Devil's Claw
Authors: J. A. Jance
Books by J.A. Jance
Joanna Brady Mysteries
D
ESERT
H
EAT
T
OMBSTONE
C
OURAGE
S
HOOT
/D
ON’T
S
HOOT
D
EAD TO
R
IGHTS
S
KELETON
C
ANYON
R
ATTLESNAKE
C
ROSSING
O
UTLAW
M
OUNTAIN
D
EVIL’S
C
LAW
J.P. Beaumont Mysteries
U
NTIL
P
ROVEN
G
UILTY
I
NJUSTICE FOR
A
LL
T
RIAL BY
F
URY
T
AKING THE
F
IFTH
I
MPROBABLE
C
AUSE
A M
ORE
P
ERFECT
U
NION
D
ISMISSED WITH
P
REJUDICE
M
INOR IN
P
OSSESSION
P
AYMENT IN
K
IND
W
ITHOUT
D
UE
P
ROCESS
F
AILURE TO
A
PPEAR
L
YING IN
W
AIT
N
AME
W
ITHHELD
B
REACH OF
D
UTY
and
H
OUR OF THE
H
UNTER
K
ISS OF THE
B
EES
ATTENTION: ORGANIZATIONS AND CORPORATIONS Most Avon Books paperbacks are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, or fund-raising. For information, please call or write:
Special Markets Department, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.,
10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022-5299.
Telephone: (212) 207-7528. Fax: (212) 207-7222.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
DEVIL’S CLAW. Copyright © 2001 by J. A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of PerfectBound™.
PerfectBound™ and the PerfectBound™ logo are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers.
MS Reader edition v 1. August 2001 ISBN 0-06-001037-1
Print edition first published in 2001 HarperCollins Publishers
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Jance
Prologue
The yellow school bus rumbled down the long dirt trail...
Chapter 1
Lucy waited until she knew her grandmother was asleep
Chapter 2
"Mom," Jennifer Ann Brady called from the bathtub.
Chapter 3
Agnes Hooper looked back longingly at the good old days...
Chapter 4
A tiny sound right next to Joanna's ear brought her fully awake.
Chapter 5
As usual, Sadie and Tigger came racing down the road...
Chapter 6
When Joanna arrived at the crime scene, her Blazer was third in line...
Chapter 7
As soon as Frank's Crown Victoria pulled into Catherine Yates' yard...
Chapter 8
"It's interesting that Catherine Yates immediately came to almost..."
Chapter 9
Sheltered by a wall of Texas Canyon house-sized boulders...
Chapter 10
When it came time to park at Daisy's Café, Joanna was dismayed...
Chapter 11
Nine o'clock Monday morning found a bleary-eyed Sheriff Brady...
Chapter 12
The bell on Joanna's private phone line jangled...
Chapter 13
It was shortly after noon when Joanna left the restaurant.
Chapter 14
Quick Custom Metals on Romero Road...
Chapter 15
When Joanna turned off I-10 onto Speedway Boulevard...
Chapter 16
By the time Joanna finished driving the hundred miles...
Chapter 17
By seven-thirty the next morning, Joanna was driving Jenny to school.
Chapter 18
The service for Clayton Rhodes was a simple affair...
Chapter 19
Over dinner, Butch turned serious.
Chapter 20
Joanna's eyes popped open with the sun, and her first thought...
Chapter 21
Joanna was back from lunch and hard at work early that afternoon...
Chapter 22
With Frank holding the door for her, Sister Celeste brushed past him...
Chapter 23
Several minutes later, when Lucy Ridder finally stopped sobbing...
Chapter 24
Joanna left Holy Trinity in such a hurry that she didn't take time...
Chapter 25
Not wanting to drive either of the Crown Victorias...
Chapter 26
Walking back to the cars, Joanna was almost giddy with relief.
Chapter 27
That morning the phone calls and messages...
Chapter 28
Joanna and Jenny picked up the dogs and took them home
Chapter 29
At nine o'clock Friday morning, Frank was in Joanna's office...
Epilogue
The wedding was beautiful, although Joanna didn't realize it...
Appendices
A Statement by Joanna Brady
For Judi and Jack McCann
