Series: Grave Talker #2
Publication date: February 23rd, 2021
Synopsis:
There are few things worse than being on the Arcane Bureau of Investigation's naughty list.
To keep myself out of hot water, I've made a deal with the devil--using my skills as a grave talker to help the ABI solve some very cold cases.
But there is something mighty amiss in this task--especially when quite a few of these cases lead me right back to my home town of Haunted Peak and the secrets buried there.
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Excerpt
My mother's blonde hair was coiffed in Hollywood-style glam waves, pairing perfectly with her red-painted lips. Her crisp suit and high heels and laissez faire attitude made me want to smash something. Add that to our strained relationship, and I had a hell of a time lowering my weapon.
Would the world miss a conniving grave talker with a penchant for keeping or spilling life-altering secrets at her mercurial whims? Likely not.
Mariana stared at my raised weapon with an unimpressed raised eyebrow, kind of like a mother would look at a tantrum-throwing toddler.
Fine, then.
I rolled my eyes and cleared the weapons before handing it back to Bishop. I didn't need it anyway, and she knew it. "You're not welcome here. How about you do me an epic favor, and get out?"
It was bad enough she abandoned me and my father. Showing up here uninvited was just salt in the wound.
Mariana's smile was slow and bitchy. "Is that any way to talk to your mother?"
I couldn't help it, I gave her an indelicate scoff, the following laugh unbearably bitter. "My mother's dead. She died when I was nine. My father and I buried her. You're just some bitch wearing her face. Now get the fuck out of my house. You. Are not. Welcome here."
Mariana uncrossed and recrossed her legs, settling in for the long haul, and I had the urge to snatch Bishop's gun back and shoot her in the kneecap.
She'd heal. Probably.
"Don't you want to know why I'm here?" she asked, and I was reminded of Bishop sitting in that same chair asking me that same question. I had to wonder if that move was standard ABI protocol.
"I really don't. And I'll tell you just like I told Hildy. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you. I don't want to know you. You are not welcome in my space. Now, I can exert some influence on Hildy because he's no longer alive. Would you like to join him?"
Annie Anderson is a military wife and United States Air Force veteran. Originally from Dallas, Texas, she is a southern girl at heart, but has lived all over the US and abroad. As soon as the military stops moving her family around, she'll settle on a state, but for now she enjoys being a nomad with her husband, two daughters, an old man of a dog, and a young pup that makes life... interesting.
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