Excerpt – The Route 9 Stalker by Kelli Wilkins
Synopsis
It started with a body in the woods — and turned into a hunt for a deranged stalker.
Late one evening, Megan Graystone enters a police station and reports that she witnessed a man dumping a woman’s body in the woods.
But with no concrete proof and no sign of foul play, Detective Jim Rourke dismisses her story — until a woman’s mutilated body is found close by. As Rourke investigates the victim’s past, he learns that she was being stalked by a mysterious stranger — and so were several other murdered women.
Rourke discovers that the elusive stalker is playing a twisted game; changing identities and vanishing after each murder. With no other option, Rourke enlists Megan Graystone’s help to trap the stalker — although it means putting her in grave danger.
Can Rourke stop the stalker before he kills and disappears again?
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Excerpt
Megan held her breath, afraid to move. The slightest noise would ruin everything. If she remained perfectly still and waited another second…
A breeze rustled the copper-colored leaves canopied above her. She watched as two squirrels nibbled acorns on a half-rotten tree stump. The late October sun had faded, and in ten minutes it would be too dark to get a good picture without using a flash.
Deciding to risk it, she pressed the shutter on her digital camera and fired off a dozen shots just as one of the squirrels rubbed its face with its hand. The squirrel on the right picked up an acorn, then tensed and twitched its ears. Had he heard her?
She stayed rooted to the spot, hoping to get a few more pictures of the little guys. The squirrel on the left cocked its head to the side, then they both bolted off the stump and leapt onto a tree.
Damn! What had spooked them?
One of the squirrels clung to the tree trunk upside down, chattering at her. Was he annoyed at her?
A second later, someone came tromping through the underbrush to her left. Whoever it was wasn’t on the hiking trail. She had purposefully come to the most remote section of the park and wandered off the trail to avoid being disturbed. And of course some idiot was crashing around in the woods.
But what was someone doing here now? It was nearly dark.
She moved toward the person, weaving around the trees and ignoring the “Tssk, tssk,” warning from the squirrel.
A man wearing an olive green coat stood with his back to her. Instinctively she raised her camera and peered through the zoom lens. He had a sleeping bag or a black tarp slung over his shoulder. What was he doing?.
A tree partially blocked her view, so she inched to the left to get a better look. As she did, the man dropped whatever he was carrying onto the forest floor. He kicked the bundle hard. It rolled open a little and something white flopped out.
She zoomed in to get a better view and stifled a yelp. It was a hand. A woman’s hand wearing red nail polish. A trickle of fear ran down her spine, and she pressed the camera shutter as she backed away. A branch broke under her sneaker and she froze.
She prayed that the man hadn’t heard her. The last thing she wanted was for him to notice her. They were alone out here. The squirrel had gone quiet and the woods were deathly silent. After a few seconds, she dared a glance toward the man.
To her dismay, the man had turned in her direction. A late-day beam of light broke through the trees and reflected off his sunglasses. With a start, she realized he was looking right at her. Could he see her behind the tree? Her heart racing, she forced herself to remain still. Time seemed to stop.
Then he took a step toward her.
Her instincts kicked in and she bolted toward the trail. She snatched her red backpack off a stump as she ran past and threw it over her right shoulder. Twigs and leaves crunched behind her as the man gave chase.
“Get back here!”
Like hell.
She zigzagged between trees and leapt over fallen branches as she ran. Once she made it up the hill, she would be on the trail. The trail led to the parking lot. Parking lot meant car. Car meant safety.
She could hear the man breathing hard behind her, but didn’t dare turn around to see how close he was. She didn’t care. She dug her sneakers into the dirt as she started up the hill, trying to put distance between herself and the man.
How could this be happening? An hour ago she had come here to take a few nature photos, now she was running for her life.
The next thing she knew she was yanked backwards. She screamed and latched onto a sapling with both hands to keep from sliding down the hill. The man had grabbed her backpack and was trying to drag her toward him.
She dropped her right shoulder and shucked the pack off, sending the guy tumbling down the hill.
She kept running, never looking back.
About the Author
Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has published more than 100 short stories, 24 romance novels, and 9 mystery/thriller/horror ebooks. Her romances span many genres and settings, and she likes to scare readers with her horror, mystery, and thriller fiction.
Her latest book, The Route 9 Stalker, was published in January 2026. This mystery/thriller is set in Central NJ and follows Detective Jim Rourke on a disturbing new case. Meet him for the first time in The Route 9 Killer.
Kelli’s 24th romance, For Love’s Sake, an epic historical/fantasy romantic adventure, was published in January 2025.
In 2024, she released Surreal Escapes, a collection of 7 speculative/spooky stories. Anything can—and does—happen in this anthology.
