By a Thread

  By a Thread

  Copyright © 2013 by R.L. Griffin

  This book 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 or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the Publisher.

  To the two guys who mean the most to me,

  Trey and Griffin. Without your love and support,

  I would have nothing.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  An explosion burst through her ears just as she turned to look at the door of the makeshift FBI field office. She didn’t even have time to shield her eyes. The force of the explosion knocked her out of her rolling chair and onto her back, where she lay stunned. After a few minutes, she glanced around the room, attempting to see what was going on in the office where just a short time ago she sat down at her computer for only the second time ever. The entire front of the office was gone. Searching frantically around the office, she couldn’t see the four agents who had been seated at their computers minutes ago. Three of the missing agents were from ATF. The other was a seasoned FBI agent assigned to clean up the mess created by the ATF in Montana. Three masked figures in dark clothes moved through the opening created by the blast. She rolled to her stomach and through the haze attempted to take inventory of her body parts. She put her hands under her shoulders, pushing herself up, and tried to stand. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Suddenly, strong hands grasped her biceps, lifting her with ease.

  “Whoa there, honey,” the broadest figure of the three yelled at her. The man had lifted her to her feet and was holding her firmly with her back pressed against his soft belly. She started to separate herself from him, to move toward the back door of the office. “Hey Jack, you ever seen a cop this hot before?” The man jabbed his gun into her back. “Where you going, sweet thing?”

  Stella froze; she hadn’t heard the man, but she felt his gun. The man gripped her arm tightly and easily swung her around to face him. She was still taking stock of her body parts. Obviously she couldn’t hear. He slid his gloved palm down her face, his chest heaving up and down from exertion.

  “Oooooweeee, you sure are a pretty thing,” he said while ripping the buttons off her button-down shirt, exposing her bra. “Hey Jack, come look at this.” Stella shifted away from the man’s hands.

  The other two masked figures paid no attention to the man pawing at Stella, but she couldn’t really make out what the other men were doing. She was trying to put together what was happening and why anyone would bother bombing their makeshift field office. There was no money, and nothing to steal other than paperwork.

  “Cat got your tongue, baby?” The man grabbed her chin hard, forcing Stella to look at him. She grimaced.

  “She probably can’t hear, you idiot,” barked the man rummaging through the piles of blown-apart desks. “We don’t have time for you to play with her. Come on.”

  The big man pushed Stella hard enough that she fell flat on her back, knocking the wind out of her. “It won’t take long, will it honey?” He got down on one knee and started unbuttoning Stella’s pants. Still in shock, Stella fought back, kicking him in the face with the heel of her boot. Rolling on her stomach, she started crawling, only to be pulled roughly back to the man. Flipping her over like she weighed no more than twenty pounds, he ripped the button off her pants.

  A figure loomed behind him, the third man. “Dude, you’re kidding, right?”

  “Just give me a few minutes.” The man was breathing heavy from fighting with Stella.

  “No.” The third man pulled out his gun and shot her in the chest.

  Her eyes locked on the third man, her mind reeling. She’d know those eyes anywhere. Her thoughts didn’t fully form as her world went white. Pain shot through her chest and then her head. Then everything went black.

  Chapter One

  Jamie kissed her this morning while she still slept in their bed, whispering his goodbye. Later, she rolled over and missed him immediately. She never thought she would be one of those girls who did everything with their boyfriend and missed them when they were gone. She’d been wrong. Jamie had changed everything. The two had just moved all their things into the house they were renting along with two of Jamie’s friends in Alexandria. The night before had been their first official night together in the new house. Jamie recently had been hired as an ATF agent, and was flying to Savannah today to drive his truck back to Virginia. Patrick, one of their new roommates, was a friend of Jamie’s from Savannah. He was a few years older than them and already worked for the ATF. Patrick had driven Jamie to the airport. Stella checked her phone. Jamie was already in the air, but had texted her before take-off.

  I miss you already

  I love you

  She texted him back so that something from her would be waiting for him when he landed.

  I’m so excited to start our new life together

  hurry home

  we have many rooms to christen

  She smiled as she hit send, and then threw her phone on the bed. Her black hair splayed over her pillow. The sheer volume of boxes lining the windowless walls in their basement room made her feel claustrophobic. When her cell phone screen went black, she found herself in complete darkness.

  Their other roommate was a friend of Patrick’s that Jamie had met during the summer. All she knew about Billy was that he worked for the Department of Justice. Stella was going to meet him tomorrow. It was weird living with people she didn’t know, but she figured if she was with Jamie it would be fine.

