Smoke Screen

Zusatztext "GRIPPING AND ELEGANTLY STRUCTURED... A TRUE MASTER OF SUSPENSE." -- THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL (RI) Informationen zum Autor Sandra Brown is the author of seventy-three New York Times bestsellers. She has published over eighty novels and has upwards of eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide. Her work has been translated into thirty-five languages. Four books have been adapted for film. She lives in Texas. Klappentext From the #1 New York Times bestsellng author of Seeing Red comes a "scorching...action-filled" ( Publishers Weekly ) tale of corruption and betrayal, revenge, and reversal.When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there—or how Jay wound up dead. Handsome, hard-partying Jay was one of four heroic city officials who risked their lives five years earlier to lead others to safety from a catastrophic fire. His lifelong friend, Raley Gannon, was later assigned to investigate the blaze. But Raley never finished the inquiry because one calamitous night his career was destroyed by scandal. Now, the newswoman whose biased reporting helped bring about Raley's downfall might be his only chance to vindicate himself and get justice for the fire's victims. But the more Raley and Britt discover about that fateful day, the more perilous the situation becomes, until they're not only chasing the truth but running for their lives.Smoke Screen CHAPTER 1 RALEY PULLED OPEN THE RUSTY SCREEN door, its hinges squealing. “Hey! You in here?” “Ain’t I usually?” A curl of faded red paint flaked off when the wood frame slapped closed behind Raley as he stepped into the one-room cabin. It smelled of fried pork and the mouse-gnawed Army blanket on the cot in the corner. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimness and find the old man. He was sitting at a three-legged table, hunched over a cup of coffee like a dog guarding a hard-won bone, staring into the snowy screen of a black-and-white television. Ghostly images flickered in and out. There was no audio except for a static hiss. “Good morning.” The old man snorted a welcome through his sheaves of nasal hair. “He’p yourself.” He nodded toward the enamel coffeepot on the stove. “Can’t recommend the cream. It curdled overnight.” Raley stepped over the three hounds lying motionless on the floor and went to the refrigerator that was jammed between an antique pie safe, which served as a pantry, and a drafting table, which served no purpose whatsoever except to collect dust and further reduce the floor space in the crowded cabin. The handle on the fridge door had broken off, probably decades ago, but if you pressed your fingers just right into the soft rubber sealant in the crack, you could pry it open. “I brought you some catfish.” Raley set the newspaper bundle on one of the rusty wire shelves, then quickly shut the door against the mingled odors of cream gone bad and general spoilage. “Much obliged.” “You’re welcome.” The coffee probably had been boiled several times and would be the consistency of molasses. Without cream to dilute it, Raley thought it better to pass. He glanced at the silent TV. “You need to adjust your rabbit ears.” “Ain’t the rabbit ears. I turned off the sound.” “How come?” The old man replied with one of his customary harrumphs that said he couldn’t be bothered to answer. A self-proclaimed recluse, he had lived in voluntary exile ever since “the war,” although which war had never been specified. He had as little as possible to do with other Homo sapiens. Shortly after Raley had moved into the vicinity, the two had c...

Product details

• Authors: Sandra Brown
• Publisher: Pocket Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 21.07.2009
• EAN: 9781416563075
• ISBN: 978-1-4165-6307-5
• Dimensions: 106 mm x 192 mm x 31 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense > Crime fiction, thrillers, espionage