Deadly Sins, a Taci Andrews Mystery.
Copyright November 2018, Amy Manemann
Copyright November 2018, Amy Manemann
Prologue
Flight or fight. An age old, built
in response mechanism that allows our brain to quickly rationalize and respond.
When faced with a life or death situation, your heart and lungs accelerate,
your mouth goes dry, and you suddenly have a newfound respect for those who
would normally drive you to drink.
My current situation was grim, no
doubt about it. I’d been in many tough situations in the recent months that
would have made a saner person step back to reconsider their life goals. This
one probably took the cake.
Kidnappers I could handle, being
held at gun point hadn’t fazed me too badly. But this might be pushing the
barrier. The clues were right in front of me, yet I’d refused to take a closer
look. In the end, my naivety would be my undoing, and judging by
the long handled knife that was now kissing the edge of my skin, things were
about to get a whole lot worse.
CHAPTER ONE
When I was a teenager, the thought
of an approaching holiday like Valentine’s Day would fill me with both
excitement and dread. Excitement for the possibilities surrounding the day of
love, and dread knowing those possibilities were probably not in the cards for
me. Being a single girl in a small town like Riverdale, Iowa, my options were pretty
limited to stoners, jocks and the occasional egghead. You can see my dilemma.
This year, things were different. I
was in a relationship even my mother was proud of, and though we’d gotten
off to a rocky start, things were going pretty well. Lucky for me, rocky starts
happen to be what I excel in. My name is Taci Andrews, and I’m an investigative
reporter for the Riverdale Times.
This past year has been rough, to
say the least. As with any job, being a reporter for the Riverdale Times has its ups and downs. The pay is good, there’s
always something interesting going on, and I have a coworker who keeps me plied
with coffee and doughnuts. Those would be the ups of the job. The downs consist
of being shot at, nearly blown up, kidnapped, drugged and, of course, kidnapped
again for good measure (I think the bad guys were running out of ideas on what
to do with me).
Remarkably enough, I’ve managed to
go three months without any downs of the job occurring. An amazing feat
according to my boss, Bryce Pierce. He has a calendar on the wall in his office
that he marks with a big red X at the end of each day that I go without
incident. It’s sad, but true.
With the Midwest temperatures for February keeping
any evil doers at bay, things have been slower than normal at work and I’ve
been able to turn my attention to a new rite of passage. You guessed it. I, Taci Lynn Andrews,
was about to purchase a Valentine’s Day card for my boyfriend, former Fireman
and current FBI Agent, Tony Parsons.
My relationship with Parsons began
back in grade school when he looked up my skirt during the school Christmas
Pageant and told everyone about my little pony underwear. I gave him a black
eye. Years later, during a moment of raging teenage hormones, I let him feel up
my shirt, which I later came to regret when he told everyone my cup size. In
turn, I gave him another black eye.
Fortunately for him, I’m a forgiving
kind of girl. It probably helps that the man in question has grown up to be
sinfully handsome with deep blue eyes that darken when he’s turned on, dimples
in each cheek that make my heart do a weird flip, and a rock hard, well-muscled
body that makes my girlie parts quiver. He also happens to have a full set of delicious
lips that he’s used on more than one occasion to kiss me senseless. What can I
say? I’m a sucker for a guy who knows how to kiss.
Anyway, that’s Parsons in a
nutshell. He also happens to be bossy and overbearing when it comes to any
trouble I manage to find myself in. Probably for good reason, considering the trouble
I typically find myself in is usually the deadly, bad for my health, kind of
trouble.
I stared at the rows of cards lining
the rack in front of me, chewing my bottom lip. Heart shapes, puppy dog faces
and smooching lips stared back at me, as if mocking my decision at every turn.
I don’t know why picking the right card for Parsons was so important, but I
felt like the weight of our relationship rested in the balance of a piece of
card stock. Lame, I know.
After reading through over a dozen
cards and discarding them one by one, I was beginning to lose hope of ever
finding the right card. That’s when I spotted it, a kitten with soulful eyes
staring up at me, beckoning me in for a closer look. Reaching out, I pulled it
free from the rack just as the woman standing next to me made a grab for it.
“That’s mine,” she snapped, keeping
a firm grip on her end of the card.
Somewhat taken aback by her rudeness,
I eyed her expectantly, retaining my grip as well. “I’m sorry, but I had this
one first.”
Despite the bright smile I flashed, the
ladies eyes narrowed, and her grip tightened.
“I don’t think so. My hand was on it
first, and as you can see, there isn’t another one in the bin so you’ll need to
pick a different one,” she insisted.
Hard as it was, I managed to keep my
mouth from falling open. Was she serious? Now, this would be the part where a
normal person’s common sense would kick in and tell them to just let go of the
card. It just so happens that I’m sorely lacking in the common sense
department. Instead, mine was replaced by a sheer will of determination to purchase the card
gripped tightly between my thumb and first finger.
“I hate to break it to you, but I
had it first, so it looks like you
will have to pick something else.” I gave the card a tug for emphasis.
The woman tugged back, her jaw
clenched in determination. “I’m not letting go.”
“Well, I’m not letting go.”
People stood off to the side,
watching the debacle going on in the card isle. We were making a spectacle and
I really didn’t care. There was no way this rude woman was getting my card.
She pointed a well manicured
fingernail at me, poking me in the chest. “I suggest you let go if you know
what’s good for you.”
My temper flared, my eyebrow lifting
in disbelief. “Did you just poke me?”