  She’d always wanted to be a lawyer, and was starting law school in a few weeks. Her mother’s brother was
a criminal lawyer and ten years younger than her mom. He was always regaling her family with stories from courts all around Georgia. He was so funny around her, but she knew he must be very good at his job. A few years ago he represented the man who wrestled a female deputy’s gun out of her holster and killed a Superior Court Judge. Before she took the LSAT, the test required to gain entrance into law school, she had gone to her uncle’s office to grill him about being a lawyer. Uncle Rick had made it sound so easy. She started to question his sanity when just the law school application process was wearisome and tedious.

  Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she smiled. She was here, about to start classes at a great law school, and she and Jamie were starting this brand-new life together. Life couldn’t be any better.

  Scanning the perimeter of their basement room, boxes were piled everywhere. The only boxes labeled were hers. Jamie didn’t bother labeling boxes or organizing their contents, for that matter. He’d basically pulled out his drawers and dumped them in boxes. It was difficult for Stella to watch something so unorganized, but she certainly wasn’t going to pack for him.

  Digging through one of the boxes, she pulled on shorts and a tank top, grabbed her iPod and the leash. Her dog, Cooper, was already bouncing up and down at just the sight of the leash. Jamie had given Cooper to Stella for her birthday two years ago. He was six months old when Jamie adopted him from a no-kill shelter. She’d fallen in love with him instantly, just as she had with Jamie. Cooper was a blond Labrador-Golden Retriever mix with light caramel-colored eyes and the sweetest face she’d ever seen on a dog. While she loved Cooper more than any person in the world, training him had been a nightmare. He was supposed to weigh forty to sixty pounds. However, at ten months old he’d tipped the scales at eighty pounds. Cooper had finally stopped growing at 105 pounds. Stella had almost given him away when he was ten months old. She came home from classes one afternoon and found Cooper in the middle of her bedroom surrounded by white down and ripped-up leather. Cooper had destroyed her down comforter and the bat bag her Dad had given her when she was thirteen. She cried, spanked him as hard as she could with a leather belt, and called Jamie to come get the dog. That lasted four days.

  She found Cooper’s leash in one of her boxes and called out for him to follow her. She’d already mapped out a good six-mile walk to the Potomac and back to their house. According to the website, there was a huge dog park down by the river that she wanted to scope out for her daily run with Jamie and Cooper.

  Turning left on King Street, she walked down a road lined with shops, bars, and restaurants on both sides of the street. This part of Alexandria was called Old Town and was very cool. They could walk to eat, drink, and shop. She loved it. Stella smiled to herself, knowing the next few years were going to be fantastic.

  After awhile she reached the Potomac River and walked along the river until she saw the dog park. The river was lined with slips bearing very pretentious boats. Once he saw the dog park, Cooper immediately began pulling her by his leash. “Okay, okay.” Stella bent down and let him off leash while letting him in the fenced-in park. She smiled as Cooper ran around the entire park before deciding to play with a brindle Boxer. The two dogs instantly started wrestling and playing.

  “Your dog seems to like Brutus.” Stella looked over to find a guy with a Nationals baseball cap pulled down over his eyes, smiling at her.

  “Oh, hi. Is that okay?” Stella said, looking back to where the two dogs were playing chase.

  “Sure. What’s his name?” She took a closer look at the Boxer’s owner. He had chiseled features, but the hat kept her from making out details. She could tell he was in good shape through his T-shirt and athletic shorts.

  “Cooper,” she said smiling and putting her left hand to her mouth while still watching the two dogs.

  “I’m George,” he said, extending his hand to Stella.

  “Stella,” she said with the same big smile that had been on her face all morning.

  “Congratulations,” George said pointing at her ring.

  “Oh, thanks.” Stella twisted her engagement ring around her finger. “Nice to meet you,” she said, as she admired the river. “This is awesome.”

  He pushed his cap back to rub his head and eyes. His eyes were a gray-green color and his hair was very dark, black or dark brown. A touch of sadness showed around his eyes. “Not from here, are you?” George asked.

  “Nope, you?”

  “Actually, yes. I’ll probably be the only person you meet that actually was born and raised here.”

  “I love it here.” Stella’s gaze toward the Potomac was full of innocence and promise.

  “I do too. How long you been here?”

  “This is my first real day.”

  “A novice, huh?” George pushed himself off the fence and whistled. Brutus ran over to his owner without delay.

  “I guess,” she said still smiling, but toward Brutus now. The Boxer ran towards her and jumped on her, his paws on her chest. Stella steeled herself against the Boxer’s weight.

  “Brutus!” George yelled and Brutus hopped down and tucked his little nub of a tail down, along with his head. “You know better than that.” Brutus ran away, looking ashamed.

