Exploited, p.1
Exploited, page 1
Contents
By Pamela Callow
About Exploited
Acknowledgments
Prologue
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
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Author’s Note
About the Author
Coming Soon!
By Pamela Callow
Damaged, Book 1 of the Kate Lange Thriller Series
* * *
Indefensible, Book 2 of the Kate Lange Thriller Series
* * *
Tattooed, Book 3 of the Kate Lange Thriller Series
* * *
Exploited, Book 4 of the Kate Lange Thriller Series
* * *
“Break Even”, Love is Murder anthology, edited by New York Times Bestselling Author Sandra Brown, published by International Thriller Writers
What if the face of justice belongs to…the accused?
When Kate Lange is hired to defend an unconscious woman shot while committing a puzzling crime, she is stunned to discover that the gunman is none other than Parliament’s own golden boy, Harry Owen.
What if the face of the victim belongs to…us all?
As Kate pieces together the case, the lines between guilty and innocent become blurred—while a devious cyber mastermind puts the finishing touches on an explosive plan.
Praise for Pamela Callow
“Do yourself a favor and jump in the middle of these amazing books. You won’t be able to put them down until the final page.”
—Fresh Fiction
* * *
“Intertwined in the storyline are devious cyber plots to rival anything ripped from today’s political nightmares. … Although this was read as a standalone, I really want to read the first three volumes. I HIGHLY recommend this book.”
—Book Review Crew on Exploited
"Extremely well plotted, Callow's debut novel is a hybrid of a police procedural and medical thriller. Heroine Kate Lange is a standout character, and readers will certainly look forward to reading her further adventures."
—RT Book Reviews
"...this debut novel by a member of the Nova Scotia bar is one utterly complete, complex and convincing book that has one hooked from the first line...while this is a thriller, well-written and with a great plot, it is one that defies categorising. While the mystery may be medical with sophisticated and high technology required to improve lives, it's dark and dangerously suspenseful..."
-- Atlantic Books Today on Damaged
“… there is no shortage of drama and suspense to keep readers on the hook right through to the heart-pounding finale.” – The Chronicle Herald on Damaged
"Pamela Callow's debut thriller, Damaged, is every bit as exciting as books by many New York Times bestselling authors... This tightly wound thriller springs through an intricately woven plot to keep the reader anticipating and squirming to the last pages."
—Fresh Fiction
“Pamela Callow’s debut thriller Damaged reminded me of the best of Robin Cook: lightning paced, innovative, topical…and most of all, frightening. Part medical mystery, part bloody thriller, here is a debut that had me flipping pages until the wee hours of the morning.”
—James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Damaged is a taut, edge-of-the-seat thriller with strong characters and a driving plot that's inspired by emerging health technologies that may end up being, well, very bad for certain people’s health. Pamela Callow is Halifax’s answer to both John Grisham and Tess Gerritsen.”
— Linwood Barclay, New York Times bestselling author
“A compelling page-turner...Pamela Callow is a rising star.”
— Rick Mofina, bestselling author of Six Seconds
“Damaged is a chilling and darkly compelling tale that will grip you from the very first page. Pam Callow delivers a complex and spine-tingling thriller. She is definitely an author to watch.”
— USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean
“Callow’s Halifax is all dark corners and deep secrets. Kate, her hero, is a bright light through this dense fog. A terrific read. Is it a legal thriller, a medical-science thriller? Hard to say. What’s certain is it is a real live thriller and thrill to read.”
— Robert Rotenberg, bestselling author of Old City Hall
“Taut, tense, and relentlessly chilling. From glittering law offices to glistening bio-tech laboratories to the grit of grisly back streets, this fast- paced thriller is the definition of page-turner: you can’t wait to find out what happens—but you’re not sure you want to know.”
— Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha-winning author
“Indefensible is a superbly plotted and suspenseful thriller…”
—Omnimystery
"Lawyer Kate Lange is back with another case that will test her courtroom skills, judgment and nerves. The suspense is intense, the action shocking and the plot intriguing. The insidious villain destroys a life, a reputation and a family, all as part of a chilling plan."
—RT Book Reviews on Indefensible, 4.5 stars out of 4.5 stars
"Indefensible is a one-seat read!"
—Manic Readers
"Pamela Callow enters the illustrious realms of favoured suspense/thriller authors after turning out a brilliant second book in the Kate Lange series."
—The Eclectic Reader on Indefensible
“The story is suspenseful and well-plotted, and the characters — even the villains —are intriguing and multidimensional.” – RT Book Reviews on Tattooed
“Tattooed is a phenomenal book. It moves incredibly fast, and blends the lives of all the characters together in a flawless manner. It is a story of love and loss, revenge, insanity, murder, and overall survival. Readers everywhere will adore this novel as much as I have.”
TOP PICK
—Night Owl Reviews
"...Pamela Callow keeps 'bringing it' with the Kate Lange series. Murder, revenge, obsession, secrets, redemption; Tattooed has a lot going on and Ms. Callow manages to pull the many plot threads together into a plausible and cohesive read while maintaining the suspense."
--The Eclectic Reader
Exploited
A Thriller Novel
The Kate Lange Thriller Series
Book 4
Pamela Callow
Pamela Callow Publishing
Copyright © 2016 by Pamela Callow
All rights reserved.
By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form by any electronic, artificial intelligence or mechanical means, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Pamela Callow.
