Sunday Snippet: Fireworks

Getting a later than usual start on my blog post today. We lost power for about four hours. Finally got some rain after about ten days and the power blips. It's not even storming. Go figure.

Still moving along on my work projects. I'm so excited about the two manuscripts I'm editing. Both are part of a series with two different authors. Can't wait for the rest of the world to see them!

Had a pretty good week of viewing television. I'm still in the midst of the great clean out so not a huge amount, but a few extra hours.

Started the premiere episode of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. So far, I'm loving it. I paused mid-episode mainly because I want to be able to watch uninterrupted.

Caught another episode of Brokenwood Mysteries. Quite a good mystery for this one. Thoroughly enjoyed the episode.

Watched another episode of Peak Practice and enjoyed it. This one had some action, which doesn't happen often.

Enjoyed the penultimate episode of Classic Who's season twenty-six and I'm looking forward to the finale. Then I have to decide if I'm jumping into New Who or taking a break.

Caught the first half of a Silent Witness two-parter. Intriguing episode with some odd little twists. Looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Continued my rewatch of Battlestar Galactica with "The Farm". I have mixed feelings about this episode. Loved the creeptastic look into what the cylons are up to on Caprica. Hated the deeper dive into my most disliked character in the entire series. So, enjoyed watching with my co-watcher but tempered that with knowing what will come later with the most disliked character. Should be doing a double-header next week!

Watched another episode of Death in Paradise. I'm very happy to be starting this series from the beginning and working my way through in the established order. This is such a fun watch.

Enjoyed another episode of Only Murders in the Building. Such a great episode! Things are moving into place, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Caught the first episode of Madam Blanc Mysteries' second season. It's a holiday themed episode and actually quite terrific. I'm kind of wondering if Dom and Caron will be vying for Jean's affections, which I hope won't be the case.

And that's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Fireworks, a novella that throws a sibling rivalry into a new romance and that sets off a chain of events putting one of the characters in danger.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Adelle Lizt and Zander McKibbet are a volatile mix—neither gives quarter when they know they're right. But with two sides to every situation, they find some common ground in a very interesting place—the guest quarters on base.

And a sneaky peek…

Zander came to with a groan. "What the hell?" Why did his head feel like a battering ram wanted to escape from the inside of his skull?

Pieces shifted into place in his brain, and he jerked upright. Drugged. We were drugged. A quick search showed Adelle missing. And no Samantha. But his idiot brother remained at the table with Zander. Keith stirred and Zander kicked out at the chair across from him.

Keith's eyes blinked open, and his brows drew together. "Why'd you do that?" Reality crashed over him. "Dammit!" He snapped upright and glanced around. "Where's Sam? Adelle?"

Zander growled. "Obviously not here. That's some special woman you got yourself hooked up to." He slowly got to his feet and wavered a little.

The room spun around him then righted itself and Zander clumsily made his way to the sink and filled two glasses with water. He trudged back to the table and set one in front of his brother. Keith gave Zander a guilty look but drank the clear fluid down. Zander did the same.

When Keith finished, he set the glass aside. "So, you're thinking kidnapping, right?" He shook his head. "Why the hell would Sam do that? Adelle is just a flight instructor." His lips twisted in a sneer.

Zander slammed his hand on the table. "Think about it, asshole. Your girlfriend is probably an enemy agent or working for one. The new Starwing fighters are in production right now. And who gets the first look at any new spacecraft?" He waited a beat and answered his own question. "Flight instructors." He ran a hand through his hair.

 With Adelle being in the top-three teacher status, she would be one of the first to get the specs. Not to mention she'd also be a top candidate for flying one as soon as they were off the assembly line. Shit. If anything happened to her, Zander would cheerfully throttle his brother.

Another horrible thought hit hard. "Fuck. You're not only an asshole, you're a stupid one." He pinned Keith with a harsh gaze. "Guess what else your charming woman sees in you?" Hell, in both of them.

Keith's head dropped back. "Aw, dammit." He shoved away from the table, his fists balled up. "You think she used me to get to Dad." He whirled away, a hand swiping over his head. "I can't believe this."

Zander huffed out a breath. "Well, you'd better get your head around it." He headed for the living area and started going through Samantha's desk. "She's got us by the balls. Because if Adelle doesn't cooperate, I'd bet my next pay grade, that's exactly what Samantha's backup plan is. Trading Adelle for access to our old man." After all, he held a top rank in the military.

Keith pulled a cupboard door open. "We don't know anything for sure…" He removed a stack of notebooks and flipped the top one open. "Aw, fuck." He handed the book to Zander.

A series of encoded messages lined the pages. Keith went to the sofa and shoved everything off the coffee table then spread the tablets out. Zander shook his head. The communiques were gobbledygook and probably wouldn't help. But they were also damning information.

And Zander got angry all over again. "You sure know how to pick them, bro." He stomped over to the couch and added the notebook to the pile. "Seriously. If anything happens to Adelle because of your girlfriend, there'll be hell to pay—"

Keith jerked his head. "Shut up."

Zander reached out and thwapped Keith's head. "No. This is bullshit—"

Keith shoved Zander. "No, shut up. I'm trying to think." He flipped through the pages and then went back to the front of the booklet.

Zander's eyes narrowed but he held silent. Keith picked up the notebook Zander set down and fished around for a pen on the floor. He snagged one and started writing on a clean page, going back and forth between the two notebooks.

He glanced up. "Pretty sure I've cracked their code." He turned the book around. "Look…" He pointed to his writing then explained how he found the key. "If you'll help with this, we can possibly get an idea of where they went."

Zander blinked. "Geez. You should think about military intelligence. I can't believe how quickly you cracked the key for these messages." His brother would be wasted as a pilot.

Keith snorted. "Let's find Adelle first, yeah?" He crumpled the printed pages in his fist. "I'm so pissed. It's pretty clear she's an enemy agent. And I really liked her, dammit."

Zander lifted his chin. "The heart wants what the heart wants." He'd cut Keith a break because he really did like Samantha.

Keith sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I get it now. I shouldn't have been such an ass about Adelle." He gathered up the notebooks. "I can't do this here. Besides, we should get on the road. We might need to gear up for this."

Zander didn't argue. He headed for the door.

Keith stopped Zander on the way out. "I'm sorry about this. When we find them, leave Samantha to me."

Zander gave a nod then followed his brother to Zander's truck almost feeling sorry for Samantha when Keith caught up to her.

This story is finally coming together the way I hoped it would. Zander and Adelle are fun to write and Keith gets to learn a valuable lesson about not messing with his sibling's life.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye