Excerpt Wednesday – Silent Dreams

She chewed her bottom lip. "I couldn’t do it, Josh. It wasn’t the right time. You should’ve seen her. Some creep roughed her up and almost raped her last night. She’s in bad shape." 

"You have twenty-four hours to talk to Blaine and convince her to work for me—no more, no less. Do I make myself clear?" 

"Josh, there’s no way Blaine will go for it. She’s different—you know what I mean—too innocent. I can’t force her to do this. All the other girls came on board willingly. I’m sure there are a lot of girls who would love to join, but not Blaine. I think this is a bad business decision." 

"How I run the business is no concern of yours." 

"But Josh, what you’re asking me to do is illegal." 

"Twenty-four hours!" he snarled. "Don’t cross me, Kami." 

The line went dead. "Dammit! Now what do I do?" she muttered to herself as she leaned back in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut. Her head pounded near her temples. She prepared herself for another in a series of what were rapidly becoming daily headaches. How had she allowed herself to get into this mess? But more importantly, how could she keep Blaine out of it? She needed time, but time was the one thing that Josh Barnes would never give her.

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Excerpt Wednesday – The Black Heart

Carter emphatically shook his head. "What vendetta could anyone possibly have against my mother? It doesn’t make sense! Who would want her dead?" His eyes narrowed. "My mother didn’t have any enemies. You know that, Jake. Could it be a random act?"

 "I don’t know, Carter."

 Carter’s nostrils filled with the stench of the smoldering ruins. He coughed, and then spat at the ground. "Fill me in on what you do know, Jake." 

"There’s not too much at this point," he answered, pulling on his chin. 

"I’ve known you my entire life, Jake. You must have a theory." 

Jake was thoughtful for a moment. "I do." 

"And?" Carter persisted. 

His eyes slanted. "My theory is that the perpetrator knew your mother would be out this evening. He then entered the house and rigged up a device in her bedroom lamp that would detonate the moment she turned the lamp on." He paused. "After the lamp was turned on, everything just blew." 

Carter grabbed the sheriff’s arm. "A bomb? Why? What could my mother have ever done to cause someone to want to blow up her house with her in it? It still doesn’t make sense."

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Excerpt Wednesday – Twisted Lives

 "I didn’t do anything!" Andy cried in fear. "I didn’t steal your money, but I’ll pay you back every cent you think I took!" he choked. One move and the knife would be plunged into his throat. He had to think fast, but his mind was frozen in fear. 

The man shook his head. "You know what doesn’t make sense? Why would you be willing to pay back money you insist you didn’t take?" His forehead furrowed. "Sounds like that’s an admission." 

"I...I don’t know, but you’ve got to believe me when I tell you that I didn’t touch the money. The envelope was sealed...you saw it! They’re always sealed." 

Mr. D laughed. "If you would have counted it like you were instructed, it wouldn’t have been sealed, now would it?" 

"I didn’t touch it because you told us to never open an envelope if it’s sealed. Every envelope I’ve delivered and picked up has been sealed. You never said anything before," Andy protested. 

"Are you calling me a liar?" 

"No." 

"Now where would you get the money to pay me back?" 

"I don’t know." His eyes pleaded with Mr. D’s for mercy. "Maybe you could deduct it from my pay." 

The man frowned. "Maybe I could," he said slowly, "but I’m not going to." He grinned as he playfully poked the knife between Andy’s ribs. "Maybe there’s another way."

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Excerpt Wednesday – Maggie Quinn

 Patrick Quinn, a thin, handsome, dark haired boy of fourteen, squared his shoulders as he looked over the soggy field. He was dressed in a tattered shirt and soiled trousers; his well-worn shoes wouldn't last much longer, but he didn't worry about himself. His family depended on him. His nostrils, filled with the nauseating stench of rotting potatoes, made his stomach lurch. This year he'd hoped for a crop. Anything to sustain them. Now it was gone. He felt the weight of the world come crashing down on him.

He stooped down, surveying the field, and then picked up a rotted potato. He studied it carefully for a few seconds, and then stood and holding it tightly in his hand, thrust his arm toward the sky.

"Why!" he cried as he dropped to his knees in the putrid field. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

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Excerpt Wednesday – Murder In The Pinelands

 A twig snapped behind him, startling him. He aimed his flashlight toward the noise. The light flickered and went out. "Damn," he muttered. Another twig snapped. Aaron twisted his head in the direction of the sound as snapping twigs drew louder. Evan and the girls were getting even with him. That was it. They wanted to prove he wasn't as brave as he'd boasted. He relaxed a little.

"Not funny, man," Aaron called out as he peered into the pitch-black woods. "I know you're there, Evan. Are Jensyn and Kennedy with you?" The snapping twigs stopped. "Come on, Evan. You've made your point," he called. He glanced around himself. "What the hell?"

His voice caught in his throat as two red glowering, what he assumed were eyes glared back at him. Aaron tried to run, but fear kept his feet frozen to the spot as the glowing red eyes blinded him. His headache intensified, and he slumped to the ground.

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Excerpt Wednesday - Shattered Vows

 Robert walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from her. "So, what do you write about, anyway?" 

Farrel set her pen down. "You’ve never seemed interested before," she said, surprised. 

"I didn’t say I was interested. Just curious." 

She sighed. Why did he have to try to ruin everything that meant something to her? She wanted so much to be able to have the kind of normal relationship where they could share their individual passions with one another. She looked at him. He was dressed in an old paint stained shirt and faded jeans. His feet were bare. His attire was unusual, but she didn’t dare question it. "Mostly, I write about my feelings. Sometimes what I’m feeling pours out on paper and releases all of my frustrations. The difference is that I can control my characters so they can have the most wonderful lives with all of their dreams fulfilled." 

Robert’s eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that your life isn’t satisfying to you?" 

Farrel noticed the disapproval in his eyes as he swept over her makeup-less face and uncombed hair. Self-consciously she swept a strand of hair from her brow as she pondered his question. "No, I don’t mean to imply that. It’s just that everyone always wishes certain aspects of their lives were different. In my writing, I can fulfill all of my dreams through my characters’ actions and emotions." 

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Excerpt Wednesday - All I Want Is You

Looking at this handsome stranger brought to the surface long dormant feelings, which caused her heart to flutter as she glanced into his beautiful kind eyes. That was all it took, a glance. The unaccustomed emotion stunned her for a few seconds, and she quickly shook it off, hoping the others hadn’t noticed even though she felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

 She smiled faintly and nodded. "If you’d like, Caleb," she answered softly. "I’d love to have you join us." 

"Thank you. I would like to join you," he replied. "I haven’t gone looking for a Christmas tree in a long time, not since..." His voice trailed off. 

Tom slapped Caleb on the back and said quickly, "Good. I can use the help loading the tree." 

Rachel witnessed the sorrow in Caleb’s eyes, which left as quickly as it had come. She felt a pang of sadness for him, remembering what Kate had said about the sudden death of his wife. Holidays must be extremely difficult for him. She couldn’t imagine what pain he was experiencing and prayed she’d never have to. She hoped Caleb could find some joy in sharing the rest of the day with them. He’d certainly given the children joy today in his role as Santa, and she assumed he received even more in return, watching the children’s excited faces. Hopefully that helped to ease some of his pain.

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