Dead Red Cadillac, A (25 page)

If you liked this book, I know you're going to love the second Lalla Bains mystery,

A Dead Red Heart at
Amazon/Kindle and Amazon/print
. Link:
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-HEART-Lalla-Bains-ebook/dp/B004W9NIOU/

Chapter One

"Billy Wayne? Wake up! Come on now," I said in disgust. "This is getting out of hand. You've got to stop this nonsense."

I like having a man at my feet. Tough guys who grovel are my favorite, though I'm not averse to a little toe kissing when appropriate. I leave the toe kissing for those uneven date nights when my sweetie, Sheriff Caleb Stone, is not on duty and I'm not neck-deep in summertime work as a crop duster. None of which had anything to do with the man presently draped across my feet. Dead drunk, I figured, looking down at the patriotic red, white and blue ribbons binding his ponytail. I was too late for that heart-to-heart I'd come for; he was already out cold.

Caleb warned Billy that his continued attentions toward me would be ill-advised and considered harassment—his words, not mine. Caleb's belief that a fellow Marine should always be able to pull himself out of the fire didn't take into consideration that Billy's alcohol-doctored post-traumatic stress disorder was not conducive to any such persuasion.

His obsessive interest in me stopped for about a week. Then, in the Save-Mart parking lot, I had to shove my way through a crowd surrounding my car. I stood with the rest of the slack-jawed gawkers ogling the fluttering, white paper snowflakes acting as a second skin to my vintage Cadillac. With one hand I swiped up a handful and with the other, I waved off the spectators. "Practical joke, folks, nothing special."

I didn't have the heart to report this latest infraction to Caleb. Billy Wayne, I knew, was shy and easily startled and would panic if Caleb should feel compelled to make good on his threat of a restraining order. Instead, I decided I would confront him myself… make him understand that his attraction to me, though flattering, was never going to go anywhere.

So that's why I was now in the alley behind Mr. Kim's Chinese restaurant trying to figure out how to wake this guy up.

I held my breath against the smell of garbage and knelt down to shake his shoulder. He rolled away and onto his back, murmuring, his eyes drifting down to where his dog tags were chained to a dark stain spreading across his nearly new white T-shirt, and finally to where his hands clutched the blue-handled scissors sticking out of his chest.

In the gusty twilight, his paper snowflakes whirled up into the air and cartwheeled merrily down the dark alley toward freedom. I leaned in their direction, aiming for flight, for help, for anything that would get me away from this horror, and I would've succeeded had Billy not had a tight grip on my ankle. I squatted down next to him. "Billy, please, let me get you some help," I said, gently pulling his fingers off my ankle.

He was trying to speak, his breath choppy gasps as he struggled for air. "Too late," he said. "The more there is, the less you see."

A speck of light shifted into shadow, crept across the dirty walls, and disappeared. I jerked to my feet, thinking to call out for help, but when I knelt down to touch his neck for a pulse, it was there and then it was gone.

And with a strangled sob, I struggled to my feet and turned to go for the help he wouldn't need any longer.

END of Sample

#3 in the Dead Red Series: A Dead Red Oleander

"Janet Evanovich meets aero-ag pilots."
The Kindle Book Review
 

When a late in the season emergency forces Lalla Bains to accept a greenhorn ag pilot for her dad's cropdusting business, she sighs in relief. After all, he comes highly recommended, his physical is spotless, and with a name like Dewey Treat, what could possibly go wrong?

Then her quirky relatives arrive from Texas and things go south in a hurry: Dewey Treat drops dead, his tearful widow clobbers Sherriff Caleb Stone with his own gun and makes a run for it. Lalla, convinced the widow is innocent, sets out to prove it—against the express wishes of fiancé Caleb Stone.

Her daddy's new sidekick, Bruce the goat, nutso relatives, and the Las Vegas hit man trailing her moves, make life a living hell for Lalla. Will her nosy nature solve the crime and save the day? Or put them all in mortal danger?

"I'm so happy that Lalla Bains is back! This is was my favorite book of the three and it's all there: crime, mystery, suspense and great characters! I really liked the glimpses into Lalla's thoughts as she goes back and forth with new theories. Her dad completely lost in a house full of women as Lalla's great-aunt and her cousin (Pearlie) come from Texas for her wedding is hilarious. I Matos, Amazon review

"This author is an exceptional talent bringing her characters to life--you feel like you've met them before! My only regret--I am finished reading and have to wait who knows how long for my next "fix" from this author! Read it and enjoy!" Tech Teacher, Amazon Review

Amazon/Kindle and Amazon/print:
http://www.amazon.com/Oleander-Lalla-Bains-mystery-ebook/dp/B008ALR6GC/

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rpdahlke

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