PATTERN OF VICTIMS
“You already know that Daniel Price was not Jordan Price’s first husband, don’t you?” Maleah asked.
“Yeah,” Rick said. “So what?”
“She was a widow when she married the senator, so now at the ripe old age of thirty-four, she’s been widowed twice. Actually, she was almost widowed three times.”
“Explain.”
“When she was twenty-one, she was engaged to a man named Robby Joe Wright. Three weeks before their wedding, he died in a one-car accident. Then a few years later, when the lady was in her late twenties, she lost husband number one, Boyd Brannon, in a hunting accident, and now her second husband supposedly committed suicide. Odd, don’t you think, that three men who loved Jordan Price have died?”
“Are you saying you think she killed all three men?”
“Maybe. Possibly. I’m going to dig deeper and find out if she gained financially from Robby Joe Wright’s death or Boyd Brannon’s death. Want to bet me that she did?”
A sick feeling hit Rick in the pit of his stomach. “If I was sure the lady was innocent, I’d take you up on that bet.”
“But you’re not sure, are you? You’re wondering, just like I am, if maybe Jordan Price is a black widow…”
Books by Beverly Barton
AFTER DARK
EVERY MOVE SHE
MAKES
WHAT SHE
DOESN’T KNOW
THE FIFTH VICTIM
THE LAST TO DIE
AS GOOD
AS DEAD
KILLING HER
SOFTLY
CLOSE ENOUGH
TO KILL
MOST LIKELY
TO DIE
THE DYING
GAME
THE MURDER
GAME
COLD HEARTED
SILENT KILLER
DEAD
BY MIDNIGHT
DON’T CRY
DEAD
BY MORNING
DEAD
BY NIGHTFALL
DON’T SAY
A WORD
JUST THE WAY
YOU ARE
THE RIGHT WIFE
(available as an e-book)
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2008 Beverly Beaver
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.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
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PINNACLE BOOKS and the Pinnacle logo are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4329-3
ISBN-10: 0-7860-4329-6
First Zebra mass market paperback printing: September 2008
First Pinnacle edition: August 2019
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Printed in the United States of America
Pinnacle electronic edition: August 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4333-0 (e-book)
ISBN-10: 0-7860-4333-4 (e-book)
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
Prologue
Perhaps the best thing he could do for himself and everyone he loved was to commit suicide.
Dan Price stared at the Glock pistol lying atop his desk. He had bought the 9mm automatic for his wife, but she had refused the gift, politely reminding him of her aversion to guns. But at his insistence, she had gone with him to the practice range and learned to use the weapon, only to please him. But to his knowledge, she had never carried the pistol, never kept it in her room or in her car.
If his sweet Jordan had any idea that he was contemplating taking his own life, she would do her best to convince him that no matter what the future held, she would stand by him. It was her basic integrity and loyalty that had first attracted him to the woman who had become his greatest political asset.
Dan lifted the half-full glass of Kentucky bourbon to his lips and finished off the remainder. The liquor