Jamie DeBree's Blog, page 49
December 23, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 31
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 23 | Ch. 24 | Ch. 25 | Ch. 26 | Ch. 27 | Ch. 28 | Ch. 29 | Ch. 30
Falling in Public
Chapter 31
Eddie's fingers brushed her shoulders as he moved behind the chair. Hoping he had a plan, Holly put her feet on the metal plates and settled back as he wheeled her into the hall. They didn't get far before Natalie called out for them to wait, and Eddie obediently stopped. Holly heard the door shut behind her, and keys jiggling against the lock. At least that had minimized the amount of people involved. That had to be good.
Natalie came around the chair and into Holly's line of sight. She looked nervous, but the gun in her hand didn't waver as she held it pointed at Eddie. So that's what nerves of steel look like, Holly thought, barely supressing a giggle.
Then Natalie holstered her gun.
"We don't have much time," she said, pulling a wallet from one of the side pockets of her pants. "I'm a police officer," she held out her badge to show them before stowing it again and turning her attention to Holly.
"I'm here on another investigation, but I recognized you from TV. You shouldn't lie, honey. It isn't good for you and you're terrible at it."
Holly chuckled. "Hopefully I'm better at lying in real life. I write fiction for a living." The officer just shook her head.
"I think I'll pass on your books then. Everyone could see that you weren't in love with Winston, so don't even try to tell me otherwise. What I can't figure out is why. What did they have on you?"
Eddie shifted, laying a hand over her collarbone. "Me," he said, gently caressing her shoulders. "A bomb blew up in my studio recently, and I'm betting that's one of the things Ellison used to secure her cooperation. Is that right, Holly?
She nodded. "That, and a bullet to the leg will slow a person down. I would have escaped a long time ago if not for this stupid bullet hole. I have another question for you though - Ellison didn't seem suprised when you pulled that gun. It seemed like you've been working together. Why is that?"
Natalie shook her head. "Sorry, I can't talk about that. Yes, we know each other, and that's all I can say right now." She took a loaded keyring out of her pocket and started flipping through the various keys. Choosing one, she detached it from the ring and handed it to Holly.
"Go across the main gate there and through those double doors - they'll be unlocked." She pointed to the double doors behind where people were lining up to board the next plane. "Follow that hall to the end, and it will intersect with another hall. Turn left, and just keep walking - it will be quite a hike. When you see an emergency exit at the end, use this key to open it, and you'll be outside in the upper parking lot. The rest is up to you."
"Thank you," Eddie said, already pulling Holly back. "We really appreciate this."
Natalie nodded. "Get going now. I'm sure there are people on the wa--"
Holly turned her head in the direction of Natalie's stare. "I don't suppose those guys are with you?"
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December 21, 2011
Writing Notes: What Makes a Story Resonate?
This is such a subjective question, but I've been thinking about it a lot in terms of my own writing…and in trying to come up with an answer, in terms of what books resonate with me as well. I'm always mystified at some of the things that readers connect to in my books, as well as some of the things they react to negatively, but in a very strong way. Honestly, I love it when people get drawn into my stories deep enough to have strong feelings one way or the other about it. I feel like I've done my job when that happens.
One thing that really resonates with me probably more than anything else is character motivations. Why people make the choices they make and how that affects everything around them fascinates me on the page just as much as it does off the page, but as a writer I think it's one of the hardest things to show the reader well. I think that's mostly because motivations and emotions are messy and often jumbled, and sometimes an action that makes perfect sense to the person performing it makes no sense whatsoever to anyone around them.
What makes a story resonate with you? Is it the people, the settings, a twisty plot? What are the things you remember about a good book long after when you can't even remember the title or author anymore?
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December 19, 2011
Weekly News & Goals 12/19/11
That will teach me to forget laundry until midnight...
ANYways...
Things on the blog(s) will be pretty normal this week. Then the week between Christmas and New Years I'll be taking off completely from all blogging, though I do have one guest post scheduled for that Tuesday (and if you want a guest spot that week, let me know - you can choose any other day). January 1st I'll post my New Year Resolutions, and the first week in January I'll be back with new schedules for all of my blogs. The serials will resume as normal that week too.
