Face of Murder

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

“That is the last of it.” Zoe placed one more piece of paper on top of the pile they had worked through together. “Everything should be in place now.”

“I hope you’re right about this idea of doing all the paperwork first so you can relax later,” Shelley said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I could sleep for a week. I probably made a ton of mistakes.”

“You did not. I was checking,” Zoe said, gathering the neat pile and pushing it into a folder for easier filing. “I will get these over to SAIC Maitland. You can go home.”

“Are you sure?” Shelley asked. “Wait—Zoe, didn’t you get a lift here? Where’s your car?”

Zoe had to think about it for an embarrassingly long time, tracing back all of her steps across the morning, the night, and the evening before. “I left it at home. I got the subway to meet John, and he drove me here.”

“I’ll wait and drop you home first, then,” Shelley said.

“You do not have to do that. I am capable of getting home by myself.”

“I know you are. But as your partner, I’d like to make that easier for you.” Shelley paused and ran a hand back over her hair, checking whether it was still neatly fitted into her ponytail. It was. “Zoe, I… I wanted to apologize. I think sometimes I think of you as being this fragile person that needs protecting from the outside world, but that’s not it at all. You know what’s good for you. I just have to listen to what you’re telling me, and stop going all Mama Bear about making sure you eat and sleep and relax.”

Zoe paused, considering what her partner had said. It was true, she had noticed that mothering instinct in Shelley. It had caused problems, too. But there was more to it than that. “I appreciate that you care,” she admitted. “I know you mean well. I suppose I am trying to please you in my own way, too. It is just that I am not like other people. I cannot do all of the things that other people can.”

“I know that now. Forcing you into social situations—even if I don’t think of them as social, like my home—I won’t do that again.”

Zoe sighed. She sat back down in her chair, realizing that this was more than just a quick chat. “That was my fault. I wanted to have dinner with your family. In other circumstances, it might have been good.”

“So, what was it?” Shelley asked, sitting next to her again.

“With Dr. Applewhite… I felt that I had done a great wrong. I have no one else, just her. And when I saw your perfect, beautiful family—your life—everything that you have, I…” Zoe took a deep breath before admitting t out loud. “I got jealous.”

“You don’t need to be jealous of me,” Shelley half-laughed. “I mean, god, my life isn’t perfect. Amelia is a kid like any other. She pees the bed sometimes and drops food all over the floor and draws on the walls. And me and Harry, we argue. All the time, about silly little things.”

“At least you have a husband and a child,” Zoe pointed out. “But it does not matter. I know now. I do not need to be jealous of you anymore.”

“Because you know it’s not perfect?”

Zoe shook her head. “Because I can have that for myself. I can work hard and strive for the life that I want.” She took a breath again, realizing that what she was about to say was true. “The life I now finally know that I deserve.”

Shelley squeezed Zoe’s hand silently, a gesture of support and togetherness. There was peace for a moment, neither of them stirring or saying a word.

“Damn,” Zoe said then, getting up from her chair to resume where they had left off. “I guess that therapist I have been seeing is pretty good, after all.”

EPILOGUE

Zoe settled down opposite Dr. Monk. She had never really appreciated before how comfortable the chairs in her therapy room were. The leather armchair was perfectly worn and used, not yet to the point of losing the softness of its cushions and yet molded into the right shape for a human body.

Just like Dr. Monk itself, it had learned how to embrace each of the patients who came in and sat down, and make them feel right at home.

“I’ll be with you in one moment,” Dr. Monk said, from her desk at the other end of the room. “I’ll just finish this memo and then we can begin our session.”

Zoe dug her cell out of her pocket, thinking that now was a good time to set it on silent. Then she hesitated, looking at the screen.

It could be a good time to do something else, too.

Before she could lose her nerve, she wrote up a new message and sent it, only reading it over once to check for errors. Not the dozens of times she might otherwise have wasted, proofreading and redrafting to try to make it sound more like something a normal person would say.

Are you free this Saturday? I’d love to go on our next date.

