"This is how the world ends... not with a bang, but with a whimper."
No one expected this to be taken literally, but when the epidemic hit, these words rang all to true. A disease that steals your voice, and turns your internal organs to dust. Spread through air, water, and bodily fluids, this virus would turn you to dust in just a few hours. Destroying all human life completely in just a month.
Or did it?
Lydia lost everything to the virus, everyone she had ever known was dead. Left behind, she decides to try and find any other survivors. Instead, she finds something much darker.
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.