So, in schedule form:
The Variety Pages
Monday: News & Goals
Wednesday: Writing Notes – What Makes a Story Resonate?
Friday: Ch. 31 of Falling in Public
December 27th: Guest post by Jolyn Palliata
January 1st, 2012: Resolutions
January 2nd: New Schedules
Other Posts to Check Out This Week
Monday (night):
Excerpt at Rattles Flash Fiction
Tuesday:
- Ch. 32 of The Minister's Maid at FantasyRanchNovels.com
- Design of the Week at Nail ArtTuesday
Wednesday:
- Ch. 10 of Animal at AlexWesthaven.com
Thursday:
- Refocusing at Beyond the Words
- Ch. 21 of The Paramedic at TrinityMarlow.com (NSFW, adults only)
Goal Reports
I was pretty much half n half with last week's goals, as usual. Got my serial chapters in, barely, and the gifts are wrapped, etc. This week is going to be pretty light on goals, as I kind of slow down and reflect on what's *really* important to focus on in the coming year.
Writing
- 4 serial scenes
Business
- Catch up on any outstanding bookkeeping and business-y stuff before the year ends
Personal
- Endure the holiday gatherings with as much cheer as I can muster, and celebrate with the hubby when it's all over.
That's it for me...and my last news/goal post this year. I wish all of you a very happy holiday season, and I hope you'll stick around for what's coming up in the new year.
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December 16, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 30
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 23 | Ch. 24 | Ch. 25 | Ch. 26 | Ch. 27 | Ch. 28 | Ch. 29
Falling in Public
Chapter 30
"Leland Ellison, come with us, please."
The guard Holly had pushed in her attempt to be detained walked over to Ellison and took hold of one arm. Ellison twisted out of reach, redness suffusing his face as he held up both hands.
"Wait just a second here. Whatever that man said about me is a lie, and you'll be sorry if you listen to anything he has to say. I've done nothing."
The second guard turned to Holly. "Is it true that this man," he gestured to Ellison, "is trying to force you onto a plane against your will?"
She nodded. "He kidnapped me a few days ago, after he - or one of his men - shot me in the leg. That's why I wanted you to hold me - I knew if I got on that plane I'd have no chance of getting away."
The first guard shook his head. "Why didn't you just say something?"
Eddie moved to her side, resting his warm hand on her shoulders with a light squeeze. "Ellison has friends everywhere. It's hard to know who you can trust when he's involved.
"I completely agree."
Holly looked up at the guard who had been administering her strip search as a loud click filled the room. The woman was standing by the door, pointing her gun straight at Holly.
"I don't know what you boys see in these skinny blond chicks, but one thing I do know is that you are getting on that plane, Ms. Saunders. I don't care if I have to shoot you again, but one way or another, you're leaving, and everyone else is staying. Including you, Ellison."
Holly noted that Ellison was the only one who didn't seem surprised at the sudden turn of events. He folded his arms across his chest, leaning one shoulder against the wall.
"You have no idea what you're doing, Natalie," he said, shaking his head. "Winston won't be pleased if I don't get on that plane with Holly. You might think you're smart enough to pull this off, but it's not gonna happen, no matter how bad you want it."
One of the other guards reached for his gun, and Holly ducked as the room filled with sound. Three steps to the left, the guard dropped to the floor, and Natalie turned her weapon back on Holly.
"Anyone else want to be stupid?"
Eddie's hand tightened on Holly's shoulder, but she resisted the urge to look up at him. She didn't want him to get shot, and she knew what she had to do to ensure his safety.
"I'll go," she said quietly, pushing up out of the wheelchair and trying not to flinch at the pain. "There's no need to shoot anyone else. I --"
"She's not in any condition to walk," Eddie said, pushing her back down into the chair. "Let me just push her out to the plane. Then you can still hold the gun, and it will be faster than waiting for her to walk."
Natalie started to shake her head, then narrowed her eyes. "Are you armed?"