  “Shit, I’m sorry about that.” George walked over to where Stella stood and inspected Brutus’ paw marks, which just happened to be on Stella’s chest.

  Stella blushed at his inspection. “It’s fine.” He smiled at her.

  “Well, good luck, Stella. I hope DC is all you want it to be.” George walked out of the park with Brutus trailing behind him.

  Cooper ran up to Stella and nuzzled her legs with his head, wanting attention. “Yep, this is going to be amazing,” Stella said to herself.

  Chapter Two

  Stella clutched her throat; she couldn’t breathe. She felt a ripping sensation in her chest. As she collapsed to the floor, a guttural sob escaped her throat. Not sure how long she stayed that way, she felt strong hands pick her up and carry her downstairs into the room she shared with Jamie. Her mind reeled as she was placed gently on their bed.

  “You’re going to be okay, Stella,” a man’s voice said and he patted her shoulder like she was a dog. She was in a house with people she didn’t know and was being patted like a dog. “I’ll drive us down to Georgia tomorrow.” She heard him, but it sounded like he was in a tunnel. Stella looked up at the man petting her; it was their new roommate, Patrick. He was tall with hard blue eyes, and his skin was the color of a mocha latte. His black hair was high and tight. She nodded quickly, laid her head on Jamie’s pillow, and cried. Patrick had just broken the news to her that there had been a car accident involving a new ATF agent. It was fatal. It was Jamie.

  She sobbed, not just cried, for a good portion of the night until she felt she had run out of tears. Lying in her bed with the weight of Cooper’s head on her chest, she stared into the blackness. Every few minutes, Cooper’s big wet tongue would lick her and he would move a little closer to her face. By the time she tried to get out of bed, Cooper had pinned her down with the top half of his body and his big paws. Her right arm was trapped under Cooper’s massive belly, so she shoved him with her other hand. After the second shove, Cooper jumped off the bed.

  Searching through her boxes, she found the only black dress she owned and a pair of heels. The only pair she could find were her red heels. Jamie loved those heels, she thought. She packed a bag and made her way to the couch where she sat for three hours until Patrick woke up. Cooper lay next to her on the couch, his head on her lap.

  As the early morning sun peeked through the clouds, Patrick moved her into his car. Cooper stretched out in the backseat of Patrick’s Audi. They set off for Savannah, where Jamie was raised. Gazing out the window, she looked into the side mirror. She was almost unrecognizable, her black hair wild and loose, her eyes bloodshot. The skin underneath her eyes looked bruised as if she had been punched in the face; she felt as if she had been. She squeezed her eyes closed and put he
r head against the window of Patrick’s car. He didn’t try to talk to her, which was good because she was not capable of speaking. Images flashed through her brain sporadically, but the one memory that kept coming up over and over again was the day she first met Jamie.

  It had been a few weeks before classes started, her freshman year of college. She was enjoying a rare two-day break from softball practice. She and some teammates had gotten to the pool early that day and she had been dozing off for several hours, when she heard male voices. She looked up and saw him. He took her breath away without even trying. Mentally, she ran through a checklist of her appearance; not a great bikini, but she had shaved everywhere. She was wearing an older seersucker bikini, but it gave her boobs a nice lift.

  Stella closed her eyes again, pretending to sleep. Listening to their conversation for a while, she realized that they were on the baseball team. She sat up, squeezed some sunscreen out of the bottle, stood up, and applied it seductively. Her black hair hung loose down past the string of her bikini top, so she wrapped it around in a messy bun. She rubbed more sunscreen on her back, awkwardly arching her back to reach the middle. Cassie, the first baseman on her softball team, giggled at the provocative show Stella was putting on for the boys. Stella winked at her.

  The girls hadn’t brought any beer to the pool, but they had plenty of vodka. Stella drank down the rest of her drink and made herself another. She applied lip balm, slowly. The entire process took about five minutes, but the conversation between the guys stopped. As Stella lay back down on her stomach, she reached up and untied the back string of her bikini. Smiling, she turned her head to face Cassie. Cassie mouthed, “You’re bad...” Stella nodded and then closed her eyes.

  She felt a shadow across her back a few minutes later. Stella didn’t open her eyes, but said, “Why is someone blocking my sun? I’m trying to rid myself of my farmer’s tan.”

  Cassie snorted, “That’s not going to happen, Stella.” All the softball players had horrible tan lines. Stella’s arms looked like leather, but her stomach and chest were white as porcelain, as were her feet. It was heinous. The players’ legs looked like they were wearing white shorts all the time.