Sunday Snippet: Fireworks

Getting a laterthan usual start on my blog post today. We lost power for about four hours. Finallygot some rain after about ten days and the power blips. It's not even storming.Go figure.

Still moving along onmy work projects. I'm so excited about the two manuscripts I'm editing. Bothare part of a series with two different authors. Can't wait for the rest of theworld to see them!

Had a pretty goodweek of viewing television. I'm still in the midst of the great clean out sonot a huge amount, but a few extra hours.

Started the premiereepisode of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. So far, I'm loving it. I pausedmid-episode mainly because I want to be able to watch uninterrupted.

Caught another episodeof Brokenwood Mysteries. Quite a good mystery for this one. Thoroughlyenjoyed the episode.

Watched another episodeof Peak Practice and enjoyed it. This one had some action, which doesn'thappen often.

Enjoyed thepenultimate episode of Classic Who's season twenty-six and I'm lookingforward to the finale. Then I have to decide if I'm jumping into New Whoor taking a break.

Caught the first halfof a Silent Witness two-parter. Intriguing episode with some odd littletwists. Looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Continued myrewatch of Battlestar Galactica with "The Farm". I have mixedfeelings about this episode. Loved the creeptastic look into what the cylonsare up to on Caprica. Hated the deeper dive into my most disliked character inthe entire series. So, enjoyed watching with my co-watcher but tempered thatwith knowing what will come later with the most disliked character. Should bedoing a double-header next week!

Watched another episodeof Death in Paradise. I'm very happy to be starting this series from thebeginning and working my way through in the established order. This is such afun watch.

Enjoyed another episodeof Only Murders in the Building. Such a great episode! Things are movinginto place, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Caught the firstepisode of Madam Blanc Mysteries' second season. It's a holiday themedepisode and actually quite terrific. I'm kind of wondering if Dom and Caronwill be vying for Jean's affections, which I hope won't be the case.

And that's prettymuch it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Fireworks,a novella that throws a sibling rivalry into a new romance and that sets off achain of events putting one of the characters in danger.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Adelle Lizt and Zander McKibbet are a volatilemix—neither gives quarter when they know they're right. But with two sides toevery situation, they find some common ground in a very interesting place—theguest quarters on base.

And a sneaky peek…

Zander came to with a groan. "Whatthe hell?" Why did his head feel like a battering ram wanted to escapefrom the inside of his skull?

Pieces shifted into place in hisbrain, and he jerked upright. Drugged. We were drugged. A quick searchshowed Adelle missing. And no Samantha. But his idiot brother remained at thetable with Zander. Keith stirred and Zander kicked out at the chair across fromhim.

Keith's eyes blinked open, and hisbrows drew together. "Why'd you do that?" Reality crashed over him."Dammit!" He snapped upright and glanced around. "Where's Sam?Adelle?"

Zander growled. "Obviously nothere. That's some special woman you got yourself hooked up to." He slowlygot to his feet and wavered a little.

The room spun around him thenrighted itself and Zander clumsily made his way to the sink and filled twoglasses with water. He trudged back to the table and set one in front of hisbrother. Keith gave Zander a guilty look but drank the clear fluid down. Zanderdid the same.

When Keith finished, he set theglass aside. "So, you're thinking kidnapping, right?" He shook hishead. "Why the hell would Sam do that? Adelle is just a flightinstructor." His lips twisted in a sneer.

Zander slammed his hand on the table."Think about it, asshole. Your girlfriend is probably an enemy agent orworking for one. The new Starwing fighters are in production right now. And whogets the first look at any new spacecraft?" He waited a beat and answeredhis own question. "Flight instructors." He ran a hand through hishair.

 With Adelle being in the top-three teacher status,she would be one of the first to get the specs. Not to mention she'd also be atop candidate for flying one as soon as they were off the assembly line. Shit.If anything happened to her, Zander would cheerfully throttle his brother.

Another horrible thought hit hard."Fuck. You're not only an asshole, you're a stupid one." He pinnedKeith with a harsh gaze. "Guess what else your charming woman sees inyou?" Hell, in both of them.

Keith's head dropped back. "Aw,dammit." He shoved away from the table, his fists balled up. "Youthink she used me to get to Dad." He whirled away, a hand swiping over hishead. "I can't believe this."

Zander huffed out a breath."Well, you'd better get your head around it." He headed for theliving area and started going through Samantha's desk. "She's got us bythe balls. Because if Adelle doesn't cooperate, I'd bet my next pay grade,that's exactly what Samantha's backup plan is. Trading Adelle for access to ourold man." After all, he held a top rank in the military.

Keith pulled a cupboard door open."We don't know anything for sure…" He removed a stack of notebooksand flipped the top one open. "Aw, fuck." He handed the book toZander.

A series of encoded messages linedthe pages. Keith went to the sofa and shoved everything off the coffee tablethen spread the tablets out. Zander shook his head. The communiques were gobbledygookand probably wouldn't help. But they were also damning information.

And Zander got angry all overagain. "You sure know how to pick them, bro." He stomped over to thecouch and added the notebook to the pile. "Seriously. If anything happensto Adelle because of your girlfriend, there'll be hell to pay—"

Keith jerked his head. "Shutup."

Zander reached out and thwappedKeith's head. "No. This is bullshit—"

Keith shoved Zander. "No, shutup. I'm trying to think." He flipped through the pages and then went backto the front of the booklet.

Zander's eyes narrowed but he heldsilent. Keith picked up the notebook Zander set down and fished around for apen on the floor. He snagged one and started writing on a clean page, goingback and forth between the two notebooks.

He glanced up. "Pretty sureI've cracked their code." He turned the book around. "Look…" Hepointed to his writing then explained how he found the key. "If you'llhelp with this, we can possibly get an idea of where they went."

Zander blinked. "Geez. Youshould think about military intelligence. I can't believe how quickly you crackedthe key for these messages." His brother would be wasted as a pilot.

Keith snorted. "Let's findAdelle first, yeah?" He crumpled the printed pages in his fist. "I'mso pissed. It's pretty clear she's an enemy agent. And I really liked her,dammit."

Zander lifted his chin. "Theheart wants what the heart wants." He'd cut Keith a break because hereally did like Samantha.

Keith sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Iget it now. I shouldn't have been such an ass about Adelle." He gatheredup the notebooks. "I can't do this here. Besides, we should get on theroad. We might need to gear up for this."

Zander didn't argue. He headed forthe door.

Keith stopped Zander on the wayout. "I'm sorry about this. When we find them, leave Samantha to me."

Zander gave a nod then followed hisbrother to Zander's truck almost feeling sorry for Samantha when Keith caughtup to her.

This story is finallycoming together the way I hoped it would. Zander and Adelle are fun to writeand Keith gets to learn a valuable lesson about not messing with his sibling'slife.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye