"Shaped by tragedy. Bound by duty. Driven by justice." Avery trusts his instincts, not the law, to protect a deaf woman and her young son.
Posted in the heart of winter to a remote detachment in Newfoundland, Constable Avery Stone is a freshly demoted Mountie with a rogue streak. As he looks into the death of a disgraced officer, he stumbles onto a plethora of unresolved crimes. His troubling investigation throws him into the path of Hannah Parker, the feisty deaf mother of a young boy.
To escape her past, Hannah moves into her grandfather's secluded cabin. She catches a glimpse of his killers in the woods, but her credibility is damaged by recanted accusations. The birth of a fatherless son further tarnishes her reputation, and hinders her ability to trust. When shadowy forces threaten her family, Hannah is forced to rely on Avery.
Tangled in a web of deadly deceit, Avery seeks to protect Hannah and her son while desperately trying to retrieve the crucial evidence locked inside their minds. Can Hannah recapture her past in time to save her only child and the man she's come to love?
PURCHASE LINKS
Excerpt
The door opened, and a woman in a purple and gray winter coat, the same woman he'd seen yesterday at church, entered, robbing Avery of his last word. She approached the reception counter.
"Hello, Hannah." Cooper had backtracked to the entrance of the corridor. "I'm busy, but our new constable will take care of you."
The fire burning inside the belly of the stove didn't guard the room from the icy front sweeping between his colleague and the woman. Bracing himself for a verbal altercation, Avery proceeded toward the counter and came face to face with angry ocean blue eyes. Same blue eyes as the quiet child.
"I'm Constable Stone, ma'am. How can I help you?"
"I'm being threatened, Constable, and I'm growing tired of it." A strange accent he couldn't identify lingered in her voice. "You may want to relate that last part to your sergeant."
She reached inside her pocket and presented him with a red envelope. As he snapped on a pair of latex gloves, a white pom-pom brushed the woman's arm. Avery peeked over the top of the counter. The youngster looked at him like he or she had done in church. Mother and child. No doubt in his mind.
He turned his full attention to the short message tucked inside the envelope. I'm coming for you, Parker. Pack your Ugly Brat and get out while you can.
The blue-eyed kid looked neither ugly nor bratty. Nevertheless, the unveiled threat was too specific to be a random act.
"Where and when did you find the letter, Ms. Parker?" Cooper had called her Hannah, so Avery assumed Parker to be her last name. When she didn't immediately correct him, he committed the name to memory…where it superposed with the name provided by the coroner. She's the one who found Brent Abbott's body.
"I live in a log cabin in the woods, about twenty klicks from here. Around two a.m. my dog heard someone at the door. When I answered, the wind carried the envelope inside. It would have been placed on the front porch. There were footprints in the snow. I followed them to the shed where they stopped at the edge of Ski-Doo tracks."
"Someone threatens you and you chase after him in the middle of the night?" The woman was insane, impulsive, or fearless. Or worse, a combination of the three.
"What else was I supposed to do? Call you?" Her nostrils flared. "You didn't bother showing up for the other letters. I'm done wasting my time waiting for assistance."
He hadn't been here on those previous occasions, and he didn't appreciate being tossed in the same basket as Cooper and Reed. "Did you follow the snowmobile tracks?"
"In the dark? While my son was sleeping?" The dubious look she gave him bordered contempt. "I'm not that stupid."
Who is J.S.?
J.S. Marlo spent her childhood in a small French Canadian town, reading and daydreaming stories. One day, she met her hero, a dashing young officer, and followed him back and forth across the country.
The "memorable" adventures she experienced with her young family fueled her imagination and kindled the dream of one day becoming a published author. It wasn't until after her three spirited children left the nest in pursuit of their own adventures, that J.S. finally gave writing a chance.
Her first two dozen stories were for her friends' eyes only. To her surprise and delight, they enjoyed them and rewarded her with their encouragement and support. J.S. kept writing, and learning, and writing…
She finally captured her dream with her first novel "Salvaged", and then carried on with her first series "Duty Bound": Unscripted–Book One, Unearthed–Book Two, and Untamed–Book Three.
J.S. lives in northern Alberta with her wonderful hubby, and when she's not visiting her children and little granddoggie, she's working on her next series in front of the fireplace.
Connect with J.S.
Website: www.sites.google.com/site/jsmarloauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005715001393
