Lis Wiehl - Face of Betrayal

Advance Praise for Face of Betrayal

This novel is a blast to read!

BILL OREILLY, FOX TV AND RADIO ANCHOR

Only a brilliant lawyer, prosecutor, and journalist like Lis Wiehl could put together a mystery this thrilling! The incredible characters and nonstop twists will leave you mesmerized. Open this book and find a comfortable seat because you wont want to put it down!

E. D. HILL, FOX NEWS ANCHOR

Great characters, compelling storyline... a winning combination.

EARL MERKEL, CO-HOST OF MONEY & MORE

Lis Wiehls been there, done that and reported on it all. A riveting and revealing fast-paced look at our criminal justice system and the press who cover it.

DR. MICHAEL BADEN, CURRENT CHIEF FORENSIC
PATHOLOGIST FOR THE NEW YORK STATE POLICE;
FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, NYC; HOST,
HBOS AUTOPSY

Wiehl exposes the malevolent side of power in this murderous thriller. A harrowing tale ripped from the headlines!

CATHERINE CRIER, FORMER JUDGE,
JOURNALIST, AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

A real thrill ride! Filled with twists and turns you wont see coming.

RITA CROSBY, EMMY AWARD-WINNING TV PERSONALITY
(FORMERLY WITH MSNBC)

An incredible read. The story grips you from the get-go and reveals a stunning look at what happens when crime and the media meet head-on!

NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR AND
FORMER PROSECUTOR

Feels fresher than todays headline story. One of the best suspense novels of 2009.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX ANCHOR

Three smart women crack the big cases! Makes perfect sense to me. This book blew me away!

JEANINE PIRRO, FORMER DA; HOSTS THE CWS
DAYTIME COURT TELEVISION REALITY SHOW
JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO

Lis Wiehl has done it again! Im a big fan of her nonfiction books and now the multitalented Wiehl lets loose with this juicy political mystery! A fine mixture of all this savvy commentator has to offer... including politics, law, friendship, and even motherhood! Lis is a quadruple threat in my book!

HANNAH STORM, ESPN; FORMER CBS ANCHOR

FACE OF BETRAYAL

2008 by Lis Wiehl and April Henry

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977. Used by permission.

The Sick Rose by William Blake, published in Songs of Experience in 1794.

Publishers Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wiehl, Lis W.
Face of betrayal : a triple threat novel / Lis Wiehl and April Henry.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59554-705-7 (hardcover)
1. Women lawyersFiction. 2. Women television journalistsFiction. 3. Female friendshipFiction. 4. StalkingFiction. 5. Spousal abuseFiction. 6. Abused womenFiction. 7. MurderInvestigationFiction. I. Henry, April. II. Title.
PS3623.I382F33 2009
813'.6dc22

2009000122

Printed in the United States of America

09 10 11 12 QW 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

With love for Dani, Jacob, and Mickey,
LIS

With love for Sadie and Randy,
APRIL

Come on, Jalapeo!

Katie Converse jerked the dogs leash. Reluctantly, the black Lab mix lifted his nose and followed her. Katie wanted to hurry, but everything seemed to invite Jalapeo to stop, sniff, and lift his leg. And there was no time for that now. Not today.

She had grown up less than two miles from here, but this afternoon everything looked different. It was winter, for one thing, nearly Christmas. And she wasnt the same person she had been the last time she was here, not a month earlier. Then she had been a little girl playing at being a grown-up. Now she was a woman.

Finally, she reached the agreed-upon spot. She was still shaking from what she had said less than two hours earlier. What she had demanded.

Now there was nothing to do but wait. Not an easy task for an impatient seventeen-year-old.

She heard the scuff of footsteps behind her. Unable to suppress a grin, Katie called his name as she turned around.

At the sight of the face, contorted with rage, Jalapeo growled.

As she walked to the courtroom podium, federal prosecutor Allison Pierce touched the tiny silver cross she wore on a fine chain. The cross was hidden under her cream-colored silk blouse, but it was always there, close to Allisons heart. Her father had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday.

Allison was dressed in what she thought of as her court uniform, a navy blue suit with a skirt that, even on her long legs, hit below the knee. This morning she had tamed her curly brown hair into a low bun and put on small silver hoops. She was thirty-three, but in court she wanted to make sure no one thought of her as young or unseasoned.

She took a deep breath and looked up at Judge Fitzpatrick. Your Honor, I ask for the maximum sentence for Frank Archer. He coldly, calculatedly, and callously plotted his wifes murder. If Mr. Archer had been dealing with a real hired killer instead of an FBI agent, Toni Archer would be dead today. Instead, she is in hiding and in fear for her life.

A year earlier Frank Archer had had what he told friends was a five-foot-four problem. Toni. She wanted a divorce. Archer was an engineer, and he was good at math. A divorce meant splitting all their worldly goods and paying for child support. But if Toni were to die? Then not only would Archer avoid a divorce settlement, but he would benefit from Tonis $300,000 life insurance policy.

Archer asked an old friend from high schoolwho also happened to be an ex-conif he knew anyone who could help. The old friend found Rod Emerick, but Rod wasnt a hired killerhe was an FBI agent. Archer agreed to meet Rod in a hotel room, which the FBI bugged. In a windowless van parked outside, Allison monitored the grainy black-and- white feed, all shadows and snow, waiting until they had enough to make an arrest before she gave the order. With gritted teeth, she had watched Archer hand over a snapshot of Toni, her license number, her work schedule, and $5,000 in fifties and hundreds. She sometimes understood those who killed from passionbut killers motivated by greed left her cold.

Given the strength of the evidence, Archer had had no choice but to plead guilty. Now, as Allison advocated for the maximum possible sentence, she didnt look over at him once. He was a small man, with thinning blonde hair and glasses. He looked nothing like a killer. But after five years as a federal prosecutor, Allison had learned that few killers did.

After she finished, she rejoined Rod at the prosecutors table and listened to the defense attorneys sad litany of excuses. Archer hadnt known what he was doing, he was distraught, he was under a lot of stress, he wasnt sleeping well, and he never intended to go through with itlies that everyone in the crowded courtroom could see through.