Romantic Suspense
Date Published: 03-26-2021
Laurie Lancey has always loved the old picturesque bridge over Council Creek; it’s that beauty which gave the town its name.
But then…
A near miss… A chinese fortune cookie with a deadly warning
A murdered co-worker
She knows now the serenity is just a deception. Something sinister is going on here,
And it’s all around her.
Investigator Nick Allyn barely manages to save her when the shots are fired.
“This tells me only one thing, young lady,” he tells her firmly.
“Those bullets were meant for you.
And only you.”
EXCERPT
NICK SCOWLED as he poked the button on his phone.
“Allyn .”
“Don’t suppose you’ve seen your performance on
the news yet.” It was Captain’s Carter’s voice.
“No,” he grimaced, “not yet, but I have a feeling
I’m about to.”
“Laurie with you?”
“Yes. Sorry about that, sir. They had her place
surrounded and were beating the doors down. The
cat helped me get rid of them.”
A pause. “That was a cat?”
“Yep.”
“He looked like a panther with a white nose and
a white tail.”
“Yeah. And he’s already taken over my house.”
There was a sigh at the other end. “Eli told me
what happened at the office. Wait until tomorrow
morning, and I’ll meet you there at ten. I still need
her to identify the hitman if she’s seen him.”
Nick turned when he heard it. Laurie was bent
over, holding her belly, and howling with laughter.
He glared at her, but it did no good; it only served to
make her grow louder.
“Sounds like someone is amused,” Carter
growled.
“Does, doesn’t it?” Nick shook his head. “Can I
throw her to the press?”
“No. Keep her. It serves you right. When they
realize who you are and who you work for, the major
will likely order your suspension for three or four
days.”
Nick stared at the phone. “Oh, God, don’t tell me.
Not three more whole days with this little beast.”
“You talking about the cat or the girl?”
“The girl. She’s more of a beast than the cat will
ever be.”
“Right.” The captain sighed. “And if the patrol
has to buy channel three a new camera and
microphone, it may be longer than that. Later.”
Grumbling, Nick set the phone down and moved
into the great room. Taking Laurie by the shoulders,
he leaned down to her ear. “Amused, are you?”
She grinned upward. “Yes. Quite. Blame Molly.
She’s the one that said to turn it on. Oh, Nick. You
were really good.”
“Hm. Glad you think so. You’d better be nice to
me for a change. You may be stuck with me for
several days straight when the major in Jeff city finds
out it was me.”
Her eyes grew wide. “They’ll suspend you?”
“Without pay.” He promptly took the remote out
of her hand. “Go to your room and change clothes
while I figure out what I have to eat around here. Eli
should be bringing back my car any time now.”
Laurie moved toward the hall and stopped.
“Where’s my room?”
“The same as mine at the moment.” He eyed her
until she moved into his bedroom with the little
overnight bag and sat down next to Tips. He
scratched the cat’s big head, and Tips set up a purr
that sounded more like a roar. Nick was sure Laurie
could hear it all the way to the bedroom.
“Hey, buddy. How do you put up with her all the
time?”
One eye opened, then closed again, but the roar
increased.
Nick rose and moved into the kitchen, looking
through the fridge. He sighed. It wasn’t that nothing
was in it. But nothing seemed to go with anything
else. Fajita chicken and Italian spaghetti sauce? He
didn’t think so. Swiveling back toward the counter,
he reached for his phone, punching speed dial
number six.
Eli’s friendly voice answered. “Don’t tell me.
You don’t have anything in the fridge to fix for
supper.”
Nick scowled. “How did you know?”
“Because the last time I was at your house it was
empty. No problem. I’ll bring back your SUV at the
same time. Ben and I already traded, and I gave him
his truck back. I’ll pick you up something. What do
you want?”
“I don’t care. Anything but Chinese. I’ll pay you
when you get here. You can drive straight into the
garage. The kitchen door’s unlocked. Thanks, pal.”
“On my way.”
He heard footsteps and turned to see Laurie
peeking around the corner.
“Um… I can’t get my skirt off. The staples won’t
come loose.”
“Ah.” He reached for her hand. “Come with me.”
