The Beating Heart of a Mind

Bullied to death in the boardroom?

Private Investigator Rebecca Marte doubted it. Since when would the president and CEO of a highly successful company find the criticisms of his subordinates so destructive to his self-image that he would commit suicide? That, however, was what her new client, Nicole Veles, claimed.

Nicole painted a toxic, if not criminal, picture of defamation leading up to the man's death. And after his demise, one of his most vocal detractors ascended to his position. That was enough to raise Rebecca's suspicions. She took the job.

But as she began her investigation, hints that Nicole's beliefs were tainted by her history became difficult for Rebecca to ignore. Two years earlier, Nicole had been kidnapped, and she still bore the mental and emotional scars of abuse and captivity. She'd cut all connections to her friends and fled her past by relocating to Colorado where no one knew her. She took a job where long-term relationships were impossible, save one stubborn older woman who wouldn't take no for an answer-and who just happened to be the wife of the suicide victim.

While everyone else thought the man's death, while tragic, was just the consequence of high-pressure business and depression over the loss of the company he had founded, could Rebecca trust anything to the contrary that her new client told her?