A new message whooshes in.
I miss you.
A moment later, a selfie pops up.
Barnes again, making an exaggerated sad face.
She laughs.
I miss you, too, she writes back. She turns her phone around and snaps a shot of herself making an equally ridiculous sad face with the ocean in the background. About to hit Send, she notices something in the photo.
Behind her, on the horizon, a single dolphin arcs against the blue sky as if dancing in midair above the water.
Amelia whirls to look, but it’s disappeared. She sees nothing on the haint-blue horizon now but a glowing sun, rays falling in a golden band across the shimmering sea.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestseller WENDY CORSI STAUB is the award-winning author of nearly ninety novels and is a three-time Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. She lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband, their two sons, and a trio of rescue kitties.
wendycorsistaub.com
Facebook: corsistaub
Instagram: wendycorsistaub
Twitter: wendycorsistaub
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Praise for the Work of Wendy Corsi Staub,
three-time finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award
“A twisting, turning, wholly absorbing thrill ride from one of my favorite writers, The Butcher’s Daughter had me obsessed the whole way through. A gratifying finale to a terrific trilogy, it also stands up on its own. It’s suspense at its finest.”
—Alison Gaylin, Edgar® Award–winning author of Never Look Back
“Wendy Corsi Staub triumphs in The Butcher’s Daughter, giving readers an enthralling, thrilling, and above all satisfying finale to a superb trilogy.”
—Hallie Ephron, New York Times bestselling author of Careful What You Wish For
By Wendy Corsi Staub
The Butcher’s Daughter
Dead Silence
Little Girl Lost
Mundy’s Landing series
Bone White
Blue Moon
Blood Red
Stand-alone Novels
The Black Widow
The Perfect Stranger
The Good Sister
Shadowkiller
Sleepwalker
Nightwatcher
Hell to Pay
Scared to Death
Live to Tell
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
the butcher’s daughter. Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Corsi Staub. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-274210-0
Cover design by Amy Halperin
Cover photographs © fotosmile777/Adobe Stock (woman); © Dawna Moore/Alamy Stock Photo (house); © Daniela Duncan/Getty Images (path); © Dawna Moore Photography (trees)
William Morrow and HarperCollins are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
first edition
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