Robert Dugoni - Her Deadly Game

PRAISE FOR ROBERT DUGONI

One of the best crime writers in the business.

Associated Press

Dugoni is a superb storyteller . ..

Boston Globe

Dugoni is every bit the equal of Lisa Gardner and Harlan Coben when it comes to psychological suspense.

The Providence Journal

Dugoni has become one of the best crime novelists in the business.

Romantic Times (top pick)

A writer at the top of his game.

Authorlink

An author who seems like he hasnt met a genre he cant conquer.

Bookreporter

Dugonis writing is compellingly quick, simple, and evocative.

Seattle Book Review

PRAISE FOR HER DEADLY GAME

One of the best puzzle books ever! I raced through the pages, which are packed full of compelling characters and taut gamesmanship, desperate to learn the answer to this extraordinary thriller, which is both whodunit and how-dunit. I would follow Robert Dugoni anywhere.

Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author

I adore Robert Dugonis legal thrillers, and Her Deadly Game is his best one yet. I loved Keera Duggans strength and her heart, which shine through the pages, and I rooted for her every step of the way through this unputdownable story.

Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author

Absolutely riveting. A juicy tale that will leave readers hungry for more.

Victor Methos, bestselling author of The Secret Witness

Robert Dugoni has done it againcreated a twisty puzzle-box story with one of the most satisfying, jaw-dropping endings Ive read in a long time. Part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, and part character study of fascinating chess prodigy turned defense attorney Keera Duggan, Her Deadly Game will keep you reading late into the night.

Angie Kim, international bestselling author of Miracle Creek

PRAISE FOR THE TRACY CROSSWHITE SERIES

Tracy Crosswhite is one of the best protagonists in the realm of crime fiction today.

Associated Press

Gripping... Fans of police procedurals will hope Tracy has a long career.

Publishers Weekly

Crime writing of the absolute highest order.

The Providence Journal

An immenselyalmost compulsivelyreadable tale... A crackerjack mystery.

Booklist (starred review)

PRAISE FOR THE CHARLES JENKINS SERIES

Dugoni delivers an exceptionally gripping spy thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Reviving all that was tense during the Cold War, Dugoni has fashioned a wonderful series around sleeper agents and one Americans duty to protect those involved.

Mystery and Suspense Magazine

Espionage writing doesnt get any better than Dugonis shrewd take on the state of US-Russian relations, as he proves to be not just a literary jack of all trades, but a master of all of them.

The Providence Journal

The Eighth Sister is a great mix of spycraft and classic adventure, with a map of Moscow in hand.

Martin Cruz Smith, international bestselling author

ALSO BY ROBERT DUGONI

The Last Line (a short story)

The World Played Chess

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

The 7th Canon

Damage Control

The Tracy Crosswhite Series

My Sisters Grave

Her Final Breath

In the Clearing

The Trapped Girl

Close to Home

A Steep Price

A Cold Trail

In Her Tracks

What She Found

The Academy (a short story)

Third Watch (a short story)

The Charles Jenkins Series

The Eighth Sister

The Last Agent

The Silent Sisters

The David Sloane Series

The Jury Master

Wrongful Death

Bodily Harm

Murder One

The Conviction

Nonfiction with Joseph Hilldorfer

The Cyanide Canary

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Otherwise, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Text copyright 2023 by La Mesa Fiction, LLC

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by Thomas & Mercer, Seattle

www.apub.com

Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Thomas & Mercer are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

ISBN-13: 9781662500190 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 9781662500183 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781662500176 (digital)

Cover design by Rex Bonomelli

Cover image: Westend61 / Getty Images; ValterDesign / Shutterstock

First edition

To Jim Fick. Strong mind. Strong will.

Strong body. Looking forward to watching you climb mountains at ninety.

And to Doug Harvey, mentor and friend.

Gone too young.

Contents

The truth is rarely pure and never simple .

Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Part I

Prologue

April 1, 2022

Seattle, Washington

Seattle Violent Crimes Detective Frank Rossi drove over the street curb onto the Pioneer Square plaza pavers, the black Chevys headlights reflecting the heavy rain, its windshield wipers slapping left and right in a futile effort to clear the glass. Ambulance lights pulsed red and white on the Pioneer Buildings first-floor gray sandstone, and the fifty-foot, red cedar Tlingit totem pole overlooking the square. The eyes of a raven, the lowest carving, stared at Rossi, as if to question his early-morning presence.

Right there with you, Rossi said, turning off the engine.

Being the on-call detective team was like being an on-call doctor. Rossi and his partner, Billy Ford, could be summoned at all hours of the day and night, though unlike a doctor, they never had the chance to save a life.

Rossis day began when the victims days ended.

The wind gusted, causing water from the sodden leaves of a maple tree to fall like hail on the cars roof and hood. Rossi noted two additional pool cars in the plaza. That would be his sergeant, Chuck Pan, and Ford. No matter how quickly Rossi responded to a homicide scene, he had never beaten Ford in the two years they had been a Violent Crimes team.

Rossi draped his Gore-Tex jacket over his head, pushed from the car, and hurried up the marbled steps where a uniformed officer stood seeking refuge beneath the arched building entry. Rossi flashed his credentials and stepped inside the foyer. He shook the rain from his jacket while considering the directory of commercial tenants in the glass case mounted on the wall. He found Cliff Larson Accounting on the fourth floor. The name pinged his memory, though at four in the morning, his addled brain couldnt place why.

He looked up at the peaked glass roof. Vines stretched over each landing, a curtain of green hanging in an atrium. The tenant offices were situated on the periphery of the landings, which were accessed by a staircase or a tiny cage elevatora death trap, in Rossis opinion. He climbed the ornate, marbled staircase with the decorative, wrought-iron handrail, passing framed photographs on the wood-paneled walls that documented the buildings 130-year history at First and Yesler. The interiors musty odor reminded him of the smell inside his grandfathers closet.

On the fourth floor, Rossi followed the sound of hushed voices to the buildings northeast corner. Two paramedics stood alongside a uniformed officerpresumably the first to respondand Billy Ford. Red crime scene tape had been strung across the office entrance. Cross it and you were obligated to file a report documenting your purpose at the scene, what you encountered, and with whom you spoke. Most officers avoided it like the plague.