Sarah Ballance's Blog, page 56

08.19.12 #SixSunday with Last Call

Coming this summer!

I don’t have a computer at the moment. Please bear with me while I catch up with all of your blogs!

Last week, Nick found out courtesy of the late news Rhys had been murdered. Now, he’s sitting in his apartment, alone with his thoughts.

A familiar feeling twisted Nick’s chest, suffocating him. Just like the night he shot Rhys, it took his breath, then lingered, toxic and dark. But it didn’t choke him out.

Something wasn’t right.

He toyed with his phone, dialing the same seven numbers over and over, hitting delete instead of send. Would the man he knew only as Cutter be willing to talk?

*warning: this WIP has not yet met the brutal hand of my editor.*

Enjoy your Sunday six sentences at a time!  To see other participating authors, click here.

Last Days of Freedom Blog Hop August 17th – 22nd ($10 GC)

Click image for more giveaways!

Welcome to the Last Days of Freedom Blog Hop, which is co-hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and The Elliot Review. Please be sure to visit our sponsors!

My prize this time is a $10 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner’s choice. The winner will be chosen by random.org and contacted via email, so when you comment be sure to leave your email address. And to enter, all you have to do is comment. I’d also greatly appreciate it if you’d follow my blog (doing so by email will automatically enter you in my weekly gift card giveaways) but this is not required to win.

So, that’s it! Comment with your email address for a chance to win a $10 gift card to be delivered electronically from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Thanks so much for visiting, and good luck!

By entering you agree you are 18 years or older and participation/winning is legal in your country of residence.

To see more Last Days of Freedom giveaways, click here.

Nadia Scrieva with “Drowning Mermaids” and “Fathoms of Forgiveness”

Drowning Mermaids

Deep under Arctic waters lies an ice kingdom carved into a glacier. Those who dwell within it possess magnificent biological secrets. Due to the dangers of impending war, the Princess of Adlivun is forced to flee her undersea utopia and regroup with her sisters in Alaska.

Captain Trevain Murphy is a successful king crab fisherman who has spent his life building his empire above the sea, and knows nothing of the empire beneath it. When he meets a mysterious dancer whose father has recently died, he extends kindness towards her, unaware of her unique genetics and royal lineage.

Trevain’s attraction to the enigmatic Aazuria Vellamo will involve him in dangerous designs that will forever change his life, and his perspective on himself and his world. He embarks on perilous journeys in which he will need to release all of his insecurities and inhibitions in order to survive.

Fathoms of Forgiveness

There is no divorce in the undersea kingdom of Adlivun. Marriage is a bond that lasts until death—even if death comes in several centuries, and in that time your spouse happens to become your sworn enemy. This is the conflict that General Visola Ramaris faces when she learns that the mighty Vachlan is behind the attacks on her kingdom. She has sworn to protect Adlivun with her life, but long ago, she also swore to love and honor her husband…

Visola must choose whether she will destroy Vachlan once and for all, or attempt the hardest thing conceivable: communication. After two hundred years of desertion, she has no faith in their feeble bond and knows she can never forgive him. When he threatens the person dearest to her, she must take action. Confronting Vachlan on enemy territory would be nothing short of suicide. She knows that if she falls into his custody, the deranged man would relish breaking her down and making her lose her sanity.

Princess Aazuria forbids Visola from taking matters into her own hands; she will do anything it takes to protect her friend from the man who wants to crush her. Alas, Visola is a crazy, uncontrollable warrior woman with the blood of Vikings in her veins. Why would she ever consider doing the safe and predictable thing?

Nadia Scrieva

Nadia Scrieva was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where she grew very strong from carrying heavy bags filled with books back and forth from the library. She attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a B.A. in English and Anthropology. She likes knives. Her writing always features powerful females and (mostly) honorable male characters.

Writing has been the most meaningful part of her life since she was a child. Nadia has an addiction to receiving feedback from readers, so do not hesitate to contact her with any of your comments or even just to say hello.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

“Remedy Maker” by Sheri Fredricks #giveaway & tour wide $20 #giftcard

Please join me today in welcoming Sheri Fredricks, who is here with goodies, including a $20 Amazon gift card to be awarded at the end of her tour. Before we tell you how you can enter to score that awsome prize, let’s sit back and get to know Sheri and her new release, Remedy Maker.

Welcome, Sheri, and congratulations on the release of Remedy Maker. Can you introduce readers to the story?

Hi Sarah, and thank you so much for having me here today!

