The Woman, page 1
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents have been produced by the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, or to any actual events or precise locales is entirely coincidental or within the public domain. Sea Crest, Oregon, lives only in the mind of this author, inspired by the quaint Oregon coastal towns of Depoe Bay, Yahats, Newport, and Canon Beach. If you wish to further capture the flavor of Sea Crest, visit these beach towns in Oregon and you should feel that connection.
The Woman
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Copyright © 2011 by David Bishop. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or any portion hereof, in any form. Any use whatsoever without the express written permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic or printed editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials or other illegal use.
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Cover designed by Telemachus Press, LLC
Cover art copyright © iStockPhoto # 12415881 Woman Walking on Beach
Published by Telemachus Press, LLC
http://www.telemachuspress.com
ISBN 978-1-937387-81-5 (eBook)
ISBN 978-1-937387-82-2 (paperback)
Version 2012.07.12
Table of Contents
Preface
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
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Epilogue
Note to Readers
Who Murdered Garson Talmadge
Chapter 1
About the Author
The Woman
by David Bishop
Here’s what Readers are Saying:
The Woman captured my attention in the first two pages. It is a great book. I have read books by Flynn, Margolin, Connelly, Thor, Baldacci, Morrell and many others. I just finished David Bishop’s books, The Woman, and The Blackmail Club and have enjoyed these books as well as any I have read.
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You might be a little tired of James Patterson and if you are seeking a new storyteller, you just found him! Wonderfully drawn characters, descriptive locations and very convoluted situations . . . all in a very good mystery.
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My Third David Bishop Read and I’ll be back for more. This guy can really, really tell a story.
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Just finished my second David Bishop read. If you like a who-dun-it that doesn’t satisfy your curiosity until the bitter end, The Woman is for you!
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The minute I started this book by David Bishop, I was hooked. It was very interesting and entertaining all way through. I could, at times, only imagine the desperation she felt running for her life. I believe it was well-written and thoroughly entertaining. I am looking forward to reading his other novels.
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The first book I read written by David Bishop and I finished it in 2 days. Good story line that keeps you wanting to turn the page.
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Being relatively new to Kindle books, I have to say that this book was probably the best that I have read so far. I was thinking that it would be a romance novel and it turned out to be a thriller. I would highly recommend this book and I will definitely read more books by David Bishop.
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This is my first David Bishop reading and I am already a fan. The Woman was an enjoyable read with good pace and interesting characters.
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I was looking for a book that could be loaned. Along the way I found a favorite new author. Love his writing. Will be reading him from now on.
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Linda Darby seems like many of us—maybe a little prettier and more toned from jogging on the beach, but a divorcee who lives quietly and whose idea of a good time is movie night at her friend’s—a friend with a dark, mysterious and dangerous job.
Toby Neal, author Blood Orchid, the Lei Crime Series.
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This is the first novel I read from David Bishop but will not be the last. I enjoyed it because it was believable. How many mysteries do you read that you ask yourself, “What a stupid thing for the victim to do?” Like go after the trained killer alone or purposely place themselves in a situation where there is little chance to escape. No, the story line here is strong enough to provide suspense without relying on the ridiculous. The characters are well drawn out and the author ties everything up nicely and sensibly at the end. Kudos to David Bishop!
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This book had everything that I love: suspense, action, and deception. The lead characters backgrounds were fleshed out pretty well. I can’t wait to read Mr. Bishops other books!
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David Bishop’s mystery The Woman is much more than a clever detective story could be. Bishop has written a story that tells another story: he writes of today’s world, its political corruption, personal greed, and efficient killings.
Terry Crawford Palardy, author
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With Linda Darby, author David Bishop has given us a character to cheer for, worry about, and applaud along the way. The story is a fast-paced high tension ride with the perfect amount of details to keep it flowing in living color before your eyes, right up to the dynamite final scene. Sure to be a big hit with action/crime novel fans everywhere!
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I enjoyed David Bishop’s writing style, easy without any extra unnecessary description. The dialogue sounded accurate to what the characters portrayed in the book. I will be reading more of David Bishop.
