Away From Here (A Nina Veil FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1)

By Kate Bold

FBI Agent Nina Veil wakes from a two-year coma having forgotten most of her life—but her skills are just as sharp as ever.

When victims of a dangerous new killer are found inside locked cages, FBI Agent Nina Veil’s broken memories could hold the key to catching the very same man who put her in a coma—before he strikes again.

“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
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AWAY FROM HERE is BOOK #1 in a new series by #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Kate Bold, whose bestseller NOT NOW (a free download) has received over 600 five star ratings and reviews.

An enthralling crime thriller with a captivating and complex female protagonist, the Nina Veil series is full of relentless action, suspenseful moments, surprising plot twists, and shocking revelations. Prepare to be glued to the pages as the fast-paced narrative keeps you reading until the early hours of the morning. Fans of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan, and Mary Burton are sure to fall in love.

“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
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“Kate did an amazing job on this book and I was hooked from the first chapter!”
—Reader review for The Killing Game
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“Captivating and riveting serial murder with a twist of the macabre… Very well done.”
—Reader review for The Killing Game
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“Extremely well written, and well worth buying and reading. I can't wait to read book two!”
—Reader review for The Killing Game
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Kate Bold
• Release date: Feb 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9781094396682

Book preview

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A W A Y

F R O M

H E R E

(A Nina Veil Mystery—Book 1)

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.

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 SUSPENSE THRILLER

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 SUSPENSE THRILLER

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

PROLOGUE

I can’t believe it either. It was touch and go, but I guess my closing arguments were strong enough to convince them.

On the phone to her boss, Bethany Carter grinned triumphantly as she headed up to her double-story home, set on a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Seattle. What a day it had been.

She’d been on a knife edge the entire afternoon, as the high profile case had wrapped up and eventually, after an interminable wait, her client had been found innocent, and cleared of the fraud charges against him.

You’re good in front of a jury, her boss, Jonathan Archer, said. Very persuasive, and very believable. I like the way you really played up every element of doubt in the case.

Well, there was some wiggle room there, with the discrepancy in the timelines, and those visitors to the company being left unattended, she agreed.

Breathing a sigh of relief as she stepped up to the imposing front door of her luxurious haven, Bethany remembered her own promise to herself. Excelling at work, and winning every case, with determination and grit and whatever it took, would allow her to pay off the mortgage on the dream house she’d always wanted.

A year after moving in, and she’d been so busy at work that there was still a snag list to get through, including the front door itself. The old-fashioned latch mechanism needed some attention. It had jammed continually when she’d first bought the house, and after losing the key in it and having a quick repair done more recently, it now felt to her as if this handle was about to come apart from the lock. And being distracted while on the phone to her boss didn’t help. It only made it more of a struggle.

Finally, she turned the key in the lock, which felt particularly loose and uneven tonight, and let herself in.

 You kept a cool head under pressure, also, he said. I didn’t expect so much media attention, and it definitely raised the stakes.

It was higher profile than I expected, she admitted to Jonathan as she closed the door and headed straight through to the kitchen. I had a few interviews afterward. She’d only gotten away from the press three hours later, which was why she was arriving home well after dark on this pleasant, balmy spring evening.

Hope we get some good business from it, he agreed. I’ve already seen we’re trending on social media.

All helps to pay the bills, right? she joked.

Talking of that, there’s a client calling, and I’d better go. But congratulations, Bethany, that’s a brilliant result, Jonathan said.

Thanking him again, Bethany hung up and put her phone on the counter. Turning to the refrigerator, she got out the bottle of Chardonnay that she’d hoped, tonight, would be opened in a celebration of success.

As she poured a large glass of the fragrant, straw-colored wine, she picked up a small metallic noise that gave her a jolt of anxiety.

Had that come from somewhere inside the house? It sounded like it had. A weird, grating noise?

She paused, listening, but the noise didn’t come again, even though she held her breath, keeping totally quiet.

Maybe it was just the water pipes? The plumbing in this big old house was another item on that snag list. Although, the pipes usually only made that metallic rattling sound after she’d turned on a tap.

Of course, it could also be the trellis outside the French doors that the gardener had put up yesterday. She’d heard it this morning, moving and shifting against the wall, because he clearly hadn’t secured it properly.

That must be what that fleeting sound had been.

But talking of secure… had she locked that front door? Now that her suspicions were triggered by that strange noise, uncertainty was flooding in.

She thought she had, but the lock had felt so rickety and wobbly that now, she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t relax until she was sure.

The stress of big cases always did this to her. She was on the edge of her nerves for hours afterward, anxious and distracted and jumpy. She always ended up second guessing and double checking herself. It wasn’t usually this bad, though, but then, this had been her biggest case yet.

Bethany resolved she needed to get a grip on herself. She was not going to give into her fears and go roaming through the house in a state of heightened anxiety, looking for something that clearly wasn’t there – searching for an invisible bogeyman. That would simply be ridiculous.

You need to learn to cool down and not let the stress get to you, she chastised herself, taking a big gulp of wine. That would calm her, hopefully get her down off this tightrope of tension.