Remedy Maker is about Rhycious, an ex-military centaur medic whose battle scars are hidden beneath the surface. Moments of high stress trigger hallucinating flashbacks, a condition he continually fights to overcome. When he meets Patience, a beautiful wood nymph and the race of the late enemy of his people, he learns about unconditional love…and the healing power of a single touch.

Together they must battle human hunters who wish to enslave the mythological beings, rebels taking over the centaur kingdom, and the affection they have for each other in a mythic world filled with prejudice.

This sounds like it has incredible depth! What might readers be surprised to learn about the plot or characters of Remedy Maker?

My characters aren’t the ancient mythological creatures they once were. They’re edgy, intense, and live in a modern world. Slammed between their traditional ancient beliefs and a new present-day culture, they thrive in a secret society.

Wow! That answer sure packs some punch. I’m sold already. ;c) Let’s have some fun with Remedy Maker. What’s the first sentence?

Screams of the terrified echoed through the corridors of Rhycious’s mind.

Amazing hook! What’s your favorite line in the story?

Yikes! Now that’s a tough question. Perhaps this one:

“I’ll never let anything hurt you,” he promised, leaning to kiss her lips with a long sip of aching desire.

You really have a way with words, Sheri. How about an excerpt … three sentences long! Yep, that’s it. Three!

Rhycious staggered backward on feet unbalanced as a day-old colt. Reality brought his mind to the present. The knife he held to Patience’s throat dropped, his hand stung by the guilt.

He had a knife to her throat? Eeep! And again, beautifully written. Which scene of Remedy Maker was most difficult for you to write? Why?

It would have to be the one where the three sentences above appeared. Traumatized by 200 years of war, Rhycious experiences posttraumatic stress disorder in times of stress. This scene called for the hero to come unhinged, to lose touch with reality, and find himself in an altered state of mind.

As the writer, I had to delve into Rhycious’s consciousness, to become him. To experience what he was going through and see the world through his eyes in a full-blown PTSD episode. It was very emotional and heartbreaking, and I was completely drained in the end.

Here’s a small portion of that scene:

Past and present coalesced into one. Odors of acrid battlefield smoke found only in his memory filled his nostrils, tearing his eyes, blurring his vision. A rumble, low and angry, filled the empty air between the tree trunks.

Thunder?

War drums?

It was getting louder, whatever the phantom sound was. He pulled a second weapon—his broadsword, steeling himself for a full frontal attack.

Staring across the forest floor, he couldn’t differentiate reality from fantasy. An odd sight spilled forth, like an army of invading ants. At the foot of the tree, where leafy piles had built, pine needles and twigs vibrated off the ground, dancing around one another. Root structures, tough as steel cords, heaved and rolled.

Rhycious took a deep breath and the temperature fell a good twenty notches.

Get ready, Rhy. Here they come.

Your writing is so incredibly strong. I can see how dealing with his PTSD would drain you. How about the other side of things? Which scene would you most like to experience for yourself? From whose POV?

Ah, this question is an easy one for me to answer! In the Patience’s POV, she takes a night ride on Rhycious’s back when he’s in his true Centaur form. Being ridden is considered beneath a Centaur, yet he cares enough to throw the stigma away in favor of helping Patience in her weak physical state. Can you imagine throwing your arms around the waist of a galloping Centaur, jumping fallen logs and crossing shallow streams?

I love how you use the contrast to make the moment more powerful. What inspired the title of Remedy Maker?

The title of this book didn’t come to me until nearly half way through. The common denominator throughout is that Rhycious is continually called upon to “fix” something. Whether it be sick Centuars in the royal kingdom, finding the rebels intent on killing the queen, or nurturing a very sick Wood Nymph. In each incidence, his remedies are put to the test and it goes beyond his medical skills.

A perfect fit, then! Before we take a closer look at Remedy Maker, can you share with us what you’re working on now?

I did not intend to write a series when I wrote Remedy Maker. But when it was suggested to write another “centaur book”, the idea took root.

I’m about ready to release a short story called Portals of Oz. In this piece, a Wood Nymph leaves the security of the Boronda Forest to find a little excitement in town, and bites off more than she can handle. She ends up in the Land Down Under and must figure out how to get home.

My current work in progress is tentatively titled Troll-y Yours. A sidekick of Rhycious’s, named Aleksander, will have his own story. He has a huge ego and meets the only mythic female in the Boronda Forest who isn’t fazed by his charms and good looks. Oh my, the sparks fly!