"No." Eddie held up his hands and turned in circle beside Holly, his well-fitted clothing leaving no room for weapons. Holly closed her eyes briefly, banishing images of what that clothing covered from her mind. Talk about poor timing.
"Fine." Natalie motioned toward the door with a flick of her gun. "Push the chair out to the hall. I'm right behind you, so don't get any ideas. I doubt you can run faster than a bullet."
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December 14, 2011
Writing Notes: Plots from Titles (& a peek at my 2012 schedule)
Last week I was sitting at the bar,
watching my hubby play pool (billiards, if you prefer) with his team.
This happens pretty much every Weds night (in fact, I'll be there
tonight too), so you can imagine I occasionally run into a story idea
or two. How could I not with all those people around?
In any case, across the room, one of
the other teams was discussing vegetables. Lettuce, to be exact. In
all fairness, I have no idea what they were saying about lettuce, but
it was amusing my husband.
Which made me wonder, of course – how
would you kill someone with lettuce? Or any vegetable, for that
matter?
A writer's mind is a dangerous place,
I tell ya.
In any case, I'll spare you the whole
sordid thought process (and save some plot secrets for myself), but
long-story-short, I decided to write a set of short stories
collectively called "Death by Vegetable" under my Westhaven pen
name next year. Naturally, since I was on a role, I started thinking
about titles for the stories.
By the end of the night, I had a set of
five stories titled and tentatively plotted for the veggie
collection. And then I had the brilliant idea to give the whole of
2012 a food theme, and brainstormed two more collections of five
stories each – one for my Marlow name, and the other for the "main"
me. Although to be completely honest, the title for my romantic
suspense collection was brainstormed awhile ago for a cover
project…but the nice thing about that is, I just have to "claim"
the cover from my lovely artist.
I love titles, and I love brainstorming
them. I often use titles as the catalyst for entire plots…and if
it's not the first thing I come up with, it's normally the second
or third. Some of them give me no end of trouble, but I normally sort
them out in the end.
So…a peek at next year's tentative
schedule for romantic suspense – release dates still to be
determined:
Novels
The Wise Critique
The Minister's Maid
Novella
Falling in Pubic
Short collection: BeauTeaful
Summer
Chai'd Up
English Breakfast
Earl Grey
Sencha Green
Jasmine Betrayal
The short stories will be tea themed!
I've been thinking about doing something like that for a few years
now, so I'm excited about getting started on those. I may even
start one before the new year, if I get a chance.
Writers, do you ever just sit and
brainstorm lists of titles, and use those to create your plots?
Readers, what's your favorite book
title of all time?
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December 12, 2011
Weekly News & Goals 12/12/11
The tree is up, the gifts are mostly bought (and those that aren't are not my responsibility). Aside from the dining room table (which needs to be cleaned off before I can put my nice green tablecloth on it), I've declared the halls "decked". If I don't get my cards done and mailed this week, they'll risk being New Year's cards, which is better than none at all like last year, I suppose.
In tune with my annual "regroup for the new year" thinking, I've been really considering what to do with this blog (and my other blogs – I have 11) for the coming year. I thought about discontinuing the serial stories, but that's just stupid, because no matter how many or how few people read them, they *motivate me* to keep moving forward at a set pace. I will probably change how I post them though – but not until after the current stories are finished. So there will be some changes to those, but I will continue serializing.
Variety News is very late this month – mainly due to the fact that I've had to change newsletter providers (as I've probably said before), so I have to recreate my templates and such from scratch, which is just time consuming. I managed to get the Brazen Snake Monthly out last night though, and VN will be out later this week, barring any major issues. Incidentally, starting in February I'll be including a short story with each month's newsletter – and that will be the only way to get it free before it goes up for sale…
If you've read my books and think you'd like to read more next year, you might want to consider the new subscription service I've set up for romance readers in the BSB store. For $30, you get a year's worth of unlimited ebook downloads in the romantic suspense and fantasy categories, 25% off romance paperbacks and 10% off everything else in the store. That means no matter how much I write/publish next year, you can have it all (plus everything I've already published) for $30. Sign up anytime, cancel anytime. Considering all the books I have scheduled out for publishing next year (includes shorts and novels), it's a good deal.
