Single Best Clue

Gary B. Boyd

Description

All work and no play ...
Police Chief Sarah James has questions. Questions about a murdered John Doe. Questions about an uptick in drug usage among Devaney's teens. Questions about a major copper theft. Questions about a multi-fatality traffic accident. Questions about the new Sheriff's agenda. Questions about her future. She engages her entire department in finding the single best clue that will solve each mystery – except the last one. She has to solve that one herself.

Sujets

• Fiction
• Suspense
• Thrillers

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 22 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823001441
• Langue: English

Extrait

Single Best Clue
GARY B. BOYD


AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2023 Gary B. Boyd. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse  02/21/2023
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0143-4 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0144-1 (e)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
Dedication
Preface
 
Chapter 1 1:45 A.M. Monday
Chapter 2 7:00 A.M. Monday
Chapter 3 8:00 A.M. Monday
Chapter 4 8:45 A.M. Monday
Chapter 5 9:30 A.M. Monday
Chapter 6 9:50 A.M. Monday
Chapter 7 10:40 A.M. Monday
Chapter 8 Noon Monday
Chapter 9 1:00 P.M. Monday
Chapter 10 3:00 P.M. Monday
Chapter 11 6:30 P.M Monday
Chapter 12 7:00 A.M. Tuesday
Chapter 13 9:00 A.M. Tuesday
Chapter 14 10:00 A.M. Tuesday
Chapter 15 Noon, Tuesday
Chapter 16 1:45 P.M. Tuesday
Chapter 17 3:00 P.M. Tuesday
Chapter 18 5:15 P.M. Tuesday
Chapter 19 7:00 P.M. Tuesday
Chapter 20 11:00 P.M. Tuesday
Chapter 21 1:30 A.M. Wednesday
Chapter 22 3:30 A.M. Wednesday
Chapter 23 8:30 A.M. Wednesday
Chapter 24 10:00 A.M. Wednesday
Chapter 25 11:20 A.M. Wednesday
Chapter 26 1:00 P.M. Wednesday
Chapter 27 6:30 P.M. Wednesday
Chapter 28 6:00 A.M. Thursday
Chapter 29 1:00 P.M. Thursday
Chapter 30 4:00 P.M. Thursday
Chapter 31 5:30 P.M. Thursday
Chapter 32 7:00 P.M. Thursday
Chapter 33 7:30 A.M. Friday
Chapter 34 3:00 P.M. Friday
Chapter 35 Saturday