Remedy Maker

Man by day, Centaur by night, Rhycious is a remedy maker who needs his own healing.

He’s the royal physician, famous for his cures. War and posttraumatic stress disorder has broken his spirit, preventing him from finding true happiness. Then a direct order from the queen to investigate an uprising forces him out of his secluded cabin at the edge of the forest.

Patience is an optimistic, good-natured Wood Nymph who works as a mediator to ensure harmony within the Nymph sector.

Environmental pollution in the aquifer stream that feeds the taproot tree of her heart is slowly killing her. Resigned to the fact she will not live long, she sets out to discover the mysterious disappearance of her sister. Experience has taught her to deny herself the love of a male, but the gruff Centaur is different. He doesn’t push his expectations on her, only his healing nature.

When Rhycious loses his grip on reality, he believes his inability to control his disorder will drive Patience away. Nevertheless, desire flares, and Patience draws him close. Kidnapping and betrayal turn their mythic joint venture into a deadly bout.

Will their love endure when survival hinges on trusting each other?

Find it @ Temple Publishing | Amazon

Sheri Fredricks

Always on the hunt for the uncommon things in life, author Sheri Fredricks thrives on creating adventures in her mythological kingdom for her readers.

A former engineering secretary, Sheri lives on the beautiful central coast of California. “I wanted to move away from inflexible right angles and create an unboxed world with no boundaries.” A voracious reader since her early years, Sheri found her brain crowded with stories and characters of her own. “Ultimately,” she says, “my husband encouraged me to write them all down.”

Sheri loves to spend time at home. A computer hutch keeps her focused on creating stories, but the panoramic view of life on a ranch will call her outside to play in the sun.

Find her @ Website | Blog | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | LinkedIn

Giveaway

As promised, here are the details on Sheri’s giveaway! This one has multiple parts. (Isn’t Sheri awesome? *grin*)

First of all, one commenter here today will win a “fabulous prize,” so be sure to leave your email address when you say hello. Your comment will also give you an entry into the tour-wide giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card, which is pretty fabulous in itself, so be sure to say hello!

Additionally, the host with the most comments scores a (*clears throat*) “gorgeous rhinestone studded, hand decorated book bag crafted by Tina Garcia of Blingitude.com,” so y’all be sure to give Sheri an extra warm welcome. *wink*

I’d like to thank you all for being here. Sheri, it’s been a pleasure getting to know you and your book. Remedy Maker looks like a wonderful, beautifully written story! I hope everyone has a fantastic day, and do say hello before you head off to Sheri’s links. *grin*

08.12.12 #SixSunday with Last Call

Coming this summer!

I don’t have a computer at the moment. Please bear with me while I catch up with all of your blogs!

Nick is sitting in a bar mulling over his past with Rhys when the bartender notices her picture on TV. (Now, before y’all come at me with plastic cutlery, please check out the blurb. It might explain a couple of things here, lol.)

The bartender had his back turned, giving Nick a good view of the rolls at the back of Bart’s thick neck. Arm extended, remote in hand, he pumped buttons until noise filled the room.

“. . . Rhys Clark, twenty-nine . . . .”

The television. Nick craned to see around Bart just as he stepped to the side to reveal a head shot of Rhys on the screen.

Right over the headline: Murdered.

*warning: this WIP has not yet met the brutal hand of my editor.*

Enjoy your Sunday six sentences at a time!  To see other participating authors, click here.

$10 Amazon or B&N #giftcard #giveaway

Did You Know?

Every week I give away a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner’s choice, and there is only ONE way to enter: subscribe by email. Easy, right? But it gets BETTER! Once you subscribe, you are automatically entered every single week for as long as you remain an email subscriber. To enter, sign up using the subscription box at the top of the left hand sidebar. One entry today means one chance to win EVERY WEEK! That’s all there is to it–no, really, it’s that easy–but if you want the fine print, please click here.

Other Benefits for Subscribers

I offer a LOT of giveaways, and by subscribing you’ll be among the first to know about each and every one. I also keep almost all of my giveaways open to international addresses, and this does include paperbacks. (I am so thrilled to say my books have found their way to Ireland and Poland in just the last month!) Okay, enough yappin’. I know why you’re here. *wink*

Drumroll please …

This Week’s Winner

Congratulations to junegirl63, random.org’s choice for this week’s prize. Winners are announced here each week (most often on Saturday) and contacted via their winning email address, so keep an eye on my blog AND your email to claim your gift card.

