by D. L. Wood
Together they’d gotten through the day nine months after that when the divorce settlement forced them out of their two-story Colonial into an orange rancher in the projects. Together they weathered their mother’s alcoholism that didn’t make her mean, just tragic, and finally, just dead, forcing them into foster homes. And though they didn’t find any love there, they did manage to stay together for the year and a half till they turned eighteen.
Then he went to Georgia Tech on a scholarship and she, still at a loss for what she wanted to do in life, took odd jobs in the city. The teeny one bedroom apartment they shared seemed like their very own castle. After a couple of years, he convinced her she was going nowhere without a degree, so she started at the University of Georgia. For the first time they were separated. But Athens was only a couple hours away and he visited when he could and still paid for everything financial aid didn’t. She’d tried to convince him she could make it on her own, but he never listened, still determined to be the provider their father had never been.
When she graduated, she moved back to Atlanta with her journalism degree under her belt and started out as a copy editor for a local events magazine. Tate got his masters in computer engineering at the same time and snagged a highly competitive job as a software designer for an up-and-coming software development company. It didn’t take long for them to recognize Tate’s brilliance at anything with code, and the promotions seemed to come one after the other.
Things had been so good then. They were both happy, both making money, though she was only making a little and he, more and more as time went by. The photo in her hands had been taken back then, when the world was his for the taking. Before it all fell apart for him with that one twist of fate that had ruined everything—
Stop, she told herself, shaking off the unpleasant memory. The whole episode had nearly killed Tate, and she didn’t like to dwell on it. It had left him practically suicidal until, finally, this Inverse job came along. When it did, she thought that everything would get better, that things would just go back to normal. But they didn’t. Instead Tate had just slowly disappeared from her life, consumed by making his career work . . .
She brushed his frozen smile with her fingers. Affection and pity and a need for the only person who had ever made her feel like she was a part of something special swelled, finally beating out the aggravation she had been indulging. As she set the frame back on the table, her phone rang.
Speak of the devil, she thought, smiling as she reached for her cell.
“Hello?”
A deep, tentative voice that did not belong to her brother answered.
* * * * *
It never ceased to amaze him how death could be so close to a person without them sensing it at all. Four hours had passed and she hadn’t noticed a thing. It was dark now, and rain that was turning to sleet ticked steadily on the car, draping him in a curtain of sound as he watched her vague grey shadow float back and forth against the glow of her drawn Roman blinds. He was invisible here, hunkered down across the street behind the tinted windows of his dark Chevy Impala, swathed in the added darkness of the thick oaks lining the neighbor’s yard.
Invisible eyes watching. Waiting.
Watch. Wait. Simple enough instructions. But more were coming. Out of habit he felt the Glock cradled in his jacket and fleetingly wondered why he was watching her, before quickly realizing he didn’t care. He wasn’t paid to wonder.
He was just a hired gun. A temporary fix until the big guns arrived. But, even so . . .
He scanned the yard. The dog was gone. She was completely alone. It would be, oh, so easy.
But he was being paid to watch. Nothing more.
Her shadow danced incessantly from one end of the room to the other. Apparently the news had her pacing.
What would she do if she knew she was one phone call away from never making a shadow dance again?
THE STORY CONTINUES IN UNINTENDED TARGET
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
D.L. Wood is an attorney and best-selling Christian Mystery & Suspense author on Amazon with over three million pages read on Kindle Unlimited. Her books have won multiple awards and offer CleanCaptivatingFiction™ that entertains and uplifts. She loves the art of storytelling, particularly any story involving suspense or the epic struggle of good versus evil. In her novels, Wood tries to give readers the same thing she wants: a “can’t-put-it-down-stay-up-till-3am-story” that stays clean without sacrificing an iota of quality, believability or adrenaline.
If she isn’t writing, you’ll probably catch her curled up with a cup of Earl Grey and her Westies—Frodo and Dobby—bingeing on the latest BBC detective series to show up on Netflix. Speaking of which, if you have one to recommend, please email her immediately, because she’s nearly exhausted the ones she knows about. She loves to hear from readers, and you can reach her at [email protected]. D.L. lives in North Alabama with her husband and twin daughters.
Author D.L. Wood’s website: www.dlwoodonline.com
Books By D.L. Wood
The Unintended Series
Unintended Target
Unintended Witness
BOOK THREE: COMING 2021
The Criminal Collection
A Criminal Game
BOOK TWO: COMING SOON
The Secrets and Lies Suspense Novels
Secrets She Knew
Liar Like Her: October 2020
