Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1)

SYNERGY

Twenty-two-year-old Jade Buchanan suffers one blow after another. First, her grandmother dies, then she’s forced to quit college to take over Gran’s mysteriously ailing company. While handling a rebellion among the senior managers, who resent taking orders from an inexperienced CEO, Jade desperately tries to uncover the reason for the company’s financial difficulties before it goes under. The only bright spot is working side by side with her long-time crush, Bryce, but he runs so hot and cold, she doesn’t know where she stands. Can Jade uncover the murderous embezzler in the company’s midst before she becomes a target—or is it already too late?

Even though Jade seems under-qualified, Bryce Radisson accepts his new position as COO, but working with an impulsive—and incredibly attractive—woman like Jade could be more than he can handle. His feelings for her are irrational and unprofessional. Even worse, she stokes in him a deep, uncontrollable passion that he fears will ruin him. As Jade digs deeper into the truth, Bryce has to choose between protecting himself or protecting the woman he loves.

SYNERGY

U-DISTRICT

BOOK 1

JODI ASHLAND

Copyright © 2015 Jodi Ashland

Excerpt from
Obscurity
copyright © 2015 Jodi Ashland

All rights reserved.

ISBN (print): 1943372004

ISBN-13 (print): 978-1-943372-00-3

ISBN (ebook): 1943372012

ISBN-13 (ebook): 978-1-943372-01-0

Publisher’s Note
: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Book cover design by
http://damonza.com

Front cover photo used under license from Shutterstock.com

Back cover photo by Sue Elias

Title: The Fremont Troll, Seattle

Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sue_elias/50210957

License: CC BY 2.0 (
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
)

Modified Material

Duvall Press logo design by
http://damonza.com

Author Photo by Yen Lui at
http://www.yuenluistudio.com

Editing, proofreading, and print formatting:

By Your Side Self-Publishing

http://www.ByYourSideSelfPub.com

Published by Duvall Press

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To Mom and Dad, who have encouraged me to do anything or be anything I want to be. Your support has been unwavering. I love you.

The fun part about writing a book is the ability to write scenes that would otherwise not happen in real life. I took liberties with Jade and Bryce, having fun with their sexual tension in the office, given this was Jade and Bryce’s company. In reality, this behavior would be construed as sexual harassment and could result in the loss of a job. I also took liberties in structuring the Seattle Police Department in a manner that works best for my story.

For my debut novel, there are so many people to acknowledge. First, I have to thank my daughter who was my very first fan and offered encouragement. She wanted mommy to become an author and without support from my family, it never would have happened.

Mom read the first draft of the full manuscript and loved it, which gave me the “writing bug.” Then when Dad wanted to read it, I broke out in a sweat… what about the s-e-x? I quickly got over that and thankfully, Dad liked my story (even though he doesn’t read romance). He was the one who hooked me up with my first writers’ conference and a couple local writers’ chapters, where I’ve met so many wonderful authors and have taken many craft classes to improve my writing skills.

My book club, the Bodacious Book Babes, read the first draft and offered critical feedback at my request. Their encouragement kept me writing, and their honest feedback made me realize I had room to grow. Thank you.

I also have to thank my wonderful critique partners and fellow gifted authors, Sally Brandle and Jennifer Hilt, who helped me improve the story and plot.

Major thanks go to my wonderful editor, Dana Delamar at By Your Side Self-Publishing, who suggested I turn this into a stand-alone series. Once she got my brain moving in that direction, it just wouldn’t turn off. Your feedback and support has been priceless.

DAMMIT, EVEN IF IT KILLED HER
, she was going to find out who was stealing from her company. From what Gloria Buchanan had found so far, millions were missing. The culprit had to be an insider, someone she’d hired, someone she trusted like family. Her heart raced as she got closer to the truth. Just a few more clicks of the mouse, and she was sure she’d find her answers.

Gloria pushed her almond latte across her desk. It had grown lukewarm and left a bitter taste in her mouth. As she scrolled through a spreadsheet filled with transactions, a record jumped out, and she checked it against what she’d written down on the pad in front of her. The dollar amounts differed by almost thirty percent. She circled the number with her gold pen and pursed her lips.

This is how they’re embezzling funds.

Who would do this to her? She’d been good to her people.

As her breathing became shallow, Gloria rubbed her throat and scanned through more invoices looking for another discrepancy. More than one would prove it was no mistake, and then she could involve the police. She didn’t want to burden her granddaughter with this mess when Jade inherited her company. The doctors had given Gloria less than a year to live. In the time she had left, she needed to figure out who was stealing from her and bring them to justice.

