The End The Book — J.L. Robb

Not a cloud in the blue Atlanta sky, Jeffrey Ross made his morning visit to the Dunwoody Starbucks, expecting this day to be like any other. It wouldn't. Samarra Russell left her meeting at Emory Medical Center after receiving the strange call and wondered if it had anything to do with her immunology research at CDC. It was a secret, or was supposed to be.

Going home as instructed, Samarra opened the box of Valentine candy on the kitchen counter and collapsed. Before losing her balance, Samarra recognized the small finger, severed and still wearing the tiny ring she gave him for his 7th birthday. Her precious son.

She opened the note after regaining limited senses and read. If she didn't want to receive young Thomas Russell's head in a box, she would do as instructed. And she did.