Morning always comes too early for me when I’ve spent the night before trying to keep a murderer from killing my best friend.
Hi, Skeet Bannion here. I left a job as the highest ranking woman officer on the Kansas City Police Department and moved to little Brewster, Missouri, right outside KC to have a peaceful life without murders, drunken fathers, or jealous ex-husbands. But somehow all those things followed me to my job as chief of the Chouteau University Police Department. Plus I ended up with custody of a teenager, Brian Jameson. Me, the woman who doesn’t do family well—or at all, if possible. One of the tricksters was at work in my life, my Cherokee grandmother would say. Rabbit or Coyote.
“Angie’s shot some brilliant video that she wants to put together into a film. Very anti-establishment stuff, of course. Anarchist, just about, Angie says.” My teenaged ward, Brian, swallowed a link sausage, chewing only three or four times.
“Of course,” I muttered, staring into my mug with eyes that hadn’t spent enough time closed overnight.
He gulped down a glass of orange juice. “She’ll let me be her assistant. She’s really brilliant.”
Brian had been going on about his new friend Angie all morning. He’d been asleep by the time I made it home last night with no chance to tell me about his new enthusiasm then.
I should have been paying closer attention to what he said. I broke down and bought a book on parenting (might as well have said mothering on the cover since that’s what it dealt with). The author made it clear that keeping the channel of communication open was vital. You had to listen to your kid, always know what was going on with him. I liked to think Brian and I had a good clear channel of communication, so I didn’t think one morning of being preoccupied with who was trying to kill my best friend, Karen, would make a real difference.
“She’s got film-editing software, and she’s going to teach me to use it. Isn’t that great?” He stuffed his last buttered-and-jellied biscuit into his mouth all at once, barely chewing before he swallowed it with the last of his milk.
“You’ll choke one of these days doing that.” I got up to go for more coffee. “Don’t take such huge bites. Slow down and chew.” I almost bit my tongue as I heard my mother’s words coming out of my mouth.
He ignored me. “These were super biscuits. You’re getting good at baking.”
I smiled. “I’m getting good at buying a better quality of frozen ready-to-bake biscuit.”
Brian grinned and shrugged. “Whatever. As long as they taste good. Make more next time, okay?”
He gathered his plate and glass to take to the sink, leaving the dirty silverware on the table, as always. Before I could say anything, the phone rang.
Karen’s shepherd spoke in a deep, rough voice. “Karen’s driven to town. She wouldn’t listen to me. She’s going to open her store today.”
“After last night? Is she crazy?” Brian turned to stare as I shouted. “Was she even in any shape to drive?”
“She is stronger but still shaky, though she tried to hide it. She ordered me to stay and take care of the animals. But who will watch over her?” His low voice caught as he rushed out the last words.
“It won’t be easy.” I hesitated, thinking of the problems entailed. “Why’d she decide to do this now? She’s not even physically fit yet.”
“She’s a stubborn woman. It bothers her that she was so frightened last night.” His voice grew heated. “She’s proving something to herself.”
“All she’s proving to me is that the blow to her head addled her wits. I’ll stop by the shop on my way to Brian’s school and make sure she got in okay, see if we can’t keep her alive. Thanks for calling.”
“De nada. Just keep her safe. Please.” His voice dropped to a whisper before he hung up.
“What is it?” Brian looked scared. I reminded myself his whole family was gone because of violence.
“It’s okay. Karen just decided to drive into work today. She shouldn’t really be up and driving.” I cleared the table in quick movements as I spoke.
“Someone’s trying to kill her, too,” he said, matter-of-factly, moving to help me load the dishwasher. “You won’t let them, will you?”
I smiled at his huge over-confidence in me. What would happen when I failed him? I hoped he’d learn to forgive me for being human.
“I’ll do my damnedest to stop them—if she lets me.” I flipped my dishtowel at his head. He grinned and ducked. “Pack up. Let’s get going. We have to stop at Forgotten Arts on the way.” I looked at the empty table with its scattered crumbs and grabbed a paper towel to sweep them into my hand for the trash.
I’ll clean it when I come home, I told the memory of my mother’s voice in my head. Right now, I’ve got to stop a killer.
Thanks to Minotaur, I have one (1) copy of EVERY BROKEN TRUST to give away. Leave a comment to be included in the giveaway. The book will be shipped directly from the publisher. Contest ends May 29; US entries only per publisher’s request.
Meet the author
Linda Rodriguez’s second Skeet Bannion novel, Every Broken Trust (St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books), will be published May 7. Her first Skeet novel, Every Last Secret, won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, was selected by Las Comadres National Book Club, and was a Barnes & Noble mystery pick. For her books of poetry, Skin Hunger (Scapegoat Press) and Heart’s Migration (Tia Chucha Press), Rodriguez received the Midwest Voices & Visions Award, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, finalist, Eric Hoffer Book Award, KCArtsFund Inspiration Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships.
