Twisted Truth (An Amy Rush Suspense Thriller—Book 1)

By Ava Strong

Fish & Wildlife Agent Amy Rush has spent a lifetime honing her wilderness survival skills. Now she’ll use them to catch a serial killer.

In the remote wilderness, victims are ruthlessly hunted and killed by an unseen predator armed with a deadly crossbow. Only Fish & Wildlife Agent Amy Rush, a survival expert and naturalist, can track down the killer and save more innocent lives—including her own.

“The plot has many twists and turns, but it is the ending, which I did not see coming at all, that totally defines this book as one of the most riveting that I have read in years.”
—Reader review for Not Like Us
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TWISTED TRUTH is book #1 in a long-anticipated new series by #1 bestseller Ava Strong, whose bestseller NOT LIKE US (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star ratings and reviews.

An intense and gripping crime thriller, Amy Rush is a complex psychological series that will captivate readers with its compelling and brilliant female protagonist. Filled with constant action, suspense, surprises, and a rapid pace, this mystery series guarantees to keep you up all night as you eagerly turn each page. Fans of Mary Burton, Lee Child, and Kendra Elliot are sure to fall in love.

“This is a chilling, suspenseful page turner that just might leave you scared at night!”
—Reader review for Not Like Us
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Very intriguing, kept me turning page after page… Lots of twists and turns and a very unexpected ending. Cannot wait for the next in this series!”
—Reader review for Not Like Us
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“A roller coaster ride of events… Can’t put down until you finish it!”
—Reader review for Not Like Us
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“Excellent read with very realistic characters that you become emotionally invested in… Couldn't put it down!”
—Reader review for The Death Code
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“An excellent read, lots of twists and turns, with a surprising ending, leaving you wanting to read the next book in the series! Well done!”
—Reader review for The Death Code
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“Well worth the read. Cannot wait to see what happens in the next book!”
—Reader review for The Death Code
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“Quickly became a story I couldn’t put down! I highly recommend this book!”
—Reader review for His Other Wife
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“I really enjoyed the fast-paced action, plot design and characterization... I didn't want to put the book down and the ending was a total surprise.”
—Reader review for His Other Wife
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“The characters are extremely well developed… There are twists and turns in the plot that kept me guessing. An extremely well written story.”
—Reader review for His Other Wife
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“One of the best books I have ever read… The ending was perfect and surprising. Ava Strong is an amazing writer.”
—Reader review for His Other Wife
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“Holy cow, what a rollercoaster… Many times I absolutely KNEW who the killer was—only to be proven wrong each time. I was completely surprised by the ending. I have to say, I am thrilled that this is the first in a series. My only complaint is that the next one isn't out yet. I need it!”
—Reader review for His Other Wife
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“An incredible, intense, spellbinding, enjoyable story. It will keep you captivated until the end.”
—Reader review for His Other Wife
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Ava Strong
• Release date: Mar 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9781094384078

Book preview

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T W I S T E D

T R U T H

(an amy rush suspense thriller —book 1)

a v a   s t r o n g

Ava Strong

Ava Strong is author of the REMI LAURENT mystery series, comprising six books (and counting); of the ILSE BECK mystery series, comprising seven books (and counting); of the STELLA FALL psychological suspense thriller series, comprising six books (and counting); of the DAKOTA STEELE FBI suspense thriller series, comprising six books (and counting); of the LILY DAWN suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting); the MEGAN YORK FBI suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting); the SOFIA BLAKE FBI suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting); the AMY RUSH FBI suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting); and the ELLE KEEN FBI suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting).

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

Copyright © 2024 by Ava Strong. 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.

BOOKS BY AVA STRONG

ELLE KEEN FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

IN THE DARK (Book #1)

IN THE WAY (Book #2)

IN THE EYES (Book #3)

IN THE NIGHT (Book #4)

IN THE SILENCE (Book #5)

AMY RUSH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

TWISTED TRUTH (Book #1)

TWISTED GAME (Book #2)

TWISTED SECRET (Book #3)

TWISTED FATE (Book #4)

TWISTED VOW (Book #5)

SOFIA BLAKE FBI SUSPSENSE THRILLER

NO ONE THERE (Book #1)

NO ONE LEFT (Book #2)

NO ONE HOME (Book #3)

NO ONE TO HELP (Book #4)

NO ONE LIKE THIS (Book #5)

MEGAN YORK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

YOU’LL BE SORRY (Book #1)

YOU’LL BE NEXT (Book #2)

YOU’LL BE MINE (Book #3)

YOU’LL BE FIRST (Book #4)

YOU’LL BE GONE (Book #5)

LILY DAWN FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

STILL ALIVE (Book #1)

STILL HOPE (Book #2)

STILL AWAKE (Book #3)

STILL HERE (Book #4)

STILL MAD (Book #5)

REMI LAURENT FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

THE DEATH CODE (Book #1)

THE MURDER CODE (Book #2)

THE MALICE CODE (Book #3)

