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Ricochet [Secure eReader (recommended)/Mobipocket/Microsoft Reader/Adobe PDF]
eBook by Sandra Brown
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eBook Category: Suspense/Thriller
eBook Description: #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown is back with a spine-tingling story of murder and betrayal--and a homicide detective's struggle with his own rules of conduct. When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the keys to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job. At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. His gut feeling is that her account of the shooting is only partially true--and it's the parts she's leaving out that bother him. Determined to learn the dead man's connection to the Lairds and get at the truth, Duncan investigates further and quickly finds his career, as well as his integrity, in jeopardy--because he can't deny his increasing attraction to Elise Laird, even if she is a married woman, a proven liar, and a murder suspect. When Elise seeks Duncan out privately and makes an incredible allegation, he initially dismisses it as the manipulative lie of a guilty woman. But what if she's telling the truth? Then that single fatal gunshot at her home takes on even more sinister significance, possibly involving Duncan's nemesis, the brutal crime lord Robert Savich. And then Elise goes missing ... Ricochet's plot twists--as only Sandra Brown can write them--and palpable suspense combine to create this gripping thriller, in which a decent cop's worst enemy may be his own conscience, and trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death.
eBook Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc./Simon & Schuster
Fictionwise Release Date: August 2006
27 Reader Ratings:
Available eBook Formats [Secure eReader (recommended)/Mobipocket/Microsoft Reader/Adobe PDF - What's this?]: SECURE MOBIPOCKET FORMAT [562 KB], SECURE MICROSOFT READER FORMAT [395 KB] - Requires Microsoft Reader 2.1.1 for PCs, or Microsoft Reader 2.2.2 on Pocket PC 2002 handheld devices. Some older Pocket PCs can be upgraded. Learn More., SECURE EREADER (RECOMMENDED) FORMAT [320 KB], SECURE ADOBE PDF FORMAT [1.2 MB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [671 KB]
All formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
Microsoft Reader ISBN: 9780743293907
Adobe Reader ISBN: 9780743293907
Mobipocket Reader ISBN: 9780743293907
eReader ISBN: 9780743293907
GEOGRAPHIC RESTRICTIONS: Available to customers in: PR, US, VI, UM What's this?
 
Chapter
1 Six Weeks Earlier THE MURDER TRIAL OF ROBERT SAVICH WAS IN ITS FOURTH DAY. Homicide detective Duncan Hatcher was wondering what the hell was going on. As soon as court had reconvened after the lunch break, the defendant's attorney, Stan Adams, had asked the judge for a private meeting. Judge Laird, as perplexed by the request as ADA Mike Nelson, had nonetheless granted it and the three had withdrawn to chambers. The jury had retired to the jury room, leaving only the spectators to question the significance of this unexpected conference. They'd been out for half an hour. Duncan's anxiety grew with each passing minute. He'd wanted the trial to proceed without a blip, without any hitch that could result in an easy appeal or, God forbid, an overturned verdict. That's why this behind-closed-doors powwow was making him so nervous. His impatience eventually drove him out into the corridor, where he paced, but never out of earshot of the courtroom. From this fourth-floor vantage point, he watched a pair of tugs guide a merchant ship along the channel toward the ocean. Then, unable to stand the suspense, he returned to his seat in the courtroom. "Duncan, for heaven's sake, sit still! You're squirming like a two-year-old." To pass the time, his partner detective, DeeDee Bowen, was working a crossword puzzle. "What could they be talking about in there?" "Plea bargain? Manslaughter, maybe?" "Get real," he said. "Savich wouldn't admit to a parking violation, much less a hit." "What's a seven-letter word for surrender?" DeeDee asked. "Abdicate." She looked at him with annoyance. "How'd you come up with that so fast?" "I'm a genius." She tried the word. "Not this time. 'Abdicate' doesn't fit. Besides, that's eight letters." "Then I don't know." The defendant, Robert Savich, was seated at the defense table looking way too complacent for a man on trial for murder, and much too confident to allay Duncan's anxiety. As though feeling Duncan's stare on the back of his neck, Savich turned and smiled at him. His fingers continued to idly drum the arms of his chair as though keeping time to a catchy tune only he could hear. His legs were casually crossed. He was a portrait of composure. To anyone who didn't know him, Robert Savich looked like a respectable businessman with a slightly rebellious flair for fashion. For court today he was dressed in a suit of conservative gray, but the slim tailoring of it was distinctly European. His shirt was pale blue, his necktie lavender. His signature ponytail was sleek and glossy. A multicarat diamond glittered from his earlobe. The classy clothes, his insouciance, were elements of his polished veneer, which gave no indication of the unconscionable criminal behind them. He'd been arrested and brought before the grand jury on numerous charges that included several murders, one arson, and various lesser felonies, most of which were related to drug trafficking. But over the course of his long and illustrious career, he'd been indicted and tried only twice. The first had been a drug charge. He'd been acquitted because the state failed to prove their case, which, granted, was flimsy. Copyright © 2006 by Sandra Brown Management Ltd.
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