About the Author
Winter Austin perpetually answers the question “were you born in the winter?” with a flat “nope.” Living in the middle of Nowheresville, Iowa, with her husband, four teenagers, and two crazy dogs, Winter is trying to juggle a job while writing deadly romantic thrillers.
Find Winter Austin at www.winteraustin.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter @WinterAustin_.
More from This Author
Born to Die
Winter Austin
She had avoided any chance of entering the timbered areas of McIntire County, where the stuff of nightmares dwelt.
But not tonight.
Tonight nothing that mattered to her—not her family, her past, or her pride—was as important as doing her job. And damn it, Deputy Cassandra Rivers always did her job, even when it was obvious the orders might get her killed.
She and her squad-car partner, Deputy Deacon Nash, had been sent to this side of the county—the heavily wooded side—to patrol for the culprits who’d dared to rob a bank yesterday. With every mile she traveled through the darkened timbers, sweat seeped from her pores, saturating the first layer of clothing.
“Calling all units. Robbery in progress at the Speedy Mart, 1653 Elm St. Two unidentified suspects wearing dark clothing and black sneakers. Suspects are armed. No sirens or lights.”
“10-4, dispatch. Rivers and Nash responding. Approximately nine minutes out, over.”
Thank God for small miracles. She yanked that car around, and as fast as the slick road conditions would allow, she sped back toward town.
“Easy, Rivers. We’re one of several units responding,” Nash warned.
Damn this crappy weather. No doubt the gas station attendant wasn’t in a situation to wait for whoever was less inconvenienced to arrive at the rescue.
A few miles from the edge of town, the glare of headlights seemed to come out of nowhere. It took her brain a few seconds to realize that the oncoming vehicle was veering back and forth between her lane and the other, and those lights were a lot closer than they first appeared.
“Shit!” She reacted without thinking, hitting the brakes and throwing the car into neutral, then braced for impact, hoping the cow kicker covering the grill did its job to protect them. “Hang on!”
The front wheels hit a slick patch, and suddenly the steering wheel jerked right and the car skidded off the road into the ditch. The nose dove into a snowbank, spraying the windshield with a powdery shower and bringing the vehicle to a rapid stop. Cassy jerked in her seat, the belt locking her tightly in its grip. Glaring at the whooshing wipers as they cleared the moisture from the glass, she unclenched her fingers from around the steering wheel.
“Rivers, you okay?” Nash asked.
“Fine, but pissed off.” Shifting the car into park, she left the engine going and removed her belt. “Those assholes are going to be in for a surprise.” She hit the lights, and as she tried to push her door open, it stuck in the snow.
Nash grabbed the mic and radioed dispatch. “Dispatch, be advised, responding unit has been in an accident and is in need of assistance, over.”
Cassy twisted in her seat to brace her feet against the door and forced it open wide enough for her to squeeze out.
“Copy that,” she heard the dispatcher reply as she fumbled through the drift. Nash would give their location.
Flashlight in hand, she scanned the area, making sure not to peer into the stand of trees at her back. Oh, how nice. The asshole who’d ran them off the road hadn’t bothered to stop and was now a faint red glow in the distance. The mound they’d plowed into was mid-calf deep, and by the looks of the tires, the car was stuck good. They’d need a wrecker. Upon making another pass toward the road, the flashlight beam glinted off metal. Cassy paused, her heart hurtling into her throat as the light revealed the secret in the dark.
Red taillights reflected from a truck that had smashed into the fat trunk of a tree. The driver’s side door hung open at an awkward angle. Her brain blanked, ripping her back to those moments, those seconds of lucidness when she’d realized that open door meant her life or death.
A grunt of exertion hurtled her to the present. Cassy coughed as she realized she’d been holding her breath. There would be no going back to that night, or the day that followed. She was here, now, and that meant someone was hurt and needed her help. She looked over her shoulder at her partner. “Nash, we’ve got another accident.”
That truck … it looked familiar. She hurried, best as she could through the snow, to the crushed vehicle. Behind her, she heard her partner following. Panting by the time she reached the truck bed, Cassy placed a hand against the side and sucked in air. Finally able to breathe, she lifted her flashlight.
Dark, dripping stains marred the window and the door’s interior. The coppery scent of blood was strong—either the cold was keeping it fresh, or the accident had occurred in the last hour. On closer inspection, they found more blood on the steering wheel and seat, smeared down the side of the truck into the snow.
“Where’s the driver?” Nash asked.
