Friday, April 18, 2025

DARK SHADOW OF GUILT - Winged Assassin Series, Book One (TM Smith)

 



Dark Shadow of Guilt
Winged Assassin Series
Book One
TM Smith

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Date of Publication: April 18, 2025
ISBN: 978-0-3695-1163-8
ASIN: B0F2XZZ55K
Number of pages: 377
Word Count: 96,146
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Book Description:  

Dominion, a guilt-ridden Immortal who is the black-winged assassin of the OneCreator, rescues Madeline, a mortal who has been thrust into a world she never existed knew. Kidnapped, she was brought to Angor in OneWorld and tortured. As her path intertwines with Dom’s, she grapples with her evolution and newfound gifts. 

Theirs is a tale of doubt and forgiveness, forbidden love, sacrifice, and conflict that threatens the existence of OneWorld. 

Packed with puzzling occurrences and twists and turns, this is a story that will mesmerize readers from start to finish. Amidst chaos in OneWorld, their love is put to the ultimate test against looming threats that threaten the fabric of existence.

Amazon       Apple      Smashwords      BN      Goodreads      Books2Read

Excerpt:

 

Madeline dragged a fork through her potatoes, eventually shoving a bite into her mouth. When she finished chewing, she broke off a piece of crisp bacon and popped it in, licking her lips. “I was thinking about going home, but when you came into the kitchen, I realized how much help you need around here. You probably don’t pay enough attention to yourself. Like eating regularly. Your laundry. Cleaning house. I could organize stuff. Take care of your place.” She winked again. “And you.”

She tilted her chin, a strand of hair feathering across her cheek as she slipped him an irresistible smile. He followed the sweep of her tongue across her lower lip again.

Damn. Things were taking a definite turn toward strange.

Finished, Dom pushed his plate away. He gripped the handle of his coffee mug, taking a sip. Good. Brewed just right. He cleared his throat, searching for something to say. Conversation wasn’t part of his skill set.

Madeline scooted closer, thigh to thigh, a hand caressing his shoulder, floating down to clasp his bicep. “Don’t you like having me here? I could be very convenient to have around.”

When her breast brushed his arm, his heart pounded against his ribs. She was coming on to him.

Dom escaped her grip and moved out of boob range. “Be careful, little female.”

As she leaned close, her whispery breath puffed across his ear. “I’m not so little.”

“Uh-huh.” He swallowed hard. What the hell was she doing? She’d gone from scared to distrusting to cautious acceptance. Now this? Was this typical human behavior?

She inched nearer again, heat radiating off her body. He never turned down an offer from a female, and this one was cooking more than breakfast. But Dom was cautious. He didn’t like not knowing the game.

Madeline tilted into his chest and crushed her lips to his.

To hell with caution.

Not about to allow her to control the situation, Dom yanked her onto his lap, her legs straddling him. He took over, forcing her mouth open and caressing her tongue with his. As she melted against him, his cock got with the game.

 

About the Author:

T. M. Smith is the award-winning author of the Blood Coven Series paranormal romance novels and the spin-off Blood Coven World novellas. Her current release is a new romantasy, in the Winged Assassins Series, Dark Shadow of Guilt. She draws upon her imagination to craft stories about strong women and powerful but flawed men in a richly detailed magical world. After retiring from a career as an educator, Smith settled in to write something more creative than lesson plans on split infinitives and inner-school memos on noise in the hallway. She is now living in the Pacific Northwest with vampires, demons, ylves, mages, and winged beings who keep her awake at night with their tales of love and adventure.






Newsletter sign up— http://eepurl.com/h8rQVL 








Posted by at No comments:

INTERVIEW WITH ELI RAINWATER (Welcome to Jessie's)

 



A big hello to our guest today, Eli Rainwater. Welcome, Eli...we have a few questions for you.

Supernatural Central Short and Quick Interview


  1. Tell me a little bit about your main character of this book.

Jessie, who was inspired by my best friend, is a witch who was born in a small village in Scotland in the 800’s. With her long, silver curls and the laugh lines around her bright blue eyes, she looks as though she’s in her late 40’s rather than 1700’s. You’re more likely to see her in well worn jeans and obscure band t-shirts than elegant suits and dresses, especially when she’s behind the bar or chatting with regulars at her neighborhood pub called Jessie’s Place, where fae, cryptids, witches, and humans rub elbows.

