The Night Monster_ A Novel of Suspense - James Swain [117]
A substitution was called. A long-legged blonde sprinted onto the court and got high-fives from her teammates. I could not believe my eyes. It was Sara Long.
“Why are they putting her in?” I asked.
“Just watch,” Sonny said.
Sara looked terrible. She threw two air balls, and sent an errant pass into the stands. With the clock winding down, she attempted a three-pointer from midcourt. The crowd seemed to freeze, and I sat up in my chair. The ball went through the net without touching the rim. As Sara came off the court, her team mobbed her.
“The Seminoles won, in case you were wondering,” Sonny said.
“Give me the remote.”
I rewound the tape to where Sara had entered the game, and watched her play again. This time, I saw how hard Sara was trying, and how that effort had affected the other members of the team. What was broken had been fixed.
Maybe there were happy endings after all.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A number of people graciously helped me in the writing and research of this book. A big thank-you to my wife, Laura, to Chip Williams for his help on firearms (I will never be able to see a gun dropped on television without thinking of you), and to Rich Dugger, whose knowledge of all things Florida never fails to amaze me. Thanks also to the wonderful folks at Ballantine Books—Gina Centrello, Libby McGuire, and my incredible editors, Dana Isaacson and Linda Marrow.
Special thanks to Andrew Vita, Team Adam Consultant with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and former Associate Director/Enforcement for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Andy’s devotion to finding missing children is a never-ending source of inspiration.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JAMES SWAIN is author of ten bestselling mystery novels. His novels have been chosen as Mysteries of the Year by Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, have received three Barry Award nominations, a Florida book award for Fiction, and won the prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Fiction. His Tony Valentine novels were recently purchased for theatrical release, with Swain to write the screenplay. The author lives in Florida with his wife, Laura.
The Night Monster is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2009 by James Swain
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Swain, James.
The night monster : a novel of suspense / James Swain.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-51662-6
1. Private investigators—Fiction. 2. Abduction—Fiction.
3. Florida—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3569.W225N53 2009
813’.54—dc22 2009028113
www.ballantinebooks.com
v3.0
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books By This Author
Title Page
Dedication
Part 1 - The Rabbit Hole
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Part 2 - Buyer’s Remorse
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Part 3 - Daybreak
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Part 4 - Nub City
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright