Left to Kill (An Adele Sharp Mystery—Book Four) Read online

  L E F T

  T O

  K I L L

  (An Adele Sharp Mystery—Book Four)

  B L A K E P I E R C E

  Blake Pierce

  Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising fourteen books; of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising fourteen books (and counting); of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising three books; of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); of the new ADELE SHARP mystery series, comprising four six books (and counting); and of the new EUROPEAN VOYAGE cozy mystery series.

  ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1), NEXT DOOR (A Chloe Fine Psychological Suspense Mystery—Book 1), THE PERFECT WIFE (A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller—Book One), and IF SHE KNEW (A Kate Wise Mystery—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Amazon!

  An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

  Copyright © 2020 by Blake Pierce. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This 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 fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright CloudyStock, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

  BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

  EUROPEAN VOYAGE COZY MYSTERY SERIES

  MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) (Book #1)

  DEATH (AND APPLE STRUDEL) (Book #2)

  CRIME (AND LAGER) (Book #3)

  ADELE SHARP MYSTERY SERIES

  LEFT TO DIE (Book #1)

  LEFT TO RUN (Book #2)

  LEFT TO HIDE (Book #3)

  LEFT TO KILL (Book #4)

  LEFT TO MURDER (Book #5)

  LEFT TO ENVY (Book #6)

  LEFT TO LAPSE (Book #7)

  THE AU PAIR SERIES

  ALMOST GONE (Book#1)

  ALMOST LOST (Book #2)

  ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)

  ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES

  FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)

  FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

  FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)

  FACE OF MADNESS (Book #4)

  FACE OF FURY (Book #5)

  FACE OF DARKNESS (Book #6)

  A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

  THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)

  THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)

  THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)

  THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)

  THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)

  THE PERFECT LOOK (Book #6)

  THE PERFECT AFFAIR (Book #7)

  THE PERFECT ALIBI (Book #8)

  THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (Book #9)

  THE PERFECT DISGUISE (Book #10)

  THE PERFECT SECRET (Book #11)

  THE PERFECT FAÇADE (Book #12)

  THE PERFECT IMPRESSION (Book #13)

  THE PERFECT DECEIT (Book #14)

  THE PERFECT MISTRESS (Book #15)

  CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

  NEXT DOOR (Book #1)

  A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)

  CUL DE SAC (Book #3)

  SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)

  HOMECOMING (Book #5)

  TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)

  KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES

  IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)

  IF SHE SAW (Book #2)

  IF SHE RAN (Book #3)

  IF SHE HID (Book #4)

  IF SHE FLED (Book #5)

  IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)

  IF SHE HEARD (Book #7)

  THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES

  WATCHING (Book #1)

  WAITING (Book #2)

  LURING (Book #3)

  TAKING (Book #4)

  STALKING (Book #5)

  KILLING (Book #6)

  RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

  ONCE GONE (Book #1)

  ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

  ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

  ONCE LURED (Book #4)

  ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

  ONCE PINED (Book #6)

  ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

  ONCE COLD (Book #8)

  ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

  ONCE LOST (Book #10)

  ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

  ONCE BOUND (Book #12)

  ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)

  ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)

  ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)

  ONCE MISSED (Book #16)

  ONCE CHOSEN (Book #17)

  MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

  BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

  BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

  BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

  BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

  BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

  BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

  BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

  BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

  BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)

  BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)

  BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)

  BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)

  BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)

  BEFORE HE HARMS (Book #14)

  AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

  CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

  CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

  CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

  CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

  CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

  CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)

  KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

  A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

  A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)

  A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

  A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

  A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
r />   CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Darkness suggested itself across bashful starlight. Ever since the snowstorm two weeks ago, the highway leading through the southern heart of the Black Forest in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany had become treacherous. Within view, three of seven safety lights lining 317—out. Herman counted them again from within the cabin of his hauling truck. A fading flicker of blue and yellow emitted from one. Fine then. Two out of seven. Still—maintenance teams should have visited. He zipped by the spasming light, moving on to darker portions of the road.

  Herman gripped his steering wheel, muttering a quiet curse beneath his breath as he guided his large vehicle along the damp asphalt. The snow had cleared, mostly, but the cold had damaged the highway lights. Portions of the road seemed nearly abandoned. Herman knew friends—other drivers—who were avoiding this section of highway. But he couldn’t afford the time wasted. No, not now. He drove along the lonely, poorly illuminated road, a swirl of browns and greens passing by his windows as he zipped through the forest, testing his vehicle’s capacity for urgency. He’d already passed Rotmeer, and could see Feldberg Mountain in the distance.

  Couldn’t be late. Not tonight. He had to make the return trip in time to get some sleep before the custody hearing tomorrow.

  Herman frowned to himself at the thought of what the morning heralded, and, for the briefest moments, he glanced down to the picture of the young, hazel-eyed girl taped to his dashboard. Some of his frustrations melted as he looked at his daughter suspended in time.

  Only a brief moment of inattention… He looked up again. And yelled.

  Someone was standing in the middle of the road.

  Herman went cold, slamming on the brakes, twisting the steering wheel to avoid the person.

  The tires screeched, protesting the sudden change in motion. Herman could feel the cabin threatening to tip. His heart had already escaped his chest and seemed to be twisting somewhere in the vicinity of his throat. His scream was lost in the sound of the whining brakes. The truck veered off the road, slamming into one of the light poles. The pole crumpled, and glass from the light shattered, scattering across his windshield with insistent taps.

  Three of seven lights. Herman sat there, trembling, blood dripping down his nose. It took him a moment to fully realize the airbag had deployed. His hands still gripped the steering wheel. For a moment, it almost felt like he couldn’t let go. He stared at the back of his knuckles. His vision was blurry, adrenaline pulsing through him. His hands were white. A spectacle of red dripped against the back of his hand. He reached up and felt warm liquid seeping from his nose.

  He shook his head and blinked a few times. Had he hit the person?

  He looked through the windshield once more, and was struck by how lonely and desolate these parts of the forests were. No one around. He glanced up and down the side of the road, given a good view from where he’d crashed, and noticed no cars parked on the shoulder. A slow trickle of fear probed down his spine.

  Herman wanted to lock himself in the cabin, call the police. But a small niggling sense of worry caused him to glance down at the picture on his dashboard once more. The person in the road had looked like a young girl. A blossom of courage propelled him toward the edge of his seat. He unbuckled, pushed away the airbag, and then opened the door.

  Normally, though middle-aged, he was spry enough to drop from the cabin in one leap; now, though, with trembling footfalls, he used the metal step leading to the ground and eased himself from the cabin.

  The cold settled on him like a blanket. The chill winds seemed to have picked up. Above him, the safety light he’d struck was dead. The one across the road, a few hundred yards back, still sputtered and blinked blue.

  It was in this haze of pulsing light that he spotted the person again. A woman. A girl. Perhaps something in between. Young, certainly no older than twenty. She stood in the middle of the road, not having moved an inch from when he’d first spotted her. Standing. Standing was good. It meant she was still alive.

  “Hello? Fräulein!” he called. “Are you okay?” He raised a hand, gesturing at where she stood in the middle of the highway.

  She didn’t turn. She continued to stare, eyes fixed ahead, glaring down the open road.

  Herman glanced one way then the other, his eyes tracking the road curling around the forests and moving through a steady incline. Dark branches with bristling leaves extended over the shoulder of the road. Other limbs had been hacked back, kept away from telephone lines and from hazarding the highway.

  Where had the girl come from? There was no vehicle in sight.

  Herman winced, feeling a bruise forming along his ribs from where the airbag had punched him. His nose still trickled with blood, and he could feel it pooling in the crevice of his upper lip. He detected the faintest taste of bitter salt as the blood seeped down the corner of his mouth. He reached up and wiped it away, still moving cautiously toward the girl in the middle of the road.

  His truck was still bent around the light post. The post itself had fared far worse than the truck. He would still be able to drive. The trucker continued forward, one hand extended in a calming gesture. The girl still didn’t look his way.

  And that’s when he spotted the blood.