THE VENGEANCE CODE (Book #4)

THE DECEPTION CODE (Book #5)

THE SEDUCTION CODE (Book #6)

ILSE BECK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

NOT LIKE US (Book #1)

NOT LIKE HE SEEMED (Book #2)

NOT LIKE YESTERDAY (Book #3)

NOT LIKE THIS (Book #4)

NOT LIKE SHE THOUGHT (Book #5)

NOT LIKE BEFORE (Book #6)

NOT LIKE NORMAL (Book #7)

STELLA FALL PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE THRILLER

HIS OTHER WIFE (Book #1)

HIS OTHER LIE (Book #2)

HIS OTHER SECRET (Book #3)

HIS OTHER MISTRESS (Book #4)

HIS OTHER LIFE (Book #5)

HIS OTHER TRUTH (Book #6)

DAKOTA STEELE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

WITHOUT MERCY (Book #1)

WITHOUT REMORSE (Book #2)

WITHOUT A PAST (Book #3)

WITHOUT PITY (Book #4)

WITHOUT HOPE (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

EPILOGUE

PROLOGUE

Desolation Wilderness, California – 2004

Amy’s little boots were following the much larger imprints of her father’s footsteps. The detritus crunched and crackled beneath her boots as Amy hiked along the wilderness trail. The brittle sound of leaves on the forest floor had always been one of Amy’s favorites. It sounded the way the first campfire of autumn smelled or the way the first honey-drenched bite of Mom’s homemade holiday baklava tasted. It sounded like home.

Amy’s father was hiking along just ahead of her, now and then looking back to ensure that she was keeping up, a wide grin spread across his dark, bearded face. He had taken her out for a father-daughter campout, just the two of them, while Mother stayed home with baby Elijah on her knee. Amy and Father were out on an adventure.

His old tan cowboy hat was tilted back on his head, the way he always wore it when he was in a good mood. Amy liked that hat, and she was proud of the big bronze Warden’s star that he kept polished up on the front. She even liked the big revolver that he usually wore in a leather holster on his hip, although it scared her a little too. Her father had gotten very serious when he told her never to touch it, and yet he seemed never to go anywhere without strapping it to his hip. Still, the hat and the holster made him look like the good sheriff in her Saturday morning cartoons. She liked to imagine him in that hat, rounding up bad guys with a big rope. She imagined her father, taller, stronger, and larger than life, scooping up the bandits ten at a time and tossing them into an old jailhouse.

It was a fantasy, of course. Amy’s father himself had told her that most of his job consisted of handing out and enforcing hunting permits and fishing licenses. He didn’t elaborate too much on what that entailed.

Ahead of her on the trail, Amy’s father came to a stop. They were only about a half-mile from their campsite, following a well-beaten footpath that ran alongside a small lake. In the distance, a high, screeching birdcall echoed over the water.

Do you hear that? her father asked, smiling as he knelt down by his daughter's side. She nodded, and together, their eyes scanned the lake and the skies.

What is it, Daddy? she asked, glancing over at her father.

It sounds like an eagle, he said, Or maybe an osprey. Let’s wait a minute – maybe she’ll call again.

Side by side, her father still kneeling in the soft earth next to young Amy, the pair listened in anticipation. The call came again, but still they saw nothing.

As the childish fires of boredom licked at the fringes of her focus, Amy’s eyes moved from the lake to her father’s face, to the wide brim of his hat, and the bronze star pinned to the front. Her father studied the trees and water and skies with intense focus, like they were lines in a book, reading the environment carefully so as not to miss a single letter.

Daddy, what does a Warden do? she asked for the hundredth time in her young life. Her father smiled at her, tilting back his hat.

Well, a Warden is somebody who makes sure that people who go out in nature follow the rules while they’re out there.

Sort of like the yard duty at school? she asked, her eyes fixed on the heavy iron sidearm he carried instead of a whistle. But her father had grinned and patted her head.

That’s exactly right, Amy’s father smiled, I’m sort of like the yard duty of the forest. And just like there are some mean kids at school who like to bully other kids and don’t play by the rules, there are some people who don’t play nice with the woods.

And that’s when you come in? she’d asked, looking up into her father’s dark, rich ebony face. He smiled gently at her, but she thought that he looked sad in the eyes.

That’s when I come in, her father patted her shoulder comfortingly, Somebody always has to stand up to bullies, be they in the forest or at school on the playground. Do you understand?

Is that why you carry a gun? she asked in a small voice. In case there are bullies? Amy’s father looked at her for a moment, then returned his eyes to the ridgeline of the mountains that rose up on the other side of the pond.

Yes, he replied, Sometimes those bullies are hunters, and hunters carry lots of guns. Sometimes they need to see that you have a gun too before they start listening to what you’re saying.

Daddy? Amy asked in a still smaller voice, looking at the ground between her hiking boots, Did you ever shoot anyone?

