Spotlight & Excerpt: Kidnapped Killer + Giveaway

KIDNAPPED KILLER

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the KIDNAPPED KILLER by Nina Schluntz Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

Title: KIDNAPPED KILLER (Kidnapped #1)

Author: Nina Schluntz

Pub. Date: September 6, 2022

Publisher: Nina Schluntz

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Books2Read

Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!

 

A toxic love story between a soul eating demon and his unaware human stalker.


Nic is demon who feeds on souls. He prefers the souls flavored with emotion, pain or fear works well.

When his stalker drugs and kidnaps him, he discovers a new flavor of soul.

Love

The affection is additive, even if it is from a psychopathic serial killer who wants to add him to the dozens of bodies already buried in his basement

 

Pre order book 2 in the
Kidnapped series, KIDNAPPED CLOWDER now!

 

Book Trailer:

Excerpt:

Kidnapped
There was a slight pulse of pain right between my eyes as if someone had flicked their fingers on my forehead in a playful manner. I fluttered my eyelashes, but they didn’t want to open just yet. I reached a hand toward my face, hoping I could rub the ache away.
That’s when I noticed the extra weight around my wrist and the gentle clink of metal. Interesting. I shifted my other hand and found it also had a brace of some sort on it. Distracted by this oddness, I shrugged off the sleepiness, opened my eyes, and sat up.
I stared at my hands laying in my lap. I was wearing chains. Not cheap shit either, these were good solid cuffs, and the brackets were thick, meant to tie up a bull or larger creature. I raised my arms and turned them around, analyzing the restrains from all angles. I was a bit impressed. Even if I broke every bone in my hands it would be difficult to slip myself free of the metal cuffs.
My eyes followed the chain and found them looped around a support beam for a house, it was a good foot thick, but wooden. Well, if I really wanted, I could slowly chew away at that wood, so it was a moderate flaw in my imprisonment. My feet were also unhindered, another disappointment. I was torn between my captor being a professional or amateur. I surveyed further and confirmed my location. I was in someone’s unfinished basement.
“Ah, a bit cliché,” I said to myself.
I tried to recall how I’d ended up in this situation. All I could remember was that stupid bartender at Kenny’s Pub smirking at me while I was… The memory shrank away as floorboards creaked above me.
Light filled the room from overhead as the basement door opened. I bent my legs and rested my elbows on my thighs as I watched my captor descend the steps.
It was hard to see their face at first, since the light was behind them. Their silhouette defined them as a slender man. They reached the bottom of the steps and flicked on the main light for the basement, a dangling bulb that hung out of reach above us.
“You’re awake already?” The man gaped at me, a four-foot-long iron pipe gripped in one hand and resting on his shoulder. Ah, so that was why my feet weren’t chained. He was going to break my ankles with that pipe.
Now that the light was on, I could see my captor clearly. His name didn’t come to mind immediately, but I had seen him before. Was he in one of my college classes? The kid who always sat in the back row with a hoodie on? This had to be the best view I’d ever had of his face and possibly the first time I’d ever seen his hair. He always had that hoodie on.
“You’ll have to forgive me,” I said. “Your name is escaping me. Can you refresh my memory? We have American Literature together, right?”
He stood there, not more than two feet from the staircase; his eyes locked on me. I wondered which part puzzled him more: my quick recovery from his drugs or the fact I didn’t seem to mind my current situation.
“Eh, if you don’t want to tell me, I’ll just ask around tomorrow,” I said. I pointed at his hair. “I like the haircut. You should show it off more.” He had dark black hair cut very short, likely done himself. It was a stark contrast to my own spiked hair with frosted tips.
He narrowed his eyes and crouched so he was on my eye level. “I think you might just miss class tomorrow.”
I grinned. Oh, I was going to enjoy this.
“Is that so? Education is important. I would prefer to not miss any school.”
“That’s going to be a bit of a problem since you’re never leaving this basement.”
“Never?” My senses were clearing, the last bits of his drugs fading away. I sniffed the stank air. “It doesn’t smell like I’m your first guest to visit this place. Are the others still here?”
“What?”
I saw a glimpse of doubt cross his face.
“At least I will not be alone.”
“You think corpses make good company?”
“Do you not? Why else would you have so many under your house?” I tilted my head and looked at the pipe. “Is that for me?”
“Aren’t you going to ask why you’re here?”
I shrugged. “If we’re simply going to talk, are the restraints needed?”
He smiled, his grin quite wicked on his face. “What are you willing to do for me in exchange?”
“Do you mean to imply I can earn my freedom?”
“You just got here,” he said. “I think we should start smaller.” He lowered the pipe and twirled it around playfully. “Are you hungry?”
“I must earn my food?”
“Oh, yes, ask me to feed you.”
I leaned back against the support beam. “Alright, feed me.”
His expression darkened. “I have a nice heaping serving of—” He didn’t finish. Instead, he let his actions complete his thought. He swung the pipe, slamming it into my left ankle with bone-shattering strength.


