Out of Luck (A Dylan First FBI Suspense Thriller—Book Five)

By Kate Bold

Dylan First, brilliant psychologist turned FBI agent, cannot shake off the tragic discovery of her past—that her mentor and father figure, a brilliant psychiatrist and professor, was secretly a serial killer—especially now that he has escaped. When victims of a new serial killer are found with a “go” piece in their hands, it is clear to Dylan that this killer is playing an elaborate game. She can’t help but wonder if her mentor—a world-renowned expert in go—has a hand in it. Either way, she soon realizes, the only path through catching this killer is through another killer’s dangerous mind…

“This is an excellent book… When you start reading, be sure you don’t have to wake up early!”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

Out of Luck is Book #5 in a new series by #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Kate Bold, whose bestseller NOT ME (a free download) has received over 1,500 five star ratings and reviews.

A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured FBI agent, the Dylan First series is a riveting mystery, packed with non-stop action, suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night. Fans of Rachel Caine, Teresa Driscoll, and Robert Dugoni are sure to fall in love.

Future books in the series will soon be available!

“This book moved very fast and every page was exciting. Plenty of dialogue, you absolutely love the characters, and you were rooting for the good guy throughout the whole story… I look forward to reading the next in the series.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“Kate did an amazing job on this book and I was hooked from the first chapter!”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“I really enjoyed this book. The characters were authentic, and I see the bad guys as something we hear about daily on the news... Looking forward to book 2.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“This was a really good book. The main characters were real, flawed and human. The story went along quickly and wasn't mired in too many unnecessary details. I really enjoyed it.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“Alexa Chase is headstrong, impatient, but most of all brave with a capital B. She never, repeat never, backs down until the bad guys are put where they belong. Clearly five stars!”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“Captivating and riveting serial murder with a twist of the macabre… Very well done.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“WOW what a great read! Talk about a diabolical killer! Really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to reading others by this author as well.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“Page turner for sure. Great characters and relationships. I got into the middle of this story and couldn’t put it down. Looking forward to more from Kate Bold.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“Hard to put down. It has an excellent plot and has the right amount of suspense. I really enjoyed this book.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

“Extremely well written, and well worth buying and reading. I can't wait to read book two!”
—Reader review for The Killing Game

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kate Bold
• Release date: Mar 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9781094378480

Book preview

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O U T   O F   L U C K

(A Dylan First FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 5)

K a t e   B o l d

Kate Bold

Bestselling author Kate Bold is author of the ALEXA CHASE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); the ASHLEY HOPE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); the CAMILLE GRACE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising eight books (and counting); the HARLEY COLE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising eleven books (and counting); the KAYLIE BROOKS PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); the EVE HOPE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising seven books (and counting); the DYLAN FIRST FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting);  the LAUREN LAMB FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); the KELSEY HAWK SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); the NORA PRICE SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); and the NINA VEIL FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting).

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

Copyright © 2024 by Kate Bold. 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 Spech, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

BOOKS BY KATE BOLD

NINA VEIL SUSPENSE THRILLER

AWAY FROM HERE (Book #1)

AWAY FROM HIM (Book #2)

AWAY FROM HOPE (Book #3)

AWAY FROM HOME (Book #4)

AWAY FROM HUMANITY (Book #5)

NORA PRICE MYSTERY

CAN’T RUN (Book #1)

CAN’T HIDE (Book #2)

CAN’T ESCAPE (Book #3)

CAN’T SLEEP (Book #4)

CAN’T FORGET (Book #5)

KELSEY HAWK MYSTERY

DEAD INSIDE (Book #1)

DEAD RECKONING (Book #2)

DEAD TO ME (Book #3)

DEAD SILENCE (Book #4)

DEAD TO DAWN (Book #5)

ALEXA CHASE SUSPENSE THRILLER

THE KILLING GAME (Book #1)

THE KILLING TIDE (Book #2)