But she decided she’d double check the front door, at least. Just to put her mind at rest.

Then she’d settle down in the living room, watch something light for an hour or two, heat up a TV dinner, and then, finally, go to bed.

Heading across the tiled entrance hall, glass in hand, she turned the front door handle.

Of course, it was locked. Not exactly tight and firm, but locked, and now her fears seemed laughable and pathetic.

Really? she muttered, turning away from the door. Can we dial back on the nerves for a moment, Bethany? Was she a high-powered lawyer or a scared little girl?

And then, as she turned, she saw the figure, standing there in the semi-darkness, by the foot of the stairs.

Watchful, still, with a mask covering his face and dark gloves on his hands.

Bethany’s stomach twisted with terror, and she let out a high, terrified scream. The glass fell from her hand and shattered on the floor.

This man had already been inside. Waiting.

And now, he was lunging toward her, grabbing her, a hand mashing over her mouth and muffling the scream, glass crunching and shattering under his feet as he dragged her around the corner, into the study, where the desk lamp glowed. She struggled fiercely, but his hands were like iron bands as he shoved her into the room. She kicked out, choking as the glove clamped harder, but her foot only made painful contact with the edge of the desk.

What was that, standing against the back wall? A cage?

Her shocked, terrified mind took in the impossibility. How had it gotten there? Had he brought it in? It was a tall, narrow cage that looked the right size and shape to fit a human inside. To fit her.

The cage looked brand new, its bars shiny, sturdy wire door open, and now he was pushing her in, slamming the door on her. She was trapped. Trapped.

She turned, curling her fingers over the wire, determined to force her way out somehow, but as she faced him, she felt a painful jab in her chest, and heard a scream of metal on wire.

Suddenly weak, Bethany realized all her strength was draining away. Her legs couldn’t support her, and she collapsed, slumping against the tough steel bars of the cage. From somewhere, far away, she heard a low, evil chuckle.

Shadows rushed in, and darkness swiftly swallowed her world.

CHAPTER ONE

She was trapped in what felt like a shallow pool of water, looking up at the daylight, able to see the brightness, the movement from above. Hearing voices and discussions, the beeping of machines, the sounds of a world that she couldn’t reach, because she couldn’t move.

Often, she heard people talking near her. Talking about her – and occasionally, she could recognize and understand what they were saying. And yet, the terrifying reality that she fought continually, to no avail, was that she couldn’t reply or acknowledge or engage.

For as long as her vital signs are stable, and there’s evidence of brain activity, there’s hope.

That phrase had stuck with her, the words imbued with brightness, a lifeline for her to cling to as she struggled.

Time after time she tried, but each time the water held her still, and the sensation of being stifled, helpless, overpowered her again. Sometimes she sank deeper under the water, until all she could see was dark murkiness.

Fight, she urged herself. Fight. You can do it. You can, and you must.

Thinking that brought a surge of weird, disjointed memories that she didn’t understand. Memories of fighting, of struggling. Of using her wits and her strength to defeat – something evil. She didn’t know what, but she was sure that if she escaped from this paralyzing pool, she’d get the answers.

She was so close. Surely she could do it this time. She wanted to get out of that water, to free herself from the stillness and the silence that she was trapped in.

One big push. You can do it, girl. You can do it! You deserve to have your life back.

Those words, she’d also heard before, again and again, spoken to her in the brightness by a familiar and caring voice.

With an effort that seemed to take every fiber of her strength, she pushed against that strange, still, heavy water that was imprisoning her.

And this time, she felt the waters part, she felt the heaviness lift, and she was out, she was free, and she was opening her eyes to the impossibly bright sight of a pale blue wall, a white painted window frame, and a white-coated man, writing something on a chart nearby.

Where – where is this? she asked, her voice hoarse and ragged, the words unrecognizable.

But the sound alerted the him and he spun around, astonishment on his face and incredulity in his voice.

Ms. Veil. You’re awake.

He turned and hurried toward her, calling out as he did so. Nina Veil has woken up! She’s out of the coma! Someone call her mother – she just left, on her way to the airport. Tell her to come back!

Nina Veil. That’s my name?

The thought came to her, isolated but clear in a sea of confusion, even though she couldn’t remember anything else and felt strangely unmoored.

I am Nina Veil, and I have been in a coma.

I have my life back – but I don’t know what it is or who I really am.

*

How could raising an arm, holding a small, four pound weight, be so difficult?

Sweat sheened Nina’s face. Her pale blond hair clung to her neck in damp, wavy locks. Her gaze was fixed on her own weedy, trembling limb, stick thin, that was aiming for the physiotherapist’s hand, at chest level.

Muscles that were weak and atrophied, tendons aching and constricted. The movement seemed impossible, and her whole body was a sea of pain.

You’re nearly there, the physio encouraged. The dark-haired woman met her gaze calmly. And think how far you’ve come. Three weeks ago, you couldn’t lift your hand at all.

I guess I can thank all the physio sessions while I was in the coma, that I’m even able to do this now, Nina said, through gritted teeth. "I can’t believe