Takeover - Lisa Black [0]
Lisa Black
To Mom and Dad,
the alpha and omega of my life
Contents
Chapter 1
The sun had barely come up, and already it was…
Chapter 2
“There’s nothing you can do, honey,” Frank told her over…
Chapter 3
Paul took a moment to appreciate the architecture before facing…
Chapter 4
“Remarriage,” she had said to Paul only two weeks earlier,…
Chapter 5
“My name is William Kessler.” The man clutched at his…
Chapter 6
Paul’s body tensed, waiting for the shot. Nothing. Just the…
Chapter 7
Theresa squinted at the screen, dimly aware that she still…
Chapter 8
The click of his hang-up filled the room, and then…
Chapter 9
Theresa had even bought a dress. A wedding dress. A…
Chapter 10
Theresa grabbed a coffee, for once not for the caffeine…
Chapter 11
“The car’s here,” Theresa announced as soon as she reached…
Chapter 12
Paul watched the tall robber pace in front of them,…
Chapter 13
“Something just happened,” Theresa said. “Every person there just jumped…
Chapter 14
“You think Bobby and Lucas are from Atlanta, Georgia?” Cavanaugh…
Chapter 15
Paul had stretched his legs out straight, Theresa noted, probably…
Chapter 16
The street had not cooled any in the past hour.
Chapter 17
“Listen up, people.” Lucas addressed them as a group while…
Chapter 18
“I don’t know any Oliver,” Patrick said. The idea of…
Chapter 19
Six stories down, Theresa remained occupied with the squirming child…
Chapter 20
Theresa gazed at the dead girl. Auburn curls crowned Cherise’s…
Chapter 21
Lucas got back on the line with Cavanaugh. The pool…
Chapter 22
The kick to his groin worked. Lucas doubled over. Unfortunately,…
Chapter 23
Theresa sat with her knees to her chin, hugging her…
Chapter 24
Across the street Patrick told Chris Cavanaugh everything he’d learned…
Chapter 25
“Okay,” Lucas said, surveying his motley brigade. “Are we clear…
Chapter 26
“What did you do with the daughter?” Cavanaugh asked.
Chapter 27
“Detective?”
Chapter 28
Theresa watched these negotiations closely while listening with half an…
Chapter 29
At least three snipers hit Bobby Moyers. The force of…
Chapter 30
The plastic tie-wrap around her wrists must have stretched during…
Chapter 31
Chris Cavanaugh shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
Chapter 32
“Go straight,” Lucas instructed, though he did not stop facing…
Chapter 33
“Theresa?”
Chapter 34
IN A TYPICAL CLEVELAND CHANGE OF MOOD, THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED…
Acknowledgments and Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
CHAPTER 1
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
6:42 A.M.
The sun had barely come up, and already it was too hot. Theresa MacLean felt the first prickles of sweat on the back of her neck as she stared down at the dead man, and wished she had left her lab coat in the car. Humidity kept both the dew and the man’s blood from drying, and scattered red spots gleamed against the spring grass. “He hasn’t been here long,” she told the detective.
The dead man’s tie flopped across his chest as he gazed up with sightless eyes, past her to the azure sky. The tiny sidewalk framed his shoulders, and his head rested in the mulch and grass below lush juniper bushes. Two or three heavy blows had caved in his skull; he had tried to defend himself with his bare hands and damaged his fingers in the process. The killer had swung the weapon used with enough force to cut knuckles and dent the man’s wedding ring.
“A lady walking to the bus stop saw the shoes sticking out past the bushes.” Homicide detective Paul Cleary sketched the scene as he spoke, frowning in concentration over his pad and pencil. The damp morning made his blond hair especially unruly. “He could have been here all night before that. The porch light isn’t on, so anyone driving by wouldn’t have seen him from the street. It’s a quiet neighborhood anyway.”
Despite the setting she took a moment just to look at Paul. They would be married in two months and thirteen days. Even her teenage daughter had overcome the instinctive reticence to a stepparent. But Theresa