 

About Nina Schluntz:

Nina Schluntz is a native to rural Nebraska. In her youth, she often wrote short stories to entertain her friends. Those ideas evolved into the novels she creates today.

Her husband continues to ensure her stories maintain a touch of realism as she delves into the science fiction and fantasy realm. Their three cats are always willing to stay up late to provide inspiration, whether it is a howl from the stray born in the backyard or an encouraging bite from the so called “calming kitten.”

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads


Giveaway Details:

1 winner will win a $10 Amazon GC, International.

2 winners will receive an audible or iTunes code for one of Nina’s books, International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ends February 28th, midnight EST.

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

2/13/2023

A Dream Within A Dream

Guest Post

2/13/2023

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Guest Post or Excerpt/IG Post

2/14/2023

Mythical Books

Guest Post/IG Post

2/14/2023

Writer of Wrongs

Review/IG Post

2/15/2023

Sadie’s Spotlight

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2/15/2023

Two Chicks on Books

Guest Post/IG Post

2/16/2023

@allyluvsbooksalatte

IG Review

2/16/2023

The Momma Spot

Excerpt

2/17/2023

Never Hollowed By The Sgtare

Excerpt

2/17/2023

@anjas_readingnook

IG Review

Week Two:

2/20/2023

Kim”s Book Reviews and Writing Aha’s

Review/IG Post

2/20/2023

FyreKatz’s Reviews

Review

2/21/2023

The Book Countess

Review

2/21/2023

GryffindorBookishNerd

IG Review

2/22/2023

Fire and Ice

Review

2/22/2023

Rajiv’s Reviews

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2/23/2023

Emily Ashlyn

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2/23/2023

Review Thick And Thin

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2/24/2023

@carlysunshinebooks

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2/24/2023

@enjoyingbooksagain

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Spotlight & Excerpt: River of Wrath + Giveaway

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River of Wrath by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor
  • Title: River of Wrath
  • Series: St. Benedict series, Book 2
  • By: Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor
  • Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Horror
  • Published by: Vesuvian Books
  • Publication Date: January 2023
  • Number of Pages: 270
  • ISBN: 9781645480174

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Vesuvian Media Group


More secrets are about to be uncovered, beginning with the arrival of a handsome stranger, and the discovery of bones long buried beneath the river …

*

Leslie Moore is struggling to get through her last semester at St. Benedict High. Even her relationship with her boyfriend Derek is falling apart. But after receding floodwaters from the Bogue Falaya River expose the bones of a woman, Leslie becomes obsessed with tracking down the killer.

*

Sightings of an apparition haunting The Abbey send Leslie and her friends back to the scene of the horrors from last Halloween, but no one is prepared for what they find.

*

After a stranger—the handsome Luke Cross—arrives in town, another girl goes missing, and the sheriff suspects the newcomer is hiding something. Leslie believes the Devereaux family is connected to everything going wrong in St. Benedict. And she means to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.

*

Not all secrets can be kept silent. Some eventually find their way home.

Read an excerpt:

