The Nightmare Thief

The Nightmare Thief
Meg Gardiner

In the California wilderness no one can hear you scream.San Francisco Forensic Psychiatrist Jo Beckett doesn’t dissect the body or the crime scene – she dissects a life and a mind, recreating the victim as a person, piecing together the story of their death to get to the truth. And then she goes after the killer.Autumn Reiniger wants something special for her twenty-first birthday. Daddy’s bought her the car and the apartment, but now she wants excitement. And what Autumn desires, she gets.Her father signs-up her and five friends for an ultimate urban reality game. ‘Edge Adventures’ alert the SF police that a ‘crime situation’ is underway, so the authorities will ignore any squealing tires or desperate cries for help.Then – when working on a case nearby – Jo Beckett encounters a group of men carting six sullen college kids to the woods for a wilderness adventure. Suspicious, she takes a closer look. And winds up with an invite to a birthday party she may never leave …

The Nightmare Thief

Meg Gardiner

Dedication (#u56a388bd-0a2b-5c12-a4f7-b9292ffe3811)

For Nancy Fraser

Contents

Cover (#u6670ac7d-8d45-58da-9760-f4a698a89a04)

Title Page (#ub4d4ef11-0350-569e-9870-97604d4f64d8)

Dedication

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