Sunday Snippet: Loud As Hell

What a week! My brain is all spinny at the moment because I have an abundance of work projects in my inbox. I love having a full calendar. That said, I need about five more hours in each day, please and thank you.

Honestly, the overflowing inbox comes at an excellent time for me. I have several things that need attention, one of them being the brakes on my car. Now to buckle under and get the work done.

Weather in Ohio is typical for March. Maybe a little on the extreme side, but March always seems to be whiplashing back and forth between winter and spring. Today is springlike with temps in the fifties. Yesterday we barely broke freezing for our high.

Another very limited week for viewing. I'm not kidding when I say five more hours each day would be helpful. Just saying.

I did finish up the Death in Paradise episode I started last week. So sad to see Florance leave again. But what a way to go out. And pretty sure we'll see her again.

Also started a Beyond Paradise episode, which will finish out the first season. I'm really enjoying this show.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Loud As Hell, a follow-up story to A Quiet Hell.

Here's the miniblurb:

Bailey Wendelson has come a long way and learned a lot since almost trapping his brother in a prison for the paranormally gifted. When Bailey meets Yazmin Meechum, a woman with siren capabilities, she has no desire for his assistance, but he won't walk away because she's being followed by the people he used to work for.

And a preview snippet…

Yazmin pushed her cart to the self-checkout area. "Gotta love twenty-four-hour grocery stores." She always waited until after eleven p.m. because the aisles were more or less deserted.

She ran her items over the scanner and paid with her debit card. She smiled and nodded when the night-shift manager asked if he could put her cart away. Grasping the bags, she exited the store and retrieved her key from her jacket pocket.

The parking lot lighting left a lot to be desired, but the tradeoff of fewer people to deal with ranked pretty high on her list. With the exception of talking to herself, she rarely had to interact verbally with anyone. Luckily, she didn't have far to go.

She hit her key fob to unlock her car. "Home. Unpack. Binge watch something until I fall asleep." Not exactly a thrill a minute but she'd grown used to the routine.

Almost to the vehicle, she'd just pressed the trunk button when a large man grabbed her arm and tried to pull her into a van sitting opposite to her sedate sedan. She screamed and the groceries went flying. Twisting and turning, she started to fight back when another guy attempted to scoop her legs up. Kicking out, she shouted for help again.

A metal baton came out of nowhere and cracked the guy trying to grab her legs on the head. He landed on the asphalt with a loud grunt. The other brute let her go and engaged in a fight with her rescuer. Punches were thrown and the baton struck the assailant on the knee, the shoulder, and the nape.

The rescuer whirled around, and Yazmin's eyes went wide. Bailey Wendelson. Holy shit.

His head jerked toward her car. "It's not safe. Pretty sure they planted a tracking device." He collapsed the baton and tucked it into his coat. "We don't have much time. Will you let me get you somewhere safe?" His eyebrows arched.

Not trusting her voice, she gave a shaky nod.

He used his thumb to point over his shoulder. "I'm over here. Sorry about the groceries, but we need to get moving now." He headed for his vehicle, not waiting to see if she followed.

But follow she did, sliding into the passenger seat of the running car. Bailey put the SUV in gear and gunned the engine, lurching forward and barely stopping before pulling out onto the nearly deserted street.

Yazmin hunched into her coat and stared straight ahead. Who were the men and what did they want? How did Bailey know she'd need help? Willing her heart rate to slow down, she twisted her hands in her lap. What the hell am I getting into?

Then a ridiculous thought pinged in her brain. Dammit. My trunk is still open.

I'm having a lot of fun with this story. Bailey really wanted to redeem himself after being a bit of an ass in the first book.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye