Excerpt from the Book
“Ten more minutes! In just ten minutes, everything would change. Sheri Conners leaned against the cool bathroom sink, the hum of flickering fluorescent lights filling the cramped space. The faint scent of disinfectant mixed with the sharper tang of stale mop water, but she barely noticed. All she could think about was what waited beyond these walls. A chance.
Her life as a store cashier? Done. No more punching buttons until her fingertips went numb. No more bagging groceries while customers tapped their feet. No more pasting on that fake smile when someone screamed at her over a fifty-cent coupon discount that wouldn’t scan. She could still feel the echo of yesterday’s headache from Mrs. Patterson’s twenty-minute rant about produce prices, as if Sheri personally set them each morning. For two years, she’d been invisible behind that register. Just another face people looked through while they counted their change, another voice saying, ‘Paper or plastic?’ that nobody really heard.
But not anymore. Still, she wanted that final paycheck. She’d promised her mom she wouldn’t leave loose ends…
Sheri smoothed her blouse and studied her reflection. She tugged her ponytail a little higher, added a fresh swipe of lip gloss, and brushed a layer of mascara over her lashes. Would they like the pink streak? She tilted her head, considering the single highlight that framed her face. Too much? No, just enough. Shows I’m different. Shows I’m willing to stand out.
Her pulse ticked faster. Who could believe her luck? One ad, one phone screen, and she was in. No more minimum wage, no more small-town dead end. Her feet wouldn’t ache from standing on concrete floors for eight hours. Her cheeks wouldn’t hurt from smiling at people who treated her like part of the machinery. This is it.
A notification blinked on her phone. Time to clock out.
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she stared at the screen. This was happening. After all those nights lying awake, wondering if she’d be stuck here forever, counting register drawers and restocking shelves until she was sixty, freedom was within reach.
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Vanished women. A rising body count. A detective who won’t quit.
Detective Kylie “KC” Cassidy thought Major Crimes would be her big break. Instead, she’s chasing the brutal murders of young women—and the trail keeps circling back to Assistant State Attorney Gavin Watkins and his elusive ally, Kozlov.
Each lead vanishes before her eyes, every step forward dragging her deeper into danger. And when Kozlov’s men come after her, KC must rely on her instincts, and on the few people she can trust, to survive long enough to expose the truth.
But when KC gets too close to the truth, she becomes the target. Will KC survive the trap and bring down the predators or become their next victim?
If you like the relentless pursuit of justice in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, the sharp investigative instincts of Lisa Gardner’s D.D. Warren, then you’ll be captivated by Fatal Invitation, a gripping, fast-paced crime thriller.
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About the Author
S.F. Baumgartner crafts fast-paced Christian suspense thrillers, weaving tales of complex characters, secretive operatives, and relentless agents. Her gripping storytelling has earned acclaim, with Living Secrets and Forgotten Secret—Books 1 & 2 of her Mirror Estate series—named Top Picks in the thriller & suspense categories, respectively, at Killer Nashville, and Tangled Secrets—Book 3 of Mirror Estate series—won couple of awards in the Christian Indie Awards and the Incipere Awards. When she’s not plotting her next twist, she’s binge-watching crime TV shows, like NCIS or playing with her cats. Fans of James Patterson’s style, especially those who appreciate short, punchy chapters, will find much to love in her work.
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