Witches use elements to hone their magic, and Jessie is a fire witch. She spent years on the Witches’ Council fighting against power and greed to make sure all voices were heard and now uses skills she honed for centuries on the battlefield and in the council chamber to fight a new threat to the world. 

2. Do you believe in the paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share? 

Do I have a word count limit on this one? Yes, I do believe in the paranormal, and this is why:

As a child, I saw a woman watching my siblings and me one day under our carport. When I went to get my mother, the woman was gone, and my brother and sister had no idea what I was talking about. A few weeks later, I saw a picture of an aunt who had passed away over a year before and recognized her as the woman. 

In college, my boyfriend and I visited one of his friends, and when we went to leave, a very old baby carriage stood outside the door. It had moved from a closed room that now stood open. We were the only people in the house. 

I worked at a pub in Marietta, Ga for a few years. The pub was located in the original fire department which was established after the Civil War. I was alone setting up one day when a man in a very old uniform walked in the main room from the basement stairs, tipped his hat to me, walked into one of the side rooms, and disappeared. I finally found his picture in one of the original pictures of the first fire fighters! The owner’s wife also saw a man in the mirror over the bar dressed in a dapper, 1920’2 or 30’s suit, and we frequently felt touches like our hair being pulled or something brushing against our arms.

I managed a pub in Durham, NC that was very haunted. I have video footage of a giant connect four game moving on its own, and I often had my hair pulled when I worked alone in the office. One day a stack of papers dropped, one by one, on the desk. Another day, a sheet of tin foil dropped onto a cutting board in the kitchen, and the word “Toby” scratched itself on the sheet. We would sometimes see chairs move on the security cameras too.

When I moved into my house, I recorded my friends and I watching movies for a podcast and picked up a separate woman’s voice several times that interacted with us and the movies. Items roll across a surface on their own and then stop like someone put a hand on them, my boots topple over, and things pop out of containers. Two days ago, a friend who was staying with me heard a man’s voice very politely tell her good morning when she walked into my kitchen. These spirits seem very benevolent to the point that even my cats are comfortable in the house, and I’ve never tried to have them removed.  

3. What titles are you working on now that you can tell us about?

I’m working on a stand alone horror urban fantasy novel called The Rag Doll Collective that combines body snatching with elven lore, a new series in which a barista stumbles upon the supernatural after a stoned werecoon knocks over her trashcans when he gets the munchies, and book four of The Witch’s Bar Chronicles when Jessie and her friends take on a new threat from the cabal. 









                                                      
Welcome to Jessie’s
The Witch’s Bar Chronicles 
Book One
Eli Rainwater

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Eli Rainwater Books
Date of Publication: August 8, 2022
ISBN: 979-8-218-05342-0
ASIN: B0B8YMLBRM
Number of pages: 340
Word Count: 82.981

Cover Artist: Photo by Juliana Finch

Tagline: A vampire, a ghost, and a fairy walk into a bar

Book Description: 

When Jessie, one of the oldest and most powerful witches in the world, joined the Witch Council over a thousand years ago, she was embroiled in politics, saving the world, and trying to keep the supernatural world a secret from humans. 

Now supernaturals are out in the open and a tentative alliance between the fae, cryptids, humans, and witches is underway. Jessie finally gets to leave the intrigue and drama behind to own a bar in a small town north of Atlanta where the most annoying thing on her plate is making sure the vampire groupies don’t wind up as someone’s dinner. 

Then a gargoyle is killed in her bar. It‘s not just any gargoyle though– he was the secretary for the European cryptid ambassador to the Alliance. Finding herself in the center of an international– and interspecies– nightmare, Jessie has to rally her allies to stop a power-hungry cabal from starting a war and destroying life as she knows it.

Author Website      Amazon      BN     Apple     Smashwords     Kobo


Excerpt:

“No one will ever love me again. I shall die alone with naught to mourn my passing.”

Jessie MacCaverty stopped wiping down the bar top to raise an eyebrow at the chestnut curls belonging to the adorable and devastatingly handsome yet extremely annoying, melodramatic vampire who flounced through the door in a swirl of early autumn air and leaves before dramatically collapsing on a stool in front of her. Her bartender and apprentice Caroline rolled her blue eyes before going back to pouring beers for the amused regulars at the other end of the bar.

