Blood Red (37 page)

Authors: Wendy Corsi Staub

BOOK: Blood Red

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The odds of that happening are slim to none. Lester, who insists on pre-approving every showing, requests that prospective buyers already live locally. Not many people fit the bill, or are willing to sign the required restrictive covenant to the sales contract stating that they'll use the house solely as their private residence.

Annabelle and Trib passed muster and they're here, so they might as well look.

As she steps through the massive double doors into the dim, chilly entrance hall, Annabelle realizes she's not going to be able to get past what happened here during the summer of 1916.

Then Lynda presses an antique mother-of-pearl button on the wall. “There, that's better, isn't it?” she asks as they find themselves bathed in the glow of an elegant fixture suspended from a plaster medallion high overhead.

Surprisingly, it
is
better.

“Just look at that mosaic tile floor!” Lynda exclaims. “And the moldings on those archways! And the woodwork on the grand staircase! We haven't seen anything like this in any of the houses we've looked at, have we?”

Annabelle and Trib agree that they haven't.

As she runs her fingertips over the smooth cherry wood of the carved newel post, she envisions twelve-year-old Oliver sliding down the banister that curves above.

She can see him walking through those big doors after school, dropping his backpack on the built-in seat above the cast-iron radiator with a “Mom? I'm home.”

One by one, doors creak open. Spaces beyond brighten courtesy of wall switches that aren't dime-a-dozen rectangular plastic levers. No, these are period contraptions with buttons or brass toggles or pull-pendants dangling from thirteen-foot ceilings. Lynda presses, turns, pulls them all, chasing shadows from the rooms even as Annabelle's imagination strips away layers of faded velvet and brocade shrouding the tall windows. Her mind's eye replaces Augusta's dark, dusty furnishings with comfortable upholstery and modern electronics.

Instead of mustiness and cat pee, she smells furniture polish, clean linens, savory supper on the stove. Instead of the ticking grandfather clock, dripping faucets and Lynda's tapping footsteps, she hears the voices she loves best, echoing through the rooms in ordinary conversation:
Mom, I'm home! What's for dinner? I'm home! How was your day? I'm homeÂ .Â .Â .

Yes, Annabelle realizes. This is it.

This, at last, is home.

About the Author

USA Today
and
New York Times
bestseller WENDY CORSI STAUB is the award-winning author of more than seventy novels and has twice been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband and their two children.

Learn more about Wendy at

www.wendycorsistaub.com

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
.

By Wendy Corsi Staub

B
LOOD
R
ED

T
HE
B
LACK
W
IDOW

T
HE
P
ERFECT
S
TRANGER

Praise for the work of Wendy Corsi Staub

Two-Âtime finalist for the

MARY HIGGINS CLARK Award

Live to Tell

“Once Staub's brilliant characterizations andÂ top-Ânotch narrative skills grab hold, theyÂ don't let go.”

Publishers Weekly
(âStarred Reviewâ)

“I couldn't put it down!”

#1
New York Times
bestselling author Lisa Jackson

“(Four Stars) Staub is a master of making the everyday somehow terrifying and giving a seemingly innocuous action life-Âaltering implications.”

RT
BOOK
reviews
Magazine

The Good Sister

“A chilling, captivating, and all-Âtoo-Âtimely tale of suburban suspense,
The Good Sister
isÂ guaranteed to keep you up at nightâÂand keepÂ a closer eye on your kids, too! IÂ couldn'tÂ put it down.”

Alison Gaylin,
USA Today
bestselling author

“Taut, tense, and incredibly suspenseful. This chillingly creepy psychological thriller is the perfect page-Âturner. Staub's powerful and timely story-Âtelling is captivating!”

Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity-Âwinning author

“Intense! Wendy Corsi Staub once again delivers a masterful psychological mystery that is both chilling and thrilling. You will not be able to put
The Good Sister
down until the very last page.”

Allison Brennan

“I haven't been this frightened for the citizens of Buffalo, New York, since I was born there! Wendy Corsi Staub weaves a tale of good sisters and fallen angels as terrifyingly chilling as the winter winds off Lake Erie!”

Chris Grabenstein, multiple award-Âwinning mysteryÂ author

“Fans of Gillian Flynn will love this one.
The Good Sister
shows again why Staub is one of the best suspense writers today.”

Jamie Freveletti, internationally bestselling authorÂ ofÂ
Dead Asleep

“If you like Mary Higgins Clark, you'll love Wendy Corsi Staub.”

Lisa Jackson, #1
New York Times
bestselling author

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Map courtesy of Brody Staub

Excerpt from
Blue Moon
copyright Â© 2016 by Wendy Corsi Staub

BLOOD RED.
Copyright Â© 2015 by Wendy Corsi Staub. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition OCTOBER 2015 ISBN: 9780062349743

Print Edition ISBN: 978-Â0-Â06-Â234973-Â6

FIRST EDITION

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About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

www.harpercollins.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Canada