THE KILLING HOUR (Book #3)

THE KILLING POINT (Book #4)

THE KILLING FOG (Book #5)

THE KILLING PLACE (Book #6)

ASHLEY HOPE SUSPENSE THRILLER

LET ME GO (Book #1)

LET ME OUT (Book #2)

LET ME LIVE (Book #3)

LET ME BREATHE (Book #4)

LET ME FORGET (Book #5)

LET ME ESCAPE (Book #6)

CAMILLE GRACE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

NOT ME (Book #1)

NOT NOW (Book #2)

NOT WELL (Book #3)

NOT HER (Book #4)

NOT NORMAL (Book #5)

NOT AGAIN (Book #6)

NOT SAFE (Book #7)

NOT TODAY (Book #8)

HARLEY COLE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

NOWHERE SAFE (Book #1)

NOWHERE LEFT (Book #2)

NOWHERE TO RUN (Book #3)

NOWHERE LIKE THIS (Book #4)

NOWHERE GIRL (Book #5)

NOWHERE TO HIDE (Book #6)

NOWHERE CERTAIN (Book #7)

NOWHERE PURE (Book #8)

NOWHERE SOUND (Book #9)

NOWHERE SANE (Book #10)

NOWHERE TRUE (Book #11)

KAYLIE BROOKS PYSCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE THRILLER

LAST BREATH (Book #1)

LAST CHANCE (Book #2)

LAST WISH (Book #3)

LAST SHOT (Book #4)

LAST MISTAKE (Book #5)

EVE HOPE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

IN HIS BLOOD (Book #1)

IN HIS SIGHTS (Book #2)

IN HIS REACH (Book #3)

IN HIS MIND (Book #4)

IN HIS WAY (Book #5)

IN HIS THOUGHTS (Book #6)

IN HIS DREAMS (Book #7)

DYLAN FIRST FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

OUT OF REACH (Book #1)

OUT OF TOUCH (Book #2)

OUT OF TIME (Book #3)

OUT OF BOUNDS (Book #4)

OUT OF LUCK (Book #5)

LAUREN LAMB FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

SOMETHING KNOCKING (Book #1)

SOMETHING CALLING (Book #2)

SOMETHING WRONG (Book 3)

SOMETHING DARK (Book #4)

SOMETHING TO HIDE (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

PROLOGUE

As was his daily habit, Travis Buchanan stopped in the ground-floor restroom before heading to the elevator. He always used this restroom instead of one of the private company restrooms to avoid running into any of his colleagues. Coming here always gave him a private moment to collect his thoughts.

And today, he had a lot on his mind.

Do I really want to be on time? he asked himself.

A major meeting was about to start up on the 25th floor, and the very top bosses of the Shaddon & Vale Financial Group would be up there, along with the head minions of the local office.

Maybe old man Shaddon is already sorting out who he’ll deign to talk to today.

Travis had only met the smug, fat CEO a couple of times—if met was even the right word. When Travis had tried to engage Rupert Shaddon in conversation, or talk to him about a project, or try to impress him with his abilities, the old buzzard had fairly turned up his nose at him, treating him like a perfect nobody.

For that matter, all the visiting bosses who would also be here today had treated him the same way.

So humiliating.

But how was he going to keep it from happening all over again?

As he went into the restroom, he noticed that one other man was in there, washing his hands at one of the sinks—a man in a business suit much like his own. Travis barely gave the guy a glance, just enough to register that it was no one of importance in the company.

He paused to think over what to do next.

Maybe I shouldn’t hurry.

Would it be better to be strategically late?

He’d never tried that before, and maybe he’d been a bit of a chump to always be so prompt and accommodating.

Maybe I should just make them wait.

Just a little, anyway.

If he took a slightly prolonged bathroom break, he would still have plenty of time to catch the elevator up to the top floor. And then he could just stroll calmly into the conference room without actually holding up the meeting. Maybe they’d give him their full attention if he just walked in casually after most of the others were seated.