“Get your head off the bar. I just wiped that spot,” Jessie tucked a long, silver-gray curl behind her ear, completely unsympathetic to her friend's plight, whatever it was this time.

Nicodemus shot up on the stool, outrage and wounded betrayal reflected in his honey gold almond shaped eyes. The younger of two vampiric siblings, he was as beautiful in death as he had been in life as a long dead king’s military advisor and member of a noble family.

“You! You who are supposed to be the one I hold most dear, the most treasured of my bosom companions, have you no mercy on my poor soul? My wounded heart?”

“Not when you start talking like the bastard child of a Hallmark card and Harlequin romance, I don't.” Jessie was extremely unimpressed-- and unsympathetic.

“So be it,” he huffed, slumping back down to prop his elbows on the oak bar top that had been lovingly polished over the decades until it gleamed forever. “Take away my poet's soul. See if I care.”

Jessie beamed. “See, isn't that better? Now, do you want a drink while you calmly and sensibly tell me what's going on without all the histrionics?”

He scowled before relenting. “Fine. But none of those weird, fruity, sweet things the kids are drinking everywhere! Those colors should never have been put into anything consumable,” he shuddered in disgust.

“Caroline, make him a Manhattan, will you?” Jessie called over her shoulder.

“Sure thing, boss,” Caroline replied cheerfully, tossing her long, blonde, curly ponytail over her shoulder as she deftly flipped a martini glass over and grabbed the bottle of rye.

Nicky studied Jessie as she settled down next to him. She was tiny. Long gray curls framed a slightly oval shaped face, high cheekbones, and huge, piercing blue eyes. She lived for broken in jeans and obscure band or bar t-shirts that were so soft and well worn, they were one stitch away from falling apart. Like all witches, she stopped aging in her mid forties and was eternally in that stage of beauty when the laugh lines enhanced the late summer glow of youth.

“Now. What happened this time?” she asked, settling in for the long haul.

He heaved a melancholy sigh that sounded like it came from his toes. She resisted the urge to follow Caroline's eye-rolling example.

“I thought I met the one. He was so perfect. The gargoyle of my dreams!” Jessie choked on her tea.

“I'm sorry, the what of your dreams?”

He looked affronted. “Gargoyle! I told you about him last week!” ”

Jessie barely managed to hide a guilty look. To be fair, when he started on the love interest du jour, it could get a little... repetitive. It wasn't her fault if it was easier to tune him out and concentrate on inventory. Bits and pieces of his hours-long recitations of adoration started to come back to her.

“Oh, right! That gargoyle!”

Jared, Jessie's other apprentice and barback, a tall, young man with impeccable style and skin the color of dark chocolate and who had lined up a promising career in role playing game production, stopped with the ice bucket in midair to stare at Nicky.

“Dude! How does that even work?” He demanded, fascinated.

“Well, if you must know,” Nicky drew himself up haughtily, “Gargoyles are only stone by day when they revert to their... less attractive but more widely known visages.”

“So, what, at night they're hot?” Sometimes talking to Jared was like talking to the blunt side of a hammer and about as subtle.

“If you must put it that way, yes, they can be. Are. Usually are.” Nicky would have blushed if blood pumped through his veins. Jessie realized that he hadn't fed recently. He must really be enamored with this guy.

“Did he ghost you?” Caroline asked with a sympathetic glance. “No offense, Charlie!”

“None taken.” Charlie was the bar's resident ghost. When Mary Jo Sutton, who was still the town’s most beautiful and seductive succubus at the age of fifty, had propositioned him in the bathroom, he had neglected to mention that he had a heart condition. He swore the resulting heart attack was worth it. She still felt guilty about the whole thing.

“Ghost me? Ghost me??” Nicky was stunned, floored, flabbergasted that anyone could even consider such a thing. Jessie gave in to the urge to roll her eyes. Trying to hold back was exhausting.

“Focus!” she slapped her hand on the bar harder than she planned and instantly regretted it. “Where were you supposed to meet?”

“Well, here, tonight actually. I wanted him to meet you.”

Jessie blinked at him.

“So you're telling me that you just waltzed in here and immediately went into hysterics without even bothering to see if he was here first? I mean, we're not exactly balls to the walls over here, but it's not like we're dead either! No offense, Charlie.”