Oh, and Carol interviewed me on her blog last week – for the whole long-winded truth, check it out at Random Thoughts (bring tea & something to snack on!).
This Week on The Variety Pages
Monday: News & Goals
Wednesday: Writing Notes – Plots from Titles (and a sneak peak at next year's schedule)
Friday: Ch. 30 of Falling in Public
Other Posts to Check Out This Week
Monday (night):
Excerpt at Rattles Flash Fiction
Tuesday:
- Ch. 31 of The Minister's Maid at FantasyRanchNovels.com
- Ch. 19 of The Paramedic at TrinityMarlow.com (NSFW, Adults only)
- Design of the Week at Nail ArtTuesday
Wednesday:
- Ch. 9 of Animal at AlexWesthaven.com
Thursday:
- Refocusing at Beyond the Words
- Ch. 20 of The Paramedic at TrinityMarlow.com
Goal Reports
Last week didn't go too badly…I got a little behind on the business side of things (what's new), which I feel bad about because books didn't get sent out like they should have. But I kept up with the writing and got most of the decorating done, so I can't complain.
This week, more catch-up stuff, a really fun guest post (that I meant to do yesterday), and Christmas cards are at the top of my lists. I'm really trying to get all the business stuff caught up to date before the new year. Then if I keep it up, it doesn't need to be so pervasive in the future.
Goals for the Week
Writing
- 4 serial scenes
- Guest post about books
Business
- Update web site
- Send out author copies and contest books
- List Goodreads giveaway for Rattles volumes
- Update back-of-book promos
- Start updating accounting
- Variety News
Personal
- Workout 3x
- Clean off DR table
- Christmas Cards
- Wrap/send gifts
That's what my week looks like – anything fun going on in yours? All ready for the holidays?
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December 9, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 29
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 23 | Ch. 24 | Ch. 25 | Ch. 26 | Ch. 27 | Ch. 28
Falling in Public
Chapter 28
Holly's heart pounded in her chest as she shoved the security guard, praying she wouldn't get tased. Seeing Eddie had just made her more determined to make this ruse work, and when the guard reached for her, she allowed herself to fall backwards into the wheelchair, wincing at the bone-jarring shock that set her whole leg on fire. That slowed him down a little, as expected, but it didn't stop him from grabbing one of her wrists and hand-cuffing it to the arm of the chair.
"Take her to a holding cell," the guard growled, glowering down at her from his not-so-impressive height. Supressing a grin, she tried to look appropriately apologetic as she shrugged at Ellison before another guard wheeled her away. It was going to be a long couple of hours, but at least she was out of Ellison's control for the moment. If she could just figure out how to get back to Eddie, she sensed that he'd help her escape. The guards didn't seem too friendly, and might not think much of her for her stunt, but maybe if she told them what was happening, they'd help her.
Or at least hold her until Ellison had flown off with Sean.
Her chair was pushed into a small room with no windows, a table and a chair. Her captor didn't say anything, just pushed her up to one side of the table and left. Several minutes later, the door opened again and Holly looked up, expecting the guard.
Instead, a female officer entered, followed by Ellison.
"Oh there you are, darling," he crooned, coming over to place a light kiss on her cheek. "I've explained your little issue to these nice people, but they're still going to have to search you before they can release you. Naturally I insisted on being present." His expression was serious, but his eyes told her he would enjoy her humiliation.
"Take your shirt off, please."
The guard's tone was dry and she looked bored as she leaned against the table. Holly had to try one last time.
"Can you ask him to wait outside, please? I'd be more comfortable if it was just the two of us."
Ellison laughed, and then approached her, reaching for the hem of her shirt. "Oh come on, honey. Don't be shy. It's nothing I haven't seen before." Before she could protest, he yanked the shirt up and over her head, somehow wrestling it away from her arms. She started to cover herself, and then let her arms fall to either side. He wanted her to be embarrassed and humiliated. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
The guard came closer, and snapped on a pair of latex gloves. "I'm going to feel inside your bra now." She waited for Holly's slight nod, and then slipped two fingers between Holly's breasts, following the contour of each cup out to the edge. Ellison looked ready to lick his lips, and Holly shot him a warning look. The guard handed her shirt to her, and Holly pulled it over her head, grateful not just for the cover, but for the warmth as well.
