Not a man to dwell on the past, Stone Barrington has no choice but to rattle old skeletons when the people closest to him start dying, and he has little to go on but the suspicion that the killer might be someone he once knew. The trip down memory lane isn't all bad though, for it reunites Stone with his ex-partner, Dino Bacchetti, now head of detectives in the nineteenth precinct. Trying to find a brilliant killer in a sea of old faces is difficult enough without Stone's former love, Arrington, now Mrs. Vance Calder, resurfacing too—especially when she sets off her own fireworks coming nose to nose with his latest flame, a Mafia princess as beautiful as she is dangerous. Caught on a thrill ride of a case that tests him as none has ever done before, Stone races to find a twisted madman with a taste for blood vengeance, with only a prayer to find him before Stone's worst fears are realized. "Excellent escape reading...There's plenty of excitement as Stone and Dino race around New York chasing a killer."-- "USA Today""Woods is a no-nonsense, slam-bang storyteller.""-- Chicago Tribune" "With sharply drawn characters, a plot that's satisfying to the last dirty deed, and a story that flows with the effortless grace attained only by a master, this seductive novel will have readers twitching with suspense."-- "Library Journal"" "Worst Fears Realized" is one of his winners, starting fast and picking up speed...The story is slick, taut, and well-told. It will delight Wood's many fans."-- "Cleveland Plain Dealer" Not a man to dwell on the past, Stone Barrington has no choice but to rattle old skeletons when the people closest to him start dying, and he has little to go on but the suspicion that the killer might be someone he once knew. The trip down memory lane isn't all bad though, for it reunites Stone with his ex-partner, Dino Bacchetti, now head of detectives in the nineteenth precinct. Trying to find a brilliant killer in a sea of old faces is difficult enough without Stone's former love, Arrington, now Mrs. Vance Calder, resurfacing too—especially when she sets off her own fireworks coming nose to nose with his latest flame, a Mafia princess as beautiful as she is dangerous. Caught on a thrill ride of a case that tests him as none has ever done before, Stone races to find a twisted madman with a taste for blood vengeance, with only a prayer to find him before Stone's worst fears are realized. Stuart Woods is the author of more than forty novels, including the New York Times bestselling Stone Barrington and Holly Barker series. An avid sailor and pilot, he lives in New York City, Florida, and Maine. Worst Fears Realized By HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 9780061711909 Chapter One The pain lay buried somewhere in the depths of Stone Barrington's upper body; a cross between a slipped disc and a coronary, it seemed. It had begun after a phone conversation early in the previous winter. The call, from Arrington Carter, had ended everything. Now she was the wife of another man, living in his house, rearing his son. He would never see her again, except in her husband's company, and he would never think of her again without feeling the pain. He had never believed it would persist into the following spring, but it had. If anything, it was worse. He saw Dino a couple of times a week, always at Elaine's. Dino was his closest friend—sometimes, he felt, his only friend. Not true, of course. Elaine was his friend, and the evenings in her restaurant, with Elaine and Dino, were the only bright spots in his week. His law practice had lately been boring, a personal injury suit that dragged on and on, a bone thrown to him by Woodman & Weld, because there wasn't enough meat on it to nourish a firm with thirty partners and a hundred associates. They were ready to go to trial, and the expected settlement offer had not materialized. It was depressing. Everything was depressing. And the pain continued, assuaged only by bourbon, and he had done too much assuaging lately. He sat at table number five, at Elaine's, with Dino, and ordered another assuagement. "Let's go to a party," Dino said. "Have your next one there." "I don't feel like going to a party with a lot of cops," Stone said. "It's not a cop party." "You don't know anybody but cops," Stone said. Dino caught the waiter's eye and signaled for a check. "I know lots of people," he said. "Name three who aren't cops or Mafiosi." "It's not a Mafia party, either," Dino said, dodging the question. "Whose party is it?" "It's at a deputy DA's." "Oh. Then we get to bring our own booze." "His name is Martin B-r-o-u-g-h-a-m," he spelled, "pronounced ?Broom,' and he's got some money, I think." "Isn't he handling the Dante trial?" Dante was a crime boss, and his trial was the most important since Gotti's. "He got a conviction this afternoon." "I hadn't heard." "Don't you watch the news anymore?" "Not much." "The party is to celebrate the conviction." "How come I don't kn