HAUNTING LIES (Available on Galatea)

CHAPTER THREE (SAMPLE)

Oh shit. Oh Jesus.

"No! Get away from me! Mommy, Mommy, Mommeeeee." Miranda heard the phone drop and Mia's strangled cry.

"Shut up," a deep voice said in the background.

"Please don't hurt me," she whimpered.

Miranda's throat thickened and her eyes burned.

She heard a thunk as if the phone had been knocked against something or someone. No one spoke, but on the other end she could hear heavy breathing.

"This is Special Agent Miranda Hastings." Her voice wavered, but she swallowed to keep her emotions in check.

"Authorities are on their way right this second. I suggest you leave my house and my daughter unharmed before you do anything you're going to regret."

"No," he said. "No regrets."

On the other end, Mia screamed, but the scream was cut short.

"Mia!"

The line disconnected.

Miranda screamed into the phone before throwing it against the dash of her car.

Pulling onto her street, she could see the lights of a PD unit and Quinn's SUV up ahead.

The car screamed to the curb and she leaped out, gun drawn. She sprinted forward, running as hard as she could in a nightmare slow motion.

As she barreled through the front door, she smelled burned gunpowder underlying the hot copper stench of fresh blood.

Brooke was lying facedown on the floor in a pool of blood.

"Ah," she said. And then: "God."

She was beyond her help, and immediately Miranda turned away from her, her vision blurring.

"Mia!"

The name echoed through the large house.

"Mia, where are you?"

"Hastings! We're up here!"

She ran to the stairs, climbing them two at a time. Her heart was beating with such tremendous force that she felt as if it would tear loose of her.

She was breathing too fast, hyperventilating. In Mia's bedroom, she found what she most feared to find.

Quinn and one of the officers were trying to stop the geyser of arterial blood that sprayed from the neck of her nine-year-old daughter while the other officer radioed for the paramedics.

This wasn't happening. This had to be a dream. Except she knew it wasn't. With a shaky hand she holstered her weapon.

Her whole body hummed and heated with adrenaline. Her palms prickled and her stomach roiled at the sight. She held her stomach, trying to suppress the urge to retch.

She ran over to Mia, kneeling in a pool of blood, and took her hand. She stared into her eyes, and Mia stared back as pained whimpers escaped her lips.

Tears burned and brimmed in her eyes, blurring her vision. "I know, baby. I know..."

Her daughter's face began to grow pale as she drained of blood, dark red and gluttonous blood flowing rapidly from her neck and abdomen.

"Listen to me," Miranda said. "I know this hurts, baby. Everything's going to be all right, just fine. Just stay with me."

"Where's my medic, officer?" she shouted behind her with a bite of impatience.

"Miranda..." Quinn's voice was heavy with emotion.