No Way Up (A Carly See FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 5)

By Rylie Dark

When a victim escapes from a serial killer and has a terrifying tale to tell, FBI Special Agent—and psychic medium—Carly See must race to stop him before he claims his next victim. But the images Carly receives from the other side are too dark and disturbing, and all seem to lead to only one baffling conclusion: they must somehow be coming from the killer himself.

“A brilliant book. I couldn’t put it down and I never guessed who the murderer was!”
—Reader review for Only Murder

NO WAY UP is book #5 in a chilling new series by #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Rylie Dark, which begins with NO WAY OUT (book #1).

FBI Special Agent Carly See, a star in the elite BAU unit, hides a terrible secret: she can speak with the dead. The murder of her sister, still unsolved, plunged her life into grief and awakened a new power within her. All of it feels like a curse—until Carly realizes she can harness her new skills to solve cases. But her abilities are unreliable, and Carly must use her brilliant mind to complete the puzzle—all while struggling to keep her secret from her colleagues.

This killer, though, is always one step ahead, and Carly herself, leading the investigation, may not be as safe as she seems. In this game of cat and mouse, it will be a race to figure out what these victims have in common—and who is next on the killer’s list.

But will Carly’s vision lead her astray?

A page-turning thriller packed with twists and turns, secrets, and harrowing surprises you won’t see coming, the CARLY SEE series is a mystery series that will have you on the edge of your seat, endearing you to a brilliant and unique new character and having you turning pages, bleary-eyed, late into the night. Fans of Rachel Caine, Teresa Driscoll and Robert Dugoni are sure to fall in love.

Book #6 in the series—NO WAY TO DIE—is also available.
“I loved this thriller, read it in one sitting. Lots of twists and turns and I didn’t guess the
culprit at all… Already pre-ordered the second!”
—Reader review for ONLY MURDER

“This book takes off with a bang… An excellent read, and I'm looking forward to the next book!”
—Reader review for SEE HER RUN

“Fantastic book! It was hard to put down. I can’t wait to see what happens next!”
—Reader review for SEE HER RUN

“The twists and turns kept coming. Can't wait to read the next book!”
—Reader review for SEE HER RUN

“A must-read if you enjoy action-packed stories with good plots!”
—Reader review for SEE HER RUN

“I really like this author and this series starts with a bang. It will keep you turning the pages till the end of the book and wanting more.”
—Reader review for SEE HER RUN

“I can't say enough about this author! How about ‘out of this world’! This author is going to go far!”
—Reader review for ONLY MURDER

“I really enjoyed this book… The characters were alive, and the twists and turns were great. It will keep you reading till the end and leave you wanting more.”
—Reader review for NO WAY OUT

“This is an author that I highly recommend. Her books will have you begging for more.”
—Reader review for NO WAY OUT

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rylie Dark
• Release date: Nov 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094394268

Book preview

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N O   W A Y   U P

(A Carly See FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 5)

R y l i e   D a r k

Rylie Dark

Bestselling author Rylie Dark is author of the SADIE PRICE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the CARLY SEE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the MIA NORTH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the MORGAN STARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); and of the HAILEY ROCK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER, comprising five books (and counting).

An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Rylie loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.ryliedark.com to learn more and stay in touch.

Copyright © 2022 by Rylie Dark. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.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 database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright CairnHikes, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

BOOKS BY RYLIE DARK

HAILEY ROCK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

BEHIND YOU (Book #1)

BESIDE YOU (Book #2)

AFTER YOU (Book #3)

WATCHING YOU (Book #4)

JUDGING YOU (Book #5)

SADIE PRICE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

ONLY MURDER (Book #1)

ONLY RAGE (Book #2)

ONLY HIS (Book #3)

ONLY ONCE (Book #4)

ONLY SPITE (Book #5)

ONLY MADNESS (Book #6)

MIA NORTH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

SEE HER RUN (Book #1)

SEE HER HIDE (Book #2)

SEE HER SCREAM (Book #3)

SEE HER VANISH (Book #4)

SEE HER GONE (Book #5)

SEE HER DEAD (Book #6)

CARLY SEE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

NO WAY OUT (Book #1)

NO WAY BACK (Book #2)

NO WAY HOME (Book #3)

NO WAY LEFT (Book #4)

NO WAY UP (Book #5)

NO WAY TO DIE (Book #6)

MORGAN STARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

TOO LATE (Book #1)

TOO CLOSE (Book #2)

TOO FAR GONE (Book #3)

TOO LOST (Book #4)

TOO BROKEN (Book #5)

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

PROLOGUE

Sally Goodner’s head ached horribly.

