Come to Me Quietly by A. L. Jackson
For my family. Nothing is worth doing if I don’t do it for you.
Acknowledgments
I have a few very special people who I would like to thank:
My momma… who always supports me… no matter what.
Katie, because you know I couldn’t do this without you.
Molly, Kristen, and Rebecca for sprinting with me every morning and listening to me whine that you all write way faster than I do.
Kevan Lyon for working with me through a brand-new experience, for your patience in answering all of my questions, and for the advice you give. I’m so thankful for you.
Claire Zion of New American Library for helping Come to Me Quietly become what it is today. Thank you for taking a chance on me.
I would also like to say a special thank-you to Robyn Rosenberg. Robyn participated in a fund-raiser hosted by My Secret Romance for Vicki Rose Stewart, who was undergoing treatment for cancer. Robyn won the opportunity to name a character in one of my books. As you all meet Augustyn Moore in the pages of Come to Me Quietly, know Robyn picked a very special name for her in honor of this awesome fund-raiser.
Prologue
Dashed lines blur until they become a solid line. My bones vibrate from the thousands of miles I’ve spent straddling this leather seat, the muscles in my right arm screaming from the hours my hand has been locked on the throttle.
But I don’t stop. I can’t, and I don’t know why. Something in my gut spurs me forward. I plow ahead.
Hot air blasts my face and my hair thrashes in uncontrolled chaos.
I bite back a bitter laugh.
Uncontrolled chaos. That’s exactly how they described me.
The desert sky goes on forever, an ocean of the deepest blue. The city rises like a beacon in the distance. Because I am drawn.
What am I doing?
There is nothing here for me. I know it. I’ve already destroyed it all. I destroy everything I touch.
Still I can do nothing but press on.