Cathy estes-zornes

Monday mornings aren’t supposed to be fun, but they should be predictable. However, on this particular Monday, Stephanie Plum knows that something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie’s Bail Bonds to find that longtime office manager Connie Rosolli, who is as reliable as the tides in Atlantic City, hasn’t shown up. Stephanie’s worst fears are confirmed when she gets a call from Connie’s abductor. He says he will only release her in exchange for a mysterious coin that a recently murdered man left as collateral for his bail.

There’s only one rule in the world I come from. Keep our existence a secret. Period. The day my sister broke that rule one too many times, I knew there would be consequences. I expected us to be sent to one of those schools for “troubled” kids - and maybe Daizlei Academy was, in a way. But really, it was far more complicated than that. You see, I thought that world had forgotten me. Forgotten us. For years we were left alone, and one day...we weren’t. It was only when I got there that I remembered the second rule: Trust no one.