There was only a brief pause before John sent a message in response.

YES! 7pm? I’ll pick you up?

Zoe smiled to herself. She could do a whole lot worse than John. And, for the first time in a long time, she did not add an old habitual thought: that he could do so much better than her.

“All right, I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” Dr. Monk said, sitting opposite Zoe and shuffling the pages of her notebook to find the right session. “How are we doing today, then?”

Zoe cleared her throat and looked up to meet her therapist’s eyes. “Actually, Dr. Monk, I have something to tell you,” she said.

“Is it something to do with that message you just received that had you lighting up like a Christmas tree?” Dr. Monk smiled conspiratorially.

“No,” Zoe said. “Well, yes. I will tell you about that later. But there is something else first.”

“I’m listening.” Dr. Monk nodded.

Zoe took a deep breath. It was time. There was no more putting it off now. “I have synesthesia,” she said. “I see numbers everywhere. I understand them intuitively. It’s how I’m able to solve many of our cases. It’s a special ability I have.”

Dr. Monk nodded again, her pen poised above the page. There was no flicker of revulsion across her face. There was no recoiling in horror. In fact, she barely gave any sign of a reaction at all, as if what Zoe had told her was perfectly normal. “I see. Can you tell me more about that?”

And Zoe did—and, for something that she had feared for such a long time, it turned out to be not so awful at all.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

FACE OF FEAR

(A Zoe Prime Mystery—Book 3)

“A MASTERPIECE OF THRILLER AND MYSTERY. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”

–-Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)

FACE OF FEAR is book #3 in a new FBI thriller series by USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews.

FBI Special Agent Zoe Prime suffers from a rare condition which also gives her a unique talent—she views the world through a lens of numbers. The numbers torment her, make her unable to relate to people, and give her a failed romantic life—yet they also allow her to see patterns that no other FBI agent can see. Zoe keeps her condition a secret, ashamed, in fear her colleagues may find out.

Women are turning up dead in Los Angeles, with no pattern other than the fact that they are all heavily tattooed. With a dead end in the case, the FBI calls in Special Agent Zoe prime to find a pattern where others cannot—and to stop the killer before he strikes again.

But Zoe, in therapy, is battling her own demons, barely able to function in her world plagued by numbers and on the brink of quitting the FBI. Can she really enter this psychotic killer’s mind, find the hidden pattern, and come out unscathed?

An action-packed thriller with heart-pounding suspense, FACE OF FEAR is book #3 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

Book #4 will be available soon.

FACE OF FEAR

(A Zoe Prime Mystery—Book 3)

Blake Pierce

Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes sixteen books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising thirteen books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising five books (and counting); of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising six books (and counting); of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising five books (and counting); of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting); of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising two books (and counting); and of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising two books (and counting).

An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

THE AU PAIR SERIES

ALMOST GONE (Book#1)

ALMOST LOST (Book #2)

ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)

ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES

FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)

FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)

A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)

THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)

THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)

THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)

THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)

THE PERFECT LOOK (Book #6)

CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

NEXT DOOR (Book #1)

A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)

CUL DE SAC (Book #3)

SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)

HOMECOMING (Book #5)

TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)

KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES

IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)

IF SHE SAW (Book #2)

IF SHE RAN (Book #3)

IF SHE HID (Book #4)

IF SHE FLED (Book #5)

IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)

IF SHE HEARD (Book #7)

THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES

WATCHING (Book #1)

WAITING (Book #2)

LURING (Book #3)

TAKING (Book #4)

STALKING (Book #5)

RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

ONCE GONE (Book #1)

ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

ONCE LURED (Book #4)

ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

ONCE PINED (Book #6)

ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

ONCE COLD (Book #8)

ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

ONCE LOST (Book #10)

ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

ONCE BOUND (Book #12)

ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)

ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)

ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)

ONCE MISSED (Book #16)

ONCE CHOSEN (Book #17)

MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)

BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)

BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)

BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)

BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)

BEFORE HE HARMS (Book #14)

AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)

KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

A TRACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)