Freewheel

Katharine M. Nohr

Description

Freewheel takes readers for a spin in the real world of personal injury litigation, where the drama takes place outside the courtroom.

 

Olympic gold medalist, Ryan Peterson can’t seem to get a break. He was ousted from professional cycling for doping. After he switched sports to triathlon, he was blasted by the tabloid press for allegedly causing an accident that wiped out his competitors. In an effort to redeem himself, Ryan starts the Freewheel Movement to help homeless and isolated people financially and emotionally. Although Freewheel is an instant success and Ryan becomes a television talk show regular, his bad luck continues. He’s sued for allegedly causing the death of a competitor in a Hawaii triathlon, and no matter what he does, he can’t convince the beautiful claims adjuster, Alexia Moore, to go out with him.

Young and ambitious new attorney Zana West is hired to represent Ryan and provide him a defense in the lawsuit, but by doing so, her relationship with Jerry Hirano, T.V. star of “Fighting in Paradise,” is threatened. Will Zana be able to help Ryan get his life back, and keep her relationship together?

Sujets

• Hawái
• Cozy mystery
• Charity
• Freewheel
• Lawsuit
• Hawaii
• Cycling
• Law
• Romance
• Triathlon
• Hawaï

Informations

• Publié par: Written Dreams Publishing
• Date de parution: 07 mars 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780998762340
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Katharine M. Nohr’s
Land Sharks...
“Katherine Nohr’s brilliant debut has it all: smart characters, crisp dialogue, a breathtaking setting, and an ingenious plot that will keep you turning the pages until sunrise.”
—Doug Corleone, Author of Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Equation
“With lots of twists and turns, and interesting characters involved in a triathlon, this book really drew me in. An excellent story that had me not wanting to stop flipping the pages. Great job, Katharine Nohr!”
—Siri Lindley, USA Triathlon Hall of Famer
“Move over John Grisham and make room for first time novelist Katharine M. Nohr and her cast of muscle toned, sun tanned characters chasing triathlon medals and courtroom victories. In this page turner of a thriller, Ms. Nohr takes us on a ride through the ultra competitive world of triathletes and trial lawyers, all the while weaving a story of mystery and romance. A thoroughly enjoyable, must read story for all audiences. Five stars.”
—Teresa Tico, Film Producer




Freewheel by Katharine M. Nohr, © copyright 2017 by Katharine M. Nohr.
Passage from VO2 Max by Katharine M. Nohr, used by permission of the author.
Author Photo courtesy of Katharine M. Nohr.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual places or businesses, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher, Written Dreams Publishing, Green Bay, WI 54311. To contact the publisher, please visit their website at: writtendreams.com or by email at [e-mail].
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Editor: Brittiany Koren
Cover Art Design and Layout: Ed Vincent of ENC Graphics
Shutterstock image:
Cover art designs for Freewheel by Katharine M. Nohr, Death Nosh by Mary Grace Murphy, Picture of Lies by C.C. Harrison, and Parts Unknown by Toni Niesen are used by the permission of Written Dreams Publishing.
Category: Legal Mystery
Description: Freewheel takes readers for a spin in the real world of personal injury litigation, where the drama takes place outside the courtroom.
Hard Cover ISBN:
Paperback ISBN:
Ebook ISBN:
LOC: Catalog info applied for.
First Edition published by Written Dreams Publishing in February/March, 2017.


Green Bay, WI 54311


Freewheel’s themes of the allure and memories of Paris were inspired by two special people in my life who have shared croissants, strode along the Seine and marveled at the Eiffel Tower with me. To mon amour , Bill Touth, whose stories of his year in France as a professional cyclist provided inspiration for this story.
To my friend, Lisa Moore Ghahremani, with whom one could never have a boring day as evidenced by our adventures in France in the 1990s. We will always have Paris.