She nodded, poking me again. “Yeah,
I did. What are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll tell you exactly what I’m
going to do about it…” My voice trailed off as I took a menacing step forward, coming
to an abrupt halt when a strong arm snaked around my waist, bringing me up
short against a well-muscled chest. The card slipped from my fingertips as a
very familiar, very musky cologne filled my nostrils, and I knew, without
looking, who had interrupted the card war.
“Causing problems at the grocery
store? Tsk, tsk, Angel Face, that’s not like you at all.” His deep voice
rumbled in my ear. I couldn’t help it. The sound of his voice made my toes curl
inward and a suspicious warmth flood my body.
I threw a glance over my shoulder,
taking in Parsons’ profile. And what a profile he had to behold. I knew for a
fact beneath the rugged lines of the form fitting jeans and firefighter muscle
t-shirt lay a body that was sinful in itself, as I’d been up close and personal
with it on more than one occasion. Lucky me.
“You know me, I make do wherever I
am.” My voice came out a bit breathlessly, the feel of his warm breath tickling
the back of my neck causing the hairs to stand on end.
The card thief eyed Parsons appreciatively,
pasting a smile on her face. “Well now, it’s nice that a big strong man like
you stepped in to put things right. Thank you, sir, for handling the situation.
This woman was getting a bit out of hand.”
My teeth ground together, and I’m
pretty sure steam escaped my ears. Knowing my temper well, Tony’s arm tightened
on my waist, a silent warning that there was no way he was about to let me go.
“Absolutely ma’am, I’m happy to
help.” I knew without looking that he was flashing his dimples, because the
woman got all giggly and had the grace to flush. I seriously contemplated
stomping on his foot.
Instead of doing Parsons bodily harm,
however, I watched the card thief saunter off to the checkout line with my card clenched tightly in her hand.
Tony’s arm loosened around my waist,
though he retained his hold on me. He probably expected me to vault after the thief
and retrieve the card. A tempting thought.
I spun around in his arms to find
his laughing blue eyes. “You can let go now.”
He grinned. “You weren’t card
shopping for me, were you, Tace?”
“I was, but since you let that woman
take off with my card, I don’t know if I feel like finding you another one.” I
poured as much sugary sweetness into my voice as I could, rewarded when he
chuckled before leaning down to drop a kiss on my upturned lips. Seeing that the
excitement was done for the day, the crowd began to disperse, returning to
their grocery shopping.
“You could always do something original, like make me coupons with
sexual favors that I can randomly cash in.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
I laughed. “You wish. What’s with
the fireman shirt?” I gave his sleeve a tug. “Run out of clean clothes to
wear?”
“I heard chicks dig firemen, so thought
I’d test the theory. Is it working?”
I stepped back to openly ogle him. “Well,
I don’t know about anyone else, but this chick definitely digs it.”
Parsons grin deepened. “You must be
feeling better. Does this mean we can play damsel in distress later on tonight?
I’ll wear my boots.”
His mention of my health was a
sobering reminder. We recently had a pregnancy scare when my period came a week
later than normal. Thankfully, it was all due to stress and not the fact that
we had a bun in the oven. Someday I would love to have kids. Now was not the
time.
“Parsons wearing nothing but fireman
boots? Count me in.” My grin slowly faded. “Seriously though, what gives? Are
you working today?”
He shrugged, eyes flitting away. Oh
boy. Parsons had an uncanny knack of changing the subject when he didn’t want
to answer a question. I got the feeling something was up.
Since there was no way I was going
to look for a card with Parsons hanging around, I headed towards the exit. Call
me crazy, but there was just something tacky about your boyfriend watching you
pick out the card you’re planning on giving him.
He fell into step beside me. “I was
officially done a month ago, but they’re short staffed and needed a hand.” He rubbed
the back of his neck. “Since I’m going to be hanging around Riverdale for a
while to wrap things up, I said I’d help out until they found a replacement.”
I frowned. “And your other job? The higher ups are okay with
you playing fireman instead of focusing on other cases?”
When Tony first came back to
Riverdale, he was working undercover for the FBI as a fireman at Central Fire
Station. It just so happened that the shady characters who were under his radar
ended up being tied in with the story I was working on. What began as a story
about a missing girl, evolved into a drug ring bust, illegal profiteering and
eventually attempted murder, all with the Mayor of Riverdale pulling the
strings. At the end of the day, we put an end to the Mayors’ corruption, I
didn’t end up in the city morgue, and I landed a hot boyfriend to boot.
The only thing overshadowing that happiness
was the betrayal of my childhood friend and former police officer, Charlie
Duncan. It turned out Charlie was also involved in the Mayor’s criminal ring
and had moved back to Riverdale to oversee management of the Mayor’s group. When
the party came crashing down, Charlie managed to escape authorities and was
still at large.
“The higher ups are cool with it as
long as I’m around when they need me.”
“What about me?” I paused next to my
Honda Civic, regarding him with interest. “Does that mean you won’t be around
when I need a back massage?
His lips twisted into a lopsided
grin that made my heart flip flop. “Baby, I’ll always be around for back
massages, and anything else you feel needs a good rub.”
I couldn’t help it. My body tingled.
“So, I’ll see you later tonight
then?” I leaned in to trail a fingertip along the front of his chest. Instead
of an answer, he pressed a kiss to my mouth that included a whole lot of tongue
before he drew back.
“You’ll see me later,” he promised, sneaking
in one more kiss before turning and heading to his truck. I watched him go, my
body on overdrive and thoughts centered on what the evening would bring. Parsons
may be bossy and overbearing, but he definitely had one thing going for him.
The man was a God when it came to his prowess in bed, and he had this girl wrapped
around his little finger.
Enough said.
Chapter Two now available!!
~*~
