Stain of Guilt (Hidden Faces Series #2)

Stain of Guilt Copyright © 2004 by Brandilyn CollinsRequests for information should be addressed to:Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530Catologing-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0-310-25103-6All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New American Standard Version Reference Edition Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publishers.Interior design by Beth ShagenePrinted in the United States of America04 05 06 07 08 09 10 /.DC/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1P r o l o g u eHe should have called the police.Emily Tarell stood in the wide entryway of her executive home, one hand on the staircase banister. The rich parquet floor gleamed under light cascading from the crystal chandelier. Emily loved that polished look of molten gold. But tonight it almost mocked her. Its sheen was too bright, too perfect for the stain that had soiled this house and the Tarell family business. A chill traced spindly fingers between Emily''s shoulder blades. She watched as the carved wooden door to her husband''s private study began to close. At the last moment Don angled his head through the narrowing space to give her one of his now-don''t-worry-dear looks.Little good that did. Emily could not shake the darkling premonition that hovered about her shoulders, ghost-whispering the approach of unseen evil. It rasped and sputtered, heard yet not heard, cautions uttered across a chasm.Sometimes Don was just too bighearted.Too quick to forgive. If he''d listened to her, Bill Bland would be interrogated by the police in a dirty little room down at the station instead of settled into an easy chair in his boss''s home study.Click. The door latched, shutting off the four men. Emily swallowed. What should she do now? She couldn''t just stand there, waiting, haunted by the sibilance of broiling wrath. She''d already been far too obvious with her emotions, answering the door with a nervous hello to Peter Dessinger, barely able to look Bill Bland in the eye when he''d arrived a half hour later. If Bill hadn''t known he''d been caught, he knew it now, just by her transparency. Her son, Edwin, had nodded to Emily, mouthing, It''ll be okay. Just like his dad. Both soothing her, even as they refused to heed her sense that something, something slithered toward them, looking to consume. Hadn''t the same feeling writhed in the pit of her stomach the day Wade had his accident?Emily pushed away from the banister and headed for the kitchen, her flat-heeled shoes shushing against the hardwood floor. Some herbal tea was what she needed. Calming spearmint flavor. Then she would sit in the family room with a book. No television. That way she could keep an ear cocked toward the study for a raised voice, any sign of how the confrontation was going. She selected a tea bag from a glazed canister and dropped it into the bottom of her favorite mug. The one Wade gave her for a birthday when he was twelve.Oh,Wade.Emily steeled herself against the familiar wash of emotions as she filled the teakettle with water. Her youngest son was killed in a car wreck a little over a year ago. Just back from his sophomore year at college, he drove off to meet up with some of his high school buddies . . . and never returned. The pain of that loss would never subside.Firming her lips, she pushed the heart-ripping thoughts away. She couldn''t deal with them right now, on this night.Not a sound emanated from the study. Emily strained to listen. The silence snapped and clacked in her ears.What were they doing in there? Had Don told Bill that they''d uncovered his embezzlement? That his sinful trail was undeniable?WhateverBrandilyn Collins is the author of 'Stain of Guilt (Hidden Faces Series #2)', published 2004 under ISBN 9780310251040 and ISBN 0310251044.