“Come not within the measure of my wrath.”
~William Shakespeare

CHAPTER ONE

Sweat gathered under the brim of Kent Davis’s Stetson as he walked the sandy beach along the Bogue Falaya River. He didn’t feel the brisk January breeze or pay attention to the mutterings of the forensic team. The unease burning in his gut shut out all distractions. He rested his hand on his belt, brushing against his Louisiana sheriff’s badge. The rub of metal reminded him of the oath he’d sworn to protect and serve, but on days like this, he hated his job. Dispatch had initially deemed the early morning call from a frantic jogger a hoax. After an officer confirmed there was a body, Kent arrived at the scene to confront his worst nightmare—another murder. He already had three unsolved deaths weighing heavily on his department. Two high school students and a woman from out of town had died there in a matter of months. City leaders had been breathing down his neck for answers. Kent studied the black body bag the technicians carried. This was only going to make his job harder. His crew combed the beach, where receding floodwaters had exposed a young woman’s grave. From the looks of her bleached bones, partially covered in the remnants of a red dress, she’d been there for quite some time. He doubted they’d find anything admissible. There would be trace evidence, but no footprints, no debris, no blood, and no signs of struggle. He climbed the steep hill from the beach to the parking area, scanning for any clues. Everywhere was a potential crime scene. After years of being in law enforcement, he doubted he could see the world in any other way. “I don’t like this one bit, Bill,” Kent said, approaching the heavyset coroner waiting by the open doors of his van. “What’s there to like. We got a dead girl who’s been buried here a long time.” Dr. Bill Broussard removed a pair of black-framed glasses from his egg-shaped head. “You might find a lead in old missing persons reports.” “I’ll access the St. Tammany Parish database when I get to the station. Until then, she’s a Jane Doe.” Kent eyed the coroner’s van. “How long will it take to know something?” Bill cleaned his glasses and moved out of the way while a technician slammed the doors closed. He waited until the man climbed into the driver’s side before responding. “You realize workin’ with old bones makes it harder to identify the cause of death. Let me get her to the lab, then we’ll see.” “I got enough going on with Beau Devereaux, Dawn Moore, and Andrea Harrison.” Kent tipped back his hat. “This makes four bodies and no leads.” “As soon as people catch wind of this, the gossip mill will run wild.” Bill motioned to the van. “We already got enough rumors flying around about serial killers and rapists on the loose.” “But at least we know this isn’t a serial killer.” “Do we?” Bill flipped through a few pictures on his phone and showed Kent the screen. Kent looked at the bloody mess that had comprised the remains of Beau Devereaux. The golden boy of St. Benedict had been a football star and heir to the Devereaux fortune. The day Kent found his mutilated body along the river had been one of the worst of his career. Beau’s death, on the heels of the rape and grisly murder of Dawn Moore, had shattered his faith in their small town. He squinted at the picture. “What am I missing?” Bill pointed at Beau’s bruised and bloody neck. “Trachea isn’t midline. It’s in two pieces. In the autopsy, I discovered his neck had been broken.” Kent thought of the murder cases that cluttered his desk. “Same as the Harrison girl. Her neck was broken. Any chance wild dogs could have done this?” Bill’s meaty lips thinned into a line. “Harrison had no bite marks. Only Beau suffered extensive puncture wounds. For a dog to snap someone’s neck, it would have to be big and have impressive jaw strength. Until your men find me an animal like that, I’m leaving Beau’s death a homicide.” He wiped his damp brow. “What worries me is this woman’s bones show there might be a break in her neck, too. If that’s the case, someone around here could have a long history of murder.” Kent grew irate. He’d left the turmoil of working for the New Orleans Police Department to get away from the steady dose of homicides. Ten years ago, St. Benedict had been the answer to a prayer for him, his wife, and their two boys. He didn’t want to think such horror could have remained hidden for so long in the idyllic town. “Send me the preliminary results of the autopsy as soon as you get them.” Kent pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting off a headache. “I want it in my hand when I tell Gage Devereaux what we found. He might recall someone who went missing. He’s lived here all his life and is bound to have heard something.” Bill swatted at a passing fly. “He won’t be happy to hear about another body. You know how protective he is of St. Benedict.” “Yep. I expect this will piss him off.” The patriarch and owner of the biggest employer, Benedict Brewery, Gage oversaw everything in the town. Some called him a control freak—a trait many had seen in his son, Beau—but to Kent, Gage was thorough, detail-oriented, and would have made a great detective if he hadn’t taken over the family business. “He’s gonna ask you if this has anything to do with the investigation into Beau’s death.” Bill frowned. “What’re you gonna tell him?” Kent clenched his jaw. “We don’t know if any of these deaths are related.” “Yet,” Bill added. “Seems like an awfully big coincidence to me.” Kent pulled keys from the front pocket of his jeans. “There’re too many coincidences going on around here, and they all seem to center on this damned river. When can you get me a DNA report?” “Might take a while.” Bill scratched his head. “Budget constraints and the backlog of cases clogging the system have slowed everything down.” “How long are we talking? A week?” Bill snorted. “More like weeks. A long-dead Jane Doe isn’t exactly a priority. Otherwise, we could get a rush on it.” “Then we’ll just have to wait and see what we get back,” Kent grumbled. Bill went to the driver’s side of the van and spoke to the technician. He then waved at Kent before walking away. The sheriff waited as the van slowly eased onto the main road, with Bill’s black SUV following close behind. Alone, Kent removed his hat and gazed up at the tall pines rimming the parking lot. Cresting above the tallest of the trees was The Abbey’s single charred limestone spire—its twin lost in the fire. The serene place had witnessed so many atrocities—suicide, fire, and Dawn Moore’s murder. Kent would never understand what the Benedictine monks who founded the seminary ever saw in that cursed land. Legends about the abandoned abbey and its wild dogs had floated around the community for as long as anyone could remember. When the dogs appear, death is near. He’d never believed any of the stories until now. Kent feared there might be some truth to the legend, after all. And the worst was yet to come. *** Excerpt from River of Wrath by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor. Copyright 2023 by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor. Reproduced with permission from Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor. All rights reserved.
 

