Black Water: A Merci Rayborn Novel (Merci Rayborn Novels Book 3)

Merci Rayborn, T. Jefferson Parker's stubborn, principled Orange County detective, is almost alone in believing that deputy Archie Wildcraft didn't kill his beautiful young wife and then turn his service weapon on himself. The evidence against Wildcraft--now hospitalized with a bullet lodged in his head--seems overwhelming. But Merci, who's still unpopular for exposing an old police scandal that caused the death of one cop and the ruination of others (The Blue Hour), is resisting pressure from her boss and a headline-hunting D.A. to arrest Wildcraft and charge him with murder. Then the deputy, who's lost his memory and maybe his mind as a result of his injury, goes missing from his hospital room, intent on tracking down the real killers and managing to stay a step ahead of Merci. Soon, they both begin to realize that Gwen Wildcraft wasn't killed because she got in the way of an attempted hit on her husband--it was the other way around. Parker, whose skills at characterization are as well honed as his expert pacing and intricate plotting, has penned another standout that will keep readers guessing and gasping until the last dramatic page. --Jane Adams "A beautiful young woman is dead in the bathroom of her home. Her husband - a promising young cop named Archie Wildcraft - is shot in the head, but still alive. It looks like an attempted murder/suicide, but something tells Detective Merci Rayborn that there's more to the story.". "When the suspect vanishes from his hospital bed, he draws Merci into a manhunt that leaves the entire department questioning her abilities and her judgment. Is Archie's flight the act of a ruined mind, or a faithful heart? Is his account of the night his wife was murdered half-formed memory, or careful manipulation? Merci and Wildcraft head for a collision in a dizzying succession of cryptic clues, dangerous secrets, and painful truths."--BOOK JACKET. Archie Wildcraft, a cop with a great career ahead of him, is found with a bullet in his brain, lying beside his murdered wife, Gwen. It looks like a botched murder-suicide, but Sergeant Merci Rayborn's gut instincts tell her differently. As Archie holds on by a thread, Merci is drawn further into the Wildcrafts' private lives and comes to believe that the young couple were deeply in love and that Archie's been framed. When Archie vanishes from the hospital, it appears he's on a vendetta, and it's up to Merci to cover for him until she has a chance to solve the case on her own. Eventually, she's led to the Russian mob and discovers awful secrets that she isn't sure she wants to hand over to the heartless district attorney Tim Hess Is A Semi-retired Veteran Cop Staring At A Death Sentence -- His Own. In The Throes Of A Losing Battle With Throat Cancer, His Time Is Literally Running Out. He Accepts A Job Tracking Down A Killer Who's Been Abducting Young Women From Orange County. Merci Rayborn Has A A Reputation For Causing Trouble And Isn't Particularly Popular With Her Peers Or Her Superiors. Hess Isn't Thrilled About Taking Orders From This Difficult But Smart Woman -- And He Certainly Didn't Plan On Falling For Her. T. Jefferson Parker. Where Detective Merci Rayborn is concerned, opinion within the sheriff's department is divided. Just as the hostility is dying down, a young deputy is found shot in the head outside his home, next to the gun that has just been used to kill his wife. Merci is determined to prove that the deputy has been framed. Originally published: New York: Hyperi. Detective Merci Rayborn's abilities and judgment are drawn into question when she insists on pursuing the case of Archie Wildcraft, a promising young cop who was apparently the perpetrator of a murder/suicide attempt that left his wife dead and him hospitalized with a bullet in his head