Other books by Gary B. Boyd
One Particular Patriot I – A Matter of Time
One Particular Patriot II – Transient Reality
One Particular Patriot III – The Final Patriot Act
Grandfather’s Will
Death of a Gene
Better Times Facet I – Seeking Better Times
Better Times Facet II – Searching for Better Times
Better Times Facet III – Finding Better Times
Soul’s Aperture
Marlee – Crimes We Think They Might Commit
House Divided – The Stewards of History
Fateful Acceptance
Life’s A Bitch
East Texas Proud – What After Pride?
#poeticjustice
The Fence
Mirror Finish
Humanity’s Vessel
Make Sure You’re Right
Lifetime of Fear
Timekeeper
The God Plot
DEDICATION
None of my work would be worthy of publication without the help of my wife Shirley and my daughter Tina . Their inputs to correct my mistakes and keep the story straight were invaluable.
PREFACE
Subject matter is important.
If the speaker or the writer is not an expert on the matter, the words applied to it are of little consequence. But … hear me out anyway.
I’ll go on record as saying I’m not an expert on the subject of women. Though, to my accreditation, I have been married to the same woman for 56 years. Of course, that could mean my wife is an expert on me. Either way, my time on this earth has afforded me the ill-advised belief that I’m capable of saying a few words on the subject of women without too much damage to my reputation … or body.
Specifically, my words will be directed toward my opinions of what makes a strong woman. As I see it, a strong woman is any woman who can not just survive but also can thrive in a world that does not favor women.
My mother was a strong woman. Widowed at the age of 26 with four children, the oldest being seven. That was in the “happy days” of the 1950s. The world was rosy and bright … unless you were a woman raising children on her own. In a time when most women were housewives, my mother learned early that a strong woman had to work in a factory plus be a housewife. Her husband - my father - was not … in the words of a former manager of mine … real work-brickle. I’m not sure if he simply couldn’t find the job that suited him, or if he preferred something different in life. Whatever the reason, my mother had to work outside the home to support her growing family during those eight years she was married to my father. When his life choices ended his life early, she had to work to survive.
But we thrived. It wasn’t easy. Definitely not for her. My mother was a strong woman in a man’s world, and I am the better for it.
But, this is not about me, or even my mother. Not exactly. As I write my books, I quite often write about strong women. Women who aren’t subservient to anyone - man or woman. They overcome adversities and enjoy life on their journey. They leave a mark of some kind, even if the annuls don’t venerate their works and deeds.
My most enjoyable character is Sarah James. Sarah is a strong woman. Sarah James came to life in the first book of what is now a five-book series dedicated to her. Initially, her conception was to be an actor in a larger story whose role was simply to move the tale forward. As it turned out, like an actress such as Marilyn Monroe or Hattie McDaniel, Sarah’s personality was greater than the minor role assigned to her. She became the story.
Sarah James is not just a woman. She is every woman who ever pushed the envelope. She failed a time or two. Like Simone Biles, she didn’t let failures impede her. She learned from every mistake and moved forward to become a force to be reckoned with within her chosen field of endeavor … law enforcement. But, as her character developed, she encountered some of the same issues as any other successful person. Overwork. Over dedication. Sarah comes to realize there is more to life than her avocation.
Living ones life is important. Sarah has a life. A good life. As a strong woman, she succeeds … thrives … in her life. She doesn’t charge headlong into obstacles. She meets them halfway, calculates her path forward, and moves around or over them. A strong woman does that with precision and focus. Success doesn’t simply happen. It’s earned. Sarah earns her successes. But one success has eluded her. Even a strong woman can miss an integral part of a successful life. She has failed to live her life. Does she stop living, or does she learn from her mistakes and reinvent herself?
Read on …
CHAPTER 1
1:45 A.M. Monday
The driver didn’t say a word. The white pickup jarred when its right tire hit a pothole. The passenger grunted in response to the jolt. The pickup’s headlights were on low beam. The dark asphalt didn’t reveal its defects to the semi-circle of pale, yellow light. In the glow of the dashboard lights, the driver glanced at the passenger and smiled apologetically. The apology was wasted because the passenger’s focus was straight ahead, lost in thought.
An unlit sign appeared ahead on the right. The driver knew it would be there. Fortunately. A sodium streetlight bulb bathed the sign in an orange glow. The light was too dim to properly illuminate the sign. It could have been easily missed at night. That part of the city was recently annexed, and the streetlights weren’t upgraded to modern LED bulbs. The driver let off the gas pedal and turned off the headlights. No one was on the road at that hour, so the risk of being seen was minimal. The driver still wasn’t taking any chance of accidental discovery. Slowly, the truck turned into the church parking lot. The driver knew where to go. A previous daylight drive through the lot helped set the plan. The driver cautiously guided the pickup across the barely lit lot toward the back of the church. Small security lamps under the corner eaves cast eerie shadows behind the building, barely pushing the darkness into the woods that bordered the back of a wide drive.
The truck tires crunched on gravel. The drive at the back of the church wasn’t paved like the parking lot. SB2 gravel was compacted by seasons of rain, vehicles, and time. Even so, there was still some loose chat. The tires picked up small bits of rock and flung them against the inside of the fender well. The driver tensed; afraid someone would hear the sound of stones on sheet metal. A misplaced fear. The church was not near any businesses that were open after midnight. The nearest home was a hundred yards or more beyond an undeveloped, wooded hillock.
The security lights were high on each rear corner of the building and barely lit the entirety of the graveled area. They left dark shadows near a dumpster. The driver stopped the pickup in the least lit spot and exhaled quietly before speaking in a quivering voice. “This is it. Are you sure?”
The passenger’s head nodded, barely noticed in the dark interior of the truck. “I’m tired of it. The bastard can’t get away with it.” The passenger fumbled with the door handle. The dome light came on, brighter than either of them thought possible.
“Hurry!” the driver said urgently. “Before someone sees us.”
Fumbling to exit gracefully, the passenger banged the top of the cab with an object firmly grasped in a sweaty hand. “Damn!” seemed appropriate, though it didn’t cover the sound that no one else in the world heard.
“Careful,” the driver whispered hoarsely. “Call me when you’re ready.”
“Just be here,” the passenger commanded, then closed the door … another noise too loud for comfort. The passenger quickly disappeared into the woods at