Author Bios:

Alexandrea Weis:

Author Alexandrea Weis, RN-CS, PhD, is an award-winning author, advanced practice registered nurse, and wildlife rehabber who was born and raised in the French Quarter. She has taught at major universities and worked with victims of sexual assault, abuse, and mental illness in a clinical setting at many New Orleans area hospitals. She is a member of the International Thriller Writers Organization and Horror Writers Association.

Catch Up With Alexandrea: stbenedictseries.com Goodreads BookBub – @AlexandreaWeis Instagram – @st.benedictseries Twitter – @alexandreaweis Facebook – @StBenedictSeries

 

Lucas Astor:

Co-author Lucas Astor is an award-winning author and poet with a penchant for telling stories that delve into the dark side of the human psyche. He likes to explore the evil that exists, not just in the world, but next door behind a smiling face. Astor currently lives outside of Nashville, TN.

Catch Up With Lucas: Instagram – @lucasastorauthor

 

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Spotlight & Excerpt: What the Monkey Saw + Giveaway

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What the Monkey Saw by Lynn Chandler Willis

Title: What the Monkey Saw
Series: The Death Doula Series, Book 1 
By: Lynn Chandler Willis
Genre: Crime/Suspense
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: January 2023
Number of Pages: 240
ISBN: 978-1-68512-220-1 (ASIN: B0BMCSK8KG)
 
 

When F.B.I. agent Emily Gayle’s partner is brutally murdered, Emily forsakes her career at the bureau and returns home to the North Carolina mountains to care for her disabled father. Guilt ridden over leaving her partner alone to die, Emily takes a job as an end-of-life caregiver.

Deep in Appalachia, Jude Courtland is desperate for a fast buck to pay for his grandmother’s chemotherapy. Together with his brother Crispin and cousin, Devo, the trio takes to hijacking insulin delivery vans and selling the stolen drugs on the black market. When Emily is assigned to cancer patient Hazel Courtland, the line separating right and wrong begins to blur.

As the hijackings escalate and turn violent, Emily’s intuition hones in on startling evidence she can no longer ignore.

Struggling with the truth, Emily is torn between her conscience and her loyalty to a dying woman. With her own life in jeopardy, Emily’s forced to take a side. Right or wrong, the consequences are deadly.

Book Links: Amazon


Praise for What the Monkey Saw:

A stunning portrait of small town southern crime where characters walk a moral tightrope and risk everything to do what they believe is right. Emily Gayle, who watches people die for a living, is caught up in a drug theft ring and if she’s not careful, death will come for her. With breakneck pacing, you’ll want to devour What the Monkey Saw in one sitting, but don’t—this is one you’ll want to savor. Highly recommended series debut for fans of S.A Cosby, Joe Landsdale, and James Lee Burke.”
James L’Etoile, Award winning author of Black Label, Dead Drop, and the Detective Penley series
This tale, ripe and deep with the Appalachian experience, makes us feel sorry for the bad guys and better understand how some people make ends meet to get by. The struggle of living is real. The crime is ugly in some ways and needed in others. Combine all this with Emily Gayle’s deep-seeded struggle to overcome her trauma and reluctance to use her investigative prowess and you have a solid, multi-layered, intriguing mystery that still warms your heart, even amidst the hardness of Appalachian living.”
C. Hope Clark, award-winning author of The Edisto Island Mysteries, The Carolina Slade Mysteries, and The Craven County Mysteries
As in the best crime fiction, Lynn Chandler Willis’s What the Monkey Saw is about far more than the crimes committed, in this case the hijacking of insulin deliveries in Appalachia. Through the plot of a heist novel, Willis demonstrates how some people respond to the twin pressures of poverty and illness by breaking the law, and she accomplishes this without either glamorizing the crimes or condescending to her characters. Ultimately, What the Monkey Saw stands out as an exploration of death and dying, and how we react to both: the avoidance, the denial of loss, and the acceptance and grief that wash over us like mountain rain, either drowning us or bringing the promise of brighter days just over the next ridge.”
Christopher Swann, 2022 Georgia Author of the Year (Detective/Mystery), Author of Never Go Home, A Fire in the Night, and Never Turn Back
“From the very first pages you’ll sense that this is something truly special not only a suspenseful story, but one that represents the triumph of the human spirit to survive hardship and confront the inevitable end. A must read!”
Lawrence Kelter, International bestselling author of the Stephanie Chalice Mystery Series
Excerpt:

Jude Courtland stared through the passenger window of his truck, focusing without blinking on the road so hard his eyes burned. He didn’t dare blink. Life could change in that split second and he wasn’t going to fuck this up. There was too much riding on it. Like the deal he’d brokered with the pit bull for the money they needed. Plus, his grandma’s life depended on it.

