Never Reply All Read online

  Praise for Never Reply All

  “…the makings of an awesome page turning book. Five plus star work of art.”

  advance reader

  “It kept me reading from the very beginning and I didn't put it down until the end…”

  advance reader

  “I wanted to see what happens, the characters were interesting. …highly recommend it. I am excited to read another of your books.”

  advance reader

  Praise for Don’t Dare to Dream

  "One of the best crime novels I've read in ages, full of breathtaking twists and turns."

  —William Bernhardt, NYT best-selling author

  "When reading a good psychological thriller, I hold to a couple of mantras: “Trust no one,” and “Believe nothing.” Great advice for anyone planning to dive into Dan Friedman’s immensely entertaining debut Don’t Dare to Dream, a story in which almost nothing is as it seems.

  Friedman has created a masterful braiding of truth and lies that’s guaranteed to leave readers amazed and satisfied. A fine first outing for this talented author, and I predict new fans will be clamoring for more."

  —William Kent Krueger, NYT best-selling & Edgar Award winning author

  2019 Readers' Favorite Mystery Book Award - Gold Medalist

  “A brilliantly plotted and enthralling thriller, Don't Dare to Dream by Dan Friedman is a huge literary achievement for a debut novel, with sophisticated characters, a strong premise, and fascinating twists.

  Dan Friedman doesn't just keep the reader riveted to the pages as they follow this emotionally-charged story but keeps them guessing as well from page to page… an emotionally rich story imbued with psychological depth.

  A great read told in a smooth, irresistible voice. It kept me awake through the night.”

  —READERS' FAVORITE BOOK REVIEW

  "Fast paced thriller. I read this book in 2 sittings, taking a break for sleep and work.

  I love the way the author creates and builds the characters, makes you feel like you are sitting right next to them and are a part of their lives.

  Highly recommend."

  —Goodreads reviewer

  "With Don’t Dare to Dream Dan Friedman hits the sweet spot between the paranoia of Hitchcock and Highsmith and the subtle fear bred by the uniquely American cult of self-help and motivational thinking.

  Twisted and thrilling, you'll hate these characters one chapter and cheer for them the next.

  Highly recommended."

  —Bryon Quertermous, book editor and author

  "It's a great page-turner and would make a perfect vacation read."

  —Ken Darrow, editor

  "Read this! Kept me wondering what was going to happen all the way through.

  Recommended!"

  —Amazon reviewer

  “Fast paced thriller. I read this book in 2 sittings, taking a break for sleep and work.

  I love the way the author creates and builds the characters, makes you feel like you are sitting right next to them and are a part of their lives.

  Highly recommend.”

  —Goodreads reviewer

  "A good story, well told. Good characters and an enlightening view of the tech world. Hard to believe this is a debut book."

  —Amazon reviewer

  "I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I haven't devoured a novel like I did this one in years.

  It's refreshing to have a hero who's a pudgy, out-of-shape techie so out of touch with humanity that a complete stranger can become his best friend in minutes. He's a real human being, tossed into circumstances out of his control and dependent on others to make it out alive.

  I thoroughly recommend it."

  —Amazon reviewer

  "It was an enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining book. Fast paced and obviously well researched.

  If you like police drama and technology, you will very much enjoy this book with its unexpected twists and turns. I hope to read much more from this author."

  —Amazon reviewer

  "Excellently written, full of twists and turns in the plot and in the way the reader relates to the characters, the book is breathtaking and thrilling.

  It is highly recommended!"

  —Goodreads reviewer

  “A great book-Read it in one day and loved it!-Definitely a can’t put down type of book-I would like more from this author.”

  —Amazon reviewer

  “Captivating. Very much enjoyed this book.

  I recommend.”

  —Amazon reviewer

  Also by Dan Friedman

  Don't Dare to Dream (Agent Bob mystery book 1)

  Agent Bob mystery book 2 - coming in 2020

  Never Reply All

  Agent Bob novella mystery book 0

  Dan Friedman

  Copyright © 2019 by Dan Friedman

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For my better half.

  You’re the best.

  I love you.

  Contents

  I. Reply All

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  II. Never Reply All

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  III. End of Watch

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Author’s note

  Please leave a review

  Acknowledgments

  Turn the page for an Excerpt

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  About the Author

  Part One

  Reply All

  One

  Emily Turing couldn’t help but open the email, even though it wasn’t meant for her.

