A Clean Kill

ALSO BY LESLIE GLASS

For Love and Money

Over His Dead Body

A Killing Gift

The Silent Bride

Tracking Time

Stealing Time

Judging Time

Loving Time

Hanging Time

Burning Time

To Do No Harm

Modern Love

Getting Away with It

Leslie Glass

A

CLEAN KILL

AN ONYX BOOK

ONYX

Published by New American Library, a division of

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto,

Ontario M4V 3B2, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2,

Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 CamberweU Road, CambeiweU, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), cm Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 13l0, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

First published by Onyx, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, June 2005 10 987654321

Copyright © Leslie Glass, 2005 All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

Printed in the United States of America

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book."

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

For the Home Team— Jim, Alex, Lindsey, Rocky, and Julius

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to all the police officers who have shared their stories with me over the years. It is always an honor and a privilege to work with them. They are the heart of all my NYPD stories. I take my liberties with the geography of New York City, but not with the Department. I do my best to get it right. Cheers to all my friends at the New York City Police Foundation, and to all who work so hard at NAL to make my books look so good.

One

E
veryone has a favorite place and a favorite time of day. For Madeleine Wilson, mornings in her private spa in the garden at the back of her town house were her salvation. Every day that she had to endure the pressure of living in New York with her famous husband, Wayne, and two hyperactive little boys, she spent the hours between eight and eleven in her private gym to get away from them.