Spotlight: “Maddy’s Floor” by Dale Mayer (Tour-Wide Giveaway)

Maddy’s Floor (Psychic Visions, Book 3)

Author: Dale Mayer

Publisher: Valley Publishing

Length: 90,000 words

Genre: Romance

Sub-Genre Romantic Suspense

Sub-Categories: (Action, Mystery/Thriller)

Heat Level: Steamy (Hot sex scenes/language, but not explicit)

To enter the giveaway via rafflecopter, visit the official tour page.

Available @ Amazon

Maddy’s Floor

Medical intuitive and licensed MD Madeleine Wagner thought she’d seen every way possible to heal a diseased body…then patients start dying from mysterious causes in her long-term facility.

The terminally ill fight to get into her ward. Once there, many miraculously…live. So when her patients start dropping and she senses an evil force causing their deaths, she calls on her friend and mentor, Stefan, for help. Together, they delve beyond the physical plane into the metaphysical… Only to find terror.

She wants to save everyone, but are some souls not meant to be saved?

Detective Drew McNeil has two family members in need of Maddy’s healing care, but his visits to her facility leave him wondering – who cares for Maddy? Bizarre events on her floor raise his professional curiosity. And the more time he spends with Maddy, the more personal everything becomes. When the deaths on Maddy’s Floor intersect with one of his cold cases, he realizes an old killer has returned – and Maddy’s standing in his path.

How can these people stop something that no one else can see, feel or even believe?

To enter the giveaway via rafflecopter, visit the official tour page.

Excerpt

Jansen Svaar’s room came next. With the renovations, Jansen’s bed had been shifted. He was not quite in the new area, but not as cozy as he’d been before.

Jansen hadn’t minded. The big Swede had enjoyed every one of his seventy-eight years and wasn’t ready to jump off yet. Big and robust in his prime, his physical body had withered to one battling diabetes that defied control, and cancer that defied remission. Yet, he was still here and looking so much better than when he arrived. Even his thick head of hair had returned with rich brown color. His last tests had come back with very positive indicators. So much so, Jansen wanted to stop his treatments. According to him, he was all better. If it were possible to heal by his word alone, then he’d see it done.

Maddy grinned as she recalled the many conversations they’d shared in the past.

At the entrance to his doorway, she stopped to survey his bed.

Something was wrong.

Purple energy hovered over Jansen; a thick blanket of colored haze covered his midsection. Frowning, Maddy studied the odd essence. Energy had a signature – like DNA, the energy was unique to each person. It just wasn’t as easy to identify.

She’d worked with him long enough to know it wasn’t his aura.

The smoky blanket moved.

Who or what did the energy represent? Her gaze swept the rest of the room before striding forward. The activity over Jansen did not shy away; it increased. She narrowed her gaze. The eerie silence of the room magnified the unearthly scene before her.

It wasn’t what she’d experienced the night before, racing through the hallway into chaos. She expected noises of some kind. Not this hushed silence, as if sound would shatter the intensity of whatever was going on. She frowned. A struggle of some kind was going on.

She shook her head, panic stirring inside. Could energy fight with itself? With someone else’s energy? Is that what happened to Eric? She studied the energy again. This time she saw it. The blanket of malevolence was moving over the bed and occupant, spreading and growing every minute.

Underneath, Jansen was suffocating.

His energy, tiny and thin, struggled to remain separate and distinct from the purple amoeba-like entity sucking the life force from him.

Fear shot through her. This couldn’t happen again. Maddy raced to the bedside. “Stop,” she cried out hoarsely, not wanting to disturb the other patients. “Leave him alone.”

The purple energy quivered in place but did not dissipate.

Maddy wafted her hands over Jansen’s body. Her fingers slipped into and through the mist, neither feeling it nor dispersing it. She fed her own energy into Jansen’s heart chakra, giving him her strength and will to hold on. At the same time, she closed her eyes and surrounded herself and, by the extension of her hand on his, Jansen’s body with white light. The old answer to keeping oneself safe and balanced.

The energy shifted, cooled.

She opened her eyes to find the energy still wiggling in place, the purple haze malicious in appearance. Then slowly, like fog blowing in the wind, the haze thinned before sending tendrils into the darkness.

Maddy reached out and checked Jansen’s pulse. Her medical training took over on the physical level as her medical intuitive training took over on the energy field. She observed the thread-like cord of light stretching far out of Jansen’s body, gently pulsating in a reassuring rhythm. Maddy coaxed his system to relax a little more, then to wake up gently.

“Dr. Maddy?” His paper-thin lids opened to reveal rheumy blue eyes blinking in surprise.

