Afternoon,
Can’t say it’s a good one. I feel like I’ve been beat up. Sometimes I think I’m too old for this STUFF (you know what I want to say). Yesterday was the GA Literary Festival and I’m glad I went, sold some books, met some people, but the 1st half of the day we were outside in front of the library. It was in the fifties with a mean wind and I had the last table on the corner which caught a cross breeze. Thank God, I keep a pair of gloves in my winter jacket pocket.
When hubby and I came back from lunch, they had moved us all indoors. The crowd was light due to the weather, yet it was a positive experience, since I not only sold books, I donated to the library and I’m joining the Georgia Writers Assoc.

Before I went to bed last night, I took some Nyquil, but I still woke up with a scratchy throat, so I’m gonna take it easy and stay warm.

In the meantime, for all of you who haven’t read Ace of Hearts, (why not?) I’m posting a short excerpt. Come on, try it, you may like it!

Exclusive Excerpt from Ace of Hearts

When Shevaughn and Jared arrived, they found the apartment door open with a uniformed police officer stationed there and a host of other personnel scattered within. Shevaughn showed the uniformed officers her badge, and then stepping over things, slowly surveyed the apartment. At first sight, it looked like a case of vandalism, but then one officer led Shevaughn to the body and she faced a scene right out of some horror movie.

Good Lord!

Suddenly, the room seemed so hot she broke out in a sweat. She felt queasy and a small burp threatened to bring up her lunch. She swallowed hard and tried to keep all that sesame beef down, but a lump was stuck in her throat. It prevented her from completing this natural function and threatened to choke her. Help me through this, she silently prayed. Help me pull this off. It wouldn’t do to look weak in front of her fellow officers. She had to prove to them and herself that she could handle this. She hid a shiver and got closer to the body.

“Detective…”

One of the uniformed officers approached Shevaughn.

“We have the apartment manager and a lady who says she’s a friend of the victim in the apartment across the hall. The manager is the one who called it in.”

“Yes, I’d like to speak with them. Make sure the crime scene is secure and no reporters.”

“Shevaughn, if you want, I can talk to the apartment manager,” Jared volunteered.

“Fine, I’ll take the friend. Thanks, Jared.”

“No problem, you alright?”

“Yeah,” she lied.

Shevaughn couldn’t help feeling watched. It was as if they had her under a microscope. She had to snap out of it and get back to the business at hand. She had a job to do and do it she will. She walked to the manager’s apartment down the hall, thankful to be away from the horror she’d just witnessed.

“Hi,” she said, extending her hand to the crumbled woman on the sofa.

Shevaughn sat down on the couch beside her.

“I’m Detective Robinson. Can you tell me anything about what happened to your friend?”

“No, no, she’d said something about a big date last night. Like this could be the start…”

Joi broke off and burst into tears.

Shevaughn reached for her and Joi collapsed into her shoulder, sobbing.

“She always thought she was running’ things, you know. She thought she could handle anything, especially men and now look, look what’s happened to her. My God, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe someone would do something like that, especially not to her.”

“You have no idea who this man was?”

“No, she said she’d tell me everything today after work. She liked teasing me by keeping me in suspense.”

“Well, if you remember anything, anything at all, even if it doesn’t seem important to you, I want you to call me,” Shevaughn instructed and started to hand Joi a business card, but remembered they had her old extension on them. She hadn’t gotten her new ones yet. She crossed it out and wrote her new number on the back.

Joi took the card without looking at it.

Shevaughn left and returned to the murder scene.

___♥___

Jared was looking around the apartment, taking notes on its general appearance and then began to concentrate on the victim and her lewd body position. He wrote down the victim’s general description. Looking closely, he saw the marks on her throat.

I’d appreciate it if you post a comment and let me know what you think. One will be picked for the daily giveaway.

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