I am so very thankful for my family, both two legged and four.
The past year has seen many changes, both with work and
family. Schedules have alternated and rearranged to offer us more quality time
together.
Most folks don’t consider their animals as part of the
family, but in our household, fur kids rule.
Blurb
Enter a
world where ignorance and darkness mask chaos and deceit.
Keiki’s
focus on designing drones shatters one morning when her prototype records the
murder of her friend. Captured video detailed the masked killer’s promise to
find his witness and finish the job.
Experience
has given her good reason to not trust cops, especially when they come knocking
on her door. Their suspicions narrow when her roommate disappears without a
trace.
Conflicting
evidence at a brutal crime scene leaves gossamer threads weaving a complicated
web of lies and deceit. Every lead Detective Garnett finds steers the
investigation to a deeper, darker network entangling Keiki in a labyrinth of
cunning subterfuge.
Garnett is
torn between following the letter of the law and protecting the witness
determined to clear her name. Can he earn Keiki’s trust in time to save her
life, or will a psychotic killer destroy the woman who has demolished his
emotional barriers?
Excerpt
“Aw, Keiki, if I could
find the fun button in your brain,
I’d set it to permanent on. You’re always working.” Shelly tisked but smiled. “Not that you shouldn’t love your work, but you
have an old man psyche trapped in a young woman’s body.
“The next time you
fall asleep working on your drones, I might go to town with my entire set of
permanent markers.” Shelly held her hand out to accept the offered flower
pinched from its low-growing stem. “My doppelganger would look good with cat
whiskers and exotic pink eyes.”
Nothing dulled the
pride invading Keiki’s mind as she maneuvered the drone’s controller from the
comfort of her kitchen while Shelly sat miles away in an isolated meadow.
Manipulating her
latest design to perform a simple but intricate task was the coup de grace.
Shelly needed private time to mourn her sister, yet the remote location
instilled a sense of wariness.
“If you test that
theory, I’ll replace your scented shampoo with baby oil.” The threat of laying
waste to Shelly’s makeup or hair products usually ended any debate.
“Okay, okay. Become a
spinster with hundreds of drones instead of cats. I’ll keep you in contact with
the outside world.” Shelly paused and tilted her head as if listening to
something far off.
“What is it, Shelly?”
Thanks to the hilly
terrain their two-way communication crackled off and on.
“Don’t know. Keiki,
can you extend the range on this thing’s transmission ability?”
Late fall blossoms
covered part of the drone’s camera lens to prevent Keiki from watching the
device’s slender appendage perform. From her cozy apartment, she flexed the
lever that maneuvered the mechanical arm to deliver its prize.
Instead, her entire
perspective listed sideways with a squeak.
Damn.
The soft whirr from the small rotors altered in pitch as if someone held the
device secure. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. It’s fine,
Keeks. Oh, there’s a frat party tonight, wanna go?”
“I don’t think so. And before you start, I do
have fun. I just don’t have time to hang out and party with you and Gabby. Some people stay focused on their
future.” Keiki said as she monitored her prototype’s efficiency on her laptop
and sipped a caramel latte.
Her latest brainchild
suffered from minor lapses in coordination, but she promised to have a finished
product by midsemester, just weeks away. “The left arm is stuck, can you gently coerce it forward, Shells?”
“Sure. My sister loved these flowers.”
Cross-legged in front of her private, woodland flower garden, Shelly let a
wistful sigh escape to form a small white cloud in the crisp morning air.
A distinctive snap
detailed the arm’s failure to comply.
“Oops. Sorry, Keeks.
It fell and one arm broke off above your tracker thingy. I’ll stick it in my
pocket, and you can glue it, or whatever. Do we still have audio and visual
feed?”
“Yeah.” Keiki groaned,
foreseeing the hour it would take to fix. “Don’t lose it. That thing is part of
two prototypes, but that one gets the best reception.” Keiki set her coffee
down, the cup tilting when settling on her roommate’s work access card.
“Shelly, your ID has a brown ring on it. You really should be more careful with
it.”
“How rude of me to
leave it where you’d drink your coffee.”
