My name is Tai Randolph. Dru Ann has always been very kind to let me explain my life and its complications, which include but are not limited to trying to run a gun shop that caters to Civil War reenactors and dealing with a variety of no-goodniks.

It’s frustrating at times, but I have one giant plus in the plus column—my partner in all things, Trey. He’s a former SWAT sniper with the Atlanta Police Department, now working as a corporate security agent. He’s also, to quote a friend of mine, “hot as Georgia asphalt in July.”

So instead of nattering on about myself yet again, I decided to interview Trey. It went about as I expected. For starters, he refused to supply a photo, so your imagination will have to do. He’s a centimeter shy of six-foot-one, with black hair, light skin, and sapphire-blue eyes. He’s got a runner’s build and favors Italian suits, black, with tailored button-up shirts, white. He’s got barely visible scars at his chin and right temple and throat, like silver crosshatching, and when he’s thinking hard, he gets this wrinkle right between his eyebrows.

He has his challenges, most especially his ongoing recovery from a car accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. But he’s smart and brave and as good-hearted a human as I’ve ever known, even if he can be a little. . .stubborn. And rule-obsessed. And the tiniest bit vengeful. We’ve been together for over a year now, Trey and I. And my life is infinitely richer, finer, and more delicious with him by my side.

Since he wouldn’t cooperate, I had to fill out the interview questions for him.

What is your name?
– – Trey Seaver.

How old are you?
– – He’s thirty-five.

What is your profession?
– – He’s a corporate security agent with a specialization in premises liability and loss prevention.

Do you have a significant other?
– – You bet he does. Me.

What is her profession?
– – I am the owner/operator of Dexter’s Guns and More.

Any children?
– – Nope nope nope.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
– – Absolutely not.

What town do you live in?
– – Trey occupies a fantastically spare condominium on the 35th floor of one of Buckhead’s most luxurious high-rise complexes.

Do you rent or own?
– – He owns it, every square inch paid for with the insurance settlement from the accident. Which he also used to purchase an Italian couture wardrobe and a bespoke Ferrari.

Who is your best friend?
– – Dan Garrity, his former Atlanta PD partner. They currently work together on AMMO, the Atlanta Metro Major Offenders task force.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
– – It seems odd to describe someone with Trey’s credentials—which include snipercraft, small weapons proficiency, and hand-to-hand combat skills—as an amateur. But he’s no longer a cop, having taken early retirement due to disability (the aforementioned brain trauma). So let’s call him a talented volunteer for the cause of justice.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
– – Mostly me. But we’ve both developed a somewhat fraught relationship with Finn Hudson, an Atlanta PI who brings interesting cases to our doorstep.

Favorite meal?
– – Protein bars.

Favorite dessert?
– – Never touches it.

Favorite hobby?
– – Running for miles and miles and miles and then tabulating his heart rate in a spreadsheet. I kid you not.

Favorite vacation spot?
– – Any place that is quiet, solitary, and not haunted.

Favorite author?
– – My brother Eric, who is a cognitive psychologist and who writes articles and white papers on neuroplasticity, some of which feature Trey as the subject. Trey’s cognitive challenges come with one whopper of a special ability as compensation—he can tell when other people are lying.

Movies or Broadway?
– – Neither. The open seating and crowds give him the heebie-jeebies security-wise.

Are you a morning or a night person?
– – He definitely prefers the AM side of the day—he’s in bed most nights by 9 PM. My brother explained that tiring easily is a consequence of the brain trauma, and it’s true—nothing scrambles his circuits like exhaustion.

In two to three sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
– – Monday through Friday, it’s too boring to mention, all actuarial tables and crime feasibility studies, real math geek heaven. But on the weekend, when we’re hanging out together. . .let’s just say things usually get interesting, and that those interesting things sometimes include poking around a crime scene or two.

You can read about Tai and Trey in Necessary Ends, the sixth book in the “Tai Randolph” mystery series. The first book in the series is The Dangerous Edge of Things.

Tai Randolph is no stranger to solving mysteries. With a taste for danger and a talent for amateur sleuthing, she has helped put an assortment of murderers behind bars, much to the displeasure of her lover, Trey Seaver. A former SWAT officer with the Atlanta police department before a car crash inflicted brain injuries forcing a retool of his life, Trey believes in letting the authorities handle complex matters of crime and punishment. He’s easier with a world of black and white while Tai wrestles with too many shades of gray.

But then the Talbot case flares back to life.

It was the crime that rocked Atlanta – actress Jessica Talbot shot dead in her Buckhead mansion and her husband, movie producer Nick Talbot, accused of the murder. The case seemed open and shut…until a dirty cop’s secret forced prosecutors to set Talbot free. Now, four years later, someone wants Talbot dead, and the evidence points to the man most convinced of Talbot’s guilt – Trey.

Talbot offers an irresistible deal – he’ll keep Trey’s name off the suspect list if Trey agrees to a one-on-one interview. It’s a chance for Trey to deploy his post-injury ability to read lies and determine once and for all if Talbot really is a killer, but it could also expose secrets in Trey’s own past, confidential information he has sworn to protect. Caught between his drive for justice and his need for security, Trey does the unexpected – he asks Tai to help him investigate.

It’s a situation fraught with drama and potential disaster, the kind of case Tai relishes. With Trey by her side – and in a killer’s crosshairs – she vows to use every trick in her slightly sketchy playbook to stop a vigilante murderer from claiming a fresh victim. Can she and Trey keep themselves out of a killer’s crosshairs long enough to crack open a new chapter in their lives?

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Giveaway: Three readers selected at random will receive a Kindle copy of Liquor, Larceny, and the Ordinal Classification of Courtship Rituals, the short story of their first date. Leave a comment below for your chance to win. The giveaway ends April 10, 2018. Good luck everyone!

About the author
Tina Whittle’s Tai Randolph series—featuring intrepid gunshop owner Tai and her corporate security agent partner Trey—has garnered starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. Published by Poisoned Pen Press, the sixth book in this Atlanta-based series, Necessary Ends, is available April 2018. A two-time nominee for Georgia Author of the Year, Tina enjoys boxing, sushi, and reading tarot cards. She is a proud member of Sisters in Crime and serves as both a chapter officer and national board member. Visit her website to follow her on social media, sign up for her newsletter, or read additional scenes and short stories at tinawhittle.com.

All comments are welcomed.