
Cause to Run (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 2)
Blake Pierce · Completed · 61.9k Words
Introduction
Chapter 1
PROLOGUE
He lay hidden in the shadows of a parking lot fence and stared up at the three-story brick apartment building across the street. He imagined it was dinnertime for some, an hour where families would gather and laugh and share stories of the day.
Stories.
He scoffed. Stories were for the weak.
The whistling shattered his silence.
Her
whistling. Henrietta Venemeer whistled as she walked.
So happy,
he thought.
So oblivious.
His anger increased at the sight of her, a red, burning rage that bloomed in his entire visual landscape. He closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths to make it stop. Drugs used to help with his anger. They had calmed him down and kept his mind light and carefree, but lately, even his prescriptions had failed. He needed something bigger to help balance in life.
Something cosmic.
You know what you have to do,
he reminded himself.
She was a slight, older woman with a shock of red hair and a can-do attitude that permeated her every movement: hips swayed like she was dancing to an inner song and there was a noticeable hop in her step. She carried a bag of groceries and headed directly toward the brick building in a forgotten part of East Boston.
Go now
, he commanded
.
As she reached her building door and was fumbling for her keys, he left his spot and ambled across the street.
She opened her building door and entered.
Before the door shut, he placed his foot inside the opening. The camera that watched the foyer had been disabled earlier; he’d applied a film of clear spray-gel over the lens to obscure any images and yet give the illusion that the camera appeared in working order. The second foyer door had been disabled, too, its lock easy enough to break.
A whistle was still on her lips as she disappeared up a flight of stairs. He walked into the building to follow, giving no thought to the people on the street or other cameras that might have been watching from other buildings. Everything had been investigated earlier, and the timing of his attack had been aligned with the universe.
By the time she reached the third floor to unlock her front door, he was behind her. The door opened and as she walked into her apartment he grabbed her by the chin and clamped her mouth shut with his palm, stifling her screams.
Then he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
Last Chapters
#47 Chapter 47
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#46 Chapter 46
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#45 Chapter 45
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#44 Chapter 44
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#43 Chapter 43
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#42 Chapter 42
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#41 Chapter 41
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#40 Chapter 40
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#39 Chapter 39
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#38 Chapter 38
Last Updated: 3/3/2025
You Might Like 😍
The Billoniare's Fake Husband
Quin is wealthy, controlling, and desperate to keep his inheritance, so he offers Tyler a deal: stay married until he clicks thirty and get paid. Tyler doesn’t trust him, but he needs the money Quin was offering, so he agrees.
What starts as a fake marriage soon turns into something messy and real. Feelings begin to get involved and walls start to crack. Suddenly Tyler is risking his heart for a man he swore to hate.
Now, with secrets coming out and time running out, they both have to decide—is this just a mistake… or something worth fighting for?
Chosen By The Lycan King
Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix
Well… Sometimes you just might turn out to be right.
It turns out, the fae stole my little brother. In his place? A pixie with boundary issues and a talent for home repairs.
I’ve spent my life taking care of everyone else. So when my baby brother is taken, I don’t hesitate. I walk straight into a faerie mansion and make a bargain with its infuriatingly charming master.
Kie is everything you’d expect from a dangerous fae, beautiful, political, and entirely too amused by me. Power wrapped in a smirk. Sensual, mischievous, and far too aware of the effect he has on people. He agrees to help me find my brother.
For a price.
Now I’m bound by a faerie bargain and navigating a world of glamour, manipulation, and ancient rules I definitely should have learned sooner, enchanted forests, political games, magical contracts, and a fae lord who treats seduction like a perfectly reasonable negotiation tactic.
Iron is how I keep people out.
Glamour is how he draws them in.
And apparently, they just don’t mix.
The Princess's Revenge
Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.
Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.
As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate
He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
The Vampire King's Feeder
Emory: I was born to be the Alpha of my pack, my father's first born daughter. But now... I am here, in the castle of our greatest enemy, the Vampire King. I should hate Kane Alexander, but the more time I spend with him, the more I long for him in ways I cannot understand. I am not here to be his lover, though. I am here to be his feeder. But even before his lips graze my skin the first time, I know I would give myself to him in every way imaginable if only he should ask. Kane: I long to taste the wolf shifter, but not her blood, her body... her essence. I want her in every way imaginable. But I'm already betrothed to marry another blood-born vampire, and if I call that off, I have resigned my kingdom to yet another war. There has to be a way to keep Emory Moonraker as my feeder but not claim her in my bed. I just haven't figured it out yet, and every time I look into her jade eyes, I forget everything and everyone but her. But I have enemies, and every moment she spends here in my home, Castle Graystone, she's in danger.
The Spy Who Left
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
Offside Temptation
Ethan Ryder was a disaster waiting to happen. Hot-headed, reckless, and constantly one bad decision away from ruining his career. I was supposed to hate him. Instead, I memorized him. I learned exactly how to push his buttons on the ice just to see the fire in his eyes.
When he grabbed my jersey in that locker room and kissed me in front of twenty cameras, it wasn't a mistake. It was the moment the line between hatred and obsession finally snapped. The media called it a scandal. They called us a divorced couple. But they didn't see the way Ethan trembled when I cornered him in the hallway afterward.
"You're staring again," he whispered, his back hitting the wall.
"You're still here," I replied calmly, stepping close enough to feel his erratic pulse.
He thought I was cold. He thought I was controlled. He didn't realize that every time he looked at me, I was fighting the urge to completely destroy the distance between us.
Now, the league is forcing us to live together, train together, and smile for the cameras to fix our public image. But the more time we spend alone in my apartment, the harder it is to pretend I just want to play hockey...