She is the president of the Borders Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, a founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, Kansas City Cherokee Community, and International Thriller Writers. She was formerly director of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Women’s Center. She spends too much time on Twitter and on Facebook. She blogs about writers, writing, and the absurdities of everyday life at lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com.
Books are available at retail and online booksellers.
Sounds good…love trying out different authors.
Linda, you’re the kind of reader we authors love. Thanks!
This book sounds thrilling ! Would love to win a copy !
Good luck in the drawing, Kathy!
I would love to read Every Broken Trust, Linda. Sounds like a fabulous read!
Thanks, Linda R! We Linda Rs must stick together. 😉
i already have a copy, Linda, and it is a fabulous follow up to the first. You go!
Thanks so much, Carolyn! You’re a sweetheart for dropping by.
this is a new-to-me author!!
thanx for the introduction, Dru!!! & for the giveaway!!!
Best of luck in the drawing, Cyn! Thanks for stopping by.
This story by Linda sounds really enticing and although I have not read her work, I would be very happy to win this giveaway. Thank you for the giveaway.
Cynthia, I’m glad you like the sounds of Skeet’s story! Good luck on the drawing!
This sounds like a really good book.
Thanks so much, Nancy! Best of luck!
This sounds great!
Thanks, Sarah! Good luck in the drawing!
This sounds good. Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
I’m glad you like the sounds of Skeet’s story, Barbara! Wishing you good luck in the drawing!
I think I’m going to like this series… considering one son (in law) is a NYC cop and my younger son gets paid by Homeland Security.
NoraAdrienne(at)gmail(dot)com
Wow, Adrienne! You have a real law enforcement family. Good luck!
You ain’t just whisling Dixie.. The rest of my family are mostly sheisters (lawyers).
|-)
Haven’t read anything by this author yet. Skeet Bannion sounds like a great main character, seems like trouble follows her.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
You’re right, Carol. Trouble’s always right on Skeet’s trail. Best of luck.
Love hearing from Skeet! (You too, Linda!) I loved Every Last Secret so would love to win, but you know I’ll read it either way 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by, Sheila! Lovely to hear from you!
I think I’ll like this book if all the characters are like the ones presented here—very interesting and diverse, not cookie cutter people.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Thanks, Sue! I know I love spending time with Skeet and the other folks in Brewster when I’m writing these books–and they always surprise me. You’d think I’d know them by now! 🙂
Awesome! This book looks really interesting. Love to read books about characters living in or experiencing the local area. Skeet has so much going on, wonder if Skeet will have her own TV movie series. Hummm, who would be a good actress to play Skeet?! Thanks!
Thanks! I’d love to see Skeet in her own TV series, but I think that could only happen after enough books and sales to catch the eye of the media. So far off in the misty future maybe.
I love the reality of her trying to juggle the overlapping responsibilities. Life does gang up on us just like that. The playful interaction is the way we survive the problems . . . and I love the voice, the feel of the writing!
Thanks, Mary! Life does gang up on us, doesn’t it?
I loved the first book so I know I will enjoy this one, whether I buy it or win it! The character of Skeet appeals to me because she is so real and down to earth; also, she has personality traits of several of my relatives, which makes me feel like I know her.
Thanks for stopping by, DebRo! I’m glad you find Skeet down to earth and real. That’s what I aimed for in writing her.
I love discovering a new-to-me author! And quirky characters! Woo hoo!
And I love discovering new-to-me potential readers, Jan! So glad you liked Skeet’s voice. Best of luck in the drawing!
Looks like great fun. I’m betting Skeet and Brian develop a really nice relationship. Thanks for the giveaway.
Thanks for stopping by, Carl! Skeet and Brian do have a good relationship, but it gets severely tested in Every Broken Trust.
Ah, always beware of the tricksters! They really like to complicate life.
Indeed, Libby! Life is richer when they’re around, but much, much more complicated. 🙂
Thank you for the chance to win this book. It looks like a good one to read.
Thank you for stopping by, Angela! Best of luck in the giveaway!
I’m looking forward to reading Skeet’s next adventure, Linda.
Hi, Barb! Thanks for stopping by!
This is a new author for me too!
Hi, Lisa! Best of luck in the giveaway!
Yay a new author for me!!
So glad to see such enthusiasm for authors, Rhonda! Thanks for stopping by!
Sounds Great! Thank you for the giveaway.
Thank you for stopping by, JJ! Good luck!
Looks great! Thanks for the chance to win.
Thanks for stopping by to visit with Skeet, Katie!
Thanks Linda for introducing me and my readers to the world of Skeet Bannion.
Dru, thank you so much for having skeet and me as guests! And thanks for all the hard work that you do to put readers and writer together!
Thank you for the giveaway. I can’t wait to read this series, it looks & sounds really good. I would love to win this book.
Thanks for stopping by, Debra!
Wow, the beautiful cover seems to belie a more dastardly community! Thanks for the intro to Skeet.
It is a lovely cover, isn’t it? The artist created a font inspired by the Cherokee syllabary for it. I love the covers I’ve been given for both books.
Contest is closed, but comments are always welcome