LISA JACKSON
The Alvarez & Pescoli Series
Left to Die
Chosen to Die
Born to Die
ZEBRA BOOKS
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Left to Die
Copyright © 2008 by Susan Lisa Jackson
Chosen to Die
Copyright © 2009 by Susan Lisa Jackson
Born to Die
Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Jackson LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-5032-2
eISBN-10: 1-4201-5032-4
CHOSEN TO DIE
Jillian remembered someone near her car at the accident, a dark figure hovering nearby.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “So you heard the shot. Then what?”
For a second, MacGregor didn’t answer and the soft hiss of the fire slipped through the room. “Then,” he finally said, “there was the sound of the crash.”
Her throat turned to sand. Memories of the car’s horrific spin and plunge through the dusky canyon cut through her mind.
“Yes,” she said hoarsely.
MacGregor came a little closer, closing the distance between them. “Do you think you were a target?” he asked again.
“I…yeah, I think so,” Jillian said.
“And who would be out in the middle of the worst storm in a decade, lying in wait with a rifle, ready for target practice? Tell me, Jillian,” he insisted, near enough now that she could feel the heat of his body. “Who do you think would want to kill you?”
Books by Lisa Jackson
Stand-Alones
SEE HOW SHE DIES
FINAL SCREAM
RUNNING SCARED
WHISPERS
TWICE KISSED
UNSPOKEN
DEEP FREEZE
FATAL BURN
MOST LIKELY TO DIE
WICKED GAME
WICKED LIES
WITHOUT MERCY
Anthony Paterno / Cahill Family novels
IF SHE ONLY KNEW
ALMOST DEAD
Rick Bentz/ Reuben Montoya novels
HOT BLOODED
COLD BLOODED
SHIVER
ABSOLUTE FEAR
LOST SOULS
MALICE
DEVIOUS
Pierce Reed / Nikki Gillette novels
THE NIGHT BEFORE
THE MORNING AFTER
Selena Alvarez / Regan Pescoli novels
LEFT TO DIE
CHOSEN TO DIE
BORN TO DIE
Left to Die
Lisa Jackson
ZEBRA BOOKS
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Dozens of people helped me with the creation, writing and research for this book. I’m sure I won’t remember them all, but I would like to thank the following individuals for their time, effort, support and, as always, sense of humor while the author sometimes lost hers:
Ken Bush, Nancy Bush, Matthew Crose, Michael Crose, Kelly Foster, Marilyn Katcher, Ken Melum, Roz Noonan, Gayle Nachtigal, Fred Nachtigal, Mike Seidel, Larry Sparks, Niki Wilkins and probably a zillion others who remain nameless.
Prologue
Bitterroot Mountains, Montana
November
He’s going to kill you.
Right here in the middle of this snow-covered godforsaken valley, he’s going to kill you! Fight, Wendy, fight!
Wendy Ito struggled, battling with the ropes that cut into her bare flesh, feeling the sting of a fierce arctic wind as it howled through the mountain ridges that surrounded them.
She was alone. Aside from the psychopath who had captured her.
God, why had she trusted him?
How in the world had she thought that he was her rescuer? That his mission was to heal her until, after the blizzard, he could call for help or take her to the nearest hospital?
Had