“None taken,” Charlie replied with a burp. One of Jessie's neatest (in his opinion) little pieces of spellwork involved creating a mug that acted as a portal that gave whatever it contained the ability to exist on the spiritual plane. At the moment, that happened to be beer. No one was entirely sure if the belching was necessary, but not even Jared was willing to ruin Charlie's contentment by asking and possibly ruining the experience.

Nicky looked faintly abashed. “I don't see him though! That's understandable, right? I mean, I even came late on purpose!”

Jessie dropped her head in her hand and shook it with the long suffering patience of one who realized a long time ago that their friend genuinely did not have a clue how personal relationships should go.

Nicky squirmed on his stool.

“Well... it seemed like a good idea at the time. But he didn't stick around, so it doesn't matter! And besides, I was only about fifteen minutes late!”

Jared shook his head as he walked toward the back to put away the ice bucket.

“Man, even I know better than that, and I can't keep a girl around to save my life. No offense, Charlie.”

“None taken,” Charlie replied with equanimity. He had never realized how many turns of phrase involved life or death until he himself switched from one side to the other.

“Hey, Jared, check the bathroom for trash and toilet paper on your way back, please,” Jessie called before turning back to the matter at hand.

“Admittedly, I don't really remember seeing a stranger hanging around tonight. What does he look like? And what’s his name? Also, have you tried calling him or do you have a picture, she asks, knowing that of course you didn't, you just immediately broke down into hysterics and started talking like you came off the cover of the best selling romance novel of the decade?”

Now Nicky rolled his eyes. Jessie felt herself get twitchy as she resisted the urge to pop him on the arm.

“I do not talk like that,” he protested.

“Well, no, not when you remember what year it is,” Jessie replied. Nicky pulled out his phone.

“His name is Warsaw, and unfortunately, I can't take a picture. Gargoyles turn into stone in front of a camera,” he showed her a picture of him kissing a stone... lion? dog? on the cheek while gazing coquettishly at what was obviously a phone camera perched at the end of a selfie stick.

“You carry a selfie stick? Of course you do. Why do I even ask?” She snorted in amusement.

Caroline snickered, grabbing the phone,“You're such an adorable couple! Do you think your kids would have your eyes or his density?”

“Ha ha!” Nicky glared as he snatched the phone out of her grasp. “You're so funny.” He tried-- and failed-- to regain some control of the conversation. By this point, Caroline was giggling uncontrollably, and Charlie laughed himself through his stool.

“Okay, okay, let's calm down,” Jessie grinned. “Try to call him. See what happens.”

“Fine, if it will get you all to stop cackling like a pack of hyenas,” Nicky huffed as he hit a button and held the phone to his ear.

“Wait, did you hear that?” Caroline switched from hilarity to alert in seconds. Jessie was way ahead of her.

She met Nicky's eyes with a growing sense of dread. Out of nowhere, a phone had begun to ring, a muffled sound that could only come from behind a closed door.

At the same time, they heard Jared's scream and the thud as he fell over backwards, scrambling away from the bathroom. Inside was a lifeless body that once belonged to a shy, love struck creature who had, for one brief, shining moment, thought he could have everything his heart, which would never be stone, had ever longed for and found in the deep, deep love of a whimsical, sometimes overly dramatic, slightly narcissistic vampire.


About the Author:

Eli’s love for reading started at an early age when her mother taught her to read almost as soon as she learned to talk. She discovered the fantasy genre and fell hard for it when her brother let her sit in on his D&D sessions and then lent her his collections of Dragonlance and David Eddings books while he was away at college.

Eli wrote short stories and poetry in school, but like so many of us, she never really pursued her passion as an adult. Then, COVID hit. After two years of being in “go mode” while she managed a pub, she spent a week reading in a yurt in the mountains. When she came home, she wrote and self-published her first book.

Now, Eli gets to write stories she loves and travel to conventions and events where people are nice enough to let her talk about her books and the world she created for hours on end.









Giveaway 

Sign up for Eli’s mailing list between April 15 and May 15 and receive
prints and stickers based on the most popular characters and bookmarks 

The first 20 subscribers will receive a signed paperback of Welcome to Jessie’s 





Posted by at No comments:

INTERVIEW WITH P.W. CREIGHTON (Trespassing Series)



Trespassing Series
Trespassing 1 - 9
P.W. Creighton

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, Detectives, YA Romance
Date of Publication: 2013 - 2025
Cover Artist: For The Muse Design

Tagline: When the elite own everything and are immune to consequences, trespassing may be the only way to survive…

Series Description:

Cape Cod is a community divided between wealthy socialites who established the town and the working class responsible for running it. Every year it is getting harder for residents to even make a living.

