea for
Web of Lies
was born.
There were some challenging hurdles along the way, however. The two series were written in very different formats, not the least of which involved character perspective. Annie’s stories in Hidden Faces have been in first person. Chelsea’s stories were not. As a result,
Web of Lies
evolved as a blend of both the characters and the varying points of view from these two series.
By the way, a note for those who haven’t read
Eyes of Elisha
and
Dread Champion
: you’ll find no spoilers for those stories within this book.
And now — off we go on another roller coaster ride. As always, strap yourself in, hold tight, and
don’t forget to
breathe
. . .
S
he was washing dishes when her world began to blur.
Chelsea Adams hitched in a breath, her skin pebbling. She knew the dreaded sign all too well. God was pushing a vision into her consciousness.
Black dots crowded her sight. She dropped a plate, heard it crack against the porcelain sink. Her fingers fumbled for the faucet. The hiss of water ceased.
God, I don’t want this. Please!
But this one was strong; no stopping it now. Chelsea’s legs jellied. She stumbled across the kitchen and collapsed into a chair.
The room went black. Chelsea gripped the edge of her seat with palsied hands — and waited . . .
First, an overwhelming sense of evil. It rolled over her, terrifying, oppressive. Crushing her lungs as though she’d been shoved into a black, airless cave. She struggled to breathe.