Red Flags: An Alexandra Mallory Short Story

by Cathryn Grant

She began to see the flicker of red flags right away, but her friend wearing the rose-colored glasses did not.

Alexandra Mallory isn’t going to let a rape go unpunished. Her wounded, violated friend insists it’s not worth the heartache and humiliation to report it. No one will take her side. But it’s not in Alexandra’s nature to let things like that go.

Alex lays her trap with meticulous care. She’s absolutely certain she’s considered every angle. She knows she has, because even though she’s inexperienced, this is not her first time.

But a man starts following her, insisting he’s seen her before, and now, she can’t stop running. Will this end in prison, her own horrific death, or will she be driven to commit another murder?

Download Red Flags, a psychological suspense short story prequel to the Alexandra Mallory psychological suspense series, if you like tales of revenge, manipulation, and badass girls.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2024

About the author

Cathryn is the author of over forty novels. She writes psychological thrillers, psychological suspense, and the ALEXANDRA MALLORY series which features a sociopath you can’t help but love. Readers say they're “absolutely addicted” to the series.

The things that cause torment in real life—obsession and revenge, guilt and envy and longing—are endlessly fascinating in fiction and she never grows tired of writing stories about characters struggling to overcome the worst.

Cathryn also writes ghost stories because who knows what lies beyond our senses—The Haunted Ship Trilogy and the Madison Keith series of novellas.

When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading, walking on the beach, or playing golf, going way out of her way to avoid hitting her ball in the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California Coast with her husband and her cat, Cleopatra.

You can get in touch with her by email, find her social media links, or sign up for her monthly newsletter at cathryngrant.com/contact. As a thank you for signing up, you’ll receive a free short story about Alexandra Mallory.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Red Flags was a riveting short story starring our favorite sociopathic vigilante Alexandra Mallory. The plot was so good and so tight and the twists were so sharp as to leave the reader wondering if they were crazy. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to get to the end. So well executed, Cathryn Grant. I felt as though I read a full length novel. You are pure genius.

[Ronita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Alexandra and her coworker friend go to a bar one night, they get picked up by Sean and his friend. Alexandra isn’t interested but her friend is, unfortunately she (the friend) gets roofied then raped by Sean. She doesn’t want to go through the all traumas of reporting it, going to the hospital etc. so she decides to just compartmentalize it and never speak of it again. Well, Alexandra has other plans for him and someone else seems to have plans for her in return.
I’m a sucker for a good vengeance story and this was short, sweet and straight to the point.

I didn’t realize Alexandra Mallory was a sociopathic character in other books so I can’t wait to check them out!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex is back doing her thing

I loved this short Alexandra Mallory story! This one gave a lot for a short story, and I loved it!