[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-129654-en":3,"doc-seo-129654-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},129654,5909887256941,"Levi","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc",1,"Story & Novel","The Devil’s Share - Wallace Stroby","A suspense-driven opening sets Christine Wynn at a remote, art-filled estate where she meets Emile Cota after arriving from LAX with Hicks. The setting blends opulent calm with unease: hidden surveillance worries, ornate rooms, and tense dialogue that delays any explanation. Repeated references to prior contacts and a recommendation from Sladden frame a mission that has been dormant for over a year, as Christine tries to gauge intent and safety before hearing the offer.","[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nBegin Reading  \nTable of Contents  \nAbout the Author  \nCopyright Page  \nThank you for buying this  \nSt. Martin’s Press ebook.  \nTo receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters.  \nOr visit us online at  \n[us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup](us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup)[ ](us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup)[For email updates on the author](For email updates on the author), click here.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nThe author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in anyway. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, [please notify the publisher at:](please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy)[ us.macmillanusa.com/piracy](please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy).  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFear begins where desire ends.  \n—Baltasar Graciá  \nThis American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you like, gives to each and every one of usa great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.  \n—Al Capone, interview with journalist Claud Cockburn, Chicago, 1930  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nONE  \nWith dusk, the setting sun turned the ocean to fire. Crissa stood on the balcony and looked out across the hills, the houses there almost hidden by the trees. Through the haze, she could see all the way out to the beach and the amusement pier, the darkening water beyond. Up here, the traffic noise from Santa Monica Boulevard was just a hum.  \nA breeze stirred the trees below, the scent of night-blooming jasmine rising up. She looked down over the ornate marble railing. A thirty-foot drop and a flagstone patio there, surrounded by a lush garden, willow trees.  \nA stone fountain in the middle, water tinkling gently.“Million-dollar view,” Hicks said behind her.  \nShe turned as he came out on the balcony. The French doors were open,  \nthe curtains moving in the breeze.“More than that, I’d guess,” she said.  \nHe was in his early thirties, lean and fit, dark hair cropped short, a twodays’ growth of beard. He’d been waiting for her when she’d walked out of the terminal at LAX and into the afternoon heat. She hadn’t been happy when she saw the car, a gleaming black four-door Jaguar. A vehicle like that would stick out, turn heads. But she’d kept her mouth shut as he put her overnight bag in the trunk, held the passenger door for her.  \nHe’d worn a shirt and tie at the airport but now was in stone-washed jeans, a tight black T-shirt. There was a tattoo on the inside of his left forearm, a green-and-red snake curled around a dagger.  \n“He’s ready to see you now,” he said.“I mean, if you’re ready.”  \nShe looked west again. The sun was all but gone, the gardens below and the trees downslope lost in shadow. The boulevard was a long line of red taillights.  \nShe followed him through the doors and into a big room with an oak worktable in its center, paintings on the walls, the domed ceiling lost in shadow.  \nShe stopped in front of a lithograph of a wolf, its head back, howling into darkness.  \n“You know art?” he said.  \nShe shook her head.  \n“But you know what you like?”  \n“Sometimes.”  \nThey went down a flight of stairs to a marble-floored room, a stone fireplace on one side, a grand piano on the other. Art on all the walls, sculptures on pedestals. There was another set of open French doors, the breeze coming through, bringing the smell of the garden.  \nThe man who came in from the balcony was in his late sixties, longish white hair combed straight back, beard neatly trimmed. He wore a white suit, a pale pink silk shirt open at the neck. His cane tapped the floor as he approached. It was gnarled and thick, would be a weapon in the right hands.“I’m sorry to ke","cbCaildhJU6lTZTm","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaildhJU6lTZTm","pdf",1753128,3,256,"English","en",105,"# ONE\n## Dusk at the estate\n## First meetings and uneasy atmosphere","[{\"question\":\"Who is Christine Wynn in the story’s opening?\",\"answer\":\"Christine Wynn is the name Christine uses for the meeting, connected to details Sladden provided her and her identity documents.\"},{\"question\":\"What makes Christine feel uneasy at Emile Cota’s house?\",\"answer\":\"She suspects hidden cameras, alarms, or someone watching, even though the house is filled with art and appears comfortable.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does Emile Cota want to meet Christine?\",\"answer\":\"He indicates he has matters to discuss and that she has been highly recommended, implying a planned arrangement tied to their shared contact in Kansas City.\"}]","The Devil’s Share - Wallace Stroby | PDF",1786107015,394,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"the-devils-share-wallace-stroby","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-devils-share-wallace-stroby/129654/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-28","2026-08-07",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Who is Christine Wynn in the story’s opening?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Christine Wynn is the name Christine uses for the meeting, connected to details Sladden provided her and her identity documents.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What makes Christine feel uneasy at Emile Cota’s house?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"She suspects hidden cameras, alarms, or someone watching, even though the house is filled with art and appears comfortable.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"Why does Emile Cota want to meet Christine?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"He indicates he has matters to discuss and that she has been highly recommended, implying a planned arrangement tied to their shared contact in Kansas City.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,96,100,104,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]