The sun was still tucked below the horizon when I gave up on sleep, pulled a robe over my tee-shirt and underwear and descended the stairs softly, careful to avoid the familiar creaks so I wouldn’t wake Patrick. Thoughts of Gloria, Patrick’s former FBI partner, kept me tossing and turning all night, startling me awake again whenever I did manage to drift off.

Gloria appeared on our doorstep last night with no warning, a disgraced agent with no job and no home, asking for Patrick’s help. She was pitiful, but gorgeous, even with red, swollen eyes, faded jeans and a hoodie. Jealousy would have been a natural reaction, especially since Patrick and Gloria had spent months undercover together and Patrick never once mentioned her. But that wasn’t it and Patrick didn’t seem to believe me when I told him how I felt. I don’t trust Gloria and I don’t know why. How do I explain that feeling in my gut?

I pressed the brew button on the coffeemaker, and then added a spoonful of sugar and a splash of milk to my mug while the steamy water passed through the grounds. It wasn’t just thoughts of Gloria that kept me awake. It was work, too. Journalism is the only career I have ever known. I interned my way through college as a single, teenage mom with the help of my foster parents, and landed the job at The Sun Times right out school.

Then I worked my way up in the newsroom, putting in twenty, sometimes thirty or forty hours of unpaid overtime a week to get to where I am now. I am the only reporter assigned to the projects desk, where I work on deep, impactful, long-term stories without worrying about daily coverage. I earned that status, nearly getting killed twice while breaking the stories that got me there and putting the people I love most in danger. But the job description is changing.

Newspapers all over the country are struggling for revenue and laying off newsroom employees to cut costs. The Sun Times is no exception. With fewer reporters, more daily work is falling into my lap. I don’t know anything but journalism. I don’t want to do anything else. What will happen to me if the trends continue and I either lose my job or I am forced to go back to dressing up press releases and covering festivals? I don’t think I can do it.

As I sipped my coffee, the sky began to lighten, inviting me to slide open the patio doors and step outside. The air was unusually warm for March in Central New York. It was going to be a perfect day and Patrick wouldn’t stir for another hour. I slipped back inside, set down my mug and went into the laundry room, where I found clean running tights, a long-sleeved tee-shirt and my favorite running jacket. I could get away with light clothing today.

I needed to clear my head, to run a bit and maybe hit the bag a few times at Ricky’s kickboxing studio. Ricky wouldn’t officially be open yet, but he would be prepping for the day, and he would let me in. He always did. I could be out and back before Patrick even got out of the shower, and then I would be ready to talk more coherently about last night. I changed my clothes, tied on my running shoes, and closed the door behind me, taking the spring air into my lungs, nearly ready to face the day ahead. What could go wrong on a day like this?

No Time to Breathe, A Lisa Jamison Mystery Book #3
Genre: Traditional
Release: April 2023
Format: Digital
Purchase Link

Journalist Lisa Jamison wants to blow off some steam after an argument with her boyfriend, so she heads to her friend Ricky’s kickboxing studio for an early morning workout. She expects to find Ricky alone, setting up for his first class of the day, but someone was there before Lisa, uninvited. Ricky is dead, shot only moments before she arrived, and now Lisa is a suspect in his murder. Lisa wants two things: to clear her name and seek justice for Ricky. But the deeper she digs, the more the danger mounts. Can she find Ricky’s killer before the killer eliminates the last obstacle, silencing Lisa for good?

About the author
Lori Duffy Foster is a former crime reporter and the Agatha and Shamus award-nominated author of the Lisa Jamison Mystery Series. No Time To Breathe, book 3 in her series, launches in April 11. Never Let Go, her debut thriller, released in December from Level Best Books and Dreamscape Audio. Lori is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, Private Eye Writers of America and Pennwriters.

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