Gloria breathed in deep. She tried to take another breath, but oxygen wasn’t making it into her lungs.

My throat is swelling shut—

Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the almond latte. It hadn’t tasted right. Why?

Not almond. Peanut. Real PEANUTS!

The racing of her heart and the shortness of breath meant only one thing. She’d experienced it for the first time when she was seven years old and had eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at a friend’s birthday party.

She was going into anaphylactic shock.

Gloria picked up the phone to page her assistant, who was sitting at the desk outside her closed office door. “Marge,” she wheezed before her throat clamped shut.

Someone is trying to kill me.

The phone fell from her hand and spilled the latte across her desk. Clutching her neck, Gloria sucked in air as hard as she could manage. Only a small amount made it into her lungs.

Her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk held an EpiPen. It had been over sixty years since someone had first injected her with epinephrine. When she reached down, the executive chair rolled out from under her. Her cry was silent as she fell to the floor. The room spun and her vision blurred.

Gloria rolled onto her back and felt for the leg of her desk, then reached up to the drawer. She found the leather strap of her purse and tugged, lacking the strength to pull it free. Her one-year battle with cancer and recent chemo treatment had sapped most of her energy.

A white fog was taking her under. She almost welcomed it. Anything was better than her lungs struggling for air and her heart racing. One last pull on the purse, and it fell upside down on the floor beside her.

She fumbled through the contents, trying to locate what she desperately needed. She reached for the EpiPen.

Marge ran into the office and tripped over the purse, kicking her medication out of reach. “Mrs. Buchanan, oh dear.” She picked up the phone and dialed. “I need an ambulance.”

Gloria couldn’t speak. She clutched her heart as it stopped beating.

Marge pressed two fingers to Gloria’s neck, checked for a pulse, and then carefully tucked a gray curl behind her ear. “Go peacefully, Gloria.” Her voice hitched. She returned the spilled contents to Gloria’s purse. “I’ll clean this up for you.”

Gloria was slipping away. In her last moments, she wondered if she would have made a different decision, had she known then what she knew now.

No.

Her plans had already been set in motion. She expected her granddaughter to step up to the challenge and find the courage to fight. Otherwise, everything she had worked for would be lost.

This was it. Her time was up. Ironically, she wasn’t going to die of cancer after all. Perhaps the killer had done her a favor.

But Jade—Jade was now in danger.

HE STOOD OUT LIKE A POLAR BEAR
in California. Jade didn’t need her photographic memory to pick out the man with the navy blue suit and yellow tie a block away. The closest thing to business attire at Stanford was the khaki pants her professors wore.

She’d first caught sight of him just outside her dorm and then again as she’d gotten on the shuttle bus. His eyes had grown large in surprise then, and she could’ve sworn he’d looked right at her. But he didn’t follow her on, so no biggie, until there he was again, leaning against a column in the outdoor Main Quad hallway—right in front of her Managerial Accounting class.

One of the chattier girls, who normally sat a couple of rows behind her, groaned. “Thank goodness we won’t have to carry this book around anymore. The thing weighs a ton.” She shoved the textbook into her pack.

Jade laughed. “Tell me about it. If I didn’t think I could get fifty bucks by selling it back, we’d be roasting marshmallows over it.” She kept a close eye on the man as they walked along the arched portico, her sandal catching the edge of a red brick paver and making her trip.

“Hey, you okay?” The girl grabbed Jade’s arm to steady her.

“I’m good.” Jade hopped on one foot until the pain in her toes faded. “I’d swear that guy is following me.”

They both stopped and peered around the sandstone column. “Blue suit, yellow tie, tall with black hair?”

“That’s him.”

“He’s probably into you.”

“Yeah, right.” Jade smiled. “See you at finals.” She cut across the expansive oval lawn toward Old Union to her next MBA class, which started in fifty minutes. She checked behind her; the suit didn’t follow. Nothing was wrong, other than her overactive imagination. She dropped her pack to the ground and sank into the grass with her elbows propped up to draw in the sun’s rays.

Early June was hit or miss in Seattle when it came to sunshine. But here in California, she got a strong dose of Vitamin D every day. Just when she’d fully relaxed, her phone vibrated in her backpack. Jade scooped her cell out of her bag.

That’s weird.

Mom had left her three messages. She’d have to call her back. Jade picked up, “Aleks?”

“Hey, Jade.”

“What’s up? Aren’t you in class right now?”