Lisa Childs - The Substitute Sister

She flattened her palms against her ears, trying to shut out the ghostly voice.

“Go away,” Sasha whispered back. “Please, Nadine, leave me alone….” A shudder wracked her body. Had she lost her mind? She was arguing with a ghost. But was Nadine a ghost? Was she really dead? No one had found her body, just the blood.

Suddenly Sasha heard another cry. Annie’s. The storm must have awakened the child.

“Sasha…”

She ignored the whisper as she kicked back the covers. The nanny was closer, but Sasha had to go to the little girl. She needed Annie, needed to hold her to soothe herself. Her bare feet padded against the worn runner as she felt her way down the hall. The nursery door stood open and lightning flashed through the window, illuminating the room where the child slept peacefully again in the crib.

In the corner, the rocker moved to and fro….

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

Spring is in the air and we have a month of fabulous books for you to curl up with as the March winds howl outside:

Familiar is back on the prowl, in Caroline Burnes’s Familiar Texas. And Rocky Mountain Maneuvers marks the conclusion of Cassie Miles’s COLORADO CRIME CONSULTANTS trilogy.

Jessica Andersen brings us an exciting medical thriller, Covert M.D.

Don’t miss the next ECLIPSE title, Lisa Childs’s The Substitute Sister.

Definitely check out our April lineup. Debra Webb is starting THE ENFORCERS, an exciting new miniseries you won’t want to miss. Also look for a special 3-in-1 story from Rebecca York, Ann Voss Peterson and Patricia Rosemoor called Desert Sons.

Each month, Harlequin Intrigue brings you a variety of heart-stopping romantic suspense and chilling mystery. Don’t miss a single book!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Stacy Boyd—my helpful, insightful editor.

To Kimberly Duffy w/a Lindsey Brookes—

for unwavering friendship and support—love you!

Lisa Childs has been writing since she could first form sentences. At eleven she won her first writing award and was interviewed by the local newspaper. That story’s plot revolved around a kidnapping, probably something she wished on any of her six siblings. A Halloween birthday predestined a life of writing intrigue. She enjoys the mix of suspense and romance.

Readers can write to Lisa at P.O. Box 139, Marne, MI 49435 or visit her at her Web site www.lisachilds.com.

Sasha Michaelson—She’s lost her twin on Sunset Island, but she’s in danger of losing her heart and her life, too.

Reed Blakeslee—The lawman’s determined to protect Sasha, no matter the risk…physically or emotionally.

Nadine Michaelson—She’s always resented her twin—enough to lure her to danger?

Charles Norder—Sasha’s ex-fiancé had left her for her sister. How obsessed had he remained?

Albert Jorgen—The lawyer handled all of Nadine’s personal affairs.

Roger Scott—How resentful was he that Nadine had stolen his inheritance?

Mrs. Arnold—The housekeeper served herself first.

Jerry—Does the gardener know where all the secrets are buried?

Barbie—The young nanny resents her new employer as much as her missing one.

Annie—The toddler now calls her aunt Mommy, but will she lose this one, too?

The Scott Mansion—The old Victorian house is alive with hatred and ghosts.

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

Sasha stepped before the long oval mirror, peering at her reflection to adjust her veil. The gauzy lace hindered her sight that day, her wedding day; foolish trust blinded her every other day. Frustration jangled her nerves, so that when she lifted the veil, her shaking fingers rent the fabric, leaving it in tatters across her face.

But it wasn’t her face staring back at her through the suddenly fogging glass. It was her twin standing there, shiny black hair flowing around the shoulders of the lacy white gown, the tattered veil mingling with her thick lashes and bright-blue eyes. It was Nadine’s laughter that rang out, shattering the silence of the night and pulling Sasha from her dream.

Instead of the bright sunshine of the back room of the chapel in her dream, Sasha opened her eyes to thick darkness. But the enveloping night didn’t slow her racing heart or soothe her raw nerves. She hadn’t had that dream in years. Had the stress of her crazy day working at the high school inspired it? Counseling teens had always stressed her out. Why have the dream now?

And why did her twin’s laughter still ring in her ears?

No, not Nadine’s laughter. The phone. With shaking hands, Sasha fumbled for the receiver, knocked it onto the floor, then used the cord to reel it up to her ear. “Hello…” she stammered.

“Ms. Michaelson?” a man asked. The deep rumble of his voice rasped along her oversensitive nerve endings.

“Yes?” She wasn’t sure of her identity herself. Not after that dream.

She squinted at the illuminated face of the alarm clock on the bedside table. After midnight? Nobody called her after midnight. Her heart rate accelerated, and her hand trembled on the phone. “Who is this?”

“Sheriff Blakeslee.”

A sheriff? Sasha wrestled with the covers to sit up against the hard oak headboard, trying to clear the sleep and the awful dream from her mind. Had something happened to her parents? Had one of the kids she counseled gotten into trouble?

“What? Why…” she sputtered.

“Maybe I should have sent an officer over, but I felt I needed to tell you myself.”

“Tell me what?” Her heart hammered so hard now, she pressed a fist against it. Something bad had happened. A sheriff wouldn’t call after midnight for any other reason.

“About your sister, Ms. Michaelson.” The man’s voice vibrated with emotion. Sadness? Regret?

Sasha had her share of those feelings when it came to Nadine. She shivered, drawing the flannel comforter back around the shoulders of the faded football jersey she wore as a nightgown. Even in spring, the nights were cold in Michigan. The dream and the call had her shivering despite the warmth of the blankets.

“This is about Nadine?” She was the only sister Sasha had. Her twin. “What’s happened?”

What had Nadine done? What kind of trouble was she in this time? Sasha hadn’t heard from or about her twin in years, hadn’t even thought about her much…until tonight…until that dream….

“Ms. Michaelson, there’s…well, we believe your sister’s dead. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Her loss? She’d lost her sister ten years ago when as a high school senior, Nadine had run away from home. “Uh, umm…” Shock numbed her brain, slowing her thought processes. “Nadine’s dead?”