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eBook Category: Suspense/Thriller/Mystery/Crime
eBook Description: Victoria Renard, news reporter on the rise, can't believe her luck. The Christmas season has brought her the best possible present. A serial killer with a twisted sense of holiday spirit. Three crime scenes, no obvious connection, and her on the brink of a story that could send her star shooting straight into the big leagues. The only problem is, finding herself at the mercy of a desperate man, the over-zealous Ms. Renard may not live long enough to see it all happen.

eBook Publisher: Echelon Press, Published: 2004, 2004
Fictionwise Release Date: November 2005

This eBook is part of the following series:

• Tim Wohlforth's Victoria Renard Thriller Series

3 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [313 KB], eReader (PDB) [47 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [20 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [20 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [76 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [92 KB], hiebook (KML) [115 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [93 KB], iSilo (PDB) [17 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [22 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [66 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [32 KB]
Words: 6087
Reading time: 17-24 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
ISBN: 159080418X

1:05 A.M.: A young man, dressed in black sweats, drove a rented Ford Escort north on the Bayshore Freeway. He took the Broadway-Burlingame Exit, ten miles from the San Francisco Airport. Checking the first of three addresses scrawled in almost illegible handwriting on a piece of lined yellow notepaper, he swung a right on to Cortez Avenue and pulled up in front of a small boxy white clapboard cottage. Turning off the engine, the young man waited. No sound. No movement.

He put on rubber gloves and reached into a shopping bag, filled with wrapped Christmas presents, sitting on the seat next to him. It had been given to him by the contact who'd met his plane. He pulled out a Ruger .22-caliber pistol with a silencer attached and placed it in his pocket. Then he grabbed one of the presents, stepped out of the car and approached the house. No lights. He crept around to the back and tested a window. Locked. The back door was also locked. He took out a set of picks. Thirty seconds later, he stood in the middle of the kitchen and waited as his eyes acclimated to the dark shadows of the room. His soft rubber-soled shoes made no sound as he maneuvered his way through the kitchen.

Heavy breathing came from a room to the left. The young man opened the door. A slight creak. He glanced inside the room. The two occupants of the king-sized bed hadn't stirred. He approached the bed. A heavy-set man and woman, dark complexion. He withdrew his gun and placed the barrel against the forehead of the male occupant of the bed. He pulled the trigger. Pop. The female occupant stirred. He repeated the operation.

Within seconds, the killer found a second bedroom and shot, in the same fashion, an eleven-year-old boy. On to the third bedroom and an eight-year-old girl. She lay on her back. Long black hair, white nightgown. He placed the barrel of his gun against her head and finished her off.

The killer moved into the living room. He made out the dim outline of a Christmas tree. Presents were piled underneath. He reached down and placed the package he had brought with him on top of the pile. The long box was wrapped in paper illustrated with the heads of Santas and covered with "Ho! Ho! Ho!" in red script on a green background.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" he said in thick accented English to no one in particular.

He headed back into the kitchen. There he found a large Persian cat, sound asleep, curled up in a bed beside the stove. He had been told to expect some kind of pet. He leaned over, pressed his gun against the cat's head, and fired.

The killer left the quiet house, climbed into his car, and made his way back to the Bayshore. Turning right, he headed south, took the off ramp for the Hayward Bridge, crossed the bridge and drove to the Nimitz. Then north and into Oakland.