Dying Breath. Wendy Corsi Staub

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      PINNACLE BOOKS are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

      119 West 40th Street

      New York, NY 10018

      Copyright © 2008 Wendy Corsi Staub

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

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      ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4454-2

      ISBN-10: 0-7860-4454-3

      First Zebra printing: May 2008

      First Pinnacle printing: October 2019

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

      Printed in the United States of America

      Electronic edition:

      ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4455-9 (e-book)

      ISBN-10: 0-7860-4455-1 (e-book)

      For Lisa Corsi Koellner and Rick Corsi,

       two of my favorite people in the world

       (and the only ones who share my bloodline),

       with love from your big sister.

      And for Mark, Morgan, and Brody.

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      With gratitude to my editor, John Scognamiglio, for all the tireless feedback and brilliant inspiration; to all the staff at Kensington Books who made this come together; to my agents, Laura Blake Peterson and Holly Frederick, as well as Tracy Marchini and the rest of the gang at Curtis Brown Ltd; to my publicists, Nancy Berland and Elizabeth Middaugh; to Kim, Carol, and Jennifer at Nancy Berland Public Relations; to Carol Fizgerald, Joe Rivera, and Sunil Kumar at Bookreporter.com; to Rick and Patty Donovan, Phil Pelletier, and staff at my favorite store, The Book Nook, in Dunkirk, N.Y. Finally, thank you, Mark Staub, for the long hours stooped over this manuscript and for seeing things I didn’t see.

      God grant me the serenity

       To accept the things I cannot change,

       Courage to change the things I can,

       And wisdom to know the difference.

      —excerpted from The Serenity Prayer,

       Alcoholics Anonymous

      Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Prologue

      Part 1: May

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Part II: June

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Part III: July

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine