Lucy's stalker, aka Danny Walker from
The Bookstore Lady, becomes a victim of being hired by the wrong person at the wrong time. Unable to prove Lucy's guilt, he sets out to save the lives of Lucy and her children.
Enjoy the excerpt!
Chapter 2
Lucy
Lucy Stephen twisted her wedding rings around her finger and
shoved aside all thoughts of writer’s block to focus on her bank statement.
She’d never considered writing about murder and mayhem, until the past couple months
when her husband had given her a steady supply of material. During their eleven
year marriage, she’d strived to be the best wife and mother she could, which didn’t
stop Roger from leaving her alone with three kids in a neighborhood full of
lecherous men, and other assorted lunatics, while he moved in with Cynthia.
Her current thoughts lay scattered like the nacho crumbs that
littered the hardwood floor. No wonder her shorts were getting tight, she ate
cheap junk food every time she called to ask Roger for money.
She compared the statement to the balance in her chequebook
and willed the numbers to increase exponentially. They refused to budge.
Clutching her resume reluctantly, she sighed. As much as she wanted to make a
living, the meager amount she earned writing didn’t pay the mortgage or feed
and clothe her kids. She needed to make the flying leap to get a real job
before school started, but the thought of leaving her kids to go to work every
day made her palms sweat.
For the past eleven years, the kids had been her entire
world. Her kids and her writing. With Roger gone, she was alone in a strange
town. Who would look after her kids while she worked? Who’d cut the crusts off
Shawn’s peanut butter sandwiches and make sure Gina didn’t wait too long to go
to the toilet?
She wiped away a tear. Getting emotional wasn’t going to
help. If things didn’t turn around soon, she’d have to call her parents for a
loan to get her through and listen to them plead with her to move back to
Seattle.
The screech of metal on metal came from outside the window
and grated on her nerves as it had the entire afternoon. One of her neighbors was
outside tinkering with his truck. She tucked her lower lip between her teeth to
stifle a scream. Already on the verge of a complete breakdown, the noise pushed
her closer to the edge with each passing minute. She reached up and clutched
her hair with both hands.
“Mom,” Shawn, her middle son, called up the stairs. “Dad’s
on the phone.”
She winced. A second phone sat on her desk, ringer off. Normally,
she was thrilled to talk to other grown-ups, any other grown-ups, just not Roger
Stephens. She still harbored a few hard feelings, more like a truckload after
he’d left her.
From what she’d learned, Cynthia Mathias was not only rich,
but a dozen years older than Roger. Lucy wasn’t surprised when they broke up
less than two months later. When Cynthia died, however…
Lucy shuddered. No one deserved to be raped and bludgeoned
by an intruder while alone in her penthouse apartment. She’d read every news
clipping she came across trying to make sense of Cynthia’s murder. At least
with the kids around for the summer, Lucy was never alone and the odds of such
a crime happening to her seemed remote.
When Roger had brushed off her concerns after Cynthia’s
death, Lucy assumed they’d parted on ugly terms. Since Cynthia’s husband was a
multi-millionaire, their breakup was probably over money. Roger didn’t have
enough cold, hard cash to keep up Cynthia’s lifestyle, or her appearance.
“Mom,” Shawn shouted again. “Phone.”
“I got it.” Keeping the enthusiasm out of her voice when she
did answer the phone was easy, her husband aroused emotions she’d rather not
deal with. She choked back the anger, careful not to say anything stupid.
“Hey, sweetie.” Roger only called her nice things when he
was drunk or wanted something. Mid-afternoon on a Wednesday, drunk was probably
out. “How’s everything going?”
Lucy cringed and her stomach clenched. “Fine. Why?”
“Wow, don’t sound so suspicious. Did I catch you writing or
something?” Roger chuckled then coughed and cleared his throat. “I’ll cut to
the chase, Luce, I want to take the kids next week.”
“What?” Lucy fumbled the phone and let her resume waft to
the floor. She hated the way he called her Luce. She was definitely not “loose”.
Another loud screech of metal on metal from outside made her flinch and clench
her fist. “Have you been drinking? The only reason you usually call is to say
you can’t see them.” Leaving her to sop up the tears and patch their broken hearts.
“I’m sure that’s the way it seems. I do have to make a
living after all.” He hesitated. “Anyway, I’d like to take the kids on vacation
next week.”
She sucked in a breath and waited for the punch line. When
one didn’t come, she pinched her leg. Nope, not dreaming. “For the whole week?
Are you serious?”
Roger snorted. “Of course I’m serious. Tanji and I will pick
them up Sunday and take them to the cottage for a few days.”
Like they had last summer when they were still a family only
this time his new girlfriend would replace her. She swallowed back the hurt. “This Sunday?”
Roger hesitated then suddenly seemed more relaxed. He must
have taken a few deep breaths. “Yes. I figure they should have a little
vacation time after all the crap we put them through.”
We? Lucy’s face
burned. He’d put them through all the
crap and, now had the nerve to thrust part of his guilt on her. “Right. You’re
going to take the kids, dump them with your parents and parade your new
girlfriend all over the beach.”
Tanji was girlfriend number three, or was it four? At least Cynthia’s
death hadn’t seemed to affect his libido much.
Come join the adventures of the Wild Blue Detective Agency in the Wild Blue Mysteries.
Both The Bookstore Lady and The Mystery Lady are available through Books We Love!
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