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Mr. Bishop has written a remarkable book that has something for everyone but doesn’t feel like it is too much. You are drawn into the story and almost feel as if you are a part of it which compels the reader to continue reading.
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Overall, a very well crafted, satisfying and entertaining read. I tend to be somewhat conservative in my ratings, but I have now re-read this again and it’s going to stay to be re-read. Those books [like this one] are the only ones I give my 5-star ratings to.
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We go along living our safe and sometimes boring lives, much as Linda Darby does in her little quiet sea side town. Fortunately, most of us won’t be thrust into running for our lives from unknown evil forces; wondering who to trust and not to trust. Bishop, entrusts his mystery, ‘The Woman’, to a great character, Linda Darby; smart, strong and braver than even she knows.
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This one is about THE Woman, a remarkable character involved in a very original plot. The secondary characters are equally well portrayed and, to me, they are also memorable. I would call this a psychological thriller. The Woman has many twists and surprises, and the end is totally unpredictable. It rings true. And, once again, the dialogue plays a big part in this novel’s appeal. The last sentence is proof of this.
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This is an absolute gem of a book. It has everything that a suspense thriller story needs; shadowy political/intelligence operatives, fake identities, lots of money and a bit of sex. The author shows throughout that he really does know what he is doing.
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“The Woman” grabbed me and had me hooked within the first few pages. This is the first David Bishop book I’ve read and I was on the edge of my seat the entire book. I kept trying to figure out what was happening to Linda Darby and what the big picture was, but I was kept pleasantly guessing. It was a fun thrill ride full of mystery and suspense!
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David Bishop has mastered the art and does it without having to take you on a journey to the center of the earth with a thousand slow moving pages. It moves along quickly, surprising you at every turn, and never releases its grip on your imagination. I am a fan.
Gerald Lane Summers, author of Mobley’s Law
Novels by David Bishop
For current information on new releases visit:
www.davidbishopbooks.com
Titles: Release Dates
The Beholder, a Maddie Richards Mystery
Who Murdered Garson Talmadge, a Matt Kile Mystery
The Woman
The Third Coincidence
The Blackmail Club, a Jack McCall Mystery
The Original Alibi, a Matt Kile Mystery
Money & Murder, a Matt Kile Mystery, a Short story: Aug/Sept 2012
2013-2014
Death of a Bankster, a Maddie Richards Mystery
The Case of the Missing Mistress, a Matt Kile Mystery
Murder by Choice
The Red Hat Murders, a Maddie Richards Mystery
The Schroeder Protocol
To be notified when each of the above titles are available:
Send your email address to, david@davidbishopbooks.com
For more information on books and characters visit: www.davidbishopbooks.com
Each forthcoming novel will have a new list of titles and dates.
Dedication
This novel is dedicated to the many fine novelists whose writings have influenced my own in ways too numerous and too beneficial to list. Thank you all. The book is also dedicated to my first granddaughter, Brandi Bishop, whose love is among the things I most cherish, as well as Jody Madden whose love, happiness, and enthusiasm for life is the wind beneath my wings. And all the others who know I love them. Also those wonderful and special people who are faithfully willing to read and critique my manuscripts before publishing: Martha Paley Francescato, John Logan, Kim Mellen, Gerald Summers, and Jody Madden.
The Woman
Preface
The woman marked for death was prettier than most, but otherwise, in many ways, an ordinary woman living an ordinary life in a quiet let-the-world-go-by beach town on the coast of Oregon. For Linda Darby, Sea Crest was a retreat, an escape, a place to hide. She had grown up knowing only that she did not want to become her mother: housedresses, housecleaning, and a butt too wide. That mindset had led to her present state, an ex-husband and enough one-night stands to have stopped counting.
Linda jogged on the beach most mornings. There was nothing better for maintaining trim legs and a tight butt. She dined alone most evenings before returning to her computer to enter any day trades she wanted executed upon the next opening of the financial markets. She had positioned the desk in her oceanfront condo so she could watch the comings and goings of her neighbors, whose lives seemed more exciting than her own. She was good enough at day trading to have bought her condo with cash, and several jumbo CDs that provided a steady living income.
