ProtectVision

By Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Sixteen-year-old Sharyn just wants to have fun. But her overprotective father wants to control her life. He uses the latest technology, ProtectVision, to make sure she follows his rules. But technology comes with a price—one she, her father, and even innocent bystanders might have to pay.
Chosen as one of the top ten stories of 2004 by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, “ProtectVision” demonstrates the lengths parents go to protect their children—and the sometimes devastating consequences of succeeding.

“Rusch is a great storyteller—easily the equal of Patterson or Koontz.”
—Analog

USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.
She lives and occasionally sleeps in Oregon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMG Publishing
• Release date: Oct 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301366514

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award. Publications from The Chicago Tribune to Booklist have included her Kris Nelscott mystery novels in their top-ten-best mystery novels of the year. The Nelscott books have received nominations for almost every award in the mystery field, including the best novel Edgar Award, and the Shamus Award. She writes goofy romance novels as award-winner Kristine Grayson, romantic suspense as Kristine Dexter, and futuristic sf as Kris DeLake.  She also edits. Beginning with work at the innovative publishing company, Pulphouse, followed by her award-winning tenure at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, she took fifteen years off before returning to editing with the original anthology series Fiction River, published by WMG Publishing. She acts as series editor with her husband, writer Dean Wesley Smith, and edits at least two anthologies in the series per year on her own. To keep up with everything she does, go to kriswrites.com and sign up for her newsletter. To track her many pen names and series, see their individual websites (krisnelscott.com, kristinegrayson.com, krisdelake.com, retrievalartist.com, divingintothewreck.com). She lives and occasionally sleeps in Oregon.

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SHARYN’S CLOTHES WERE SPREAD across the back seat, turning red, then black, then red again in the flashing light from the dash. Rick still had his shirt on. He was groping for his pants, and not finding them. Each flash of red caught him in a different position—upright, looking terrified; bent at the waist, looking panicked; on his knees, looking like he was going to burst into tears.

Sharyn’s heart was pounding, but she wasn’t going to panic. She wouldn’t give her father the satisfaction.

She and Rick had parked near Enger Tower, deep in the park. Actually, she had parked up there. It was her car, her decision, her idea to seduce Rick on a cold October evening.

She was sixteen. She knew what she was doing.

Damn her father, anyway.

Hurry up, she said to Rick, and he made a sobbing gasp. Maybe it wouldn’t help to push him.

Methodically, she reached for her own clothes, bra first, then shirt—in a sort of pants-less solidarity with Rick—then underwear, socks, and jeans.

The light on the dash continued to flash. Its red blinking horrified Rick, but it didn’t bother her.

What bothered her had been the voice, flat, androgynous, and official: Illicit sexual activity between minors detected. Ignition has been disengaged. Car will remain sealed until authorities arrive.

Sharyn had just discarded her underwear when that voice boomed. Rick had just flung his pants aside in reckless abandon, laughing at the way his penis had bobbed to life despite the cold.

There hadn’t been sexual activity yet, at least not anything she would describe as real sexual activity, although she knew her father probably would argue that point.

Her high and mighty father who liked to pretend he’d never had a youth at all. She knew if she found the right people, she would discover a whole new side to her dad, a side that would show him as the hypocrite he truly was.

She should have known, though. She had believed