Exclusive Excerpt from ACCUSED

GET YOUR FREE KINDLE TODAY!AccusedBy Sherry Morris
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Kindle:  US  UK  DE  FR  ES  IT  NL  JP  BR  CA  MX  AU  INFive minutes  had  passed  since  Chloe  had  tried  to  place  the  call  to  her  job  in Washington.  As  she  lowered  the  receiver  toward  the  telephone  cradle,  she  finally faintly heard him say, “Personnel, Mr. Wimpledink.”Chloe rammed the receiver onto her ear. She began her rehearsed sob story—“Hello Mr.  Wimpledink, this is Chloe Lambert. I’m in North Carolina, my mother’s had a stroke and I must tend to her while she convalesces. It’s…it’s too early for a prognosis.” Chloe sniffled. “I need a leave of  absence… My landlady will come and get my last check on pay day.” Please let him believe this big fat lie…Right on cue, he was sympathetic. “I’m so very sorry to hear that, Miss Lambert. Is there anything I can do to help?”“No, thank you. I don’t even know if I can help her now.” Her voice trembled.“I understand. I can give you about a month, but after that I cannot guarantee that we will continue to pick up your slack…you understand.”“Yes, yes I do. Thank you. Goodbye.” Stunned, she hung up the phone. That had gone too well. No mention of Bill or his murder.Rubbing her ear, Chloe shouldered open the swinging door and left the kitchen. Hungry  people  filled  the  bakery.  The  bell  tinkled  as  people  entered  and  left.  She scanned the crowd, but unfortunately, not one soldier was in the bunch. “Can I be of some help to you, Mr. Grogan?”“Oh no, don’t bother yerself one bit Snow White. Go. Have some sunshine.”“The sunshine will wait. I need to find a job first. Anything at all will do.” The sooner the better. I need to assimilate into Miami Beach and get my fresh start.Paddy filled two boxes with assorted doughnuts and shoved them in her arms. “1500 Collins Avenue—the bank. Tell the manager I sent ye.”Chloe carried the heavenly-smelling boxes outside. The skies were partly cloudy, mostly  bright  blue.  With  the  morning  breeze  blowing  through  her  hair,  Chloe  felt pretty. As she waited on the  corner to cross the street, she snuck a chocolate frosted doughnut from the top box. A long convoy of army trucks trudged along. By the time she’d made it to the bank, two more doughnuts had gone away without leave, as the soldiers would say.The short, bald, gourd-nosed guard smiled as he held the door open for her. “Take them to Mr. DuNoir, the last office on the left, miss.”Chloe looked at his gold wedding ring. She wasn’t too disappointed he was taken. Just because I need a husband doesn’t mean I have to be stuck with an ugly one. He’s almost as ugly as that poor nun from the train. In fact, they could be siblings. Chloe proceeded through the small nearly empty bank. Locating the manager’s office, she knocked on the glass of the open door.He smoothed his white slicked-back hair and beckoned her in.She said, “Patrick Grogan sent me.” Chloe noticed his eyes. One was mud brown, the other ice blue. Averting her gaze, she put the boxes on his desk, shuffling the full one to the top. A sense of familiarity made her try to conjure him up in her memory, but she couldn’t place him. And no way would she have forgotten those dichromatic eyes. Ha, maybe that’s why he’s familiar. I remember that from the chapter on family traits in biology class. This whole town is déjà vu-ish..His voice was inflectionless. “Well, that was fast work. Paddy is a dependable oldIrishman. What’s your name? Any banking experience?”Taken aback,  Chloe  smiled  as  she  gave  her  name  but  denied  previous  work experience. There is no way I can use the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as a reference for a bank in Miami Beach. As soon as he called to check, my jig would go kaboom.“Education?”“I’ve got a bachelor’s degree. In home economics.”“The position of Girl Friday will be yours tomorrow. Report in promptly at 8:50 a.m. and be prepared to be flexibly bored, but continuously busy.”* * * * *Chloe’s first week at the bank was quite hectic. She was forever running for coffee from the drugstore at the other end of the block. As she stood in the ever-present line, her gaze always halted upon a pair of porcelain cherubs on the clearance table. The first time she saw them, it occurred to her  that babies had to die in order for there to be cherubs in heaven. Chloe always shuddered and teared up. I’ll be so glad when they sell those.Mr. DuNoir liked his coffee piping hot, with double cream. She learned to ask for the cream separately. The diligent Girl Friday stirred it in as she served him. That way the refrigerated cream didn’t cool it off as she waddled down the street.When Chloe  wasn’t  fetching  this  or  those,  she  sat  at  her  cramped  little  table counting pennies. Bags and bags and bags of pennies. They never ceased to reproduce. Once in a while a dime  would weasel its way in. Between the copper and the steel pennies, and her eyes crossing, things got exasperating at times. Especially when some inconsiderate cad would walk by and blurt out a number,  on purpose probably. She forgot where she was and had to begin again.The bank only had one teller and Chloe didn’t notice many people coming and going. Well, what with the war going on, and since the darned army had taken over, she guessed that would put a hurt on the banking business.Perspiring profusely, Chloe knew her wool and tweed suits were out of place in this steamy climate. Not only that, but living over a bakery was fattening. She now had to loop a rubber band in the buttonhole of her skirt because she could only zip it halfway up. She tied it, pulled it through and hooked it onto the button. Her untucked blouse covered  the  embarrassment.  Chloe  made  a  mental  note  to  go  shopping  for  a  new wardrobe next week. Well, at least a new skirt or two. And I need to get introduced to some soldiers, right away.