L E F T T O L A P S E (An Adele SharpMystery—Book Seven) B L A K E P I E R C E BlakePierce Blake Pierce is the USA Todaybestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeenbooks. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series,comprising fourteen books; of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising sixbooks; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKINGOF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mysteryseries, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspensemystery, comprising six books; of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspensethriller series, comprising fifteen books (and counting); of the AU PAIRpsychological suspense thriller series, comprising three books; of the ZOEPRIME mystery series, comprising six books; of the ADELE SHARP mystery series,comprising ten books (and counting); of the EUROPEAN VOYAGE cozy mysteryseries, comprising six books (and counting); of the new LAURA FROST FBIsuspense thriller, comprising three books (and counting); of the new ELLA DARKFBI suspense thriller, comprising six books (and counting); of the A YEAR INEUROPE cozy mystery series, comprising three books (and counting); of the AVAGOLD mystery series, comprising three books (and counting); and of the RACHELGIFT mystery series, comprising three books (and counting). ONCEGONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFOREHE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery BlackMystery—Book 1), ATRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), WATCHING (The Making ofRiley Paige—Book 1), NEXT DOOR (A ChloeFine Psychological Suspense Mystery—Book 1), THE PERFECT WIFE (A Jessie HuntPsychological Suspense Thriller—Book One), IFSHE KNEW (A Kate Wise Mystery—Book 1), and MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) (A EuropeanVoyage Cozy Mystery—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Amazon! An avid reader and lifelong fan ofthe mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feelfree to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stayin touch. Copyright© 2021 by Blake Pierce. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under theU.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced,distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a databaseor retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook islicensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold orgiven away to other people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’rereading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your useonly, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respectingthe hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the productof the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actualpersons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright nadiia, used under license from Shutterstock.com. BOOKS BY BLAKEPIERCE RACHEL GIFTMYSTERY SERIES HER LAST WISH (Book#1) HER LAST CHANCE (Book#2) HER LAST HOPE (Book#3) AVA GOLD MYSTERY SERIES CITY OF PREY (Book#1) CITY OF FEAR (Book#2) CITY OF BONES (Book#3) A YEAR IN EUROPE A MURDER IN PARIS(Book #1) DEATH IN FLORENCE(Book #2) VENGEANCE IN VIENNA(Book #3) ELLA DARK FBISUSPENSE THRILLER GIRL, ALONE (Book #1) GIRL, TAKEN (Book #2) GIRL, HUNTED (Book#3) GIRL, SILENCED (Book#4) GIRL, VANISHED (Book5) GIRL ERASED (Book #6) LAURA FROST FBISUSPENSE THRILLER ALREADY GONE (Book#1) ALREADY SEEN (Book#2) ALREADY TRAPPED (Book#3) EUROPEAN VOYAGECOZY MYSTERY SERIES MURDER (AND BAKLAVA)(Book #1) DEATH (AND APPLESTRUDEL) (Book #2) CRIME (AND LAGER)(Book #3) MISFORTUNE (ANDGOUDA) (Book #4) CALAMITY (AND ADANISH) (Book #5) MAYHEM (AND HERRING)(Book #6) ADELE SHARPMYSTERY SERIES LEFT TO DIE (Book #1) LEFT TO RUN (Book #2) LEFT TO HIDE (Book#3) LEFT TO KILL (Book#4) LEFT TO MURDER (Book#5) LEFT TO ENVY (Book#6) LEFT TO LAPSE (Book#7) LEFT TO VANISH (Book#8) LEFT TO HUNT (Book#9) LEFT TO FEAR (Book#10) THE AU PAIR SERIES ALMOST GONE (Book#1) ALMOST LOST (Book #2) ALMOST DEAD (Book #3) ZOE PRIME MYSTERYSERIES FACE OF DEATH(Book#1) FACE OF MURDER (Book#2) FACE OF FEAR (Book#3) FACE OF MADNESS (Book#4) FACE OF FURY (Book#5) FACE OF DARKNESS(Book #6) A JESSIE HUNTPSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES THE PERFECT WIFE(Book #1) THE PERFECT BLOCK(Book #2) THE PERFECT HOUSE(Book #3) THE PERFECT SMILE(Book #4) THE PERFECT LIE (Book#5) THE PERFECT LOOK(Book #6) THE PERFECT AFFAIR(Book #7) THE PERFECT ALIBI(Book #8) THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR(Book #9) THE PERFECT DISGUISE(Book #10) THE PERFECT SECRET(Book #11) THE PERFECT FAÇADE(Book #12) THE PERFECTIMPRESSION (Book #13) THE PERFECT DECEIT(Book #14) THE PERFECT MISTRESS(Book #15) CHLOE FINEPSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES NEXT DOOR (Book #1) A NEIGHBOR’S LIE(Book #2) CUL DE SAC (Book #3) SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book#4) HOMECOMING (Book #5) TINTED WINDOWS (Book#6) KATE WISE MYSTERYSERIES IF SHE KNEW (Book #1) IF SHE SAW (Book #2) IF SHE RAN (Book #3) IF SHE HID (Book #4) IF SHE FLED (Book #5) IF SHE FEARED (Book#6) IF SHE HEARD (Book#7) THE MAKING OFRILEY PAIGE SERIES WATCHING (Book #1) WAITING (Book #2) LURING (Book #3) TAKING (Book #4) STALKING (Book #5) KILLING (Book #6) RILEY PAIGEMYSTERY SERIES ONCE GONE (Book #1) ONCE TAKEN (Book #2) ONCE CRAVED (Book #3) ONCE LURED (Book #4) ONCE HUNTED (Book #5) ONCE PINED (Book #6) ONCE FORSAKEN (Book#7) ONCE COLD (Book #8) ONCE STALKED (Book#9) ONCE LOST (Book #10) ONCE BURIED (Book#11) ONCE BOUND (Book #12) ONCE TRAPPED (Book#13) ONCE DORMANT (Book#14) ONCE SHUNNED (Book#15) ONCE MISSED (Book#16) ONCE CHOSEN (Book#17) MACKENZIE WHITEMYSTERY SERIES BEFORE HE KILLS (Book#1) BEFORE HE SEES (Book#2) BEFORE HE COVETS(Book #3) BEFORE HE TAKES (Book#4) BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book#5) BEFORE HE FEELS (Book#6) BEFORE HE SINS (Book#7) BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book#8) BEFORE HE PREYS (Book#9) BEFORE HE LONGS (Book#10) BEFORE HE LAPSES(Book #11) BEFORE HE ENVIES(Book #12) BEFORE HE STALKS(Book #13) BEFORE HE HARMS (Book#14) AVERY BLACKMYSTERY SERIES CAUSE TO KILL (Book#1) CAUSE TO RUN (Book#2) CAUSE TO HIDE (Book#3) CAUSE TO FEAR (Book#4) CAUSE TO SAVE (Book#5) CAUSE TO DREAD (Book#6) KERI LOCKE MYSTERYSERIES A TRACE OF DEATH(Book #1) A TRACE OF MUDER(Book #2) A TRACE OF VICE (Book#3) A TRACE OF CRIME(Book #4) A TRACE OF HOPE (Book#5) CONTENTS CHAPTERONE CHAPTERTWO CHAPTERTHREE CHAPTERFOUR CHAPTERFIVE CHAPTERSIX CHAPTERSEVEN CHAPTEREIGHT CHAPTERNINE CHAPTERTEN CHAPTERELEVEN CHAPTERTWELVE CHAPTERTHIRTEEN CHAPTERFOURTEEN CHAPTERFIFTEEN CHAPTERSIXTEEN CHAPTERSEVENTEEN CHAPTEREIGHTEEN CHAPTERNINETEEN CHAPTERTWENTY CHAPTERTWENTY ONE CHAPTERTWENTY TWO CHAPTERTWENTY THREE CHAPTERTWENTY FOUR CHAPTERTWENTY FIVE CHAPTERTWENTY SIX CHAPTERTWENTY SEVEN CHAPTERTWENTY EIGHT CHAPTERTWENTY NINE CHAPTERTHIRTY CHAPTERTHIRTY ONE CHAPTERTHIRTY TWO CHAPTERTHIRTY THREE CHAPTERTHIRTY FOUR CHAPTER ONE Lea Dubot reclined in the padded chesterfield,her head resting against the embroidered seams of swirling blue and white.Above her, a miniature chandelier dangled in the first-class compartment of theNormandie Express. She inhaled the soft odor of bourbon whose glass rested inthe cup holder built into the tea table’s frame at her elbow. Every so often,her gaze flitted from the glass baubles of the chandeliers hung throughout thelounging compartment and darted toward the dining car of the train, visiblejust through the glass partition at the end of the long compartment. The train itself moved with asurprising quiet—top of the line soundproofing and muffled gear mechanics,according to the mechanical engineering student who was in the room next to