Logan Harrison is an average student attending Nauset High School, he just wants his life to be something more, to mean something. As his sophomore year comes to a close, his world is shattered by a tragic suicide that fractures his friends. In an attempt to understand what happened and deal with the guilt, Logan uncovers a twisted secret that is subtly tearing the community apart with a deadly cost.

When the elite own everything and are immune to consequences, trespassing may be the only way to survive…



Bad Reputation

Trespassing

Book One

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 12-6-2013

ISBN: 978-1492727859

ASIN: B00F0SM1YK

 

Book Description:

 

It's the last day of sophomore year for Logan, just one more day until summer vacation, and the whole school is buzzing. Someone called into the local radio show with an alarming confession, and at Nauset High School it’s all anyone can talk about.

 

Logan is more focused on just making it through the day. He has developed a reputation, and it comes back to haunt him at the worst times, even for those who supposedly know him. He just wants to make it to the end of the year party to kick off summer and ensure his girlfriend, Hailey, doesn't break-up with him. Or his car doesn't breakdown.

 

As the night progresses, Logan learns that secrets will always be exposed, and the cost of those secrets can have a deadly price. Who was responsible for the confession, and will they make it through the night?

 

 

Amazon


 

 

Sunglasses At Night

Trespassing

Book Two

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 2-28-2014

ISBN: 978-1495408649

ASIN: B00IQFF9NO

 

Book Description:

 

A Senator's daughter is dead, Nauset High School and the Sheriff's Department are under fire. They knew something was going to happen and failed to prevent it.

 

Logan is struggling with his loss, and the guilt that he now has to hide from his friends, along with the new secrets that turned the night into horror. As the funeral approaches, more questions are raised that put him in the Senator’s crosshairs. Kayla, the dream girl he met by chance, believes that there is something more going on, and pulls Logan into her world where privilege and entitlement are the norm.

 

Can Logan trust her? Is she who she seems to be? Logan is starting to learn that he isn't the only person who has secrets that he doesn't want revealed.

 

 

Amazon

 

 

Cruel Summer

Trespassing

Book Three

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 12-17-2015

ISBN: 978-1519207333

ASIN: B019I12EJ6

 

Book Description:

 

A scandalous party at the County Club has left Logan isolated and alone. His friends, old and new, have fallen victim to the gossip that is now swirling about him.

 

A chance encounter at the beach helps him to realize that he's not quite as alone as he thought, and his new accomplice, Devin, shows him that not everyone wealthy is untrustworthy. She has her own secrets and is willing to confide in Logan in exchange for his help. But trust does not come easy when former friends are involved.

 

When another shocking confession hits the airwaves, Logan begins to suspect that the spiral of death and tragedy is only just beginning. And Logan and Devin may have their own role to play.

 

 

Amazon

 

 

 

View from a Bridge

Trespassing

Book Four

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 8-2-2024

ISBN: 979-8334551107

ASIN: B0CWMW5592

 

Book Description:

 

Summer is over, it's the start of Junior year but Logan and Devin can't easily move on. Someone else is dead, and they were involved.

 

Logan is trying to protect his new accomplice, Devin, unfortunately, she is also being blackmailed. Not only did someone assault her - they took pictures, and are distributing them through the school. And she isn't the only one. What first seemed like an isolated incident that caused their friend to commit suicide, is now turning into a disturbing trend.

 

A search for answers leads Logan and his friends only to more questions and yet another death. One that they may have caused. Summer may be over, but Logan's problems are just starting.

 

 

Amazon



Everything You Want

Trespassing

Book Five

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication:  8-24-2024

ISBN: 979-8334900066

ASIN: B0DCSS7HT2

 

Book Description:

 

Logan and Devin have confronted the classmate who drugged, assaulted, and humiliated her. Unfortunately, he was murdered in front of them before Devin could get any answers or satisfaction.

 

Now, the Sheriff's Department is investigating the death of a Nauset High School star athlete, and Devin is their only suspect. This puts Logan in a race to prove Devin's innocence, before she is locked up and he becomes an accomplice to murder.

 

When a suspicious video surfaces that misrepresents the night of the murder, Logan and Devin realize that they are up against something more sinister than they ever suspected. Logan is determined to clear Devin's name, but his quest for answers may put his own family at risk.