“Yes, it’s me, Jansen.” Maddy studied his face. “How do you feel?” He appeared fine, normal but surprised.

“Christ, I don’t know. I had the most horrible dream.” He coughed slightly and shifted position in the bed, tugging at his covers as if chilled.

“Oh?” Maddy kept her voice calm and soothing. “What was it about?”

“Like someone was pulling my soul from my body, one inch at a time.” Fear filled the old man’s eyes. His thin hands grasped hers nervously. “I don’t know what the hell it was, but I felt on a precipice between life and death. It was like meeting Peter at the pearly gates himself, and him not being too happy to see me.”

“Shhh.” Maddy stroked his hands, noting with clinical detachment that his liver spots had begun to fade. “It was just a dream. Not to worry. It’s over. I’m here, and you’re safe. Go back to sleep.”

Relief washed over his face. “Thanks, Doc. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Shifting sideways, Jansen closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

Maddy walked to the doorway, turned around and glanced back.

No sign of the purple grim reaper. Jansen was safe.

For now.

She shuddered. What the hell was happening at The Haven?

Posted reviews from satisfied readers

4.9 star rating on Amazon across 17 reviews!

Dale Mayer created a book that combined romance, suspense and paranormal elements so well that it should appeal to readers of all of these genres. (Debra)

Dale Mayer did an outstanding job with this book. I have really enjoyed the whole series and highly recommend it to everyone. The characters were well developed and the story was fantastic. I plan to read other books she’s written and can’t wait for the next book in this series. (Bizzybee)

I have only become interested in paranormal and psychic fiction in the last couple of year and this author ranks at the top of the list when it comes to combining this genre with mystery and romance. All three books in this series were so riveting I could hardly put the kindle down until I’d read all the way through (which meant some very late nights but it was worth it). (Raven) 

I couldn`t put my kindle down! This series was number 1 in psychic thrillers. i couldn`t read it fast enough but didn`t want it to end! Can`t wait for the next book. (Lala6)

Maddy’s Floor is the third book in a psychic phenomenon trilogy and although I enjoyed the first two, I thought this last book was the best of the three. Dale’s characters are well defined and the story has just the right amount of suspense, romance and action. I liked that Maddy was comfortable with her talent as a medical intuitive and that the character who wound his way through the three books played a larger role in this one. (Janet Fedor)

About the Author

Dale Mayer is a prolific multi-published writer. She’s best known for Tuesday’s Child, Hide’n Go Seek, her romantic suspense novels that was one of the final four in the Kensington Brava/Romantic Times contest this last year. Besides her romantic suspense/thrillers, Dale also writes paranormal romance and crossover young adult books in several different genres.  To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series . All her books are available in print format as well.

To find out more about Dale and her books, visit her at http://www.dalemayer.com. Or connect with her online with Twitter at www.twitter.com/dalemayer and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dalemayer.author.

Books by Dale Mayer

  Psychic Vision Series

Tuesday’s Child

Hide’n Go Seek

Maddy’s Floor

Single Title Romantic Suspense/Thrillers

Touched by Death – out now!

Novellas

It’s a Dog’s Life- romantic comedy

Young Adult Books

Dangerous Designs – Book I

Deadly Designs – Book 2 – out soon!

Vampire in Denial – Book I of Blood Ties

Vampire in Distress – Book 2 out soon!

Gem Stone Mystery Series- out soon!

In Cassie’s Corner- soon

Non-Fiction Books

Career Essentials: The Resume

Career Essentials: The Cover Letter

Career Essentials: The Interview

Career Essentials: 3 in 1

 

$10 Amazon or B&N #giftcard #giveaway

Did You Know?

Every week I give away a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner’s choice, and there is only ONE way to enter: subscribe by email. Easy, right? But it gets BETTER! Once you subscribe, you are automatically entered every single week for as long as you remain an email subscriber. To enter, sign up using the subscription box at the top of the left hand sidebar. One entry today means one chance to win EVERY WEEK! That’s all there is to it–no, really, it’s that easy–but if you want the fine print, please click here.

Other Benefits for Subscribers

I offer a LOT of giveaways, and by subscribing you’ll be among the first to know about each and every one. I also keep almost all of my giveaways open to international addresses, and this does include paperbacks. (I am so thrilled to say my books have found their way to Ireland and Poland in just the last month!) Okay, enough yappin’. I know why you’re here. *wink*

Drumroll please …

This Week’s Winner

Congratulations to maneeshaharoon, random.org’s choice for this week’s prize. Winners are announced here each week (most often on Saturday) and contacted via their winning email address, so keep an eye on my blog AND your email to claim your gift card.