His right foot rested lightly on the gas, ready to drop as soon as the van came into view. Beside him in the cab, his baby brother and cousin yakked their never-ending bull shit.

The glimmer of a front bumper edged into sight. Jude’s chest tightened, clutching at his lungs, his breath trapped like miners waiting for rescue.

His cousin, Devo, leaned back in the seat as a Ford pickup passed by. “Damn. I thought that was it,” Devo mumbled.

Jude’s brother Crispin said something back to Devo but Jude didn’t grasp it. He concentrated on the intersecting road. Every brain cell he possessed that had survived the weed zeroed in on the two-lane.

A van rounded the curve. “Showtime,” Devo said. He and Crispin quickly tugged down their hunting masks. The clock in the console said 2:24.

Jude hit the gas and pulled out in front of the Belton Pharmaceuticals delivery van. The van barely missed the bumper of Jude’s truck. Jude saw the driver in the rearview mirror give him the finger. He gunned the engine to pull away from the van, then slammed on the brakes while jerking the wheel to the right. Crispin and Devo were out of the truck before the delivery van had stopped fishtailing to avoid the crash.

They were on the van in record time. Devo yanked the driver’s side door open before the driver had time to react. In the same second, Crispin grabbed hold of the driver with both hands and jerked him out of the cab while Devo climbed over the console into the passenger seat.

“What the hell!” the driver yelled, struggling to stay upright as Crispin tossed him aside. He was an older dude, paunchy in the middle, and no match for Crispin.

The driver didn’t see it that way and lunged for Crispin. Jude’s throat tightened. The stupid driver may have signed his death warrant.

Crispin body-slammed the man to the rocky ground and before the man reacted, Crispin had the barrel of a .38 pressed between the man’s eyes.

“No, no, no,” Jude whispered to himself. “Don’t do it, Crispin.” His gut muscles tightened as he silently prayed his brother would for once, just once, act like he had some goddamned sense.

The driver pissed himself, cowering and begging for his life. The dark piss spot spread across the front of his uniform khakis. Probably shit himself, too. Crispin drove his size 15 boot into the man’s ribs once to make his point and again out of pure meanness. With the man crumpled in a heap of moans, pleading for no more, Crispin spit on him before climbing into the driver’s seat.

Jude backed the truck up enough to straighten it in the road. He pulled away with Crispin and Devo behind him in the van. The old guy writhed on the side of the road, his pants loaded with piss and shit, his face covered with spit. Jude looked at the clock in the console. 2:30.

He smiled. Damn, they were getting good at this.

Jude drove to the spot they had scouted. Crispin and Devo followed in the van. He guided the truck down a dirt path, the wheels bouncing over exposed roots. The undercarriage scraped a time or two. Low hanging brush glided over the hood. “Damnit. If this shit scratches my truck,” he mumbled to no one but himself.

Finally, a mile deep, the land opened up to a grown-over field. Broken fence posts stood defeated by the elements near the far tree line. Jude pulled off the path and came to a stop. The area spooked him. He didn’t know anything about this part of North Carolina. His knowledge of the state centered around Boone town limits. Unlike his home in Tennessee, where he knew every back road, these roads were squiggle marks on Google Maps.

Jude killed the engine. Crispin turned the van around and backed it up so the rear doors lined up with the truck bed. They all three got out at the same time and went to work.

Jude slapped at a mosquito that had landed on his neck. He scanned the area, looking for a pond he might have missed on the satellite image. If he’d missed a body of water, what else had he missed?

Devo handed him one of the cold boxes full of insulin and Jude shoved it to the back of the truck bed. Standing on the tailgate, he waved his hands at Crispin and Devo to hurry with the others. “Come on, come on.”

Crispin, the big dumb brute, carried two boxes at once to speed things up. Thirty minutes into this heist and they still had half the van to unload. Jude swore sirens passed in the distance. The unfamiliar surroundings of this area made him jumpy and kept his nerves on edge. No way to see anything through the overgrown thickets and underbrush tight as a steel wool pad. No way to see someone coming up on them.

