Grievous Sin. Faye Kellerman

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      For Jonathan

      For the Three Musketeers—Jess, Rachel, and Ilana

      And for my D’Artagnan—Aliza Celeste

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Dedication

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Chapter 25

      Chapter 26

      Chapter 27

      Chapter 28

      Chapter 29

      Chapter 30

      Chapter 31

      Chapter 32

      Chapter 33

      Chapter 34

      Chapter 35

      Chapter 36

      Chapter 37

      Chapter 38

      Acknowledgments

      About the Author

      Also by Faye Kellerman

       Predator

      Copyright

      About the Publisher

       1

      Her first sound was more bleat than wail, but she had ten fingers and ten toes, and that was all Decker cared about. Wrinkled and red, her skin covered with something akin to cold cream, she seemed perturbed by the world rather than scared by it. Decker watched as Georgina, the labor nurse, scooped his daughter from the obstetrician’s arms into her own. After rubbing the infant with a towel and giving her a quick exam, the nurse swaddled her in a blanket. The baby was finally presented to Papa for inspection.

      She had a mottled face, her nose scrunching as she beeped rather than cried. Her eyes were closed, lids as thin as onion-skin. Downy fuzz covered her scalp. Decker took a gloved index finger and placed it on a tiny palm. Slowly, soft pink digits encircled his finger. It brought tears to his eyes.

      “Is she okay?” Rina’s voice was anxious.

      “She’s perfect, darlin’,” Decker answered. “Just … perfect.”

      “Of course she’s perfect!” Georgina folded thick arms across her bosom. “We only deliver perfect babies here.”

      Decker shifted his attention from his daughter to his wife. Rina’s eyes were red-rimmed, her lips moving in silent prayer. Damp black tresses lay across her forehead. Never had she looked so beautiful.

      “She’s perfect, Rina.” Decker’s throat was clogged. “Just like you.”

      Rina gave him a weak smile, and Decker suddenly became aware of her exhaustion. But he knew such fatigue was normal after childbirth.

      “You did great, Madame Decker!” Georgina’s stubby finger stroked Rina’s arm. “Just hang in a little bit more, and then you take that much deserved nap.”

      “Close your eyes, Rina,” Decker said.

      She nodded as her lids fell shut. Then she jerked them open and started breathing rapidly.

      “Everything okay, Dr. Hendricks?” Decker asked.

      “So far,” the obstetrician answered. “She’s expelling the afterbirth now. The contractions won’t go away until she does.”

      Then Rina stopped panting as suddenly as she’d started. Decker watched Hendricks as he tended to Rina. Most of the doctor’s face was hidden behind the surgical mask, but his eyes were visible and clouded with concentration. He placed his palms on her abdomen and pushed down. “Rina, do you feel strong enough to nurse the baby?”

      Rina whispered yes. So frail.

      “That’s great, doll,” СКАЧАТЬ