He thought it over and liked the images that came to mind—all heads turning his way as he entered the solemn gray room with its wide windows overlooking the city. Maybe then, when it came time for Travis to stand up and make his presentation, everyone would give him their full attention.

Even Shaddon and his cronies.

He could picture their faces, those arrogant billionaires who ran the company, whose own lives were lived in warmer, richer towns and in other countries. They never came here to Des Moines in the winter. A brisk September day like this was the closest they would ever come to the cold months. And of course, those bosses had just stopped by so the managers of this branch office could grovel and flatter them and butter them up and try to convince them how much more money this branch was going to make this year.

And for Travis, the stakes were especially high.

In his presentation, he was going to explain how his division could run more smoothly—but more crucially, why he should have a promotion, or at least a pay upgrade, to carry out his plans.

But I’ve got to get them to listen.

I’ve got to make them take me seriously.

Maybe they’d listen more attentively to his spiel if they were aware that he was the guy who’d showed up looking unruffled and perfectly self-confident at being just a little late.

But not too late, he warned himself.

Too late and you’ll just look like some kind of slacker.

Travis had no problem working it all out in his mind. After 15 years of working here, he knew this building like the back of his hand, and he’d have no problem timing his entrance just right. So he decided not to take the elevator to the 25th floor just yet.

But as he stood at the urinal relieving himself, he glanced at the man again. He seemed to be taking an unusually long time to wash his hands.

Am I sure I haven’t met this guy?

His face seemed a bit familiar. But as Travis zipped his pants back up, he discarded the question and resisted any inclination to look at the other man again.

A nobody, he told himself.

So he never saw the sharp blade coming. He only felt the incredible pain as it slashed across his throat.

And then, as he fell to the men’s room floor, Travis Buchanan felt nothing at all.

CHAPTER ONE

Special Agent Dylan First put her revolver in her shoulder holster and her badge in her handbag as she got ready to leave her apartment. As she walked to the door, she turned and took a look around the place.

She felt oddly troubled.

This place seems so strange, she thought.

It just didn’t seem like home anymore. It wasn’t that anything was out of place. And it was very quiet and peaceful. The morning sunlight streaming in through the front windows highlighted the warm earth tones she had chosen to redecorate the place after …

After Andrew’s murder.

The memory of what had happened to her live-in fiancé three months ago brought on a renewed wave of the regret of that sometimes threatened to overwhelm her these days. The last time she’d seen Andrew was just a few minutes before his throat had been cut.

If only we hadn’t quarreled right then.

With a physical shake, she reminded herself that that hadn’t been her fault. She’d just found out about Andrew’s infidelity—or what might have been just one of his infidelities—and he’d moved out of their apartment into a nearby motel.

She’d stopped by there that very night to see him, and she’d stood with him outside his room on the sidewalk as they’d talked in the dark.

I don’t suppose you can forgive me, Andrew had said with a note of abject self-pity.

At the time, forgiveness had been out of the question.

What she hadn’t known at the time was that Dr. Charles Cameron, the serial killer who had once been her professor and her mentor, was standing nearby waiting for her to leave, waiting to walk right up to Andrew and slash his throat—which he did, with his usual cold-blooded deftness.

If only I’d known.

If only I’d done something to stop him.

Her thoughts were jolted by the sound of her cellphone ringing. She took it out and saw that the caller was her new FBI boss, Special Agent in Charge Swain Sullivan. She didn’t much want to talk to him, but she had to take the call.

We haven’t heard from you in a couple of days, Sullivan said, his voice sounding worried. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.

Dylan stifled a groan of discouragement.

How could I not be all right? she wanted to say.

Nobody can get anywhere near me.

Ever since Cameron had staged an astonishing escape from prison, she’d been under constant surveillance by U.S. Marshals. Of course, keeping her safe hadn't been their only priority. They also hoped to catch her one-time mentor should he try to approach her.

