Series:

Harlequin Intrigue

Excerpt from book:

The woman stared out the second-story window of her mansion, looking across the overgrown driveway and down the lonely dirt road that led into town. Where had her children gone? Two were here before, then there were none. But the third…the third had never returned. Did she not know how much her mother loved her? Did she not know that only the thought of seeing her again kept the woman tied to this place?

A tear slid down the woman's cheek as the house began to fade away.

"I grow weak. Come to me, soon. Before it's too late."

Joelle LeBeau stood next to her ancient Honda Accord, certain it was totaled and not even wanting to think of replacing it. The two Jackson, Mississippi, policemen documented the vandalism, one with pen and paper and the other with a camera.

It was only 6:00 p.m., but the fall sunlight was already fading, leaving the parking lot behind the Office of Social Services building dim. Joelle had been working late, as usual, when she heard a noise outside. By the time she'd removed her pistol from her desk drawer and peered out the back door into the parking lot, the vandal was already gone.

But he'd managed to do so much in so little time.

Every tire had been slashed and all the windows were shattered, leaving shards of glass littering the parking lot and the interior of the car. The windshield had a huge crack in the center that splintered out in every direction, and a message in dark red paint sprayed across it.

Destroyer.

That one word left her no doubt who had done the damage, and if she'd had trouble guessing, the note on the dashboard cinched it.

Give me what's mine.

One of the officers stepped up next to her. "You said you had someone in mind for this?"

She nodded. "Victor Brant."

The officer made a note. "Is he a client of yours?"

She almost laughed at the thought of the abusive, narcissistic Victor Brant admitting he needed help. "No. His wife is."

"And I take it Mr. Brant is unhappy with that?"

"He's unhappy with anyone who doesn't bow down to his every word or whose thoughts differ from his own. He's the worst type of abuser—successful, good-looking and adored by his colleagues and in his community."

"So you're saying it would have been unlikely that people believed Mrs. Brant when she said her husband was abusive."

"She wasn't believed. The police were dispatched twice to their home. Both times, they declined to even take Mr. Brant in for questioning. In fact, the last time all they did was schedule a round of golf with Brant the following week at his country club."

The officer frowned. "The Jackson Police Department?"

"No. The Brants' estate is in Willow Grove. It was their local department. The mayor is Mr. Brant's first cousin. The chief of police is his uncle. Are you getting a clear picture?"

"Yes, ma'am, and I don't like it, but I can assure you that neither the mayor of Jackson nor the chief of police are interested in playing flunky to Mr. Brant. If he's responsible for this threat, he will be prosecuted. What I don't understand is this note."

He held up the note in a plastic baggie. "What do you have that he thinks belongs to him?"

Joelle took a deep breath and blew it out. "His wife."

The officer's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"In addition to my counseling job at the crisis center, I volunteer with an organization that helps women…quietly relocate, let's just say."

"An underground railroad?"

Joelle held in her frustration at the officerAn heiress comes home to terror in New York Times bestselling author Jana DeLeon's Mystere Parish: Family Inheritance miniseries. 

Bodyguard to an heiress is Tyler Duhan's idea of hell. The steely, sexy ex-marine has heard—and dismissed—the gossip about the haunted old LeBeau mansion and its "cursed" heiresses. Now the middle sibling—headstrong Joelle—has arrived to comply with her mother's will and reunite with her long-lost sisters. 

But no sooner does she move into the house, than Joelle falls prey to terrifying threats and mysterious visions. Tyler, though he's sworn off femme fatales, can't deny his feelings for the Creole beauty. Nor can he let passion distract him. Because falling for Joelle could be a fatal mistake—for them both. 

2 books in 1! THE SECRET OF CYPRIERE BAYOU also included in this book!