The News surfaced with missing reports of teenage girls, but one stood out the most. The girl that everyone knew.. Police cars racing only to find nothing but a small piece of clothing left on the stick that was caught under her shirt. Her life twisting... her head spinning. Her world shattered.
Slowly falling.. tumbling. My eyes are locked tight. I want to open them but I can't.
'Help me..' My innocent words were muffled. My brain playing tricks. 'Help... me...' A sinister laugh could be heard, my heart racing! Then all the sudden.. silence. My head pounding as if a horse race was running through it..
The silence was terrifying, but the sound of my 'head' pounding was what woke me up.
THUD
THUD
THUD
Only issue is... that wasn't my head pounding. That was the sound of footsteps getting closer.
The sound of boots clicking against the ground, heal toe, heal toe. I could hear the sound of his foot. The sticky sole lifting and landing.
THUD
THUD
THUD
This was it, I was gonna die right here. Right fucking here.
The lock on the door rattled, him slipping a key into it and unlocking it. Yanking it open. "Y'know, I can hear the sound of your god awful breathing all the way down the hall," he sneered and chuckled at my quivering body, I stumbled back and sobbed slightly. "Awh, what's the matter? You are really that scared?"
A criminal mastermind makes a bold move against a wealthy client to put himself in a position to retire in comfort. He has no idea what he's up against when a young widow, desperate to make ends meet, sets her eyes on earning the bounty set on his head.
***
Newly widowed housewife Melody Scott needs to earn some major cash, fast. When her bright and busy children learn that a priceless ruby bracelet has been stolen and a six-figure reward is being offered, they convince her to try to do what the police, museum security, and the best private investigators have failed to do. Working against them is a notorious thief who has met people from around the world, but who has never once encountered a woman like Melody Scott. When the sweet innocence of the Scott family clashes against criminal forces more dangerous than they ever imagined, Melody is all too aware that a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do to protect her family.
The Widow, Melody Scott is a 2021 Watty Award Winner!
Content Warning: This story does contain depictions of stalking behavior.