Leave a comment for a chance for a free copy of The Melting, Book 1 – The Infection

Excerpt 4 – Book 1

Amanda jerked awake at the pounding on her door. What the hell? She glanced at her clock. It read 2:47 a.m. She had a momentary flashback to her residency, but she was home. People rarely needed emergency autopsies. She grabbed her robe and shoved one arm in as she raced to the door. A quick look out the peephole showed her at least three men, two in military uniform, one in a suit. The man in the suit held up a badge or shield of some kind to the peephole. It wasn’t a badge she recognized from around here.

As a pathologist, Amanda worked with the police. It was normal in her field, but not the military. And she’d never been roused like this in the middle of the night. She drew herself up to her full height, tightened the sash of her robe and opened the door as the suit lifted his hand to bang on her door again.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Dr. Sutton?” At her nod he continued. “I’m Patrick Boynton. We have a national emergency and I have been sent to collect you.”

“National emergency? Collect me? What are you talking about?” Her mind clicked back to the news, the flu had come out of nowhere. She’d gotten her hands on one of the victims.

****

Amanda looked up at this Patrick Boynton and the feeling of being enclosed in the hazmat suit returned. Could this be related? No, he’d said national emergency. Had it gotten that bad?

“You are being strongly requested for a task force at the CDC.” He held out his shield again. “We will accompany you to the plane to Atlanta.” Requested was a misnomer in this case and she knew it.

Shit, she had jumped to the right conclusion. “Is this about those cruise ship deaths?” It wasn’t public information. She’d had to dig for the data. The cruise ships hadn’t been mentioned in what little real news coverage was out there about this flu. It was all being downplayed. Speculation and rumor were ruling the day. Maybe not for long if these guys were in the picture.

“I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars. You will be briefed on the plane. You need to dress and bring clothing for several days.”

Amanda stood there staring at the man in disbelief. She wasn’t at her best this time of the morning, especially when she’d been asleep about an hour. Her hair, normally her best feature, hung loose around her face and no doubt looked like she saw it when she woke in the mornings. She had on a light nightgown and a robe, but no underwear and was barefoot. She hated the feeling of disadvantage, but it was no doubt part of his plan. Damn, she was paranoid.

Are you enjoying crisp fall weather where you are?  It’s great here – wearing a sweater in the office and it smells good.  Seeing more leaves change each day as I commute in.  Makes me want to curl up with a good story with some pumpkin flavored drink.

Have excerpt 3 for you today and a chance to win a copy of  The Melting, Book 1 – leave me a comment

Excerpt 3 – Book 1

CDC, Atlanta

“Chip, glad I caught you.” Steve sounded anxious, never a good sign.

“Barely. I need to get a cab if I’m going to make my flight.”

“That’s why I called. You need to head to San Diego.”

“Are you kidding me?” He had plans for tonight. Kristi was coming in from Ghana and they were supposed to have at least three days together. At least this job was never boring. He could use a little boring.

“Nope. We have four deaths from what appears to be a virus. A pair of newlyweds and two people from her office.”

“Airborne?” Now Steve had his attention. Chip, or Dr. Ken Kyzer if you went by his diploma, was a senior investigator for the CDC, this was the kind of thing he’d studied for.

“That’s what we’re thinking. Dr. Turner wants you on the ground today to get all the information you can.”

“Turner, huh? So you’re thinking viral. At least it’s not a jungle, right? Okay. Any arrangements made?”

“I’ll make sure everything is sent to you. Your flight’s been booked. I’ll have your hotel by the time you land.”

“Look, if you hear from Kristi, tell her this was your fault.”

“Will do. She might even be joining you there if we get any more reports. Everything we know will be on-line for your eyes only.”

Chip paused. “How bad are we talking?”

“Use precautions. One of the people in the office of the bride had a compromised immune system. She died the day after the newlyweds. It’s nasty.”

“Great. I’ll be in touch.”

 
Day 2 – leave a comment for a chance to win a Melting bookmark by Swagmaster!

Excerpt 2 – Book 1

More than tired of being hauled out for these events, David Morrow had joined the party under protest. The donor had probably made his money in oil or coal or deforestation, somehow raping the land. David hadn’t bothered to look him up this time. The man would no doubt try to corner him somewhere and attempt a debate on how wrong David’s theories were. The planet wasn’t heating up and even if it were, it was probably some cyclical thing. Nothing that the congressman’s industry could be condemned for. And certainly nothing he would spend funds to fix.

Projecting much?

He wandered toward the ballroom where he heard the noise and stepped inside. He scanned the room and his eyes were drawn to a young woman in blue, her long blonde hair spilling past her shoulders. And she looked at him.

He took an involuntary step forward, inexplicably drawn to her. But the hand on his arm stopped him. It took a heartbeat before he recognized Phyllis Lawrence as the owner of the hand.

“I didn’t know you’d be here tonight. We could have come together,” the woman fussed coyly at him. Was she flirting?

If he’d known she would be here he’d have worked harder not to be. “Sorry, I barely had time to get here from the lab. I won’t be staying long,” David replied.

“You will if the Provost sees you. Drinks later?”

He managed not to sigh. Phyllis had been a mistake and it looked like he’d be paying for it forever. She had been a good tutor in all things sexual, but the attraction no longer existed. David could see her now for the—oh, hell, say it—the star fucker she was.

“I need to make it an early night. Let’s see how long this thing takes.”

She nodded but seemed disinclined to leave his side until a professor joined them and distracted her. David silently wished the man luck and scanned the room for the woman in blue.

Yes, it’s going to be a special month for me, and I’d love you to join me.

The second book in my Melting series will release on October 10. Between now and then I’m going to post a excerpt a day here for you to check out. The first five days will be from Book 1 – The Infection, the second five days from Book 2 – The Progression.

Book 3 – The Cohesion is with my publisher now for editing.

I hope you enjoy the excerpts!

Excerpt 1 – Book 1

Dr. Amanda Sutton checked her coat at the door and took a quick glance in the mirror near the entrance. She hated these stupid cocktail parties. Okay, she was affiliated with the medical school at Georgetown University, but she had graduated some time ago. She was already making a name for herself in the field of pathology, at least around here. It wasn’t a big deal, but she found herself annoyed anyway. Mostly with herself. Once again, the males in the pathology department had managed to get her to attend a thank you reception. This one was for the gift of an endowed chair in the medical school. So what if the donor was some former congressman? She hadn’t voted for him.

She only needed to put in an appearance tonight, which didn’t quite explain the care she had taken with her makeup. She had her blonde hair down for a change, her regular ponytail a little too casual for this occasion. Maybe no one would recognize her.

She stood five foot seven and in heels, like tonight, touched five nine. The royal blue dress she wore emphasized her blue eyes and slim body and hopefully didn’t show too much leg. She never dressed like this. She was much more comfortable in her scrubs or jeans, but Scott, her supervisor, had stressed this was a dress-up night. Of course, he wasn’t here to put up with it.

She didn’t really blame Scott. He had a family he worked hard to spend time with, and she didn’t. That shouldn’t make her time off less valuable. It was his supervisor who held title of the biggest pain. Dr. Anton Guilford demanded such off-hour duties and as the solo woman in the group, she was expected to handle these things. At least she’d finally put a stop to getting the coffee for everyone. Baby steps.

Amanda was quite sure the esteemed Dr. Guilford didn’t believe women should be allowed to attend medical school even in this day and age. One of these days she would drag her knuckles on the floor to see if he noticed. She had thought in the twenty-first century all of those cretins would have died off. Unfortunately not.