Day trading was flexible work and Linda appreciated the insulation from the questions of coworkers: Do you have children? What happened to your marriage? She just wanted to be left alone.
Then Linda Darby went out the door to go for a walk, and nothing for her would ever again be the same.
Chapter 1
The mild beach town night air cooled Tag’s arms. Despite being well muscled, his arms felt chilly. He considered asking his partner to hold their position while he drove back to the motel to get his windbreaker. He could be back in fifteen minutes. But he knew he couldn’t chance it. The call could come at any moment, letting them know Linda Darby had settled in for the night. They were ready. The drop cloth and dental instruments were in the back of the rented van. Tag’s partner would have her talking nonstop in no time. No one resisted the dentist for long.
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Linda Darby did not believe in the supernatural, yet tonight felt different somehow, as if gods long forgotten were whispering just beyond human hearing. She worked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. It felt dry and tasted metallic.
Her fortieth birthday was fast approaching. Perhaps her premonition had been born of that and nothing more. The days came and went, the seasons repeated, and all of it merged into history. Another year spent without any real change. The only constant, the horizon at sea always looked close enough to reach out and trace with her fingers. But her life remained just as she had made it, a mire. Every day aged her, gradually but definitely. Her body had never screamed, you’re getting old, at least not in any meaningful way, but her mind knew. Men still noticed her. Thank God. She hoped they always would, but one day they wouldn’t, at least not in the same way. Time remains the true enemy of us all.
Her sense of foreboding had started just before dusk, but Linda had forced herself through her routines. She entered her stock trades for the morning. Then called Cynthia Leclair to confirm they were on for lunch tomorrow. Her friend had sounded distant and preoccupied on the phone. Perhaps Cynthia also sensed whatever was crawling along the edge of Linda’s consciousness.
Her neighbors were home, but she was too restless to spend another evening watching others. She decided to go for a walk. The pleasant evening, along with the easy breeze carrying the sounds of the tossing surf might just blow away her sense that something unseen was on tilt. She had not jogged on the beach this morning, so all this second sense could be nothing more than her body craving some activity. If so, the four-mile-roundtrip walk into town might be just what she needed to trim the crust off her mood.
She would stop in at Millie’s Sea Grog. Millie’s was mostly about drinking, but the place had the town’s best clam chowder, not to mention a nightly crowd of area hunks wallowing in the town’s bawdiest bar talk. Millie’s also meant getting hit on, but, by now, the message on the boys’ boner network said: Oh, sure, Linda Darby puts out, puts out rejections. She had heard the rumors: Linda is a lesbian. Linda has a secret lover. Linda is an old-fashioned girl with a steady guy overseas. Whatever. She could deal with those guys, and she’d enjoy the laughs.
After drawing her hair back into a ponytail and strapping on her fanny pack, she paused at the mirror. She didn’t like the plumpish look that came with the pack, and neither would the fellas in Millie’s. She unhooked the pack and dropped it on the chair in her bedroom. When she glanced at the ocean through the back slider, she saw low clouds on the far horizon moving horizontally, a mist more than a fog. She’d seen this pattern many times. There were no white caps out beyond the breakers which meant mild wind off the ocean. Her prognosis, she would be home before the dampness reached the shore. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door.
* * *
“Linda Darby’s on the move,” the voice said into Tag’s earphone. “She walked up Ocean Road and angled onto Main Street, on the inland side. It looks like she’s heading into town. I’ll let you know if she changes direction. If you don’t hear from me, you know where to take her.”
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Linda brushed back the strands of hair the breeze had swept across her forehead and eyes, and angled onto Main Street. In the next block, a local couple came toward Linda, rollerblading their way home as they did each night after closing their glass blowing shop in town. They coasted across Main and began laboring up the only street cut into the hilly inland side. They lived on that side street, their property cut out of the tangled wild berries that crowded in wherever man had left the local land to its own devices. About one mile up, that side road deteriorated into a gravel trail fit more for deer and four wheelers than passenger cars. After another two miles that road crested over Pot Ridge, the local spine that separated the coastal dwellers from the enterprising growers who had emigrated from California’s thriving marijuana fields.
