Sunday Snippet: Founder's Day Flames (Capital City Seasons)

Well, it's been a week. I hit a slump even though I got a lot accomplished. Not sure why I ended up being so distracted, but I struggled to stay focused on anything.

Had a very slow viewing week, probably due to being randomly distracted by everything.

I watched another episode of Strangest Things and enjoyed the artifacts featured. This show makes interesting connections when they're trying to figure out what something is.

Caught a Death in Paradise marathon, which ended up being fun to watch. I'm still doing a full watch in chronological order, but fun to have a whole day of great episodes.

Enjoyed another episode of Battlestar Galactica. We finished up the first half of season two and during our discussion we remembered how long we had to wait for the next half, especially because the episode kind of ends on something of a cliffhanger. And there were so many great moments in this episode!

I planned to start Cannes Confidential this week but ended up being too distracted. I'll be watching it in the very near future and will post my reaction next week.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Founder's Day Flames, a Capital City Seasons sexy short.

Here's the mini-blurb:

An arsonist strikes Capital City, setting blazes, each more devastating than the last, on the lead up to the Founder's Day holiday, which falls on Beltane. Graham McClain is called on to analyze the firebug's actions and help get a handle on his next move. Fire captain Prima Alton reluctantly works closely with Graham and together they discover she plays a role in the culprit's twisted fantasies.

And a sneaky peek…

Captain Prima Alton pushed her way into her chief's office. "What's this I hear about bringing in some talker for our firebug?" What is there to negotiate? "We don't even know who the asshat is. Only that they're setting fires all over the quad." She dropped her cover, bill side down, onto the desk of the fire marshal.

Wade Digbee gave her a level look. "Are you questioning my decision?" He settled back, folding his arms over his chest.

Prima didn't back down even though common sense warned against her making this a bitch fest. "I discovered the pattern. This is my forte. The whole reason you brought me on board in this office." And she didn't want to share the job until she had a handle on the situation. "Why bring someone who makes compromises for a living in when we don't have anything for them to compromise on?" This shouldn't be difficult to understand.

A throat cleared behind her and a sublimely gorgeous man with dark wavy hair and lovely golden eyes moved into her line of sight. He wore a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, a pair of dark dungarees, and suede lace-up shoes with soft soles. His lips quirked into a brief disarming smile.

Which threw her a little.

Prima slid her gaze back to Wade. "I've interrupted a meeting. I'm sorry." She reached for her cover. "I'll just step out—"

Wade lifted a hand. "Don't leave, Captain. This is Graham McClain, the talker." Digbee rose and motioned for Graham to join them. "McClain isn't just a skilled negotiator, he's also a data analyst." His mouth curved into a satisfied smirk.

Because, of course, the chief would hit her with something she lived for—crunching information and details to find commonalities. Prima shot a quick look toward Graham. Looks aside, Prima stood ready to discount anything the negotiator had to say. Seriously, did he succeed by bowling people over with those incredible genes?

Wade rocked back on his heels. "We brought him in because data tends to talk to him." He managed to keep the smarmy smile to a brief flash.

Prima raised her eyebrows. "Data talks to you? I'd like to see that." She met Graham's gaze.

His lips quirked again. "The bits and bytes tend to be a little shy. You'll have to let me interpret for you." Humor filled his eyes.

She laughed, almost hating to admit she liked him. "Well, there's no time like the present." She nodded toward Wade. "Mind if we get started?"

Wade spread his hands outward. "Not at all. We need to nail this down sooner rather than later. And I'm confident you two will get the job done."

Prima motioned toward the door. "If you're ready, we can head to the situation room. I've got everything set up in there." She'd play nice and give this guy a shot.

If for no other reason than to possibly catch the firebug before anyone else got hurt … or worse.

I love this series. Graham took a while to get a handle on, but Prima started talking right away. This is a fun book to write!

 

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

ML Skye