And with that, we have a lovely excerpt!
RED MOTHER DEAD
Housekeeper Brit McKay has her hands full with the arrival of a widowed crush, his young son, and a chilling mystery that rattles her meticulous world of order.
"Jack wanted someone to keep him on his toes. He
got that in abundance with Erica. She wanted to make a crazy and colorful life
for all of them.” Brit picked up a teddy bear off the floor and tossed it to
the stripped bed. “I was worried Jack might do something drastic after she was
murdered.”
Brit sat down on the bed, holding the teddy bear
in her arms. The Jack she knew from high school was so strong, so determined.
But the statement he had made that morning was somber. Shaky. “Can I ask what
happened to Erica?”
She saw Melanie look hesitant at first. “I don’t
think I ever was able to read all the details.” She pointed to her neck. “The
artery was severed. She bled out in seconds, or so they say.”
“God! Did they catch the guy?”
Melanie shook her head. “There was some debate
over whether it was some animal attack, or if someone had somehow…” Melanie
looked away from her for a moment, as if trying to shake the details out of her
head. “Do you know what the worst part of it was? The body went missing right
after Jack identified her.”
“What?”
“They said medical students, maybe. Something
about money that can be made from securing dead bodies… Organs or something. I
don’t know. I don’t even like thinking about it. I mean, the very idea of body
snatchers…just the lowest of the low.”
Poor Jack. No wonder he needed to leave
Indianapolis. “I’m so sorry. I had no
idea you were carrying this around all this time.”
“It wasn’t my business to tell. Besides, it was
Jack I was so worried about. He was so…sure…that Erica wasn’t really
dead at first. He scared the hell out of me once. He called me one night,
drunk, swearing he saw her. Swearing she had come to him. That she had laid in
bed next to him. As if nothing had happened. And in the morning, she was
gone. And he was alone again.”
+++
Special note: I had fun writing Brit's story. She's a total neat-freak. Introducing a messy kid to a neat-freak is a special kind of glorious hell! And Brit needed her world rocked...maybe not in the dark way it ended, but it's all a metaphor. Houses are messy. Kids are messy. Life is messy.
In many ways, this story is about conquering the past (and conquering demons). It's dark, it's funny, and it's very romantic. It's a great departure from Rapture, but there's (hopefully) enough scares to grip the die-hard romantic horror fans out there! And yes, it's a vampire story. Without glitter.
Stay tuned for more! #RMD #horror #romance #suspense
