O N C E C H O S E N
(A RILEY PAIGEMYSTERY—BOOK 17)
B L A K E P I E R C E
Blake Pierce
BlakePierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series,which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of theMACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising thirteen books (and counting); ofthe AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mysteryseries, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series,comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books;of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of theJESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising seven books (andcounting); of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprisingtwo books (and counting); of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising two books(and counting); and of the new ADELE SHARP mystery series.
ONCEGONE (aRiley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFOREHE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSETO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), ATRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), and WATCHING(The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1) are each available as a free download onAmazon!
Anavid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves tohear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
Copyright © 2020 by Blake Pierce. Allrights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, nopart of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in anyform or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without theprior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Ifyou would like to share this book with another person, please purchase anadditional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did notpurchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return itand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of thisauthor. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses,organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of theauthor’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actualpersons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright usedunder license from Shutterstock.com.
BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE
ADELE SHARP MYSTERY SERIES
LEFT TO DIE (Book #1)
LEFT TO RUN (Book #2)
LEFT TO HIDE (Book #3)
THE AU PAIR SERIES
ALMOST GONE (Book#1)
ALMOST LOST (Book #2)
ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)
ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES
FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)
FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)
FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)
A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSESERIES
THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)
THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)
THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)
THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)
THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)
THE PERFECT LOOK (Book #6)
THE PERFECT AFFAIR (Book #7)
CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSESERIES
NEXT DOOR (Book #1)
A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)
CUL DE SAC (Book #3)
SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)
HOMECOMING (Book #5)
TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)
KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES
IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)
IF SHE SAW (Book #2)
IF SHE RAN (Book #3)
IF SHE HID (Book #4)
IF SHE FLED (Book #5)
IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)
IF SHE HEARD (Book #7)
THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES
WATCHING (Book #1)
WAITING (Book #2)
LURING (Book #3)
TAKING (Book #4)
STALKING (Book #5)
KILLING (Book #6)
RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES
ONCE GONE (Book #1)
ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)
ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)
ONCE LURED (Book #4)
ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)
ONCE PINED (Book #6)
ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)
ONCE COLD (Book #8)
ONCE STALKED (Book #9)
ONCE LOST (Book #10)
ONCE BURIED (Book #11)
ONCE BOUND (Book #12)
ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)
ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)
ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)
ONCE MISSED (Book #16)
ONCE CHOSEN (Book #17)
MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES
BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)
BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)
BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)
BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)
BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)
BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)
BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)
BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)
BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)
BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)
BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)
BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)
BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)
BEFORE HE HARMS (Book #14)
AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES
CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)
CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)
CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)
CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)
CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)
CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)
KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES
A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)
A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)
A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)
A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)
A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
PROLOGUE
Sheriff Emory Wightman held the big flashlight steady while twoof his cops continued digging into the soft earth. The long, narrow hole wasgetting pretty deep now.
Officer Tyrone Baldry paused and climbed out of the excavation.Leaning on his shovel, he wiped his forehead with his dirty sleeve.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Baldry said, “care to take over for one of us fora little while?”
“We could use a little breather,” Officer Newt Holland echoed,still scraping at the earth at the bottom of the pit.
Wightman scoffed. “Somebody’s got to hold the light.”
Both of the cops grunted sarcastically.
But indeed, the little clearing in the woods had grown dark whilethey worked. Wightman considered stopping everything until they could bring inproper lighting. But if there was anything in this grave-shaped hole, he wantedto know it now.
There had been nothing at all here the last time.
He felt a flash of déjà vu as he glanced into the surroundingdarkness. It had been on a cool fall night just like this, almost a year ago.They’d come out here on a sinister tip, looking for a missing person—a youngwoman named Allison Hillis, who had vanished a few nights earlier on Halloween.An anonymous note had directed them to dig here, where freshly turned earth hadlooked like it might actually be a grave. But when they had removed all thesoft dirt, they had found nothing.
Now, nearly a year later, the woman was still missing, and nobody had ever been found. A newly delivered note had led them here again. Andagain, loose earth had made it appear that something—or someone—could be buriedin
