Darkness Rising (The East Salem Trilogy) (46 page)

PDXer:
D
O YOU HAVE ANY BROTHERS OR SISTERS
?

BubbleBeth:
1. SHES 3.

Young enough that Nicole’s imaginary mom would have her hands full.

Nic let Makayla play Neopets online. But only when she was in the room with her. And her daughter knew that at any time her mom could come to her and ask to see what she was typing, and Makayla would have to show her right away.

PDXer: R U
A COP
?

Nic smiled.
Got ya.

BubbleBeth:
NO!

Nic went on answering PDXer’s questions, not even paying that much attention. It was better if she didn’t. Didn’t think about this sick jerk sinking his hooks into a girl. Grooming her. Better if she didn’t wonder how many there had been before her. Girls who really
were
thirteen or fourteen.

PDXer: C
AN
U
SEND ME A PIC
?

Since they never used pictures of real kids, Nic would send him a picture of herself, morphed back to look like she was thirteen. The morphing wasn’t accurate because it didn’t take into account three years of braces and four pulled teeth. When she had really been BubbleBeth’s age, everyone had made fun of her buckteeth.

PDXer: W
ANT 2 GO 2 A MOVIE SOMETIME
?

BubbleBeth: S
URE, THAT WOULD BE COOL
.

Nic had to backspace and retype the last words, changing them to B
KEWL
.

PDXer: A
NYTHING U REALLY WANT TO C
?

BubbleBeth: M
EAT MARKET
.

It was rated R, which meant technically she couldn’t get in. Well, BubbleBeth couldn’t. Sometimes Nic forgot to distance herself. She wasn’t thirteen, she wasn’t going to school, she didn’t fight with her mom.

PDXer: G
R
8. R U
WEARING ANY UNDIES RIGHT NOW
?

Bingo.

The Story Continues in

Face of Betrayal

by L
IS
W
IEHL
with A
PRIL
H
ENRY

A
LSO BY
L
IS
W
IEHL
WITH
P
ETE
N
ELSON

Waking Hours

A
LSO BY
L
IS
W
IEHL WITH
A
PRIL
H
ENRY

The Triple Threat Series

Face of Betrayal

Hand of Fate

Heart of Ice

Eyes of Justice

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

L
IS
W
IEHL
is a
New York Times
best-selling author, Harvard Law School graduate, and former federal prosecutor. A popular legal analyst and commentator for the Fox News Channel, Wiehl appears on
The O’Reilly Factor
and was cohost with Bill O’Reilly on the radio for seven years.

P
ETE
N
ELSON
is the coauthor of Waking Hours as well as the author of
Left for
Dead
, which won the 2003 Christopher Award. He was listed in the Esquire Register of Best American Writers and nominated for an Edgar Award.

“Crime novels don’t come any better!”
–
BILL O’REILLY, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS

THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING

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LisWiehlBooks.com

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