  Nicely done! She won’t see it coming, the email read.

  The email was addressed to her, but in response to another email she hadn’t written. The unknown sender had probably pushed Reply All unintentionally.

  If the email had ended there, Emily would not have minded so much.

  But it didn’t.

  The email had another line—

  Get rid of her.

  Special Agent Bob Alexis parked in the underground parking lot and took the elevator to the fifth floor. He walked through the long corridor and entered his apartment.

  “Anybody home?” he asked as he closed the door.

  He put his gun in the safe he’d installed a few months after his daughter was born. When no one replied, he took a shower, got into bed, and fell asleep immediately.

  The next thing he knew, Madison jumped on top of him.

  “Daddy! Daddy! Wake up!” she yelled with her squeaky voice.

  “What the—” He almost yelled, but when he saw his daughter he smiled and hugged her.

  “Hi, honey.”

  He glanced at the clock next to his bed. He’d only slept for two hours.

  He couldn’t stop yawning.

  “You promised you’d take me to see the new Frozen movie!”

  “I did?”

  “Yes!” She said.

&
nbsp; “Okay. Okay.” He tickled her until she asked him to stop. “Let me get up and I’ll take you.”

  He saw his wife Lisa behind Madison, half smiling at him. “Nice of you to show up,” she said and left the room.

  Bob shook his head, rose, and got dressed.

  At the theater, he bought Madison popcorn and a large soda. A few minutes after the movie started, he fell asleep in the comfortable recliner. He woke up an hour later to his own snoring, which made the whole theater laugh along with his daughter.

  He and Lisa had come to this theater a few times when they first started dating. They would share a large soda, a big popcorn, and hold hands for most of the movie.

  He missed those days.

  “How was the movie, honey?” his wife asked when they returned.

  “Ask Daddy. He fell asleep again. And when he snored, everybody laughed at him.”

  “They laughed with me, not at me.” Bob smiled.

  “Go wash your face and hands before dinner,” Lisa said.

  “I’m not hungry, Mommy.”

  “You ate popcorn again?”

  She grinned.

  “I told you not to buy her popcorn,” Lisa said. “She doesn’t eat dinner afterwards.”

  “I couldn’t say no to her,” he said.

  “That’s the problem.”

  After Madison fell asleep, they sat on the couch in front of the TV, like they did most nights Bob was home.

  “I can’t live like this anymore,” Lisa said without looking at him.

  “What do you mean?” He looked at her, but her eyes were still on the TV.

  “You’re never home. I can’t live like this.”

  “It’s my job. What do you want me to do? Quit?”

  She remained silent.

  “It pays the bills, I have to—”

  “You don’t have to do anything!” She turned to him. “You could have chosen a different job. Something that would let you be a father and a husband.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. High-tech or something?”

  “You think they don’t work all hours in high-tech? I know exactly—”

  “They work nights? They leave their family for a few days at a time?”

  Bob rose. “I’m serving my country! I’m doing this so my daughter—our daughter—can live in a better world.”

  “Bullshit! You’re doing this for your own ego. For the thrill.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “You know what’s not fair? You leaving me here alone, day in and day out, having to raise her by myself. I’ve decided I can’t stand—”

  “Mommy? What’s going on?”

  They both turned to Madison, standing in the hallway. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

  “Go back to bed, honey.” They both rose, but she gestured to Bob to sit down. Lisa led Madison back to her room.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed, but she startled him awake when she returned.

  “And when you’re home, you spoil her too much.”

  Did she notice I fell asleep?

  Did she care?

  “If you’re awake.” She sat on the couch, far from him.

  “What?” He rubbed his neck.

  “How many times do I need to tell you not to buy her popcorn before dinner?”

  “You know I can’t say no to her. Especially when I’m not around enough—”

  “That’s exactly the problem!” She rose.

  He looked toward Madison’s room.

  “She’s asleep. I had to sit next to her until she fell back to sleep.”

  “What’s—”

  “I do it almost every night. Not that you’d know.”

  He stared at the floor, which he knew his wife had wiped clean earlier. As she did every day.