“We gotta get outta here,” Jude said, more firmness in his voice.

Devo, skinny as a broomstick but strong as a mule, put some urge to his step and copied Crispin, moving two at a time. Sweat trickled down Jude’s back as he worked quickly to secure the containers in the bed.

“Whatdaya think?” Devo said, handing off the boxes. He scratched at the beard tickling his chest. “Gotta be twenty grand worth?”

“Ain’t gonna be worth shit if the cops show up.” Pushing forty minutes. Jude hopped down and started helping to transfer the containers himself.

They had to be in Beckley by six P.M. Thirty minutes for the deal and back on the road and home to Mountain City by nine. He didn’t like leaving his grandmother alone all that time.

Two-by-two, they moved the cold boxes until the transport van was empty. Jude and Devo pulled the canvas tarp over the bed of the pick-up and secured it while Crispin wiped the van of prints. A few minutes later, with Jude and Devo waiting in the cab waiting, Crispin poked his head through the open passenger door. “We might have a problem.”

Jude glared at Crispin a moment. He scrambled out of the cab, rushing to the van with Devo right behind him. His mind whirled with possibilities and none were good. Crispin led the charge to the passenger side of the drug supply van, yapping a mile a minute.

“I don’t know where it came from. I swear it wasn’t there when we snatched the van. Was it, Devo?” He carefully opened the door, scared something was going to jump out at him.

For a moment, Jude couldn’t speak. When the words finally came, he spoke so softly he wasn’t sure he’d said anything. “What the fuck?”

A monkey wearing a diaper and a tiny striped t-shirt stood on the seat, staring them down.

“It’s a fucking monkey,” Devo said. “One of those cappuccino things.”

“Capuchin,” Crispin corrected. He reached his hand into the cabin, slowly. The monkey watched with curiosity.

“What the hell are we supposed to do with it?” Devo balked.

“We can’t leave him here. He’ll die.” Crispin didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground, but he knew his animals.

Jude backed away from the van, assessing the situation. Damnit! A monkey. A fucking monkey. Jesus Christ.

“What are we gonna do?” Devo said.

With his own .38 pressed against the small of his back, a quick solution came to mind. Jude jerked the Glock from his jeans and racked a round. Before he brought it up to fire, Crispin plowed into him like a linebacker, taking them both down. Every ounce of air in Jude’s lungs whooshed out as his back slammed against the ground. The gun flew from his hand and skittered to a landing a few feet away.

“What the fuck?” Jude pushed against Crispin’s 250 pounds, trying to free himself from underneath, trying to reach the gun.

Crispin raised up but held Jude’s shoulders pinned to the ground. “I ain’t gonna let you kill him, Jude. Say you ain’t gonna hurt him. Say it,” he hollered.

Rage flamed deep in Jude’s belly. He spit in his brother’s face, ignoring the backsplash his own face absorbed. Beneath clenched teeth, he mumbled, “Get off of me, Crispin.”

Crispin pressed harder on Jude’s shoulders until Jude was sure they’d cracked. Every broken twig and sharp-edged rock bore into his back. “Get the hell off me, Crispin.”

Crispin pushed harder. “Say you ain’t gonna hurt it. Say it!”

“I ain’t gonna hurt the goddamn monkey,” Jude yelled.

Devo tugged at Crispin’s t-shirt. “Come on, man. He said he weren’t gonna hurt it.”

Crispin moved slowly off his older brother. Jude staggered up, rolling his shoulders to ease the pain. He walked it off, his heart hammering in his chest. He couldn’t let Crispin think he’d won.

He spun around and caught Crispin with a closed fist below his left eye. He punched him again, this time connecting with his brother’s left cheek bone. Crispin’s head snapped backwards. He stumbled but didn’t go down. Devo moved between them, hands on Jude’s chest, pushing him toward the truck.

“Jesus Christ, you two,” Devo said. “You can kill each other after we get the money.”

Jude staggered to the truck. He climbed behind the wheel, clenching his teeth so hard he worried he’d chipped a molar. His back hurt, his shoulders hurt, and the skin on his knuckles was busted. Devo slid beside Jude creating a barrier between the brothers. There’d always been a barrier. Always would be.

Safely inside the cab, Devo handed Jude the .38.

Crispin climbed in with the monkey cradled in his arms like a baby. He sat it in his lap long enough to buckle up.

“Maybe we can take it to the drug company and they’ll get it back to its owner,” Devo said.

