always watching For the real Brittany ZONDERVAN always watching Copyright © 2009 by Brandilyn Collins All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan. Mobi Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-57841-8 Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Collins, Brandilyn. Always watching / by Brandilyn and Amberly Collins. p. cm. — (Rayne Tour series ; bk. 1) Summary: When a frightening murder occurs after one of her famous mother’s rock concerts, sixteen-year- old Shayley tries to help the police find the killer and to determine whether her long-lost father has some connection to the crime. ISBN 978-0-310-71539-9 [1. Murder—Fiction. 2. Single-parent families—Fiction. 3. Rock groups—Fiction. 4. Fame—Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Collins, Amberly. II. Title. PZ7.C692Al 2009 [Fic]—dc22 2008039515 All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International ® ® Version . NIV . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource to you. These are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80920, www.alivecommunications.com. 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Cover Page Title Page Copyright Page Part 1 Friday Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Part 2 Saturday 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Part 3 Sunday 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 About the Publisher Share Your Thoughts Dear Reader, When Zondervan asked if we’d like to collaborate as mother and daughter on a suspense series, we jumped at the chance. Before long our idea for the Rayne Tour Series was born. We both love music. And what better way to use our real- life experiences in attending concerts together than to write about a rock group? We have pictures of us attending concerts going way back to when Amberly was in junior high. We always try to buy seats close to the front. We leap to our feet and scream and clap along with everyone else. We know what that crowd experience is like. The excitement, the energy. What would it be like, we wondered, to be backstage? To be a teenage girl with a rock star for a mom? All the money and fame and traveling. Is that kind of life pure fun and adventure — or does it bring challenges the rest of us never even think about? And then — what if you threw a murder into the mix? Our research for this first book in the series took us backstage at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. On that private tour we saw what the crowd doesn’t see — the stage entrance, the dressing rooms, the special building exit for the performers. We heard stories about specific foods and furniture that musicians have requested in their contracts. We learned about security — something Shaley O’Connor is about to need more than ever . . . As you read this story, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our shoutlife page at www.shoutlife.com/theraynetour. ~Brandilyn and Amberly Collins Part 1 Friday