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Amazon
Vonnie Writes
Amazon
Category:
Action/Thriller
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
ISBN-10: 1601549962
Pages: 260
Copyright: December 15, 2011
A romantic suspense/police procedural/thriller (!!) set in New Zealand about their fledgling Witsec program.
Abused and abandoned as a child, Celie Francis knows better than to trust anyone. But after she witnesses a murder she's placed in The Unit--New Zealand's witness protection program--where she's expected to trust strangers with her life.
It's Police Psychologist Brand Turner's job to ease witnesses and those under threat into their new lives, and to do this he demands their trust. Then he discovers that someone is leaking information from the Unit and Celie reconnects with her dysfunctional family in ways she never expected. To save herself she must trust someone. Brand struggles to protect the stroppy woman as a killer comes calling at their door.
Excerpt
Célie Francis ran faster than she ever had in her life. Fingers of fog rolling in from the sea grabbed at her as her feet alternately flew and stuttered over the uneven pavement of the ocean road.
Where was he? How much time did she have?
The wash of the sea was a calm counterpoint to her harsh, frantic breathing. Above the sound of her thudding feet, the shriek of a bird pierced the air.
No, not a bird. Something was squeaking. Occy’s old bicycle!
He had found her.
Faster, Célie, faster, shouted the little man on the treadmill in her mind.
I can’t, she sobbed.
Fancy the consequences?
No God, no!
Then run faster.
But her aching legs could not obey. And on the roadway, the relentless squeak, squeak kept pace with her. Frantically she zigzagged, seeking a haven in the fog. It was barely dawn on the lonely North Auckland cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. No help anywhere.
Have to hide. Have to hide. Her shoes slapped a rhythm.
Salty sweat stung her eyes. Ignore it.
The slap of her running shoes echoed, then died in the mist. Died...
Her brain, tumbling in an endless whirl of fear and futile questions asked—why Occy? Why had he killed a man this time?
Up ahead loomed a deep grey cloud of mist. Thank you, God. She blasted into the fog bank and the squeaking receded behind her. This is your chance, the little man said.
Veering off the footpath, she streaked across a pristine lawn and crouched behind a lavender bush. Her chest heaving, she struggled to gulp another breath of sodden air.
Squeeeak. He was back. This was it. Eyes streaming, she curled into a ball on the cold ground and waited.
Something yellow zinged past her face and tickled her arm. A needle-sharp sting pierced her elbow, then another. Bees, irritated by her invasion, were trying to drive her out. No you won’t. What’s out there is a lot worse than what you can do. As the pinpricks tingled and burned, she pressed her lips together so hard that the muscles on the sides of her face ached.
Louder now, the squeaking advanced and receded. He was casting up and down, looking for her. Please, please...
A sibilant whisper reached her through the clammy fog. “I know who you are, Célie. I know where you live.”
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