So angry he wanted to spit, Jude’s hands shook as he gripped the steering wheel. His knuckles were already swelling. Devo’s bony-ass elbow jabbed him in the ribs as his cousin pushed closer to make room for Crispin. “We can’t take him back, Devo. Think they’re gonna believe we found him on the side of the road?” Jude said.

He maneuvered the truck over the dirt pathway, trying to avoid the gullies and tree roots. The wheels bumped over a small mound of rocky dirt and finally grabbed hold of the asphalt. The two-lane snaked around the mountain in back-to-back S curves and emptied into the highway. Jude picked up I-81 and escaped into his own mind for the two-hour ride.

Too many thoughts ran rampant through his head. Crispin talking non-stop about the damn monkey. Arguing with Devo. The cab of the truck, stuffy as shit. Body odors, stale cigarettes, crusted sweet tea in his Gas-N-Go thermal cup. Jude punched the air conditioner as low as it would go, hoping to circulate some air.

He didn’t like leaving their grandmother, Hazel, alone this long. Maybe with the next heist, he’d stay back and let Devo and Crispin make the run? Not a smart move. He couldn’t trust either one of them to not fuck something up. Besides, that lady from the agency would be there sometime this week to sit with Hazel. Emily something-or-nother.

Jude jacked up the volume of the radio hoping some Tyler Childers would drown out his arguing brother and cousin. They’d all squabbled since Jude could remember. Back when they were kids, Devo’s mom would let Jude and Crispin spend the night on a Saturday, and haul them all to St. Paul’s Gospel Church the next morning. Even as kids, in Sunday school, the boys would find something to argue about. While Crispin and Devo fussed, Jude learned the bible stories from the Old Testament and the gospels from the New. Learned his name–Judah–meant the betrayer. Why didn’t his momma name him John? The one that meant love.

At thirty-two, Jude and Devo were the same age, Crispin two years younger.

Devo married his high school sweetheart fresh out of school and had been producing kids ever since. There were four red-headed boys like stairsteps and one little blonde named Grace who had Jude wrapped around her skinny little finger. Crispin paid her no mind.

Devo’s mom was a good woman. Real Christian-like. Total opposite of Jude and Crispin’s mother. There wasn’t a pill Tammy Courtland wouldn’t swallow or a powder she wouldn’t snort or shoot. Jude was fourteen when she od’d. Her death didn’t really affect him much. She was hardly around, anyway. Crispin cried some and Jude grew angrier at her even in death because his little brother didn’t understand. He was a pain in the ass and dumb as a sack of rocks, but he was Jude’s baby brother.

“I heard monkeys throw their own shit,” Devo said.

The comment rattled Jude. “They what?”

“They throw their shit at you.”

Crispin coochie-cooed the creature like it was a tiny baby. “That’s why you put diapers on ’em. Same with a baby.”

“Babies don’t fling their shit at you,” Devo said.

The two continued to argue and Jude wondered if this trip was going to be worth it. Regardless, he needed the money for his grandmother Hazel. He wished the two idiots with him came with an on-off knob like a radio. Just a simple twist to allow him a moment to himself.

When they crossed into West Virginia, Crispin asked, “Can we go to the New River Gorge Bridge?”

“You gonna throw the monkey off the bridge?” Devo said.

“The gorge is thirty minutes north, Crispin. We ain’t got time this trip. Maybe on the next one.” Any other time, Jude would detour out of the way to take in the sight of the steel structure. The pinch in his shoulder reminded him a while earlier he’d have killed Crispin if he’d still had the gun in his hand.

Five miles outside of Beckley, Jude turned off the highway at the Jesus Saves sign. His gut tightened as he pulled onto the mile-long dirt driveway. This was the third deal he’d brokered with Pansy Thomas and there wasn’t a damn thing pansy about him. Dude looked like he ate a pack of pit bulls for lunch.

“Leave the monkey in the truck when we unload.” Last thing he needed was Pit Bull Pansy to see them with a monkey in a diaper.

Pansy Thomas stepped out onto the sinking porch of the ramshackle house and hooked his thumb to the back. Jude followed instructions and drove the truck as directed, parking in front of a free-standing garage about twenty yards behind the home. The grass died years ago and had never been re-sewn. Pansy came into view in the rearview mirror, all three-hundred pounds of him lumbering toward the garage. A grease-stained t-shirt with the sleeves cut out rode up on his belly.

Jude got out, followed by Crispin and Devo. They waited while Pansy unlocked the roll-top door of the building and pushed it open. “How many you got?” A toothpick bobbed between his lips when he spoke.

