Author Spotlight - Excerpt from Arrow That Flies

Enjoy this excerpt from "Arrow That Flies." Sadie & Sophie are giving away a basket full of Maine goodies. Items include a jar of blueberry jam, some maple drop candy (yum!), a sachet that smells like Christmas trees, and other promotional goodie. All you have to do is read the excerpt and leave a comment between now, Sat & Sun. I'll pull a name out of the hat on Monday 12 SEP and announce the winner here on the blog in this thread and on the Connections Yahoo Group. Don't forget to leave a good email so we can get in contact with you.

Smiles
Moderator Steph

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Jackie closed the door of Brad's office and let the roar of the rain on her helmet swallow up his angry voice. She looked over the hazy mass of charred boards and blackened equipment to where RJ leaned on a tall twisted spruce at the periphery of the lumberyard.

As she watched, a sheet of smoke and rain blew across and obscured the man. "Not this time," she muttered. She flung herself down the stairs, nearly falling as one heel of the big boots fetched on the bottom step. She slewed in the mud and sawdust but kept her head down and fought forward toward her objective. She thought she heard someone shout her name, but she kept moving.

She squinted ahead at the now-empty space underneath the trees. "Jackie!" a familiar voice called through the downpour as a hand touched her shoulder. She spun around to face RJ Adams. Hunched under a hooded poncho, his face and eyes looked out at her, graver than a tombstone. His cold finger stroked the curve of her cheekbone. His feather light touch lingered at the corner of her eye. "I thought you weren't going to get into the thick of things," he said. "Your face tells me you got too close."

Jackie backed away from the tender voice. She swallowed hard before she launched into her confession. "Look at you," she began. Her voice trembled, whether from emotional or physical stress, she didn't have the strength to examine the cause. "You don't have a bit of soot on you."

He held up his finger, the tip as black as sin from where it traced its way across her grimy cheek. "They used to call me the Teflon man," he said. He stepped close, put his arm around her shoulders and propelled them back toward the emergency vehicles with his purposeful stride.

Teflon man -- nothing sticks. But that was yesterday. Today was a different story. She stopped short and he immediately looked down into her eyes. "I saw you this morning," she said, in a voice husky from too much smoke and unshed tears. "Here, near the planer's shed. There'll be an investigation. I have to tell the Fire Marshal what I saw, but I--"

"It's okay," he murmured.

The words tumbled out faster. "I wanted to give you a chance to tell me what happened first," she continued.

RJ gave her a somber smile. "I've already talked to the cops. It'll be okay. Trust me."

How she wanted to do just that, but...