 

08.05.12 #SixSunday with Last Call

Coming this summer!

I don’t have a computer at the moment. Please bear with me while I catch up with all of your blogs!

Last week we met the hero, Nick. Here, he’s thinking about Rhys, whose career was over after he accidentally shot her during an undercover operation a few months back.

Guilt had nearly cost him his own career—an end he saw fitting if he was one for giving up.

And that, he was not.

Still, though he’d only seen Rhys that morning in a glancing blow through the plate glass window of a downtown coffee shop, the ache of it came to him in physical form. Knowing while he was gone she’d been in the bar—at their table—tore him up inside.

Which was about as cliché as a guy could get, but he wasn’t out for originality.

He wanted to forget.

*warning: this WIP has not yet met the brutal hand of my editor.*

Enjoy your Sunday six sentences at a time!  To see other participating authors, click here.

Spotlight: “Spy Game” by Sue Swift

“Cyber geek meets seductive spy girl in this feverish Silicon Valley thriller… Swift delivers a fast-paced romantic romp as the spy games escalate into erotic games… brisk narrative offers an unusual blend of romantic suspense and cyber crime.”

–Publisher’s Weekly, 12/03/07

“Sue Swift sets the perfect scene for a thoroughly enjoyable spy story… a very entertaining read.”

–Coffee Time Romance

Spy Game

Someone at Richard Rexford’s Silicon Valley company is selling cyber-secrets to

foreign agents. Is it Richard himself? Ani Sharif’s first undercover assignment

with the United States Security Agency is to find out, no matter what it takes.

Previously limited to low-level jobs for the government, she’s poised to advance

her fledgling career if she can locate and break into Richard’s private laptop.

Posing as a programmer, she lands a job in his company where she has access to some of his files and to the man himself.

When Richard hires the young programmer, he doesn’t want to get involved with her. That quickly changes once he uncovers the hidden passion in young Ani. Sex between them is explosive, drawing them closer. Bondage games in bed tie their hearts even more tightly. But what will happen when Ani’s revealed as a spy?

Find it @ Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Spy Game: Excerpt

Prologue

San Francisco, California

On Saturday afternoon, Gar saw an umbrella hung in the signal tree in Golden Gate Park, so he met his contact in the Castro at midnight. To anyone watching, they’d look like two guys outside a crowded bar, sharing a smoke, but his contact passed Gar a tiny package, a package worth millions to his customers in Indonesia.

He tucked the package inside his jacket and mounted his motorcycle, heading for Potrero Hill and the shelter of a safe house. As he passed through a residential area, he slowed, and only then did he hear the growl of another motorcycle on his tail. At first he thought it was happenstance, but as he turned one corner and then the next, with the following motorcycle’s roar ringing and banging in his ears, he realized he’d been tagged.

Gar tried every trick he knew to shake the tail, but nothing worked. Too late, he saw that he’d been herded toward the shore of the bay, heading too fast down a dead-end alley, with warehouses on each side and a chained metal gate in front of him.

Braking too hard, he jerked the bike into a sharp turn in front of the ten-foot-high gate. The bike slewed on the slick, damp street, drawing a screeching curve to the left before crashing into the cyclone fence.

He hit hard and went down, his bike clattering on its side, sliding out of the fog lamp’s amber halo into the dark, misty night.

In a haze of pain, he lay stunned on the pavement, moving in and out of consciousness, with the bitterness of failure flooding his mouth.

The other motorcycle stopped. Gar heard the scrape of boots on asphalt. Blinking, he raised his heavy head a fraction to see an hourglass figure silhouetted against the golden light. He groaned and dropped his head back. One hand scrabbled toward the precious parcel, seeking to protect it.

The boots stopped close to his head. Too close, but nothing he could do about it. Too weak. Too much pain. Should have worn a helmet…

Motorcycle leathers creaked. He smelled jasmine, felt warmth, sensed she knelt beside him. He blinked again.

She had a jaunty smile and eyes that gleamed green even in the dim light. Opening his jacket, she removed the package, which contained the prototype of the computerized brain that would run some of the United States’ newest, most sophisticated guided missiles.

“Thank you.” She tucked the package into her jacket and walked away, her boots crunching. He heard her bike kick, catch, and roar away, its growl receding into the misty night.

Find it @ Amazon | Barnes & Noble