He led her around the sofa to sit down, and stopped,
glaring over at Tips. The cat took up over half the
couch. “Your beast will have to go on a diet, that’s all
there is to it.” He moved toward the chair and sat
down.
“Well, you could make him sleep somewhere
else.”
“Be my guest. I notice he’s sleeping in the same
place he did at your house. Wait here.” He left her
and strode into the study, rumbling through the
drawers for a staple puller. When he returned, she
had the remote in her hand.
He promptly removed it. “Oh, no you don’t.”
“I just wanted to see what was going on—” She
gasped as he plopped her over his knee, face down.
“What are you doing?”
“I can get to you better this way. Be quiet.”
Tucking one hand inside the waist of her skirt,
he proceeded to pull out the first one. The second,
he managed to pull with no trouble. The third was
difficult.
“Don’t ruin my skirt.” Blue eyes were meeting
his, as she looked back over her shoulder.
“Do you want them out or not?”
“Yes, but—ow!” Her eyes widened as his hand
connected with her bottom, hard.
“I’ll do my best. Be still.”
She silenced as he went back to work. “Third
one’s out,” he confirmed, “but not without a little
damage to the material.”
A sound in the kitchen caused both of them to
pause.
“It’s me, with your dinner.”
Eli was in the living room before Nick could
bring Laurie upright, and the expression on his
face was amused. “Hey, don’t let me interrupt
anything.”
“You’re not. I’m just trying to get the staples out
of her skirt.”
“Staples,” Eli echoed, his expression curious.
Laurie added quickly, “I broke the zipper when I
got out of bed last night. See, I didn’t know he’d
unzipped my skirt—” She closed her mouth when
Eli began to laugh, and Nick gave her a shake of his
head.
Eli grinned. “No worries. Someday, when Nick
owes me a big enough favor, I’ll call for an
explanation.” He turned. “Your dinner is on the
counter.”
Nick set Laurie on the arm of the chair. “What do
I owe you?”
“Not a thing. This has been pure entertainment
so far. Along with,” he grinned at Nick, “your
performance on the channel three news.”
Nick’s voice was dry. “So glad you enjoyed it.”
“Oh, we all did, except Carter. He has this notion
that Jeff City will be giving him a call.” He looked
from one to the other, chuckling. “We’re all taking
bets on whether or not you’ll lose a week’s pay.”
“Such loyal friends.” Nick tossed back with
sarcasm.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. But seriously, if you need
me to go get you something for supper, call me. I’ve
got nothing to do the rest of the day. Keys?” He
dropped Nick’s on the counter next to the food, and
Nick dug the keys to the pickup out of his pocket and
tossed them across the room.
“Thanks, pal.”
Laurie glared at Nick, sputtering as Eli left. “Why
didn’t you explain about my skirt?”
“Why should I?” He rolled his eyes. “You were
doing so well.” With a grasp on her arm, he once
again had her over his lap. “Only two to go. If you’ll
be still, I’ll be done in a shake. The more you wiggle,
the longer it’ll take. Of course,” he added, “maybe I
should take advantage of your position and take my
hand to your adorable little butt again. Actually, I
like doing that.”
Wide blue eyes met his. “You’re not serious.”
“Aren’t I?”
“I could sue.”
He put a firm hand across her lower back to hold
her in place, grumbling.
“It’d be worth it.”
About the Author
It all started with my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. J. Ever the elegant, perfectly coiffured lady, gave us an assignment to write a short story and read it aloud to the class.
Mine was about a group of fifth grade kids who went on a weekend camping trip, and encountered a grizzly bear. When it was my turn, I read.
Poor Mrs. J! I began to notice a twitch around her left eye sometime around the approach of the grizzly bear. By the time the body parts began flying, it had increased to her mouth, and her whole face was as white as a sheet.
But she was a trooper, and stayed upright throughout the whole story.
However, the other kids loved the story, because it was about them. Suddenly, I was hooked! Over the years, my writing changed from gory stories (my term as a kid) to space stories. Then spy stories, and finally romance. But the other thing I found I really loved was mystery and romance. I wasn’t satisfied with just reading it. I wanted to write it!
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