I’m fine, she said to Sullivan. Actually, I’m just on my way out.

Where are you going?

Dylan stifled another groan.

I shouldn’t have said that.

I’m going to the clinic to see how Tony Haynes is doing, she said.

Do you want a couple of marshals to accompany you?

No.

Are you sure?

This time, she couldn't keep a sigh from escaping her lips.

Chief Sullivan, I’ll go crazy if I’ve got people following me everywhere. And I can’t stay cooped up in this apartment all the time. I’ve got to go outside once in a while. And I’m capable of looking out for myself. I’m a full-fledged agent, after all. And I’ve even got a service weapon. I don’t go anywhere without it.

OK, Sullivan said, sounding just a tad defensive. I don’t mean to be pushy. But be careful. And let me know how Haynes is doing.

Um, chief, there’s one thing I’d like to ask …

Dylan hesitated for a moment.

How long will I be on leave like this? How long will it be before I get another case?

I’ll let you know.

The call ended, and Dylan walked out of her apartment and locked the door behind her. She took the elevator down to the garage where her car was parked, and where she knew a whole battery of surveillance cameras were keeping watch 24/7.

She got into her car and drove onto the street. It was only a short drive from her Arlington apartment into Washington, D.C., where the Brooks Cardiac Clinic was located. More memories crowded her brain as she drove, and she thought about her new boss, whom she had yet to actually meet. She wondered—was Chief Sullivan worried for his own safety? Was he also under constant surveillance?

He probably should be.

After all, just last month Dr. Cameron had murdered Sullivan’s predecessor, Special Agent in Charge Wayne Crawford, for reasons Dylan still didn’t fully understand. She could only be sure of one thing.

He was killed because of me.

The same as Andrew.

She hadn’t known Chief Crawford for a long time, but she’d gotten to like him, and he’d shown confidence in her abilities. And now she couldn’t help feeling guilty for the deadly danger that seemed to befall people she knew and cared about.

Ironically, she felt no such concern for her own safety.

She knew Dr. Cameron better than she wanted to—in fact, better than anybody else knew him, and she was positive that he would never do her any harm. In his twisted way, Cameron still cared about her and regarded her as his promising protégé.

She pulled into the clinic parking lot, parked, and walked inside. After checking at the front desk, she headed straight to the room where Tony Haynes was staying while he had to keep undergoing tests. She stopped outside his open door before going inside. He hadn’t yet noticed her arrival, and she paused to look at him.

She couldn’t help smiling.

The bulky, aging, grizzled retired FBI agent was sitting up in bed. As was his custom, he was watching professional wrestling on the room’s TV. At the same time, he was knitting what appeared to be a scarf. Tony was a true character of startling contrasts, and Dylan liked him very much.

I really miss that guy.

When the FBI had first started worrying about Dylan's safety, they'd assigned Tony to be her live-in bodyguard. It had taken a while for them to adjust to one another, but they'd wound up enjoying each other's company, almost like cozy roommates.

But after their last case, he’d started suffering from chest pains and shortness of breath. At the new director’s insistence, he’d come here to the Brooks Clinic, where he’d been for several days now undergoing a series of tests.

Hey, kid! Tony said when she stepped into the room and caught his eye. I’ve been wondering when you might stop by. How’re you doing?

Never mind me, Dylan said, pulling up a chair and sitting beside his bed. How are you? Are you feeling better?

Better, I guess, but still not great, Tony said with a shrug. They say they’re going to have to fix me up with a pacemaker. The operation is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, does it?

No, it doesn’t, Dylan said with a note of worry.

After that, I’m not supposed to do any kind of work for quite a long while …

Tony’s voice faded for a moment before he added, Which means I can’t even be your bodyguard, which really stinks.

Hey, don’t worry about me, Dylan said, squeezing his hand. You know from experience, I can look out for myself.

Yeah, I sure do, Tony said.

They both chuckled over the shared memory.

Just last