Cassy’s stomach roiled as she searched the ground for signs of the driver’s escape route. A few feet from the truck, bright pink stains dotted the new dusting of snow that hadn’t yet been covered up. Crouching down, she examined the indentations around the blood. It looked like the driver had crawled along the ground, probably disorientated from the crash, and—her beam followed the tracks—headed into the timber. Her throat lost all ability to swallow as she gazed into the black abyss. The road wasn’t that far from the truck. Why go into the woods?
Shoring up her flagging courage, Cassy swiveled back, catching sight of deeper tracks inches from her position. “Nash, does it look like someone else came down here?”
He had inched away from the truck, the beam of his flashlight pointed toward a spot on the slight hill coming down from the road. “Yep.”
Had the driver of the vehicle that forced them off the road done this and come down here to help the injured party? It would explain why they hadn’t stopped after forcing her and Nash off the road— they were in a hurry to get the injured party to the hospital. But they’d gone the wrong way for that. She turned back to the ominous tracks leading into the woods. And why go there? A violent shudder coursed through her—it could also be a deadly hit-and-run.
Nash stomped through the piling drift in the direction she dared not go. He pressed on, following the tracks.
Rising, her gaze flicked above him to the towering menace that held her darkest fear. The scent of pine triggered more memories, but she covered her mouth and nose with her glove. Criminy, how she hated to even be near the trees, always taunting her because she’d trusted the wrong person with her life. Hell, she’d shot her sister, almost killing her last chance at repairing the rift between them.
“Rivers, you need to come see this.”
She couldn’t move. Staring into that pit of hell, she trembled.
No. She was cold. Not scared. The snow was melting against her legs and soaking her pants, so that was a shiver, nothing more.
“Rivers, you okay?” Nash’s question was like a hammer coming down on her hand, shocking her out of her stupor.
“I’m fine, just thinking.” Willing herself forward, she took one giant step over the white mound in front of her, and then another, until she joined Nash under the heavily laden boughs, doing her damned best to ignore the quaking in her limbs and the dark whispers going through her mind.
“Your family has failed you … Atone … She’s mine … Release me … It’s okay.”
“There’s a trail.”
Long drag marks bookended by a bevy of footprints and bloodstains led further into the timber. Somebody—or somebodies—hadn’t taken the driver to get help.
“I don’t like this,” she said. If she excluded the events of two years ago, this area was peaceful and quiet, and the worst crime she had to worry about was pulling over drunk drivers. She hadn’t moved he
re to get embroiled in another complicated and messy death.
“Follow the tracks,” Nash said, and without any hesitation, he began plowing through the shin-high snow. This was just another call that would result in routine paperwork for him. When he realized she wasn’t following him, he stopped and turned. “Come on, Rivers, someone who needs our help is in there.”
He didn’t know about her ordeal with The Priest; all Nash was privy to was that she’d been here when it happened. To avoid getting special treatment from anyone, especially her partner and the sheriff, Cassy stayed mum about the unwarranted fear of the forest that had cropped up after her kidnapping. But she’d never expected them to actually make her go there—go into those woods. Her job be damned at this point.
Nash trudged back to her. “Rivers, what is up? You aren’t going to get sick on me now?”
She shook her head, making her braid fly. “No,” she choked out. “I’m fine. Let’s go.” With a curt nod, she pushed her body forward. Doing her best to stay in his tracks and forget where she was going, Cassy kept the beam of her flashlight trained on the drag marks. At one point it looked as if whoever was moving the driver had lost their hold and let the person fall. A large, red blotch stained the snow.
She squatted and scanned the markings. “I’m getting the sense we have two people doing this.” She rose, squinting back at the accident scene. The snow was beginning to fill in the tracks. Wind blasted through the drooping evergreens, swirling the tiny crystals into a wild frenzy. The temperatures were predicted to drop into the negatives overnight, but before that happened, another five to six inches of snow was supposed to fall. It was getting heavier as they stood here.
“I don’t get why they came this way. Like they wanted to—”
“We need to hurry,” she cut off Nash, not wanting to hear her thoughts voiced.
He continued to the lead the way, and she hauled it to keep up. They’d gone another eight yards when Nash’s flashlight beam glanced off a large, darkened lump at the base of a tree.
A feeble, bloodied hand lifted in the flashlights’ beams then flopped.
“Oh my God, he’s still alive.”
Her fear shelved, Cassy hurdled the snow and fell down next to the man. Blood was everywhere, bubbling from his mouth and nose, but that wasn’t what sent a violent tremor through her body.
