(The bruised ribs were an old injury from her actually falling down icy stairs).Īs for Tessa’ prior murder as a teenager – she actually didn’t kill Tommy. The following day, when Brian was to be reported dead, Trooper Lyons beat Tessa up to make it look like Brian was abusive. She set up the explosive and fake body, and planned her escape from jail. Tessa put Brian’s body on ice to delay decomposition and to give her time to set everything up.

When the hit man showed up and killed Brian, Tessa negotiated with him that for $50,000 he would delay reporting Brian’s murder. Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton was actually the mastermind behind the abduction of Sophie and the theft of the pension. Instead, he got into gambling and developed a problem, as did Trooper Shane Lyons. While the book really wants you to believe that Brian was abusive, he actually never laid a hand on Tessa or her daughter. No sacrifice is too great, no action unthinkable. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training, every trick at her disposal, to do what must be done. She is walking a tightrope, with nowhere to turn, no one to trust, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline.

Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?įor Tessa Leoni, the worst has not yet happened. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets. But where is their six-year-old daughter?Īs the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor.

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