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  The Hunters: A Collection

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  Betrayal

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  Watch for more at Stacy Claflin’s site.

  Careless Whisper

  Stacy Claflin

  CARELESS WHISPER

  AN ALEX MERCER THRILLER #11

  by Stacy Claflin

  http://www.stacyclaflin.com

  * * *

  Copyright ©2020 Stacy Claflin. All rights reserved.

  ©Cover Design: Didi Wahyudi

  Edited by Staci Troilo

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental or used fictitiously. The author has taken great liberties with locales including the creation of fictional towns.

  * * *

  Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited. Do not upload or distribute anywhere.

  * * *

  To receive free ebooks from the author, sign up here: https://stacyclaflin.com/newsletter/

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Other Books by Stacy Claflin

  Author's Note

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Josie Roghan laughed as she stumbled out of the car and waved to her friends. She’d barely slammed the door shut when Ana blared the horn and peeled away.

  The car disappeared into the foggy night while Josie zipped her jacket as high as it would go. She hugged herself and looked at the long driveway. Any other night, her friends would’ve dropped her off at the house, but with it being so far past her curfew, Josie had insisted on this.

  Mom was seriously the world’s lightest sleeper, and even just the tiniest crunch of gravel under the car’s tire would wake her. The horn blast may have, for all Josie knew, and the last thing she wanted was a lecture at this hour, especially after having just left the best party of the year. Sure, she’d stayed out longer than promised, but she didn’t want to let go of the excitement from the night. All she wanted was to fall onto her pillow and relive every moment before falling asleep.

  Josie reached into her pocket and wrapped her hand around her phone. Though she’d lived in the same house her entire life and knew the driveway by heart, she might still need the flashlight app. There was no landscape lighting, and the narrow path got steep in a couple parts. If she stumbled, she could just as easily wake her mom as a car tire. Being careful was the name of the game.

  Getting grounded was a given, as she’d missed curfew by a mile. But she wanted the punishment to be doled out in the morning rather than now, at the end of the perfect evening.

  As she took her first few steps on the dark driveway, the gravel did make noise under her wedge sandals. Didn’t matter yet, her parents would never hear her this far away. It was as she got closer that she would have to be in stealth mode.

  The music, laughter, and conversation from the party still rang in her ears as she strolled along, humming. The buzz from her first alcoholic drink kept her warm in the chilly night.

  Josie had promised herself—and her parents—she wouldn’t drink if there was anything at the party, but it had been impossible to turn down. Especially when Brock had asked her. The star of the school’s football team had never given her a second glance before, but at that moment, he’d looked at her like she was a beauty queen.

  She couldn’t wait to get home and write all about it in her journal. Then she’d lock it and find a new hiding place, just like she did every night. Mom was such a snooper and didn’t trust her because her older brother had gotten himself into so much trouble. Now Josie was paying for his stupidity.

  At least she was
smarter than him. By a long-shot. Mom may be crafty, but Josie could always stay one step ahead. That was why she knew she could get home and into bed without being noticed.

  Trouble would come in the morning, but that was just fine with her. The party was worth any amount of grounding or labor her parents heaped on her.

  Crunch!

  That wasn’t from her shoes.

  Josie froze in place, her eyes widening and her heart racing.

  It was probably just some animal in the woods. Dad had insisted on buying a house tucked away from everything else, so that meant dealing with the occasional coyote or whatever. The land was private, but it was close enough to civilization to keep bears or any other really worrisome creatures away.

  She held still for a few moments, waiting to hear any other noises. Everything was quiet, so she carried on. With each step, her pulse grew closer to normal.

  Snap!

  Josie stopped again. Looked around. Couldn’t see much because of the trees surrounding her. Didn’t get any light from the stars. The fog illuminated everything just enough to make it spooky.

  Snap!

  Her breath hitched. She tightened her grip around her phone.

  Crunch, crunch.

  That sounded like footsteps. Too heavy to be coyotes or any other forest creature.

  “Hello?” she called.

  The little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Could someone see her in this dark?

  Crunch, crunch, crunch.

  The footsteps grew faster, louder—closer.

  Josie burst into a run. The stylish but unpractical shoes dug into her heels and squeezed her toes. She tried to ignore the pain. But the plastic dug into her flesh. She might have to kick them off, not that the sharp gravel would be much better.

  Crunch, crunch, crunch!

  Heavy breathing sounded behind her.

  She gasped for air, a lump forming in her throat.

  A thought hit her. The person chasing her could be her brother. Mom or Dad might’ve even put him up to this—to scare her out of breaking curfew again.

  Josie skidded to a stop. Her feet ached with hot throbbing pain. She spun around.

  The silhouette of the male figure running toward her had his wrestler’s build. His hood and the dark made it impossible to tell for sure.

  He wasn’t slowing.

  “Jared, enough! You win.”

  The figure came closer. Now he appeared more muscular than her brother.

  Dread washed through her.

  She spun around and burst into a run again. The straps dug so sharply into her feet that it brought tears to her eyes.

  The heavy breathing grew louder, closer.

  Josie slowed and kicked off one sandal. Her foot felt better until she stepped down and a sharp rock dug into her sole.

  There was no time to take off the other one.

  He was getting closer. Looked to be picking up speed.

  Josie sprinted toward the house. Pain shot through both feet for different reasons.

  The heavy breathing and crunching gravel behind her assured her the guy was closing in on her.

