New Excerpt from Railroad Ties: Another Assassination Attempt?
How about another excerpt from my brand new mystery, Railroad Ties: the MarmionGrove Murders?
The hero of Railroad Ties: theMarmion Grove Murders, Noah Pennyman, is into extremesports—scuba diving, cliff scaling, sky diving, mountain climbing among them.He thinks it stands him in good stead in defending against the several attemptson his life. Our heroine Sophie isn’t so sure.
Another Attempt
“Someone tried to kill you again?”
“You needn’t sound so skeptical. Theperpetrator obviously hasn’t finished the job, so it makes sense he would takeanother stab at it.” Noah massaged his back. “I hope he’s not being paid forthis. So far he’s proven to be pretty incompetent.”
“And you’d prefer he succeed?”
“Well, no, of course not. Still, hisattempts have hardly shown the level of professionalism one would expect froman assassin.”
“Assassin! Who do you think you are,the petty despot of a banana republic?”
He perked up. “Cool. Do I get athrone? A personal army? Maybe a gem-encrusted crown?”
“How about a tinfoil cap?”
“Huh.” He looked at the refrigerator.“Could you get me a beer?”
“It’s four o’clock in the morning!”
He shifted on the hard seat. “Leastyou could do.”
“Tough.” Ignoring his grousing, Sophiesaid firmly, “Out with it.”
“I was in the street and suddenly thisbig black car tried to run me over.”
“Oh, really. Was that part of yourarmy training too? Standing in the middle of the street daring motorists to ramyou?” As her anxiety eased, the pique took over.
He shut his mouth.
“Well?”
“If you’re just going to make fun, Iwon’t tell you.”
She sat, her attentive expression asmanifestly fake as she could make it.
“I heard noises outside.”
“Aha. That’s extraordinary rightthere. A wild beast? Aliens? Ghosts? Or perhaps—gasp—nosey neighbors?”
Noah soldiered on. “I looked out thewindow. There was a light moving down the driveway. It bobbled.”
“A UFO! Good show!”
“Someone was casing the joint.”
“Casing the joint? Sounds more like aburglar than a murderer. Or maybe a man looking for a lost dog.” Sophie wasenjoying not helping him immensely.
He huffed. “With recent events inmind, I thought it best to follow up.”
She nodded wisely. “You went toinvestigate. Smart.”
“Yes. Well. By the time I gotdownstairs, the light had reached the end of the driveway. It proceeded intothe street, but flicked out just as I reached the center of the lane. I stoppedand looked around for it, but everything was pitch black. Then all of a suddenan engine started up, and before I could react, this car came out of nowhere.”
“Did it have its headlights on?”
“No.”
“So how did you know it was going tohit you?”
“When it hit me. Duh.”
“All right, then how did you end up inthe bush instead of flattened like a pancake on the asphalt?” These“accidents” are getting more and more outlandish. Could he be doing them tohimself? She regarded Noah. Could he be sleepwalking? “Noah, are yousure—”
“If you’ll let me finish. I know youdisapprove of the exploits of my youth, but they stood me in good stead thistime. I rolled over the hood and launched myself into the yard.”
That got her attention. “That isimpressive. Did the car keep going? Did it circle back?”
“I’ve no idea. I decided to sit it outfor a while, hoping he hadn’t seen where I landed. After five minutes ofunrelenting discomfort, I felt reasonably sure he’d given up. I was trying tobreak free of the bush when you arrived.” He plucked a leaf from his sleeve.“Put pruning hedge on the To Do list, will you?”
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