Chapter 1
@FreewheelMV Racing for $$$ today at #ParadiseTri. The pressure is on BIG time. Will DESTROY anyone who gets in my way!
R yan Peterson tugged at his swim cap with its bold number 2 and gave stink eye to his competitors, who flapped their arms—Michael Phelps’ style—a few yards down Honolulu’s Ala Moana beach.
“You’ve got this!” Coach Hal gave him a light pat on his well-defined bicep.
“I’m going to hunt them down one at a time and obliterate them,” Ryan snarled. He spat into his goggles and bent down to wet them in the surf lapping on the shore.
He then launched his body into the choppy ocean to begin his warm-up before the Paradise Lagoons Triathlon, the only race offering $20,000 in prize money he sorely needed. At least during warm-up, he could keep pace with his most fierce competitors as they cut through the water with their carefully-honed freestyle strokes. As soon as the gun went off, they would leave him in their wake.
A shrill whistle sounded, signaling the men to take their places between two lifeguard-manned surfboards. Ryan positioned himself next to Jeff Paris, who donned his number 1 cap, glaring at him as they treaded water.
Ryan was well aware of the public opinion that he wouldn’t have won the gold medal at the London Olympic Games if his competitors hadn’t been injured or killed in the accident at the Olympic trials. Apparently, Jeff had recovered from his mental breakdown after watching a car mow down and kill his friend Vic Leavitt. He was now back in top form and was ranked one of the best triathletes in the world.
“Hold up,” the race director said over the loud speaker. “Sorry folks, one of our orange buoys has broken loose. They’re securing it and then I’ll start the race.”
Ryan turned his threatening stare to Terry Schubert, a twenty-two-year-old up-and-coming athlete who had just turned pro and had something to prove in this race. If he won, he would be the youngest athlete ever to win the Pacific Lagoons Triathlon. He would then be in the running for Mauna Kea Multi-Sport’s Athlete of the Year, an honor bestowed on a new pro with the most potential for future glory.
“Two more minutes,” the race director announced.
Ryan closed his eyes for some final pre-race visualization, a practice he had begun as a professional cyclist in France before he was “relieved of his duties” for a positive drug test after a Tour de France stage win. For the past three months, he had been visualizing a solid, relaxed but fast swim; a smooth and quick transition from swim to the bike leg of the triathlon; and then within a few miles of the bike leg, taking the lead from Jeff and Terry as he powerfully cycled past, leaving them in the dust for the rest of the race.
The way Ryan saw it, winning the $20,000 prize was his only choice. After he was falsely blamed in the international tabloid press for knocking his competitors out of the Olympic trials competition by some unnamed evil scheme, Ryan lost most of his sponsors. He was left with only a swimsuit sponsor that paid him for intermittent ads in specialty magazines, allowing him to eek out a meager living. After his funds ran out, he was forced to rent out all of the bedrooms of his house to pay the mortgage. He had been sleeping on a futon in a small office the size of a walk-in closet for months now. At twenty-nine-years old, if he didn’t win this race, he would have to find a full-time job in a down economy with no post high school education and only professional cycling and triathlons on his resume.
“Athletes, take your places,” the race director announced.
Ryan nodded to Sam Donahue, and then swam a few yards to position himself next to the other dominant cyclist who couldn’t keep up with the top three guys in the water, either. Ryan and Sam had done this drill before. Their strategy was to draft off the feet of the faster swimmers in order to save some energy if they could keep up.
The starting gun blasted and Ryan launched into a rapid freestyle stroke, keeping his goggle-covered eyes open, looking for feet to draft off of. He soon fell into a rhythmic pace, being propelled by one of the top five in the field, Eric Low, who pulled him along for a half mile until Eric sped away.
Ryan kept his freestyle stroke long, and focused on breathing and form, intermittently looking up in order to sight so he wouldn’t go off course. He swam hard the last 20 yards until his fingertips touched the sand, and then he sprang to his feet and sprinted through the calf deep water to the swim finishing chute, winding up the beach towards the swim to bike transition area—T1.
He was surprised Eric was still in sight, running with his bike towards the exit. Ryan wasn’t as far behind the fast swimmers as he had been in previous races. He quickly located his bike.
But his white helmet was on the ground rather than balancing on the bike aero bars as he had left it. That’s odd.
His sunglasses had also fallen onto his towel. He didn’t stop to consider how his carefully placed equipment had become strewn about. Every fraction of a second counted.
He put on his helmet, grabbed his bike off the rack and ran it towards the mount line on the perimeter of the transition area. It took about two minutes before Ryan passed Eric on the bike leg of the triathlon. He’d have to hunt down Jeff and Terry and pass them in order to take the lead, just as he had visualized.
Ryan pedaled hard through the streets of Waikiki, ignoring the curious tourist onlookers. He rode up Diamond Head alone and made his way to Kalanianaole Highway, where he passed Terry on the straight away. He could see Jeff in the distance ahead and crouched lower into the aero position on his bike, increasing his cadence. Ryan’s only focus was passing Jeff.
As he was about to close the gap, he heard a cyclist coming up from behind. Ryan increased his cadence to sustain his lead, but felt the bicycle come up next to him on his left side—so close their handlebars touched, which momentarily made him lose his balance. He veered a few feet to the right, but was able to recover quickly.
To his surprise, the impact of the handlebars caused the other cyclist to lose control and R