“That’s why we get
along so well. We think alike. I’ll stick it on my dresser. It’ll be safer
there.” Keiki switched off the drone’s motors but left the audio/visual feeds
running.
“If you’d stop losing
your own, you wouldn’t have to borrow mine… hey, did you hear that?”
“No. What?” Keiki
tried to turn her camera away, but couldn’t get a good vantage point.
“Sounded like a branch
snapping down the trail. Something big and heavy.”
“Is it a black bear?
Stand up, Shelly. You know what to do.”
A silent moment
passed.
“Hmm, must’ve been my imagination. I don’t
hear it now. Anyway, as I was saying. You’re better than family, the golden
child who’s building my dad’s mini aerial force.” Shelly snorted and thumbed
her nose at the camera. “It’s not like you’re gonna sell it to that pompous
ass, Cannon, our biggest competitor.”
“Right. As long as I
keep designing these unique gadgets, I’m like the adopted black sheep.”
“Huh. Even Dad knows
you’re the one keeping me out of trouble. Hey, about the KA party the guys are
throwing tonight. It’ll be fun. We’ll impress everyone with your fountain of useless
knowledge after dyeing your hair neon green for the race tomorrow.”
“Thanks, but I’m still
working out the kinks on this mechanical arm.” Keiki had no intention of
showing off her get-out-of-handcuffs skills to a bunch of drunken kids.
“Wish I dated a hunky private investigator.
I’ve been thinking though, that’s just it. If not for me and Gabby, you’d have
no social life at all. Why do you think—”
“We’re not dating. You
know I do his photography for extra cash. College isn’t cheap.”
“Yeah, machinist and
student by day, super sleuth at night. That’s how you keep busy and out of
trouble. No wonder my dad loves you better than me.”
On screen, Shelly’s
words halted as her jaw dropped.
“Uh… who are you? What
do you want?” Shelly leaned sideways to gain her feet, tilting the angle of the
lens.
Through the drone’s
small camera, booted feet skidded to gain purchase in the blanket of damp
leaves. The majority of the crisis continued with sound. Keiki’s imagination
supplied the visual.
No one had ever
intruded on her private sanctuary.
“I’m a messenger. I’m
gonna show your boss what happens when he refuses to work with us. We tried
being nice. Now it’s my way.”
Miles downgrading the
audio quality to mediocre didn’t soften the cruel bite of a temper coming unhinged.
A slight pause, as if
warring factions sized up the competition before a fight allowed for a shallow
breath. “What’s going on, Shelly?”
“This is private
property. My father—” Her words drifted off under the deep gravelly laughter.
Buy Links
ASIN: B0813ZXBNK
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Np51lO
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2O07i67
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2qvXngc
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2Cilodh
Over time, and
several careers, many incidents have flavored the plots of her stories. Man’s
cruelty and ingenuity for torment and torture is boundless, not contained by an
infinite imagination. Witnessing the after-effects of a teenager mugged at
knifepoint for a pair of tennis shoes, or an elderly woman stabbed repeatedly
with a screwdriver for no apparent reason, left an indelible impression that
will forever haunt her subconscious. In counterpoint, she has observed a woman
stop her vehicle in severe, snowy weather to offer her own winter coat to a stranger, a teenager wearing a threadbare
hoodie. Life’s diversities are endless.
Though her kids
are her life, writing is Reily’s life after. The one enjoyed after the kids are
in bed or after they’re in school and the house is quiet. This is the time she
kicks back with laptop and lapdog to give her imagination free rein.
In reading, take
pleasure in a mental pause as you root for your favorite hero/heroine and bask
in their accomplishments, then share your opinions of them over a coffee with
your best friend (even if he’s four-legged). Life is short. Cherish your time.
Author Links
BookBub follow: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/reily-garrett
Amazon
author pg: http://amzn.to/2nVD7CJ
Goodreads
author: http://bit.ly/2oi7kYZ
Website:
http://www.reilygarrett.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2oAp6Xo
Blog:
http://bit.ly/22HIwrk
Reily, our fur-babies always ruled the house, lol! They are/were such a huge part of our family. Wonderful post! Happy (early) Thanksgiving!
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