 

 

Amazon

 

 

Here’s to the Night

Trespassing

Book Six

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 9-7-2024

ISBN: 979-8335536738

ASIN: B0DFTQRZ2R

 

Book Description:

 

Someone has confessed to the murder of Nausett High School's star athlete, but a seemingly random accident has left the shooter critically injured, leaving Logan and Devin cleared of suspicion, but without answers.

 

When they start to realize that other individuals involved with the murder and assaults have started to go missing, Logan and Devin feel compelled to dig deeper, pulling their new friends and allies along with them. As they discover more connections, they start to learn that there is a mysterious figure coordinating things behind the scenes.

 

Logan, Devin, and their closest friends are starting to learn that the deeper you go, the higher the extremes someone will take to protect themselves. The deaths at Nauset High haven't stopped just yet and the worst is yet to come.

 

 

Amazon

 

 


Never Let You Go

Trespassing

Book Seven

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 11-26-2024

ISBN: 979-8337933115

ASIN: B0DP5G6F2F

 

Book Description:

 

Logan is now starting to realize what he is up against. He is facing some very powerful and wealthy opponents, and even the Sheriff's Department is complicit. When you can't rely on the people hired to keep you safe, who can you rely on?

 

After the drive-by shooting deaths of his friends Logan and his allies have decided to take matters into their own hands. They don't want justice for their lost friends, they want payback. The Sheriff's Department refuses to investigate, but consumed by guilt and anger, Logan will not stop looking for answers.

 

As Logan continues to uncover the secrets of the Cape's elite, he begins to realize the depth of corruption in the community. Exposing secrets to the light can bring answers, but it can also lead to more deaths.

 

 

Amazon

 

 

If You’re Gone

Trespassing

Book Eight

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 12-11-2024

ISBN: 979-8342060714

ASIN: B0DQ6MHCHL

 

Book Description:

 

Logan and Devin finally are starting to feel like they have answers to some of their questions, but corruption in the Sheriff's Department continues to block them from truly understanding what is happening.

 

Finally, fully recovered from their injuries, Logan and Devin decide to dedicate time to their growing relationship but find themselves in the right place and the right time to prevent a deadly car accident. When they learn the identities of the victims, they realize that they are closer than ever to uncovering some of the secrets that led to Scarlett's death and started them on this path of tragedy and murder.

 

Scarlett's secrets take them to the elite and foreboding Nausett Academy - former school to Scarlett, Devin, and Hailey - and the home of their elusive opponent. What Logan finds will give their opponent a name - but will show who can be trusted, who has ulterior motives and what that cost will be.

 

 

Amazon

 

 


Good Girls Go Bad

Trespassing

Book Nine

P.W. Creighton

 

Genre: YA, YA Mystery, YA Romance

Date of Publication: 2-13-2025

ISBN: 979-8307541609

ASIN: B0DX55J69L

 

Book Description:

 

After the traumatic events at Nausett Academy and discovering that evidence went missing after it reached the Sheriff's Department, Logan and Devin have decided to go on an extended Spring Break. What's the point in having your own boat if you can't just take off? They are done with dealing with murder, lies, and corruption. They are ready to start a new life, one where no one knows who they are, or their history.

 

When they discover that their friends are being investigated for murdering the no-longer elusive mastermind behind the drugging and blackmail of their peers, they realize that you can't outrun your problems. Logan and Devin are confident that their friends are being framed for murder and are determined to catch the true killer.

 

Logan and Devin may have a name and a face for their opponent, but they are learning that they are always steps ahead of them, and not even death can stop their devious plans.

 

Amazon


Excerpt Good Girls Go Bad – Trespassing 9

The thirty-minute drive from Ocean View down to the gallery had taken less than half the time. It was surprising that no one had complained to send the Sheriff’s Department our way. We had jumped curbs, cut across lawns, and even taken an insane drive through the park to shave off as much time as possible but it still felt like an eternity. Orange streetlights flickered past us as I was able to put my foot down on the straightaway.

Every minute Hailey was flipping between calling and texting without a single response. Even Liz wasn’t responding to her. I completely understood her paranoia. I had felt the same thing when Hailey texted me out of nowhere to apologize. I would’ve ignored it entirely if Scar hadn’t changed my thinking. If things were large enough for us to notice, then there was infinitely more that was hidden.