Her father turned his big, dark, deep-set eyes on Amy. For only an instant, she was afraid of his face. Then, he scooped her up in his arms and gave her a bristly, bearded kiss that popped noisily against her cheek, making her giggle.

No, sweet Amayah, I never did that, he said softly, And I’ll tell you a secret, I hope I never do. Next to losing you and your brother, nothing scares me more than the idea that someday I’ll be forced to pull that trigger. I know some folks who think they’re brave because they can outshoot other people, but they’re just bullies, just like the ones at school. Truly strong people know when to put the gun down and settle things with their words.

Somewhere over the pond, the eagle cried again, answered by the gentle chorus of loons, frogs, and wood ducks that lay hidden in rushes, croaking as the afternoon changed lazily into evening. Something crackled heavily through the underbrush of the woods behind her. Amy turned around, but she couldn’t see anything among the bramble and long shadows.

Come on, baby, her father said, standing up, Let’s go pitch camp before the sun gets too low.

***

It was later in the evening when the sky descended into dark plum and indigo hues over the faintly silhouetted tree line along the ridge. The fire had burned down into glowing red embers in the stone-surrounded pit, and Amy’s fingers and lips were still sticky with the remnants of chocolate and smores. They had brought along a tent, but the night was so fine that her father said they could sleep out under the stars. She was zipped up in her sleeping bag near the edge of the fire pit, drowsily watching the heat waves rising from the red glow. Her father, more diligent than Smokey the Bear in his fire safety, was crouched by the side of the stone ring, gently pushing around the coals with a sturdy section of green tree branch. He was crooning the words of an old Bob Dylan song under his breath, and Amy caught only snippets of the lyrics on her father’s rasping, tuneless voice, gentle as the croaking frogs.

…But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered, And like Pharaoh's tribe, They'll be drowned in the tide, And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

A rifle shot cracked suddenly, splitting the sky in two.

Startled, Amy sat bolt upright, gripping the flaps of her sleeping bag around her chin, her eyes wide. After staring so long into the hot center of the campfire, the woods around her were totally lost in blackness. She blinked, trying to make her eyes adjust. A great horned owl, invisible in a nearby tree, hooted out a worried warning before winging quietly away.

Daddy? What was that? Amy’s voice was small as she peered out from the mouth hole of her sleeping bag at the dark, looming shadow of her father on the other side of the fire. His head was tilted back, listening carefully. His brows were furrowed.

Sounded like… her father started to say, but the sharp report of another rifle shot ripped through the desolate night, cutting him off. …gunshots, he concluded quietly. He remained squatting by the fire, but Amy saw his hand drift toward the holster, which was always on his hip as long as he was wearing his boots and trousers. There shouldn’t be hunters out here, he said.

What do you mean? Amy asked. Her father stood up, his eyes scanning the dark woods.

These are protected lands, her father replied, still staring off into the shadows in the dense forest, Nobody’s allowed to shoot game out here. If somebody’s shooting, it either means that they’re in danger, or they’re hunting when they’re not supposed to.

And that’s where Daddy comes in. Amy thought, recalling her conversation with her father by the pond earlier that evening. She shrank back down into her sleeping bag, hoping that there wouldn’t be any more gunshots from the darkness.

Her father had taken a step away from the campfire towards the woods, listening carefully. The truck was parked nearby, and now he walked over, opened the door, and pulled out a large walkie-talkie.

This is Deputy Warden Aaron Rush, callsign 4031, reporting an off-duty sighting of an occurrence near rec. campsite 104, Desolation, California. Come in Ranger Station, do you copy? Over.

There was a crackle of radio static, and a voice came back across the walkie-talkie, but Amy couldn't understand the words. The conversation went back and forth for a moment.

Then, two more rifle shots rang out in the darkness, back to back.

Uh, hold it a second, Ranger Station, I've got two more audible shots. Amy's father said on the radio. There was another static whine and some more chatter. Then, on the hillside only about a quarter mile away, Amy saw lights among the trees. They were small lights, like little white fireflies that bobbed and danced around the base of the forest. Amy felt her bones growing cold with fear in spite of the warm sleeping bag she hugged around herself.

Her father walked back to the fireside from the truck with the walkie-talkie still in his grasp and knelt down beside Amy. He gave her the radio to hold, cupping his own large, strong hands around her tiny, soft ones.

I have to go check something out, Amy. I’ll only be gone for a minute.

Daddy, no! Amy squeaked, trying to push the radio back into her father’s fingers. Don’t go out there!

I have to, baby, her father said, kissing her on the forehead, I made a promise, both to the Earth and to the government, that I would take care of the wilderness. It’s important to keep your promises, even when it’s hard or scary. Now, I’m just going to go for a little night walk by myself, and I want you to sit in the truck until I come back. Lock the doors and don’t open them for anybody except me. Come on, little Amayah, I’ll carry you.

With that, Amy’s father reached down, scooping up his young daughter in both arms. Her body was cocooned within the sleeping bag, and she squirmed like an inchworm as her father picked her up