  She would have a better chance of escape if she ducked into the trees. So she darted to the right, but the ground sloped down suddenly.

  Josie slipped, tumbled. Her arm scraped a prickly bush. Her head bumped against a rock, slamming her to a stop.

  Crunch, crunch, crunch!

  She scrambled to her feet. Dashed behind a weeping willow. It was hard to breathe, and it took all of her strength to keep quiet as she gulped in air.

  Snap!

  Josie jumped. Gasped. Covered her mouth.

  Footsteps headed her way, each one louder than the last.

  Her hands trembled. The phone fell from her grasp.

  Thump!

  The screen lit up.

  Josie stiffened.

  “There you are, Josie Anne!” The gruff male voice definitely didn’t belong to her brother.

  Her legs turned to rubber. He knew both her first and middle names? This wasn’t random.

  It was personal.

  Crunch, crunch.

  She took a deep breath and bolted. Ran deeper into the woods. The moist dirt felt much better on her foot than the pointy gravel.

  As she ran, she managed to finagle off the remaining wedge. Her skin burned as a flap of flesh ripped free from her foot as the shoe flew off behind her.

  Her heel skidded as she brought her foot back down. She flung her arms out and regained her balance. Darted behind the trunk of an aspen, zigging and zagging as she raced farther away from her home.

  A wet droplet splashed on her cheek. Then another. A few hit her bare legs under the mid-calf-length jeans.

  If this was another rainstorm, it would make the ground even slipperier than it already was. The trees weren’t close enough to keep out the rain.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” The voice held a creepy lilt that sent a shiver down her spine.

  Josie held her breath and listened, her terror increasing with every sound. A snapping twig. Raindrops bouncing off leaves. Branches brushing against each other in the breeze.

  The fog distorted every noise until she wasn’t sure where they came from.

  “I’m getting closer.” The sing-song voice was indeed louder.

  She had no other choice.

  Josie pressed her palms against the trunk and took the briefest moment to ready herself. Then she burst into a run. Her right foot twisted in slippery mud. She lost her balance. Reached out and steadied herself on a birch trunk as she passed.

  “I hear you!”

  Goose bumps pebbled her arms. Sweat broke out along her hairline. She struggled to breathe, to stay upright on the slick ground.

  She darted around one tree after another. Ran left, leaped right. Zigged and zagged around bushes.

  “You can run, but you can’t hide forever!” Her pursuer laughed.

  That was where he was wrong. She would not only hide, but get away.

  Josie’s mouth grew drier. Her breathing, shallower. She needed to stop and rest. Regain her bearings.

  No time for that.

  The laughter was growing closer.

  She leaped over an exposed root. Darted around a tree. Crashed into something.

  No, someone.

  The guy was as tall and sturdy as a trunk. He wrapped his hands around her arms. “Got her!”

  Terror gripped her. She struggled against his grip, which only tightened. It would leave marks.

  Footsteps and heavy breathing sounded.

  Josie kicked, flailed her arms.

  He let go of one arm and covered her mouth.

  She bit, pulled free. Ran.

  “Oh, no you don’t!”

  “Yes, I do!” She ignored the sticks digging into her flesh.

  Now she had at least two people to escape. And she was running farther from home with every step.

  Footsteps thundered, grew louder. The guys shouted, taunting her.

  Making her blood run cold.

  Two against one. Maybe more.

  What did they want with her?

  Josie leaped around a large pine. Her foot twisted painfully as it landed. The ground rushed toward her. She landed with a hard thud. Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move.

  It took several moments before her body recovered from the shock. She pushed herself up to her knees. Put her weight on her feet. Sharp pain shot out from her ankle.

  She leaned against the trunk for support.

  “Gotcha!” Arms wrapped around her, even tighter than before.

  Josie struggled, but this time couldn’t get away.

  The man pulled her back the way she’d come.

  She squirmed, kicked. Pain radiated from her injured ankle, so she kicked with the other one. Then she screamed so loud her throat hurt.

  Another guy appeared. They yelled at each other.

  Josie couldn’t make out what they said over her own hollering.
/>   One of the men shoved a piece of tape over her mouth.

  She continued struggling against them. Yelled more, muffled as it was. Kicked with her good foot. Elbowed and squirmed.

  But it did no good against two men, both larger than she was. They half-dragged and half-carried her back the way they’d come. One of them used a flashlight, bouncing the beam everywhere.

  They passed one of her shoes.

  Time seemed to both slow and race. Her muscles grew weary, her ankle swelled, and her throat grew raw.

  They came to a road.

  Now was her chance.

  Josie took every ounce of energy she had left and bucked to loosen their grips, struggled to squirm her way free.

  It didn’t work.

  They came to a small sedan. The second guy wrapped her arms and ankles with the tape while the other one opened a trunk.

  She found untapped strength to fight even harder than before. The tape was unforgiving.

  Together, the two men hefted her up and tossed her in.

  Josie rolled against a bag with something hard in it. The stench of body odor and fish made her stomach turn.

  Slam!

  Crying, she flailed around and screamed. Finally, she gave up and only made noise when the car stopped.

  Nobody else would hear her while they were traveling.

  After what felt like forever, the engine cut. Muffled voices sounded from inside the vehicle. Doors slammed. Footsteps crunched on gravel.

  Then silence.

  Her ears rang. And rang. Then finally stopped.

  Were they going to leave her in the trunk to die? Force her to stay tied up, smelling gross odors?