What happened to me? she wondered.

Slowly, she realized that she’d been unconscious. Awareness was filtering back now, but her eyes were still closed, and her eyelids felt heavy.

When she forced her eyes open, alarm swept over her for a moment.

She could see nothing at all.

Am I blind?

No, this just seemed to be an ordinary darkness surrounding her, but she had no memory of where she was or how she got there.

Then Sally realized that she couldn’t move her body. Something was holding her in place. She let out a groan of pain and frustration.

A voice chuckled from nearby in the dark—a strange, hoarse, raspy voice.

Ah, you’re starting to come to. I’m relieved. I was afraid I’d cracked you too hard on the back of the head. You sure did drop like a stone, out like a light, and you’ve been unconscious for . . . oh, quite a long time. But I’ve been sitting right here, just waiting for you. Hearing you groan is music to my ears.

Sally was baffled now.

Cracked me on the back of the head?

When?

Who?

Then the memory came rushing back, shocking her more fully awake.

As usual, she’d been the last to leave the office of the small public use airport she co-owned and managed. Her perfectly ordinary day had included giving flight and skydiving lessons, along with more mundane bill-paying and paperwork tasks. She’d left the main building and walked alone in the dark to where to her car was parked. She’d been whistling a tune and jangling her keys, enjoying the cool autumn air. But just when she reached out to unlock the car door, she’d felt a sharp, hard blow on the back of her head.

That was the last thing she remembered.

Where am I? she asked her unseen companion. What am I doing here? Who are you?

The hoarse voice replied with a chuckle.

Whoa, so many questions at once! Don’t worry, you’ll know all the answers soon, at least with a bit of luck and, I should add, with a fair share of strength, cunning, and courage—all of which are qualities I know you possess. Meanwhile, just think of me as someone who’d like you to do him a favor.

A favor?

Yes, but I can’t tell you about it yet. First, you’ve got to get yourself loose.

Get myself loose?

She tried to move but discovered again that she couldn’t budge her arms or legs. Her upper arms and elbows were bound tightly against her abdomen. Her ankles were tied together, and her wrists were bound behind her. Feeling around with her fingers, Sally realized that she was tied fast to a chair frame.

She was fully awake now, and she felt her anger rising.

Untie me right now, she demanded.

Oh, no, I can’t do that. That would spoil the sport. But don’t worry, your situation isn’t as dire as it must feel. For one thing, you’re tied by a single length of rope, which means all you have to do is find and untie a certain single knot to set yourself free. That’s not such a hard trick. Even a beginner can learn it.

Sally heard the man shift in the chair where he was apparently seated in the dark.

Also, that rope isn’t quite as tight as it seems. A single length of rope always leaves some slack here and there. You just need to feel out those slack places, then do some wriggling. That’s where your physical strength will come into play. I could talk you through it, but … you can work it out yourself. I believe in you. And I’m sure you’ll enjoy the challenge.

Enjoy the challenge?

What on earth was he even talking about?

She groaned aloud.

As if in reply, the man asked, Are you afraid?

The question caught Sally by surprise. She hadn’t been conscious of being afraid, at least not until this moment. But now she recognized all the familiar physical signs of fear—most of all, a cold tingling all over her flesh.

Of course I’m afraid. What kind of fool wouldn’t be?

After all, she knew all about fear. She personally courted fear almost daily, challenging herself to dangerous risks. The truth was, she got high on fear—especially at that moment when the danger had passed, and she was safe and could let go of it. That was when the endorphin rush always hit.

But this situation was nothing like that. Until now, she’d always faced fear precisely on her own terms, and always with some idea of what risks she was taking.

This is different.

This time she hadn’t chosen the risk. And she sure wasn’t enjoying the challenge. But she had no intention of saying so to her abductor.

I’ll take your silence as a yes, the man said. The one before you was scared too. And I’m afraid he wasn’t especially lucky. Don’t worry, I don’t think any less of you for being scared. I myself made friends with fear long ago. I think that’s something the two of us have in common. Meanwhile, I’ll stop chattering away and let you get to it.

Suddenly the room was silent, except for the sound of Sally’s own pulse pounding between her ears. She found herself thinking about something the man had just said.

The one before you was scared too.

The one before me? she wondered.

He wasn’t especially lucky, the man had added.

She felt a sudden charge of alarm as she realized who he must be talking about.

Roy Mazur!

Although Sally didn’t know the details, the town of Clarkfield had been abuzz for a day or two about the millionaire meat-packer’s murder.

Was she really tied up in a dark room with his killer?

She couldn’t be sure of anything. The man was completely quiet now—so quiet she wondered whether he was even still here with her.

I’ve got to get out.

But how?

And if she did get free of her bonds, what then?

She had no idea where she was or what her abductor planned to do to her.

But panicking wasn’t her style—not even in a situation as dire as this.

Deep breaths.

Normally a few long, slow inhalations and exhalations were all Sally needed to settle her nerves. But when she tried to do that now, she found that she couldn’t draw in a full breath. The tight rope around her abdomen kept her from filling her lungs.

Then something occurred to her.

Breathe out!

Make myself thinner!

She exhaled sharply, emptying her lungs as much as she could, and then tried to writhe about. Sure enough, she was able to twist just a bit more freely. She couldn’t go without breathing for more than a few seconds, however.

It’s easier to hold your breath in than out, she realized.

She’d really never thought about that before.

But even after she gulped down some air, she noticed that her bonds didn’t seem as tight as before. She also noticed something else—a hard lump of discomfort near the base of her spine.

The knot!

The man had said there was a single knot she needed to untie.

And now she’d found it, just a few inches above where her hands were bound together behind her.

If only I can reach it with my fingers.

She tried in vain to move her hands upward toward the knot. The rope around her upper arms and abdomen was so tight that she couldn’t budge her wrists and hands.

But she released another lungful of air and wriggled again. This time she felt some rope give just a little, and she was able to bend her arms slightly at the elbows, bringing her hands just an inch or two toward the knot.

Again, she told herself.

She exhaled again, wriggled some more, and this time her fingers actually found the knot. The knot felt simple enough, but it was very tight, her hands were still constricted, and she couldn’t see what she was doing.

If only I had something sharp—or pointed.

If she did, she could either sever the knot or pry it loose. But that wasn’t an option right now. She clawed at the knot with her nails, regretting that she always kept them cut so short that she couldn’t use them as a prying tool.

But she kept at it, never giving way to panic, and she soon felt the knot loosen until she finally managed to untie it completely so that the two ends of the rope hung freely.

Suddenly her escape seemed within reach.

She was able to wriggle more and more, and her hands played more freely with the rope, pulling it loose until she felt most of it drop onto the floor around her chair.

She was free—but to do what?

She was still engulfed by pitch darkness.

She heard a low, rasping chuckle.

It sounds as though you’ve made progress. Congratulations. And now, about that favor I was asking for . . .

Sally suddenly felt a cord tighten around her throat.

The man had come up behind her and was using the rope she’d just escaped from as a weapon. Sally felt foolish for letting him take her by surprise like that.

There’s only one way out of here, her attacker said. Can you guess what it is?

She guessed the answer in a second.

It’s kill or be killed.

I’ve got to kill him before he kills me.

The rope was tightening around her throat. She could barely breathe, and she felt dizzy from the lack of circulation to her brain.

But Sally wasn’t going to give up now. She reached up with both hands and wrenched the rope loose from her throat.

Then, acting purely on instinct, she stood up and whirled, grabbing hold of her unseen assailant. In a fraction of a second, the situation was completely reversed. She was behind him now, and she was holding the rope tightly around his throat.

Very good! the man chuckled in that hoarse, raspy voice of his. Now finish it. You’ve got no other choice.

Adrenaline was pumping through Sally’s body now, along with a wave of fury and anger.

He had no right to do this to me.

Without thinking, she yanked the rope tighter and tighter until she heard a rattle in the man’s throat. Then she felt his body slump against her, hanging limp from the rope she was still holding.

She let the body drop to the floor, then crouched beside it and felt the man’s neck for his carotid artery.

She felt no pulse.

