Sunday Snippet: Into the Fray

A weird week ofchilly weather and lots of cleaning projects. I'm at that place where the clutteris driving me bonkers, but I don't have enough hours in the day to really focuson a good cleanout. So … I'm tackling small areas to at least make a littleprogress.

Lots of workprojects landing in my inbox. A few have been quick turnarounds, which I enjoy.I love having a project that I can finish up in a few hours. That type of workhelps when I also have three difficult manuscripts that challenge my brain andone that requires a lot of focus.

Had a solid week ofviewing. I'm still trying to finish up an episode of Peak Practice, butI made it through a full round of shows.

Started with Mr.and Mrs. Murder, an Australian mystery series. I've seen several episodesbut not in order and I'm looking forward to watching this one from beginning toend. Thoroughly enjoyed the first episode, which I had not seen.

Also started anew-to-me British crime drama called London Kills. Loved the first episodeand look forward to watching this series.

Caught another episodeof Death in Paradise introducing the new DI. Enjoyed the interactionbetween the commissioner and his new lead detective. Interesting to havesomeone Patterson doesn't particularly like as part of the team.

Started a newtwo-part Silent Witness. I'm intrigued by the premise of this one. Ithought the episode felt a little disjointed and I'm hoping the initial murdersomehow ties into the other two. Kind of happy to be guessing on this one.

Watched a funepisode of Elementary with the return of Lestrade. I love the actor, soI love the character. Plus, he's much less annoying than Mycroft.

Enjoyed an episodeof The Batman. Finally got a return of Batgirl. I'd forgotten Fireflypowered up in a big way and almost blew up Gotham. Great episode.

Caught another new-to-meepisode of Classic Rugrats. I'm not a great fan of the three-vignetteformat but I do have a lot of love for this series.

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Into the Fray,a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's theminiblurb:

Hex Harrigan usually gets Wiley Star out of trouble. WhenHex goes against a council decision and gives the go to rescue a group ofbounty hunters, he lands on the hot seat and is stripped of his authority.Wiley cuts a deal to get him reinstated and then takes the heat because shecan't and won't work without him.

And a preview snippet…

"You did what?" Wiley rana hand through her hair. "Are you insane? We're down eight people and youstrip Hex of his privileges?" Her brain spun with ways she could fix thisact of stupidity. "And you want me to take over as lead?" No way.She didn't want the responsibility.Not when the council couldn't agree on anything, up to and including the colorof the damn sky. Or pretty much anything else … hence the reason Hex shoulderedthe burden to bring their coworkers and friends back.The council head arched his brows."He went against protocol and came back alone. There has to be consequencefor his action."Wiley bit back a curse. "So,basically, if he had brought everyone home, we wouldn't be having thisconversation." She snorted. "You know how fucked up that is,right?" Did the guy work at being obtuse?Probably just came naturally.The council head shrugged. "Itis what it is." He folded his hands on the desk.Wiley wanted to smash his face intothe wall. "No, it is what you want it to be. Because you're nownine people down. We're spread too thin, and the whole reason Hex went off onhis own is because you sent me out to deal with a nothing problem that couldhave waited." She had no doubt if they'd gone together, they'd be flushwith bounty hunters again.The head council narrowed his gaze."You knew then? That Harrigan planned to attempt a rescue?" Censurelaced his tone.Hell, no. She didn't have a clueHex decided to go rogue, but she fully supported his doing so. But she wouldn'tgive creep-face the satisfaction of the truth.Instead … she might just salvagethe entire shitshow.Wiley folded her arms over herchest. "I not only knew, I planned the whole damn thing." A whopperof a lie, but she didn't care. "Give Hex his privileges back and I'll turnmine in when we get our hunters out." Creep-face would get to save faceand garner his pound of flesh while doing so.The head pursed his lips again."I suppose that's agreeable. You have forty-eight hours to enact yourrescue mission."Wiley grunted. "You don't askfor much." They'd be hard-pressed to pull anything off now, especiallywithout the element of surprise.The head's lips curved in a thinsmile. "I'm confident you'll do your best if only to leave the service ona high note." He pushed away from his desk and stood. "Clock startsat midnight."Wiley lifted her chin. "Byyour leave." She spun around and stalked to the exit.Hex would lose his shit when shetold him what she'd done.

Just getting this onestarted and I can't wait to see what the sages come up with.

 

That's it for thisweek.

Cheers!

Skye