One million? . . . Three million? . . . Five million dollars?
How much money would it take for you to consider robbing a bank...especially if you were certain to get away with it?
What if you also had nothing left to lose?
When paramedic Dalton Barnett finds his pregnant wife dead, her skull crushed by an apparent fall in the bathtub of their home, he is devastated.
But before Dalton can deal with his grief, his friend, Sheriff Brandon Bailey, comes to him with a plan. What the small-town sheriff had always joked about is no longer a joke...Bailey plans to rob the town's bank, and wants Dalton to help him. The plan seems foolproof, and the reward is a cool five million dollars.
There's one problem, though...Dalton now suspects that his friend might be a murderer.
Proving that could put Dalton's life at risk, and the lives of others...including a beautiful woman named Leigh who's looking to make a name for herself with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The decision Dalton makes could lead to catching his wife's killer, or wealth beyond his wildest dreams. Before things end, he'll wonder if he made the right choice.
Bryan Cash's varied background in public safety began twelve years ago, after serving in the Marine Corps, which he joined right after high school. As a Marine, he served at Camp Lejune, North Carolina.
Bryan presently works as a fireman/paramedic, a certified arson investigator, and in law enforcement as a deputy sheriff. He is married with two children, a boy and a girl.
The Final Friend is Bryan's first book, and he has two more in the works. He plans to release his second novel in the summer of 2003.
As he reached the staircase, he heard a splash, and then silence. A moment of hesitation, a thought of backing out. He shook off the feeling. He told himself that he must stay focused. It's a job. It's for the money, he thought. With long strides, he took the stairs two and three steps at a time, his steps muffled by the thick carpet. Moving quickly down the hall, his muscles were tense but ready.
He was at the bathroom door. It was now or never.
It was warm in the house. He heard the furnace humming as it waged war against the cold outside. In spite of the heat, he felt sweat roll down his back. His tee shirt had become sticky; he could control his mind and tell himself that he wasn't nervous, but sweating was an involuntary reaction. He wiped his forehead and stepped into the doorway.
She was in the bathtub, lying in the water, looking so peaceful. One leg hung over the side of the tub, glistening from the warmth and wetness of the bath. She had pulled her hair back behind her ears, allowing him to see the soft features of her face, features that gave her the look of a model.
The water level was just below her full breasts, making them appear to be floating in the water, and beads of water droplets ran between them The sight made him aroused, and new thoughts entered his mind: If he was going to kill her anyway, why not take advantage of enjoying her luscious body as well? It certainly wouldn't be the first time.
He took a step off the carpet and onto the linoleum. It made a squeaking sound, and he quickly jumped back through the door. As he leaned against the wall, he looked at his watch. He needed to hurry; for him, time was running out, and she seemed to be sleeping through hers.