Faithless: A Jane Doe Thriller Audiobook

Music and credits.

What I’m about to tell you sounds crazy. I died. More on that later. I’m still piecing together the story. Each fragment is like a Post-it I was lucky enough to pull from deep inside my disjointed memory. Or from a trusted friend. Or an enemy…

When I opened my eyes, I was in water under low lights. I remembered gunfire and people shouting. This wasn’t Afghanistan…

Like an abandoned puppy, the guard stared at his dead friend’s body. “Is there another way out?” I said…

I didn’t see anyone for a long time. A scrawny coyote appeared from out of a gully, limping. When he saw me, he yipped. The animal remained still as I inched closer…

The sun was scorching. I was so dehydrated I saw spots. And I was starving. Up ahead, there was a worn white sign. Sitting atop a huge pole, it read “Café” in rust-colored letters…

Raul said little as we made our way south on the 14 toward LA. I worried about what would happen to John and Consuelo. These guys were professionals…

Cold water trickled down my face and neck. I thought I recognized Bo watching over me, one eyebrow arched. It was Raul, holding a bottle of water…

Spanish-speaking voices woke me, and I sat up. A scattering of immigrants wearing their finest filed into the church. I wished I knew what time it was…

I was in a dream—not the one I’d awakened from at Hellborn…

The tailor had an office on Santee in the garment district. We had to climb four flights of stairs because the stupid elevator was out. Never mind, I needed the cardio…

After two hours of shopping, I’d had enough. Plus, my feet were in agony. And I was starving. I dumped my bags in the trunk and got into the car…

It was late when we left The Last Bookstore. We’d spent a couple of hours, and it was hard for me to leave. I imagined living in a tent beneath the Book Arch Wall. Happily reading and eating take-out. No Kersey. No Hellborn. No djinn…

Raul picked me up at 0800 sharp. I’d washed and pressed the shirt. Instead of the heels Nate lent me, I decided on soft black Italian booties—M. Gemi…

We arrived at Otay Mesa Detention Center in the late afternoon. The place was enormous. A chain-link fence topped with razor wire surrounded drab beige and brown buildings…

Fishtailing, the van skidded off the road and came to a jagged halt in the sand. Raul climbed out of the vehicle—weapon raised—and crouched behind the driver’s side door…

I made it to LA with barely enough time to get ready. On cue, Dickles the Clown leered at me from behind the desk as I entered the lobby…

By the time I got home, I’d already decided to return to Hellborn. I changed clothes and got on the road, heading north toward the desert…

I made my way to the room with all the tanks. Outside in the hallway, the lights were on. There were bullet scars on the walls and blood spray everywhere…

Before heading back to LA, I stopped at the café in Perro Negro. It was dark inside. I got out and peered through the front door. There was a light on in the kitchen…

I don’t dream much. When I do, it’s about Afghanistan and the malang who saved my life. I opened my eyes to shards of piercing light through the blinds. A new day…

Wilshire Boulevard was a mess, and I cut over to 6th. I thought a black Escalade might be tailing me, which meant Harry Packard was on to me…

Out in the hallway, two more shots—closer this time. A weapon with a suppressor doesn’t silence the bullet the way most people think…

I didn’t know LA well and ended up in Koreatown. When I spotted a Gas-N-Gut, I pulled in and called Raul. We arranged to meet at a place called Beer Belly on Western…

Cautiously, I approached my building’s parking garage. The whole time I had the microchip in me, the gray-suits could’ve found out where I live…

Raul was told to wait outside, and I walked in alone. Even after I’d eliminated his nephew in the desert, Kersey had managed to move past it. But now, he looked ready to feed me to a monitor lizard…

I made Raul park in the remote lot next to me to avoid the gray-suits. We hoofed it to my place so I could change clothes. I left the bedroom door partway open…

The Grove on Fairfax was overrun with customers eager to spend money on clothes, makeup, and overpriced food. Me, all I wanted was an effing dress…

At the apartment, my first order of business was to set up the laptop so I could start my research. I knew guns, not computers. Raul offered to help…

Though I didn’t ask him to, Raul stayed with me and left early the next morning. I remained in bed, wondering how our night of passion had happened. One minute, we were partners doing our job. And the next…

Griselda Müller’s house sat atop a hill in Bel Air, overlooking the twinkling lights of the city. At the gate, I found a cluster of men in European suits and pointy shoes, talking and smoking…

When I came to, I was lying near naked in my tub. Panicked, I imagined drowning in black water and sat up straight. How long was I out? Raul was next to me on his knees, his shirt sleeves rolled up and holding a towel…

It was early when I woke up. I decided to skip the workout and took a shower instead. After getting dressed, I headed to the kitchen, where I found Raul cooking in pants and a wifebeater…

It took us forty-five minutes to reach the sleepy suburb of Simi Valley. We exited on Tapo Canyon Road and made our way to Wisdom Court…

I glared at Packard, convinced I’d heard it wrong. “I prepared for the mission,” I said, getting to my feet. “I’m a Marine. I completed MOS training. I’m—”…

The situation looked hopeless. There were at least fifty gray-suits with their weapons aimed at the house. Zeddemore used his command voice. “Harry Packard. We know you have the hyper. Send her out, and we’ll call it a day.”…

Removing the microchip had paid off. We weren’t followed as we returned to The Borgia. Safely inside my apartment, I changed into street clothes…

We arranged to meet Kersey far away from his office. Raul suggested Phillipe’s on North Alameda, near Union Station. From what I’d heard, the place was legendary…

Something was wrong. Approaching the café, I saw a group of Latino farmworkers gathered in front. Some peered through the windows. Another banged on the door…

In the black of night, I took a dirt backroad into the forest. John’s place was in Wofford Heights. The house stood among the trees where the road ended…

It was dark when I pulled into the Gas-N-Gut in Los Banos. On high alert, I kept an eye on everyone who came and went…

For a long time, the girl stared out her window at the bleakness of January. We were on the 5 heading north, and I was bored af. Could’ve used some company…

We reached Redding after two. Though I was hungry, I needed sleep more. I drove through town, looking for an out-of-the-way motel. On a back street far from the main drag, I stumbled onto a quaint little place called Owlie’s Lodge…

I’d passed Tres Marias on the way to Redding the previous night. Traveling south, I got off the 5 and followed a road leading downtown…

Stella sat on her bed, reading. When I walked in, she smiled with embarrassment. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said. “I feel like I never get to read anymore.”…

Dave had gone out, leaving Warnick to babysit. When he returned, he had a laptop. Another Black Dragon employee followed him, carrying plastic bags of takeout…

On the return trip, Stella was moody. She marched into our room and began stuffing her few belongings into her backpack…

In the morning, I packed my bags and waited for Warnick to show. I’d done what I came to do—warn Dave about the gray-suits. It was up to him and his friends to protect the Russian girl and her unborn child…

He was maybe thirty, with short blond hair. Pudgy and way shorter than me. Though he tried projecting confidence, anyone could see the fear in his eyes…

I used the backroads all the way to Redding to make sure no hostiles could follow me. When I entered the motel room, Stella wasn’t there…