Title: The Wedding Deception
Series: Characters connected to The Gathering Storm Series
Release date: 12th February 2018
Published by Viceroy Press
Blurb:
Supervisory Special Agent Finn Callaghan is impressed. While
teaching a course at Quantico, he witnessed trainee agent Kennedy Morris take
down a bully twice her size. Before leaving Washington DC, he stops by her
apartment to offer her a job as his partner in Granite City, Montana and is
surprised to see a wedding reception in her building during the worst storm of
the year.
Kennedy is having a bad day. Her FBI training isn’t going
well, her dysfunctional family is visiting, there’s a category one hurricane
bearing down on them, and now she has to deal with her attraction to her
superior Finn Callaghan.
When the bride from the reception, Vanessa Stevens,
disappears, Finn offers to help. With Kennedy’s aid, they delve into the world
of the rich and powerful. But their investigation reveals that no one really
knows Vanessa. When the storm cuts the power and phone lines, they must
ascertain if kidnappers have taken advantage of the weather or if the bride is
a clever con woman.
Excerpt:
Finn entered, aware that he was dripping on her
perfectly polished stone floor. The open-plan apartment was roomy and bright,
even now with the storm raging outside. The kitchen lay in an alcove to his
left. It was spotless, no crumbs, no stinky garbage or dirty dishes, not even
an old cup of coffee, which wasn’t such a surprise when he considered that
until this morning, Kennedy had been staying at the FBI Academy in Quantico.
The entrance widened to the living room. A large
white couch sat in the middle of the room with a medium-sized flat screen TV on
the wall opposite. Throw rugs, figurines, and pictures were artfully littered
about, but there was nothing personal. The whole place felt like a Hollywood
set with no family photos, knick-knacks, not even a newspaper to indicate this
was a home.
Finn didn’t venture too far into the apartment.
He daren’t. He’d had a long day, wearing the same suit, and he’d been pounded
by the storm. He needed a shower and a hazmat suit before he could sit on the
white couch without getting it dirty.
Kennedy waved a hand toward an older woman who
sat in a large armchair near a wall of windows, as if she were holding court.
“This is my mother, Sofia DuPont.”
Mrs. DuPont had perfectly styled, short, blond
hair, and the kind of dour expression that reminded him of a character from a
Dickens novel. She took in Finn’s subpar clothing, his wet hair, and his five
o’clock shadow. He had no doubt she’d assessed his net worth in one glance and
found him wanting. That was fine with him. He wasn’t here to impress these
people, although it did make him second-guess his first impression of Kennedy.
“And my sister, Riley.” Kennedy nodded toward a
young woman with a shaved head who sat on the couch, staring at the television.
Then she turned to face Finn. “I don’t think
we’re going to get any privacy here. Maybe we could go downstairs?”
Riley stood and stomped to a room at the far end
of the lounge. “I came here to see you, sister dear, but you obviously don’t
appreciate the gesture.” Then she slammed the door behind her.
Kennedy’s cheeks reddened, and she let out a
long breath. “That wasn’t embarrassing at all.”
Sofia slipped on a pair of expensive looking,
flat, black shoes. They probably cost more than all Finn’s clothes combined.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to return to the wedding.” She stood and walked
toward Kennedy. “It’s bad enough your sister let Blake Sheldon get away and has
come back to spoil his wedding. Now you’ve brought the FBI to our door like
we’re common criminals.”
“Mother, I’m training to be an FBI agent.
Special Agent Callaghan is here to…to—”
“Offer you a job,” Finn finished for her.
Kennedy smiled at him, her eyes shining.
“Really?”
“A job working with criminals,” Sofia shouted as
she marched to the door. “First you ran off to join the marines, now you have
to humiliate me with this.”
“Mother, this isn’t about you.”
“Isn’t it?” Mrs. DuPont opened the front door.
“I’m going to the reception. One of us has to be gracious, especially since
your sister blew it with Blake. That could’ve been her down there. He comes
from a good family. She would have been somebody. Trust me to be cursed with a
pair of daughters who have no ambition.” She gave a heavy sigh. “I swear you do
it to hurt me.”
“Mother.” Kennedy’s warning tone suggested Mrs.
DuPont had said too much.
Sofia slammed the door behind her.
Kennedy inhaled a deep breath, blew it out
through pursed lips, and then rubbed her hands down her pant legs. “I
apologize, but as you can see, we’re just your regular dysfunctional American
family.”
“Everyone has one of those.” Finn smiled in an
attempt to put her at ease.
She drew herself up to her full height, so she was
almost as tall as him, and squared her broad, swimmer’s shoulders. It was as
though she was physically pushing away her embarrassment from a moment ago.
“Tell me about the job.”
About the Author:
After being thrown out of England for refusing to drink tea,
Marlow Kelly made her way to Canada where she found love, a home and a pug
named Max. She also discovered her love of storytelling. Encouraged by her
husband, children and let’s not forget Max, she started putting her ideas to
paper. Her need to write about strong women in crisis drives her stories.
Marlow is an award-winning author, and a member of the Romance Writers of America.
Marlow is an award-winning author, and a member of the Romance Writers of America.
Social
Media Links
Website: http://www.marlowkelly.com
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Marlow-Kelly/e/B00MZE72CS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/want2write
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Marlowkelly14/
Email: marlow@marlowkelly.com
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