“Wallis,” she gasped.
The young Eider police officer’s eyelids fluttered open enough for her to see his eyes. “Help,” he rasped. A breath rattled in his lungs, then nothing.
She frantically yanked off her glove and searched for a pulse. “Wallis. Wallis, no.”
She flung herself back and crab-crawled away, rolling onto her knees as she gulped deep, icy breaths to stave off the need to vomit. Why? Why her? Why here? Lifting her head, she stared into Wallis’s dead eyes, wishing she hadn’t been the one to find him. Wishing she were anywhere other than here.
God wouldn’t be so cruel as to force her to work through another horrendous homicide. Right?
To purchase this ebook and learn more about the author, click here.
Praise for Born to Die:
"Lots of tension and intrigue will keep readers hanging on until the very satisfying end. An excellent second offering in the series.”--Library Journal, Starred Review
"Crisp as an Iowa winter! Winter Austin's Born To Die is vibrant and exciting.” --New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Toni Anderson
"The book is solidly written and well-paced, the attention to detail in the procedural side is excellent, and the combination of robberies, murders, and great characters will keep readers hooked.” —4.5 stars, BTS Book Reviews
"The history of the characters is easy to gauge from their dialogue, and while the reader will want the characters to catch the bad guy, they'll also be rooting for the lovers to get together in the end.” —4.5 stars, InDTale Magazine
"A stark and chilling tale that strikes all the right notes. Fans of Atonement will love this!”---Robin Burcell, best-selling author of The Kill Order.
"There were times my heart was racing due to the violence and malevolence that was tangible ... Austin incorporated a lot of emotions both in the characters and what she drew out from me.” --Romancing the Book
"I LOVED this pairing … if you are looking awesome reads that involve romance with a thrilling mystery, well developed storyline and characters, I would recommend these two in a heartbeat!!” —4.5 stars, The Reading Cafe
Don’t miss the first book in the McIntire County series:
Atonement
“Austin’s series opener has much to entertain readers ... it paints a picture of a strong, fearless woman with a sympathetic plight.”— Library Journal
“Atonement is a gripping start to Austin's new romantic suspense series.”— RT Book Reviews
“To have such a girl-power-driven novel, rooting for her happily ever after with Con was as natural as the changing of the seasons.”— 5 stars, InDTale Magazine
“Once in a while you come across a book that simply grabs your attention not letting you go. This is one of those books.” —5+ stars, Romancing the Book
“Nic is just wow! ...This was a great read and I was caught up in the ride ... There were plenty of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat.”—4 stars, Night Owl Reviews
For more from Winter Austin, check out the Degrees of Darkness series:
Relentless
“Relentless is an intensely suspenseful book that will have you turning the pages . . . The chemistry between Remy and Cody is intense and powerful. I was surprised at how this story just grabs me and didn't let me go. Pick up this book today and experience the intense ride in finding the brutal killer.” —The Romance Reviews
Retribution
“Retribution keeps a rapid pace with turn of events that kept me at the edge of my seat. I highly recommend Retribution, but if you haven't yet read Relentless, please pick that one up before this one. Retribution is full of suspense and the events that took place took me off guard.” —The Romance Reviews
Revenge
“Thank you, Ms. Austin, for your writing talent and sharing these amazing characters with us readers. I totally recommend this read to all genre readers.” —The Romance Reviews
“Revenge will continuously put you on the edge of your seat … Just a warning: There are scenes that are really intense and graphic. I love [a particular scene] with Cody when she kicks butt because it's one of those intense scenes [that] will leave any reader awestruck.” —Book Lovin’ Mamas
Reckoning
“Beautifully written with a plot that blew my mind away . . . I totally recommend this to all readers that love suspense with romance. Pick it up today and enjoy.” —The Romance Reviews
“Reckoning is a spine-tingling cop thriller that will tempt the reader at every page! ... The romance between Cody and Remy is tender, yet teasing, and invites the reader into their budding relationship.” —4 stars, Victoria Z. Burg for InD'Tale Magazine
“Reckoning is a taut, complex, fast-moving thriller with a twist you won't see coming while it still manages to include a little hot romance, relational drama (and silliness), and the characters who work very hard to protect each other yet somehow cause each other to end up in life or death situations. A bittersweet but satisfying conclusion to this well-done series. Winter Austin ends it with a bang.” —Hope of Glory-Into the Fire
In the mood for more Crimson Romance?
Check out Protecting Her Secrets by Dana Volney at CrimsonRomance.com.
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