Terrabyte Security
by Tena Stetler
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Blurb:
Candle Bearclaw’s new security firm is growing by leaps and bounds. When her best friend’s husband, a high-profile software entrepreneur is kidnapped, she and her chief of police husband find themselves knee-deep in an international case.
The same day, an indigenous woman, Molly, pleads for Candle to take her convoluted case with identity theft overtones. Come to find out, Molly’s friend a Native American woman is missing and assumed kidnapped.
Law enforcement is all over both kidnappings until the police chief discovers the indigenous woman’s case is nearly invisible. Will either be found alive?
Excerpt:
The howling wind, lightning and thunder raged until well after midnight, keeping Molly awake. Finally, the storm subsided, and she fell asleep. A scratching, scuffling sound awakened her. She jerked up in bed and stared into the darkness outside her bedroom window. Was a person’s shadow moving outside?
She blinked, grabbed the cell phone Candle provided, and slid out of bed onto the floor crawling over to the window. The cell’s screen displayed two thirty a.m. Her finger hovered over Cayson’s number. Another thud and scratching sound, and she slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from squealing. The phone went skittering across the floor.
Then she saw it. A large branch cracked from the tree next to her window and hung down, the smaller branches brushing against the windowpane. She puffed out her cheeks and blew out a breath, got to her knees, and searched the darkened landscape then retrieved the phone.
Adrenalin still raced through her veins making sleep impossible as she crawled into bed. After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, she gave up. She dressed in a turquoise blouse and pastel print long skirt, brushed her long raven hair, then put it up in a braid that fell nearly to her waist. Turning this way and that in front of the mirror, she nodded. That should do for office attire. She packed an additional pair of jeans in the event she was sent on assignment with Cayson later.
Before dawn, Molly paced around the kitchen floor. She made a peanut butter sandwich, added a bag of chips, a cola drink, and slipped it all into her insulated lunch box. Her nerves still a bit jangled, she made hot chocolate and toasted a bagel. The thin orange line on the horizon was a welcome precursor to sunrise. She nibbled on her bagel, sipped the hot chocolate, and enjoyed the first warm rays of sun through her kitchen window.
She was still debating telling Cayson, when his truck slowed and stopped in front of the house. A calm washed through her as he got out of the truck and sauntered up the path to the door. Instead of coming inside, he walked around the house. She waited for him to come in. When he didn’t right away, she went to the back door where she’d last seen him. “Whatcha doing out there?”
“Just checking things out. Quite a storm last night.” He returned to the door and stepped inside, pausing to look her over. “Wow, you look nice today. Not that I mean you usually don’t look nice— I removed that large tree branch before it does any damage to the siding or window.”
She smiled. “I’ll take the compliment. Storm was terrible, torrential downpour and lightning.” She related the events of the night and he stared incredulously at her.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“For a broken tree branch?” She squared her shoulders.
“No. Because when I moved the broken tree limb, there were footprints outside your bedroom window. They lead across the property but were washed away the closer you got to the road.”
“Someone was here. It wasn’t my imagination playing tricks on me because of the storm.” She licked her lips nervously. “Someone knows I’m here,” she stammered.
“Now let’s not jump to conclusions, yet. Could have been teenagers. Maybe neighbors saw lights earlier, heard the tree crack, and came to investigate.”
“Oh, you’re good. But you know none of those scenarios are plausible. But thanks for trying to make me feel better.” Her face paled.
“How about we grab a couple of those bagels, pour the rest of the hot chocolate off the stove in a go cup, and head to the office? We’ll fill Candle and Miacoh in and see how they want to proceed. I’ve already told them about your spreadsheet. They want to discuss it with you.”
“I hope it will help.” She grabbed her jacket, bag, lunch box, and keys and followed Cayson out the door, stopping to set the alarm and lock the door.
“I’ll mention beefing up the security around the outside of the house to Miacoh. Add a few cameras. It’s a different world now than when that safe house was originally commissioned.”
The crisp mountain air was cooler than expected and she shrugged into her jacket before climbing into his truck.
Cayson remained outside the truck for a few minutes talking on his phone. When he opened the driver side door and hopped in, he glanced at her. “I filled Candle and Miacoh in on the events of last night. Miacoh authorized the new equipment to be installed at the safe house. But first, we have a short assignment.
Author bio:
Tena Stetler is an international best-selling author of award-winning paranormal tales. Some call her crazy, others creative. She deals with the voices in her head by writing them down and creating a fantasy world and characters you won’t soon forget. Her books tell tales of magical kick-ass women and mystical alpha males that dare to love them. Travel, adventure, magic, and a bit of mystery flourish in her books along with a few companion animals to round out the tales.
Colorado is home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot, and a fifty- two-year-old box turtle. When she’s not writing, her time is spent kayaking, camping, hiking, biking or just relaxing in the great Colorado outdoors.
