Catherine Coulter - Twice Dead

Table of Contents

PRAISE FOR CATHERINE COULTERS FBI THRILLER SERIES

Fast-paced. People

A good storyteller... Coulter always keeps the pace brisk.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

With possible blackmail, ntra-judiciary rivalries, and personal peccadilloes, theres more than enough intrigueand suspectsfor full-court standing in this snappy page-turner ... A zesty read. BookPage

Twisted villains... intriguing escapism... The latest in the series featuring likable... FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich.

Lansing (MI) State Journal

Coulter takes readers on a chilling and suspenseful ride... taut, fast-paced, hard to put down. Cedar Rapids Gazette

The perfect suspense thriller, loaded with plenty of action.

The Best Reviews

The newest installment in Coulters FBI series delivers... a fast-moving investigation, a mind-bending mystery... The mystery at the heart... is intriguing and the pacing is brisk. Publishers Weekly

Fast-paced... Coulter gets better and more cinematic with each of her suspenseful FBI adventures. Booklist

Dont Miss Catherine Coulters FBI Thriller Series

THE COVE (1996)

THE MAZE (1997)

THE TARGET (1998)

THE EDGE (1999)

RIPTIDE (2000)

HEMLOCK BAY (2001)

ELEVENTH HOUR (2002)

BLINDSIDE (2003)

BLOWOUT (2004)

POINT BLANK (2005)

DOUBLE TAKE (2007)

TAILSPIN (2008)

KNOCKOUT (2009)

WHIPLASH (2010)

THE BEGINNING (2005)

(includes The Cove and The Maze )

DOUBLE JEOPARDY (2008)

(includes The Target and The Edge )

TWICE DEAD (2011)

(includes Riptide and Hemlock Bay )

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Collection copyright 2011 by Catherine Coulter.

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PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / February 2011

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coulter, Catherine.
[Riptide]
Twice dead / Catherine Coulter.Berkley trade pbk. ed.
p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-47866-0

1. United States. Federal Bureau of InvestigationFiction. 2. Suspense fiction, American.
I. Coulter, Catherine. Hemlock Bay. II. Title.
PS3553.O843R5 2011
813.54dc22
2010039460

http://us.penguingroup.com

RIPTIDE

CC

ONE

New York City
June 15
Present

Becca was watching an afternoon soap opera shed seen off and on since she was a kid. She found herself wondering if she would ever have a child who needed a heart transplant one month and a new kidney the next, or a husband who wouldnt be faithful to her for longer than it took a new woman to look in his direction.

Then the phone rang.

She jumped to her feet, then stopped dead still and stared over at the phone. She heard a guy on TV whining about how life wasnt fair.

He didnt know what fair was.

She made no move to answer the phone. She stood there and listened, watching it as it rang three more times. Then, finally, because her mother was lying in a coma in Lenox Hill Hospital, because she plain couldnt stand the ringing ringing ringing, she watched her hand reach out and pick up the receiver.

She forced her mouth to form the single word. Hello?

Hi, Rebecca. Its your boyfriend. Ive got you so scared you have to force yourself to pick up the phone. Isnt that right?

She closed her eyes as that hated voice, low and deep, swept over her, into her, making her so afraid she was shaking. No hint of an Atlanta drawl, no sharp New York vowels, no dropped Rs from Boston. A voice that was well educated, with smooth, clear diction, perhaps even a touch of the Brit in it. Old? Young? She didnt know, couldnt tell. She had to keep it together. She had to listen carefully, to remember how he spoke, what he said. You can do it. Keep it together. Make him talk, make him say something, you never know what will pop out. That was what the police psychologist in Albany had told her to do when the man had first started calling her. Listen carefully. Dont let him scare you. Take control. You guide him, not the other way around. Becca licked her lips, chapped from the hot, dry air in Manhattan that week, an anomaly, the weather forecaster had said. And so Becca repeated her litany of questions, trying to keep her voice calm, cool, in charge, yes, that was her. Wont you tell me who you are? I really want to know. Maybe we can talk about why you keep calling me. Can we do that?

Cant you come up with some new questions, Rebecca? After all, Ive called you a good dozen times now. And you always say the same things. Ah, theyre from a shrink, arent they? They told you to ask those questions, to try to distract me, to get me to spill my guts to you. Sorry, it wont work.

Shed never really thought it would work, that stratagem. No, this guy knew what he was doing, and he knew how to do it. She wanted to plead with him to leave her alone, but she didnt. Instead, she snapped. She simply lost it, the long-buried anger cutting through her bone-grinding fear. She gripped the phone, knuckles white, and yelled, Listen to me, you little prick. Stop saying youre my boyfriend. Youre nothing but a sick jerk. Now, how about this for a question? Why dont you go to hell where you belong? Why dont you go kill yourself, youre sure not worth anything to the human race. Dont call me anymore, you pathetic jerk. The cops are on to you. The phone is tapped, do you hear me? Theyre going to get you and fry you.

Shed caught him off guard, she knew it, and an adrenaline rush sent her sky-high, but only for a moment. After a slight pause, he recovered. In a calm, reasonable voice, he said, Now, Rebecca, sweetheart, you know as well as I do that the cops now dont believe youre being stalked, that some weird guy is calling you at all hours, trying to scare you. You had the phone tap put in yourself because you couldnt get them to do it. And Ill never talk long enough for that old, low-tech equipment of yours to get a trace. Oh yes, Rebecca, because you insulted me, youll have to pay for it, big-time.