Last year Jen was just a princess, pretty and bitchy with too much attitude. Everything was beneath her. No matter who she was hanging out with, the attitude never changed. She was miserable and I just kept out of the way. After Scarlett, she had changed, like all of us. She actually was nice and funny. The world was different. I actually cared about her. She wasn’t the closest of friends, but she was a friend now.

The headlights swept over a large gray clapboard building on the corner. The black shingle roof and white trim kept with the Cape-aesthetic, but it was a strange design split between a Cape home and a large boathouse. Serenity Sea Gallery was Jennifer’s burden. Her mom’s gallery was dedicated to local artists and seascape style art, she had opened it ages ago, but it never really was her priority. Much like Jen, it was just an after-thought for her mother.

I took my foot off the gas.

“No!” Hailey snapped at me. “Around back. She uses the backdoor.”

“Right.” I put my foot down again making the engine growl.

The tires screeched as I cranked the wheel to turn us around the corner of the gallery. We swerved through the narrow space between the building and a privacy fence. Standing on the brakes, I cranked the wheel again to spin the Bronco around and face the back cinder-block wall of the gallery. We slid to a stop with a pair of black steel fire-doors directly in the headlights.

Hailey didn’t even wait for us to come to a full stop. She had the door open and was out and moving by the time I took my foot off the parking brake. I didn’t bother shutting it off, instead I copied her and jumping out to sprint for the door.

“Jen?” She called out as she reached the doors trying one side without luck. “Jen?” Hailey called out again as she pulled the second door open. She ducked inside and I was a half-step behind.

“Jennifer?” I called for her.

We entered a darkened area of the gallery filled with metal shelving and wooden crates. Once the door closed to shut out the headlights it took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the room. Somewhere off to one side, the darkness wasn’t nearly as bad.

“Jen?” Hailey tried to hurry through the space but kept bumping into things as she made her way down the aisle. “Jen? Ow. Jen?” I jabbed my hand out in front of her to keep her from banging her head on a crate that was sticking out.

“Jennifer?”

“Jen?” Hailey let out a shriek when she reached the end of the shelves. “Jen!” She darted forward and I kept pace with her. We had reached a prep area with a couple of long counters, tools, and a small office just beyond. There was just enough light from the office to reveal a long shape near the center of the space. “NO!” Jennifer was hanging from the exposed metal rafters. Her bare feet lightly brushed against a work stool that had been knocked over.

I couldn’t manage a sound as the world slowed. Hailey screamed. I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around Jennifer’s legs. Lifting with all my strength had her roughly sitting on my shoulder.

“Get something to cut her down!” I commanded, but Hailey wasn’t moving. “Hailey! Get something! NOW!”

Hailey darted around and came up with some form of wire-cutters. She frantically circled around us before she scrambled up onto the closer workbench. Teetering overhead, she stretched out to cut at the cord above Jen’s head. There were a few seconds of her trying to cut it before Jen fell into my arms.

Jennifer Maack was a Pack girl, pristine, flawless, and small. Not quite as small as Devin but as soon as she fell into my arms, she felt heavier than any of the girls. She was a ragdoll, limp, and hard to balance. I shifted her around until I could carry her in my arms to a clear spot away from anything. As gently as I could, I set her on the cold concrete floor.

“Call 9-1-1,” I said and leaned in to check her. Glancing up, I saw Hailey was a complete wreck crying but still not moving. “HAILEY!” I shouted to get her attention. She finally looked at me. “CALL 9-1-1!”  She gave a quick nod and pulled out her phone.

Leaning in close, I couldn’t see Jennifer’s chest moving and I couldn’t hear her breathing. I untangled the noose to give her more space before I placed my hand on her neck. She was still warm. I fumbled around and thought I felt a pulse, but it was hard to tell.

 



About the Author:

Born in California, P.W. has spent most of his life traveling throughout the US. P.W. draws inspiration from many adventures, turning his strange reality into fiction.

Over the years, P.W. has found himself in many unusual situations, ranging from hanging off an 80 foot cliff-face in New York, to sailing off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts. P.W. has hosted archaeological excavations, and have even reported from the middle of a police stand-off.

When a teacher asked in the second grade what he wanted to be when he grew up, he didn't have an answer. He lets the characters make that decision for him.








Posted by at 1 comment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)