Your support of authors’ intellectual property rights is greatly appreciated, as the legal purchase of their books is their livelihood.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-0-9951543-7-7 (electronic book edition)
ISBN: 978-0-9951543-6-0 (print edition)
Published by Pamela Callow
Cover Design by Design For Writers
Cover Image by: Julie Carver
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to the experts who so generously shared their expertise with me:
Detective Sergeant Mark MacDonald, Halifax Regional Police Department, who is always willing to explore the scenarios I create;
Chief Crown Prosecutor Paul Carver, KC, who patiently answered my questions about the Crown’s criminal justice process;
Senior Crown Prosecutor Susan MacKay, who gave me an inside look at her work—and made me admire her even more;
Defense lawyer Michael Aaron Crystal, who offered guidance, wisdom and encouragement; and
Defense lawyer Michelle James, who was gracious enough to meet me and provide her insights and experience.
Any and all mistakes are mine, and I apologize in advance to those who shared their expertise with me.
My thanks to Nancy Cassidy of The Red Pen Coach, who gave Exploited its first read-through.
I am deeply grateful to Julia Carver, who provided invaluable insight about the character and plot arcs of this book. She helped reset my course. If that weren’t enough, she conceptualized and produced the most fantastic book trailers for the re-launch of my series.
On a personal note, in 2013, I was jogging at Point Pleasant Park when a large dog took me out at the knees in a “football tackle.” It has been a long recovery from that accident, and I was still receiving treatment throughout the writing of Exploited. The compassion and care that has been shown to me has moved me many times. I give my deepest thanks to:
Dr. Gina Burgess;
David Kachan;
Dr. Michael Gross;
Dr. Scott MacLean;
Dr. Wayne Maillet;
Dr. George Majaess; and
Jacinte Armstrong, my Pilates trainer, who has kept me able to write.
I am truly grateful.
As I am to my friends and family. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
No man is an island.
This book is dedicated with my deepest love and gratitude
to my brother, the late Steve Callow, who gave this book lift off in his garden in Fort Lauderdale,
and to my husband, Dan, and my daughters, Julia and Katrina, who keep me going.
Prologue
1:58 a.m.
* * *
It was the dead of night.
Dead.
Night.
The two words circled in the mind of Leah Roberts.
Which would strike first: death—or darkness?
You are being paranoid. This has been all planned out. No one will be home.
But her gut screamed: Have you lost your mind?
Aiden gestured to her from where he crouched under a large window at the back of the Owen house. Come on.
Even across the length of the back yard, she sensed his urgency. It was now or never. If they succeeded in pulling this off, the truth would be known.
Hadn’t her father always told her that she should do what she believed was right? Do it, Leah.
Do it.
She bent as low as her six-foot frame would allow and sprinted across the unkempt backyard of the Owen house. A hosta screened the cracked concrete foundation. She crouched behind the splayed perennial, aware of how inadequately the leaves hid her. Her heart thudded so hard that she thought it might break through the bone and skin that protected it.
Aiden rose to peer into the window. No lights were on. That reassured her. As did the overly long grass. The Owens must be away.
This will work.
She heard the window slide open. “We’re in!” Aiden hissed.
That was easy.
Too easy.
If the Owens were away, would they have left their window unlocked?
Aiden nudged her with his boot. “Come on!”
Leah half-rose, half-froze as her brain tried to analyze the situation.
Aiden reached down and grabbed her arm. “Remember why we’re here. It’ll be over in a few minutes.”
“I’ve changed my mind—”
A car door slammed a few houses over. They both jumped, scanning the street. “You have to do this, Leah. It’s important,” Aiden whispered. “I’m here for you, remember?”
Aiden’s face was covered in a balaclava. Only his eyes were visible. Those eyes had shone with love, gleamed with promise, and given her strength when she needed it most. “You won’t be able to live with yourself if you don’t do this.”
He knew her so well.
He yanked her to her feet and hoisted her onto the windowsill, pushing her from behind, and then leapt over the windowsill into the house.
Once inside, they stood by the window. Searching.
The house was dark, but with the help of the moon and a bare window, they were able to make out the basic features of the room.
A large sofa, with a throw folded on one end, dominated the room. A side table stood on the other side, cluttered with a television remote control, tea mug, and a stack of newspapers.
None of those inanimate objects explained the strange odor that hit Leah’s nose.
It was a very human smell. But it was overlaid with the scent of decay.
It was the smell of life gone amiss.
Was this an old odor, perhaps of a mouse that had died in the walls?
Goosebumps skittered up the back of Leah’s neck. It didn’t matter how simple and fast this break-in was supposed to be, standing in someone else’s house in the dead of night felt so terribly wrong.
Dead.
Night.
Those words would not stop stalking her mind.
She threw a glance over her shoulder at the window.
It’s not too late, Leah.
Aiden tapped her arm and pointed.
She put one foot ahead of her.
No.
I can’t do this. It doesn’t matter if this is for the greater good.
It’s wrong.
Aiden gestured again, impatiently pointing to the desk. Do it, his eyes said.
Her heart pounded so hard that she thought it would flee and leave her stranded in this house.
She inched backward until her hip connected with the windowsill. She could just slip through the window right now, and no one would be the wiser.
Her hands gripped the wooden frame.
Aiden spun around and grabbed her arm. Through the thick knit of her hoody, she felt a sharp point press into her side.
It was a knife.
She froze.
What the hell is he doing?
Those eyes that had gazed at her with love, tenderness, passion, and promise, now drilled into her with a threat.
He jerked his head toward the desk.
She tried to ease away. “What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Just do it.”
She shook her head. “It’s wrong.”
His gaze narrowed. “Don’t think I won’t use this.” He pushed the knife harder into her side. She felt the tip penetrate her skin. “It will only take a minute. And then you’re home free, Leah.”
