Cherished Secrets
By C.B.
Clark
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Twelve years
ago, sixteen-year old Carrie Ann Hetherington, pregnant with the child of a
murder suspect, fled the small town of Cooper's Ridge for the anonymity of
Seattle. Now, faced with a family dilemma, she must risk her carefully
reinvented life and return to her childhood home.
Eighteen-year-old
Declan McAllister's prom date is found beaten and strangled to death, and he
becomes the prime suspect accused of the grisly crime. Now this successful
Dallas businessman returns to Cooper's Ridge to find the true murderer and
finally lift the cloak of suspicion he's faced all these years. In his quest to
prove his innocence, he must join forces with the woman who shattered his heart
to find a devious killer who will stop at nothing to protect a shocking truth.
Caught up in a
menacing web of secrets, deception and danger, Carrie Ann and Declan struggle
to overcome past betrayals and present danger. Can they tear down the barriers
they've erected around their hearts and rediscover true love?
“Who’s there?”
Her voice was a thin squeak.
Another snap,
followed by a furtive rustle of bushes.
She gulped,
wishing she’d thought to bring a weapon. The hairs on the back of her neck
rose. She wasn’t alone. Someone or something was hiding in the dark woods
watching her.
In the next
second, she was up and racing along the trail to the barn, ignoring the
branches scratching her face and tearing at her clothes. Bursting out of the
trees, she ran to her car, stumbling over the rutted ground. She opened the
door and leaped in, hitting the automatic lock button.
Her chest heaved
as she peered through the rain- spotted windshield at the crumbling ruin of the
barn looming over her, the red paint on the old boards faded to umber, the
windows dark and vacant. Another shiver rippled along her spine. Stop
being foolish. No one’s here but you. The noises she’d heard in the forest
were from a squirrel or a deer seeking shelter from the rain. Lots of animals
lived in the dense woods.
She released a
shaky laugh and reached for her purse on the seat beside her for a tissue. Her
breath caught in her throat. A small fragment of cloth lay atop her purse, the
vibrant colors glowing in the meager, late afternoon light. With a shaking
hand, she picked up the cloth. The smooth silk slid between her fingers.
Mesmerized, she studied the scrap of torn fabric.
The air in the
car was suddenly too thick to breathe. Fingers shaking, she turned the cloth
over and jammed her fist in her mouth stifling a scream. Written across the
silk in thick, black letters was a single, condemning word. Guilty.
She dropped the
cloth as if it burned and gulped air. While she’d been traipsing around the
forest looking for where the killer had dumped Skye’s body, someone had been
inside her car and left this piece of Skye’s scarf for her to find. The same
person could still be here, watching her, waiting.
Her hand shook
so much she dropped the keys on the floor twice before finally fitting them in
the ignition and starting the car. The engine choked, sputtered, and died. Her
heart hammered as she tried again. Come on. Please, please start.
C.B. Clark has
always loved reading, especially romances, but it wasn’t until she lost her
voice for a year that she considered writing her own romantic suspense stories.
She grew up in Canada’s Northwest Territories and Yukon. Graduating with a
degree in Anthropology and Archaeology, she has worked as an archaeologist and
an educator, teaching students from the primary grades through the first year
of college. She enjoys hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing with her husband and
dog near her home in the wilderness of central British Columbia.
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