On a regular basis, my life isn’t that interesting, and I like it that way.

I get up in the morning and help my sister Rachel get her son (my nephew Nate, the apple of my eye) ready for daycare. The three of us normally have breakfast together, and then it’s off to Ashmore College, where I’m a professor of criminalistics, Rachel is a student, and Nate goes to day care. (Day care is technically only for children of Ashmore staff, but I used to have friends in high places in the former administration, so Nate got in.)

My classes are full these days, and I even have a teaching assistant to help me with my added workload. Everyone and his brother seems to want to take forensics classes from me since I helped bring down three killers just last semester. If I’m lucky, I go to lunch with the man I’m seeing, Vic Manetti, an FBI agent I met during my last case. If I’m unlucky, I still see Vic, but he makes me go running with him instead of enjoying a leisurely meal. Vic’s quite a health nut. My afternoons are spent teaching more classes and hands-on labs and offering office hours for students who need extra help with understanding the material.

I used to look forward to going home in the evenings, but ever since Rachel was kidnapped a couple of months ago, our family time isn’t the same. She’s moody and easily upset, which is normal and warranted after the ordeal she went through. But it’s still difficult to live with. Nate doesn’t understand why his mommy is unhappy, and I don’t know how to fix it. She’s in therapy, which seems to help, but it’s slow going. She also has an amazing additional support system in her friend Detective Nick Baxter, my partner in catching those killers I spoke of earlier. He’s the best man I know, and I couldn’t think of a better person to help her navigate through this time in her life. Nate loves him, too.

The only drawback to Baxter coming over to my house to talk to Rachel and hang out with Nate is the unspoken tension between the two of us. We got too close during the last case, and I didn’t want to ruin our working partnership, so I decided we should take a step back. He didn’t agree. It also doesn’t help that when he’s around, I’m reminded of Rachel’s kidnapping. I know seeing me does the same to him, which further clouds the issue. He and I both blame ourselves for it. If we’d done our jobs better, we would have apprehended the maniac before he got his hands on her.

Needless to say, when Baxter comes over, I either leave the house or find a way to make myself scarce. Sometimes that means attending an AA meeting to keep myself on the straight and narrow, and sometimes that means finding solace in Vic’s arms. Either way, I’m occupied and not left thinking about what could have been between Nick Baxter and me.

Dead Sprint, An Ellie Matthews Novel #3
Genre: Thriller
Release: May 2021
Purchase Link

The latest thriller in the Ellie Matthews series from USA Today bestselling author Caroline Fardig.

Criminalist Ellie Matthews has turned over a new leaf. For the first time in her life, she’s working on herself and putting the past behind her with the encouragement of the new man she’s seeing, FBI Agent Vic Manetti.

Her first attempt at competitive running is cut short when a woman is found dead along the trail. At first, the case seems to be open and shut. But when a gruesome photo of the victim goes viral, tagged with a chilling caption threatening more violence, Ellie must delve into the mind of a deranged killer to get to the truth.

Though Ellie’s relationship with Detective Nick Baxter has been strained to its breaking point, the two find themselves teaming up once again in a race to bring down the killer before he takes another life.

About the Author
Caroline Fardig is the USA Today Bestselling Author of over a dozen mystery novels. Fardig’s Bad Medicine was named one of the “Best Books of 2015” by Suspense Magazine. She worked as a schoolteacher, church organist, insurance agent, funeral parlor associate, coffeehouse owner, and stay-at-home mom before she realized that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Born and raised in a small town in Indiana, Fardig still lives in that same town with an understanding husband, two sweet kids, two energetic dogs, and one malevolent cat.

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