"Now your pants, please."
Before Holly could try to stand, door slammed open with a loud bang and Eddie strode in, followed by the two guards from the checkpoint.
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December 7, 2011
On Prolificity (Is that a word?)
Yes, yes it is, though my spell check wanted to argue. Or the thesaurus. Whatever.
In any case, I like to think of myself as a semi-prolific writer. I write daily (or almost daily), and I put out stories on a semi-regular basis, but I have a tendency to pile myself high enough with other projects that I limit my own writing time…a sometimes bad, sometimes necessary habit. And then there's the day job – a limitation that is by and large out of my control (ie, a huge chunk of non-writing time per day).
But I really don't push myself all that hard, if I'm being totally honest. My minimum is 500 words per day. Sometimes I go as far as a thousand, but rarely. Five hundred words takes me as much as an hour when I'm off my game, and thirty minutes when I'm on. The rest of my evening is spent doing writing-related activities, but it's mostly blog posts, chatting online, reading, and business stuff (site updates, book maintenance, formatting, bookkeeping, etc).
In any case, I'm not all that fond of how my time is split out at the moment. For a writer, it's skewed, and I could be so much more prolific if I merely bumped up my word count by another 500 words per day. It wouldn't even take too long, really, especially on "on" days.
A big part of my resolutions this year is restoring balance to my project load – and while I still haven't completely given up on trying to keep all the things I want to keep, it's becoming more likely that I'm going to have to say "no" to certain things so I can say "yes" to more writing. I hate that…but I hate the thought of backing of my stories more, so I'll do what needs to be done.
I want to be more prolific. The more I write, the better I get, and I want to keep learning and growing and writing better stories and deeper characters.
Mostly, I want to write more because it's what I enjoy doing more than anything. Prolificity isn't just about getting sales or having a big shelf of books to point at (for me, anyways), it's about exploring all the ideas that swirl constantly in my head, and new ways of telling them. I want to write more. It's like an itch I just can't scratch enough.
So I guess we'll call that my number 1 resolution for 2012. Write more. Even if it means doing less "other stuff".
Are you a prolific writer? Do you want to be, or are you happier taking it slow?
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December 5, 2011
Weekly News & Goals - 12/5/11
It's been a long weekend around
here...after two fillings last Thursday, I got an infection in one of
the teeth, and had to go back in this morning for a root canal. On
the upside, this pretty much ensures that the rest of my week can't
really go anywhere but up...
So...news. My newsletter service is
closing up shop on January 2nd, and I've had to migrate
to a new one. The new service has a lot of nice features, but it's
also a paid plan and sending all the serial chapters that way would
be cost prohibitive. So I'll take care of that myself, and save the
list service for the monthly newsletters. The December newsletters
will be a little late this week, as I still need to set up new
templates, but I'll be sending out Variety News and Brazen SnakeMonthly later this week.
Also, there are an insane amount of
specials going on as far as books go right now – I'll be doing
some too, but not until the week after Christmas. Until then, check
out these deals by my buddies:
Brothers in Betrayal (romantic
suspense) by Heidi Sutherlin - $.99 cents everywhere (scroll on page
for links to Amazon, B&N, etc)
An Elemental Wind (romantic
fantasy) by Carol R. Ward - $.99 cents everywhere
All of Michelle Davidson-Argyle's books (literary/suspense/short stories) - $.99 cents on Amazon
Oh, and my thriller novella is out! Did
I mention that here? In any case, if you prefer your suspense sans
romance, and with the addition of a few more unattached body parts
than my rom. suspense novels, you may want to try Angel Eyes,
by one of my alter egos, Alex Westhaven. It's out in digital format
for the introductory price of $.99 cents, and will be out in print by
the end of the month.
So...no excuse for running out of
things to read, right?
This Week on The Variety Pages
Monday: News
& Goals
Wednesday: Writing
Notes – On Prolificity (is that a word?)