  Rivulets of crimson dripped down her arms to her fingertips and pattered against the ground. Her feet were cracked and calloused, and covered with welts and cuts. She wasn’t wearing shoes, and it looked like she’d run through the forest judging by the state of her. There were small rips in her thin, gray T-shirt. There were cuts along her arm. She wore only underwear, with no trousers.

  Herman felt another chill, and he stared at the girl, looking her in the eyes. At last, she seemed to notice him, as if snapping from a daze; she looked at him, and began to scream.

  The sound echoed in the hills and the forests, sweeping across the trees and spreading over the highway like a glaze of ice. With it came a frigid, horrible sensation. Herman shook his head, refusing to allow himself to listen to his gut. His instincts were telling him to flee, to run back to his truck, get in the cabin, and zip away, leaving this problem behind him. He noticed the girl’s hands were bloodied too, and, tentatively, he called out, “Geht’s dir gut? Are you all right?”

  She was shaking her head though, trembling, her chin jutting forward. Her eyes hadn’t settled on him until now, but now it seemed like they wanted to see nothing else. She continued to stare at him, desperate, her gaze pleading. And at last, she spoke.

  If frostbite had a tone, it would’ve echoed in the girl’s words. Her voice croaked and stretched with splinters of sound. “Please,” she said, desperately. Her German strained with an American accent. He winced, trying to understand. “Please, don’t let them take me back. Please don’t let them take me back!”

  Herman was now near her. He extended a hand, hovering it over her shoulder. He wasn’t sure if he should touch her. He wanted to comfort her, to let her know it was going to be okay. But at the same time, he didn’t want to scare her. So he lowered his hand and tried to convey, with his eyes, a warmth and gentleness. He could feel his nose still bleeding, but ignored it.

  “Where did you come from, child?”

  The girl pulled at the hem of her shirt, as if suddenly realizing she was standing half naked in the middle of the highway. She glanced around, staring toward the trees.

  “There are others,” she said, desperate. “He keeps us locked away, hidden, no one can find us. I barely got away. Please. I’ve been there—I don’t know how long. Please, he’s going to kill them!”

  The trembling, horrible feeling pawing at his spine only increased. Herman stared at her and swallowed. “Who?”

  She stared back and said, “Please, please don’t let him take me back.”

  Herman shushed her, quietly, his hand fumbling into his pocket, then realizing his phone was still back in the truck.
/>   He gestured at her and quickly said, “Come, hurry. I need to take you to a hospital. Please, you’ll be safe. Let’s get off the road.”

  It took some convincing, and patience, gesturing with his hand, but at last, the girl followed, stumbling after him and leaving bloody footprints behind her, leading away from the center of the highway, toward his truck. The speckled droplets of blood scattered across the damp ground. The blue light, flickering and sputtering behind them, suddenly stopped, dying as Herman stared.

  Each step was one ventured in darkness. The trees loomed around them, the forest and the solitude oppressive.

  “Come, hurry,” Herman said.

  He helped her into the truck, gently, doing his best not to touch her. Every time he did, she seemed to flinch.

  Then he raced around the truck, got into the cabin, and, without waiting, pulled away from the bent light post. He would have a mechanic look at the vehicle in the morning. For now, he wanted to get off this cursed highway, away from the flickering lights, and away from this desolate forest.

  “Where are you taking me?” she said, softly, her eyes rolling in her skull.

  “Hospital,” he said. “The police can meet us there. It’s going to be fine. I promise you. Whoever hurt you, they’re not here anymore. You’re safe.”

  The girl let out a quivering sob, her chest heaving, her eyes fixed on the road and then closing, her eyelids fluttering. As exhaustion took its toll, and she bled, staining the seat next to him, she murmured, “The others aren’t safe. He’s going to hurt them. He’s going to kill them for what I did.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  No elevator in her new apartment, but Adele didn’t mind the stairs. Her hand trailed along the lacquered wood banister. Her mind cast back, sifting through memories. She remembered skipping down these marble steps. She remembered pausing and glancing at the door across from the post boxes. Apartment 1A. The peeling silver letters had been replaced. In fact, the entire apartment had been renovated. Even the lights above were no longer flickering and dim, but provided a stream of illumination to the hall and stairwell. Adele took the last step, pausing at the bottom of the stairs and gathering herself.