  He rose and held her hand. “I’ll ask for an office job. Okay? I’ll come home every day at a normal hour. Okay?”

  She stared at him for a long time.

  “It’s too late.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I want a divorce.”

  Two

  Emily peered through the peephole and saw her neighbor, Bob, passing by her apartment.

  Should I talk to him now? She held the door handle down, but couldn’t bring herself to open it.

  They said hello every time they met in the elevator. The second time they saw each other, Emily noticed Bob had a gun.

  “Don’t worry, I’m an FBI agent,” Bob had said and smiled.

  Emily smiled back, liking the fact she had an agent next door.

  She saw the agent enter his apartment and decided she needed more time to think about what had happened. She thought of the email she’d received earlier. Emily had emailed her boss about the problem she had found. Her boss replied. Emily had not liked her reply, but before she could understand what was going on, someone else—who Emily had never heard of before—replied to both of them.

  Emily launched her email app and opened it.

  Nicely done! She won’t see it coming.

  Get rid of her.

  The original email Emily sent to Jessica showed discrepancies she’d found between the company’s bank account and reports. Nothing strange or inconsistent with her job. Why would anyone be mad at this?

  Emily wondered who had sent the email. The address it came from was a combination of letters and numbers, not a real name. Jessica, Emily’s boss, must have sent Emily the first reply, as well as to someone else, but she put him or her in BCC, which meant Emily couldn’t see it.

  But when the third party sent a reply to Jessica, he accidentally pressed Reply All, so Emily received the email as well.

  The threat.

  Was it a threat?

  What did it mean?

  Should I involve the agent? Could he help me? Will he take it seriously?

  Maybe I should wait?

  Maybe it didn’t mean anything?

  Emily was always careful when replying to emails. Her greatest fear was to email the wrong person. It had happened once to one of their potential clients, who mistakenly sent them an email they’d meant to send to a competitor.

  They had laughed for a long time in the office.

  When Emily was a little girl, her father had taught her mother how to use email. He worked as an IT guy, but her mother didn't know much about technology.

  “Never Reply All,” he told her mother. “Always double-check who you send your email to.”

  Even though Emily probably knew more than him about computers by now, it stuck with her.

  Now someone else had made the mistake, but it was her problem.

  She had noticed the agent wasn’t home much, and when he was home, he looked like someone who hadn’t slept for a week. Emily would see his wife and daughter a lot. The wife seemed friendly and was good-looking. Emily wondered every now and then if they’d break up. Bob was nice and handsome—he even reminded her a little of Brad Pitt—but he was too old for her. Besides, Emily would never mess with someone else’s husband.

  Bob had met his wife late in life. He didn’t talk much to women. He was only interested in his studies and in his job at the FBI. He wanted to save the world. As he got older, he realized the world could not be saved, but doing something to make it a better place was good enough.

  He had first seen Lisa in a bar. He went there with his partner Craig after solving a tough case. He noticed her from across the room, sitting with a girlfriend.

  “I think she likes you,” Craig said.

  “Nah.” Bob sipped his beer, looking anywhere but at her.

  “She’s looking this way.”

  “Probably at you.”

  Craig laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  Bob looked at her again. She seemed to be looking back at him.

  She smiled.

  Bob lowered his eyes. “She’s probably bored.”

  “You’ll never find another woman like that.”

  “I know.”


  “Go up to her and say something.”

  Bob shrugged. “Maybe later.”

  Craig shook his head. “You want me to go? I can talk to her for you. She’s hot.”

  “No. That’s okay.”

  When Craig got up to go to the restroom a few minutes later, Bob saw him stop next to her, whisper something in her ear, then point at Bob.

  Bob shook his head at him.

  I wish I could shoot him.

  But she smiled and nodded her head. She wrote something on a napkin and gave it to Craig, who didn’t go to the restroom. He came back and handed Bob the note.

  “She wants you to call her.” Craig sat down. “And I want to dance at your wedding. If you don’t call her, I swear to God I’ll kill you and claim self-defense.”

  “Did you call the pretty lady from the bar?” Craig had asked Bob a few days later.

  Bob shook his head.

  “Oh my God.” Craig picked up Bob’s desk phone.

  “What are you doing?” Bob asked.

  “I knew you might not call her, so I memorized her number.”