“Please stay calm and don’t hang up the phone,” the operator advised. “I’ve dispatched an officer, who will be there soon. Maybe you can look through the passenger-side window to check on the status of the person.”
Maggie moved around to the other side of the wrecked Fiat, thankful she’d changed into boots, and crawled on her knees, peering up into the car. Cold moisture seeped through the fabric at her knees and chilled her skin.
Moonlight illuminated Joel perfectly, casting a blue-white pallor on him. She gasped and dropped the phone, revulsion and shock creeping over her skin as she stared into his lifeless eyes, coated in a fine layer of blood dripping from his face. Even his eyelashes were clotted with blood.
His mouth was open in a horrified O, gashes and cuts marring his brow. He stared off into the distance, unblinking, unmoving.
Maggie’s skin crawled, and her Italian dinner rose quickly up her stomach as she bent over and vomited in the grass. The operator’s voice came from her phone, muted, as her stomach cramped once more and she finished emptying its contents.
Hot tears streamed down her face. She wiped her mouth and wrapped her cold arms around her torso, unable to stop the violent shakes that had taken over her body.
Joel was dead. Murdered.
And she knew, with every fiber of her being, it was because of her.
Read more of THE INHERITANCE Part III
THE BETRAYAL
Available from InterMix October 29, 2013
Olivia Mayfield has been an unabashed fan of romance since she was a teen, secretly devouring her mom’s Harlequins. She has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, as well as a Master’s degree in English, and lives with her family in Ohio. In her free time she loves reading, shopping, wearing absurdly high-heeled boots, cheesecake, karaoke, and harassing her friends. Find her online at oliviamayfield.com.
The Inheritance Part II Page 6