I’ve killed him!

And now her blind range was tinted by regret, which she knew would quickly give way to guilt.

I had no choice.

She couldn’t stop to question herself further. The man was dead, and what could she do now? She still had no idea where she was or how to get out.

She took a few steps but ran into a wall. Then she felt her way along the wall blindly for a few moments until her hands found a door frame. Her searching fingers found a doorknob. She twisted it and was surprised that the door unlatched and even opened slightly. A trickle of light came through the crack.

But before Sally could pull the door all the way open, she heard a loud, shrill, animal howl.

Owwwaaa-ahhhooooh!

Her blood froze with terror at the sound.

Before she could move again, she heard the steps behind her.

She felt the rope loop around her own neck and grow tight, then tighter still.

There was no escaping this time.

As Sally felt her own life spiraling away, the last thing she was aware of was that familiar hoarse chuckle.

Nobody can kill Coyote forever.

CHAPTER ONE

The mechanical ventilator grimly and remorselessly hissed, sighed, clicked, and beeped as it pumped air in and out of the patient’s lungs. As Carly See bent over the woman on the bed, she gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Who did this to you, Megan? she whispered.

But Megan See didn’t reply.

She couldn’t reply.

She was lying in a hospital bed deep in a coma, her breathing fully controlled by the noisy mechanical device that was keeping her alive.

With her free hand, Carly brushed away a tear from her own cheek. It was early morning now, and she was physically and emotionally exhausted. She’d arrived here just a few minutes ago after spending much of last night at the police station here in Marmota, California, trying to explain to the local cops just what had happened and how. She hadn’t slept in at least thirty hours, much less changed clothes or washed up.

As she scanned the parts of Megan’s face that weren’t hidden by the ventilator apparatus, Carly was struck by how worn and drained that face appeared. Megan was just twenty-eight, but the woman on the bed appeared well beyond those years. 

Still, Carly could see a sprinkling of freckles she remembered well. And the dark hair on the hospital pillow still held that familiar curl, even if it was all quite snarled now. With a grim smile, Carly realized that her own straight, dark hair must be equally tangled at the moment, and she probably looked older than her thirty years.

Again, Carly spoke to her younger sister in a low whisper. Who did this to you? Why would they? I wish you could tell me . . .

The police had asked Carly similar questions. But what little she did know, she couldn’t talk about to them. She was sure they’d only think she’d lost her mind.

And maybe I did, she thought.

Maybe that was the only explanation that made any sense. Carly had rushed to California because of uncanny visitations from her sister. Megan had mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, leaving Carly and her family with no idea whether she was alive or dead. Over the years, Carly’s attempts to find Megan had been in vain. She and the family had all but given up.

Then a few days ago, the dreams and visions had started.

Visions were nothing new to Carly. Her supernatural abilities were useful in her work as a special agent in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. But the only psychic connections she’d ever made were with dead people. So, when she kept having visions of Megan’s drowned body . . .

Surely that meant her sister must be dead.

But those death scenes had repeated in different ways.

How could Megan die over and over again?

It hadn’t made any sense—until yesterday.  

Following a clue from Megan’s spirit, Carly had figured out her location. She’d caught the first flight she could from Washington to San Francisco, then driven in a rented car to an apparently abandoned home on the California coast where she’d caught a man in the very act of drowning Megan. The assailant had fired a shot at Carly, narrowly missing her as she tried to save her sister.

Carly had fired back, killing him.

She’d had no choice.

It had been a matter of self-defense—and also her sister’s life.

What had followed after that now seemed like a blur to Carly. She’d called for the local cops and a med team, then waited for what had seemed like an eternity for their arrival. During the wait, Megan had started to regain consciousness, although she hadn’t been able to tell Carly what had happened.

By the time the ambulance had arrived at the hospital, Megan had slipped into a deep coma. And now she was being kept alive by a machine that pumped air in and out of her lungs.

And here Carly was, wondering how things had come to this.

She gave Megan’s hand another squeeze.

Don’t worry, Megan, she whispered. We’ll get you through this. Everything will be all right. I . . .

She choked and couldn’t get out the last word of that sentence.

Promise.

How could she make any promises when she still didn’t understand what had happened?

Just don’t give up, OK? Carly said, still holding Megan’s hand and brushing away