The first time Lily Thomas touched the Porsche, the saleswoman slapped her hand away like she’d just tried to grab a live wire.…
By the time the water hit his face, it felt like the whole state of California was trying to drown him. Toby staggered…
The first thing Carrie Johnson noticed was the view: thirty floors up in lower Manhattan, the glass wall of the conference floor framed…
The first thing Carrie Johnson noticed was the view: thirty floors up in lower Manhattan, the glass wall of the conference floor framed…
The gun felt heavier than it should have. Jax’s arm shook as he aimed at the night guard, the red dot of the…
By the time Ellie realized the blood on the bathroom floor wasn’t from a nosebleed, the fireworks over their suburban Denver cul-de-sac were…
At thirty-five thousand feet above the United States, with the Rocky Mountains spread out below like crumpled silver foil, Sarah’s hands were shaking…
The hole in her T-shirt was the size of a quarter and right over her heart, perfectly framed in the mirrored glass of…
The first thing they noticed about her were the hands. Thin veins, soft creases, that faint tremor that comes from a lifetime of…
The egg broke against her cheek before she even saw it coming. Raw yolk slid down the wrinkles at the corner of her…
The banana cream pie didn’t just land on his plate. It slid, slow-motion, off the fork, off the edge of the dish, and…
On Willow Lane, the American flags never stopped waving. They hung from glossy white porches and front-yard poles in perfect red–white–blue symmetry, fluttering…
The first thing Elena saw was the cake. Four tiers of pale blue buttercream, edged in tiny fondant clouds and trimmed with silver…
By the time the fire trucks screamed up to the loading docks, the only thing burning in warehouse 12 was money. Red and…
The scissors were the kind you use to cut ceremonial ribbons at a grand opening—clean, shiny, heavy in the hand. Tyler Sterling held…
The courtroom went dead silent the second my seven-year-old daughter held up her cracked tablet and asked, “Your Honor, can I show you…
By the time the red and blue lights exploded across my living room walls, the ice pack on my face had gone warm.…
The woman in the white dress stepped into the Los Angeles banquet hall like she owned it—and for a moment, every guest turned,…
By the time the bus roared past and drowned her in ice-cold gutter water, Haley was already late for the interview that was…
The first time Gisela saw Maxwell, he was standing in the doorway of a downtown Los Angeles restaurant, slightly out of breath, tie…
On the day Raul got fired, the lawns in that wealthy California neighborhood looked like magazine covers—perfect emerald carpets under a sky so…
By the time my brothers-in-law were in handcuffs on a mountain driveway, I had already changed the locks, padlocked the gate, and put…
The tablet hit the floor so hard the plastic case cracked straight down the middle. “Grandma!” Cody yelped, scooping it up like it…
The woman at the check-in counter smiled the way a shark might smile at a goldfish that just swam into its mouth. Fluorescent…
By the time the plane lifted off the runway, Simon had already decided this was going to be the worst trip of his…
By the time the first chocolate shell cracked between her teeth, Grandma Doris had already decided she was going to steal as much…
By the time the bread hit the cutting board, it already knew it was in trouble. It lay there, pale and soft under…
By the time the glitter exploded, Brody’s tongue already felt like it was on fire. Not the fun kind of fire either—not “extra…
The airplane snapped in half just as the job interview began. A thin crack, then a sharp plastic pop—one second, Caleb’s favorite model…
The diamond ring caught the light of the Los Angeles sunset and threw it back across the restaurant like a tiny, defiant star.…