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Amazon
Benston Writes
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: PublishAmerica
ISBN-10: 1424154251
Pages: 92
Copyright: August 2006
Rona Shively has seen a lot of things in her day, but nothing like the case brought to her by Gilbert Delvecchio. He is looking for his ex-wife, and she's definitely not the woman he married. Before she knows what is happening, Rona is swept into a web of deception where everyone is both a target and a suspect.
A couple of romances and a shootout later, can she find the missing ex-wife before the bull's-eye finds her again?
Or is it too late?
Every day I have doubts about my sanity. I seem to get myself into some of the damnedest situations. It’s really something of a miracle that I haven’t been killed. My name is Rona Shively. There’s nothing special about me other than the fact that I often work with individuals in strange situations and I rarely complete a job without injury. I am thirty-eight years old, fairly attractive, never married, and considered to be somewhat of an asshole by those who know me. I can’t help it, it just comes naturally. I do have a few friends, though. That’s how I met Gilbert Delvecchio. He contacted me at the suggestion of my closest friend, Norman Dent. When I arrived at my apartment this evening, the light on my answering machine was blinking. I walked over to the desk and pushed the play button. A man’s voice said, “Ms. Shively, I got your name from Mr. Dent. He said you might be the right person to help me with a little problem I got. I’d appreciate a call when you get this message. The number is 555-2199. I’m in all evening. Thanks.” The dial tone was interrupted by the clicking of the machine and the message ended. I picked up the receiver and dialed the number. One ring, two rings, three rings…I waited, holding the phone loosely until someone finally picked up on the other end. “Hello,” a voice said sharply, sounding out of breath. I wondered for a moment if I had interrupted something. “Uh, hello, this is Shively, I had a message to call this number.” “Hold on, just a minute,” the man said. I heard him lay the phone down on the other end. Faintly, I could hear a female voice in the background. She seemed to be panting. A couple of minute passed as I listened to them apparently finishing up whatever it was that I had interrupted. I let my imagination run away with thoughts of what might have been happening on the other end of the line. Finally, the man picked up the phone again and said, “Yeah, the name’s Delvecchio. I’m a friend of Norm’s.” I snapped out of my daydream long enough to respond to the guy. “This is Rona Shively, I’m returning your call,” I said flatly.“Right, yeah, sorry about that, we were trying to move this damned desk and it weighs about a ton,” he explained, “Is there somewhere we can meet and talk about the situation? I don’t like doing business over the phone.” I was a little disappointed in him for not being the super stud I had built him up to be in the entire four minutes I had known him, but I answered, “Sure, you familiar with Stoney Park Circle area?”“Yeah, I live near there,” he said.“Well, there’s a bar on the corner of White and Blair Courts,” I said, “Meet me there in a twenty minutes.”“No problem,” he said, “I’ll see you in a few.”
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