“Twenty-two.” Jude went around to the back of the truck and lifted the tarp for the pit bull to inspect the goods.

Pansy removed the toothpick and spat, barely missing Crispin’s boot. Jude held his breath and prayed his idiot brother would ignore the blatant insult. Crispin stared at the cab, too preoccupied with the monkey to notice.

The pit bull pulled a stack of bills from his pant pocket. He handed the wad of cash to Jude then turned to Devo and Crispin. “Put ’em on the left near the back.”

While his cousin and brother unloaded the cold boxes, Jude counted the money. Twenty-two-thousand, like they’d agreed. He dropped the money in his pocket, satisfied for the moment.

“I’ve got another order for next week.” Pansy said, the toothpick bobbing again. “Y’all up for it?”

“Damn straight.”

Pansy offered his meaty hand and Jude shook it, hoping the lady from that agency worked out. He’d hate to leave his grandmother at home alone almost as much as he’d hate back-peddling on a deal with this redneck. Few things in life scared him. Pansy Thomas was one of them.

Chapter 2

My name is Emily Gayle and I watch people die for a living.

At thirty-two, I ran home to Meat Camp, North Carolina, to live rent free with my disabled father when things went south at the Bureau. Pretending to help out dad eased the guilt I carried. Tripoint Transitions didn’t pay near what I’d earned with the F.B.I. But this job wasn’t about the money. I didn’t pay my penance to the dead. Those struggling for that last breath granted my atonement. Like Hazel Courtland, my newest assignment. I was one more curve away from meeting the next person I’d watch die.

I slowed for the switchback twisting around the mountain. I spotted a sad-looking mailbox at the end of a sparsely graveled driveway and slammed on brakes. “Courtland” was painted in elementary-style script on the side. The pathway snaked from the road through a dense forest of pines. Streams of sunlight filtered through the trees in spots and lit the path in far-between sporadic waves. My headlights flickered on in reaction to the perceived darkness. The driveway emptied into a clearing, exposing an old house, and beyond that the Appalachian Mountains rising up like sentries standing watch.

The A-frame structure looked like any of the others dotting the mountain landscape. Like most of the inhabitants, the houses appeared tired. The Courtlands’ was no different. Colorless weathered siding could benefit from needed paint along with new shutters to replace the half-slatted ones. The unmowed yard rolled into a forgotten garden on the other side of a free-standing carport with a lean to. Although faded, a blue pickup sat sheltered under the aluminum carport like a prized possession.

I gathered my bag and the folder containing detailed info on Mrs. Courtland. Seventy-six years old, second bought with Leukemia. Lives with her two adult grandchildren. As soon as I got out of the S.U.V., two mutts sauntered up from the side of the house, neither in a hurry to attack nor welcome me. The larger of the two stood knee-high while his cohort stood underneath him. The big dog shied when I offered my hand to sniff but the smaller one greedily accepted a scratch behind the ear. They followed me up on the porch, in no rush, stretching out the kinks from a good night’s sleep. The shy one crawled up under a cheap plastic chair like he was hiding and I couldn’t see him.

Hand lifted, ready to knock, I jumped when the front door jerked open. A brutish-looking guy stared at me through the screen door. He was as broad as the door was wide. My mind flickered with images of Saturday night wrestling matches at the high school gym with headliners named Pretty Boy or Crusher. The proceeds going to the fire department’s ladies’ auxiliary. The purple bruise underneath his right eye, along with the busted skin on his left cheek gave credence to the wrestler image.

The big guy gave me the once over. “Who are you?” he said.

Special Agent Emily Gayle came to mind but that was another life ago. “I’m Emily Gayle, from Tripoint Transitions. I’m here to meet Judy Courtland.”

***

Excerpt from What the Monkey Saw by Lynn Chandler Willis. Copyright 2023 by Lynn Chandler Willis. Reproduced with permission from Lynn Chandler Willis. All rights reserved.

 

Author Bio:

Lynn Chandler Willis
Lynn Chandler Willis is a best-selling, multi-award-winning author who has worked in the corporate world, the television news industry, and had a thirteen-year run as the owner and publisher of a small-town newspaper. She lives in the heart of North Carolina on a mini-farm surrounded by chickens, turkeys, ducks, nine grandkids, a sassy little calico named Jingles, and Finn, a brown border collie known to be the best dog in the world. Seriously.

Catch Up With Lynn Chandler Willis: LynnChandlerWillis.com Goodreads BookBub – @lynn361 Instagram – @lynnchandlerwillis_author Twitter – @LynnCWillis Facebook – @lynnchandlerwillis.author

 

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