Friday:
Ch. 29 of Falling in Public
Other Posts to Check Out This Week
Monday:
Excerpt at Rattles
Flash Fiction
Tuesday:
-
Organizing Bills at Routinely
Yours
- Ch. 30 of The Minister's Maid at
FantasyRanchNovels.com
-
Ch. 17 of The Paramedic at TrinityMarlow.com
(NSFW, Adults only)
- Design of the Week at Nail
ArtTuesday
Wednesday:
- Ch. 8 of Animal at AlexWesthaven.com
Thursday:
- ??? at Beyond
the Words
- Ch. 18 (?) of The Paramedic at
TrinityMarlow.com
Goal Reports
I didn't do too badly last week,
considering the whole dental debacle at the end. Got all my serial
scenes up, and my thriller formatted and published, print copies ofthe Rattles anthologies done, and a few other things that were on the
list. All things considered, it wasn't a bad week for productivity.
This week, more of the same. I need to
get some things caught/cleaned up before the new year, so hopefully I
can sneak a little of that in too.
Writing
4 serial scenes
Business
Format print version of Angel Eyes
Formatting job for someone else
Send author copies of Rattles out
List some Goodreads giveaways
Plan out end of year
contest/giveaway
Personal
Finish the Christmas decorating
Work on getting Halloween put away
Workout 3x
Christmas cards
Send out a few gifts
That'll do for my week –
anything exciting on yours?
I'll leave you with a little Bruno
Mars...who sums up my feelings today rather nicely (though I do have
to go back to work after lunch):
December 2, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 28
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 23 | Ch. 24 | Ch. 25 | Ch. 26 | Ch. 27
Falling in Public
Chapter 28
Eddie pulled up outside Sean Winston's gated estate and turned off the engine, leaving the radio playing softly in the background. He didn't think Holly would be well enough yet to move, so the odds were against her being here. But following Sean was better than doing nothing, and with a lot of luck he'd be visiting Holly soon.
The thought left a sour taste in Eddie's mouth.
Settling back in the seat for a long wait, he was surprised when Sean came down the front stairs flanked by a couple of bodyguards carrying luggage. They got into a waiting limo, and adrenaline shot through Eddie's system as he started the car. Maybe they wouldn't make him wait after all. He pulled into traffic behind the long black car and considered the damage Sean's bomb had done to his studo - and his couch - as if kidnapping Holly wasn't enough. It would be his pleasure to take the man apart, if given the chance.
Twenty minutes later, Eddie frowned as they approached the airport. Where would Sean be going? Had they taken Holly out of the city with her shot-up leg? He handed his keys off to the valet and ran to keep Sean and his men in sight as they walked briskly down the wide mall. Checking in at a small private gate, they left the terminal for the tarmac, with no sign of Holly at all.
Just about ready to follow them out, Eddie heard a loud two-tone alarm from the security checkpoint. Glancing back out of idle curiousity, he did a double-take when he saw someone who looked just like Holly undergoing a wand search as she stood off to the side. Scanning the surrounding area, he saw Leland Ellison waiting a few feet away, looking anything but happy.
That explained a lot, Eddie thought as he tried to figure out what to do. Ellison was known for his ruthless determination to do whatever it took to get what he or his clients wanted, and he was often at the heart of some lawsuit. Somehow he always managed to evade the law, though no one really knew how. Enough people had been party to his less savory methods of doing business that it was mind-boggling how he managed to keep them all quiet.
This time, he was going down.
Holly swayed on her feet, or rather the one that appeared to be taking most of the weight, and Eddie wondered how he was going to get her out of there when she couldn't even walk on her own. As he watched, a man in a janitor's uniform approached her with a wheelchair, but she seemed to be arguing with him about using it. The security guard appeared to join the argument, and just then Holly looked over the guard's shoulder and met Eddie's gaze. Her eyes widened in recognition for a minute, and maybe even relief, though he couldn't be sure. She winked, and then turned her focus back to the security guard.
Raising both hands, she shoved him away as hard as she could, earning a collective gasp from the crowd behind her.
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