Brenda Novak - Cold Feet

“Vivid…intense…compelling. You have not read many books like this one.”

—Amanda Kilgore, Huntress Book Reviews

“Novak’s story is richly dramatic, with a stark setting that distinguishes it nicely from the lusher worlds of older romances.”

— Publishers Weekly

“This story started out with a bang and believe me, it didn’t stop…. I eagerly look forward to Brenda Novak’s next book.”

—Kathy Boswell, The Best Reviews

“Terrific! Ms. Novak always comes up with something different. Her characters are three-dimensional and riveting. Don’t miss this one!”

—Suzanne Coleburn, Reader to Reader Reviews

“With Taking the Heat, Brenda Novak has written exactly the kind of story that readers want to read…. Spellbinding.”

—Diane Tidlund, Writers Unlimited

“The story is compelling…a good mix of romance and suspense.”

—Judith Flavell, The Romance Reader

“Ms. Novak always writes a wonderful story, whether it’s her Superromances or her single-title books. I know when I pick up something she’s written, I’ll be totally satisfied.”

—Allyn Pogue, Old Book Barn Gazette

is a two-time Golden Heart finalist. (The Golden Heart is a prestigious award given by the Romance Writers of America.) Brenda has sold seventeen books to Harlequin, many of which have placed in contests such as the National Readers’ Choice and the Booksellers’ Best. Her first single title, Taking the Heat (published in 2003), received high praise from readers and reviewers alike.

A busy wife and mother of five, Brenda—who lives in Sacramento, California—calls herself the typical “soccer mom.” She juggles her writing career with daily car pools, helping her kids do homework and driving them to baseball, basketball and soccer games, depending on the season.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To my mother, Lavar Moffitt. I come from a long line

of mentally tough women, and my mother is

one of the toughest. As I grow older, I recognize

more and more the foundation she has built for me,

and the debt of gratitude I owe her. I pray I will live up

to the character she has tried to foster in me and,

for my own children’s sake, that I’ll pass on her legacy….

Many thanks to Detective Tom Bennett of Colorado for his help with the police and forensic details of this novel. Tom has spent more than thirty years in public service, working for the Arvada Police Department, and has investigated approximately 2000 felony cases. The recipient of numerous departmental honors, including the Medal of Valor, the highest honor the Arvada P.D. bestows on a police officer, Tom is a gifted detective and an honorable man.

Dear Reader,

Like many of you, I’m a big fan of Court TV. But through every criminal profile I watch, I can’t help wondering about the friends and family associated with the perpetrator—especially the friends and family of those guilty of the more heinous crimes. Certainly someone, somewhere, loves or has loved these twisted individuals. At some point they must seem somewhat “normal.” They live among us, go to school with us, work with us…. Or did their mothers/fathers/sisters/brothers have an inkling that they were capable of such violence? What went wrong inside their psyches? What caused one brother to become a rapist and the other to be a law-abiding citizen? How does the wife of a serial killer not know that she’s married to a monster? And how does she live with what has happened once she learns?

My curiosity in this area definitely provided the creative seed for this story. Poor Madison Lieberman has grown up refusing to believe what the police and the media insist is true about her father. In Cold Feet she faces the trial of her faith in him, a man she loves and has always admired. It’s a study of relationships I found intriguing. I hope you’ll agree!

I love to hear from readers! Please feel free to contact me via my Web site at www.brendanovak.com, where I routinely give away great prizes and post information about my backlist and upcoming books. Or write to me at P.O. Box 3781, Citrus Heights, CA 95611.

Here’s hoping you know your loved ones as well as you think you do….

Best wishes,

Brenda Novak

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

EPILOGUE

“C ALEB, SHE’S GONE . Disappeared. Vanished,” Holly said.

Caleb Trovato could hear the distress in his ex-wife’s voice, but he wasn’t about to respond to it. Everything seemed to affect her far more acutely than it would anyone else, and by virtue of the fact that they were divorced—for the second time—he didn’t have to ride her emotional roller coaster anymore.

He propped the phone up with his shoulder and swiveled back to his computer to check his e-mail, so the next few minutes wouldn’t be a total waste. “Your sister’s what—twenty-six? She’ll turn up.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Susan’s disappeared before. Remember that time she met some rich guy on an hour’s layover in Vegas and let him talk her into a wild fling? We were positive something terrible had happened to her. Especially when the airline confirmed that she’d boarded the flight out of Phoenix.”

“That was different,” Holly retorted. “She called me the next day.”

“Only because loverboy had started acting a little scary. She finally realized it might be a good thing to let someone know where she was. And she needed money to get home.”

“That was almost five years ago, Caleb. She’s changed. She has a steady job at Nordstrom’s cosmetics counter and she’s kept her own apartment for almost a year.”

The high pitch of Holly’s voice brought back memories of the many outbursts he’d been forced to endure while they were married, and put his teeth on edge. “Listen, Holly, I’m sorry Susan’s giving you a scare, but I’m really busy,” he said, determined to escape this time. “I’ve got to go.”

“Caleb, don’t do this to me,” she replied, openly crying. “I haven’t bothered you for anything since our last divorce.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. Wasn’t that the general idea? It wasn’t as if they had children together. And contrary to her claim of not bothering him, she called often. She called to borrow money. She called to ask how to file her income tax returns. She called to see if he could remember what happened to the X rays that had been taken of her leg when she’d had that waterskiing accident. She even called to see what his plans were for certain holidays.