by Jada Ryker
Her typewriter sat at her desk, the last page she’d been working on still rolled up in it, waiting for her to finish. She knew she needed to hurry, but…Althea scooted into her chair, and placed her fingers on the keys.
As the Crow Flies
By Seretha Ranier
Part Five: Conclusion
Inexplicably irritated with Mr. Corvus, Fresna continued with her work duties. She helped Mrs. Stith into her wheelchair. Then, she pushed the old lady down the hall toward the patio at a brisk clip.
Magic pools? Ravens?
When they reached the sliding glass doors, Fresna instantly froze in place. Her hands were wrapped so tight around the handles of Mrs. Stith’s wheelchair, she was surprised the metal didn’t bend. Her eyes penetrated the glass and landed on the birdbath. She had not meant to look at it, but her gaze tracked there of its own volition. The bird was perched on the edge of birdbath, patiently waiting for her.
Mrs. Stith screeched, “I’ve changed my mind! I want to go back to my room! Hurry up! You hear me?”
In her mind’s eye, Fresna saw the years stretch before her with Mrs. Stith’s screeching and Steve’s whining. Mrs. Stith would one day get past her defenses and bite her. Another freak accident would lead to Steve getting her life insurance money and living happily ever after.
The raven was here now, offering her an opportunity for her very own happily ever after. But, she didn’t believe in magic.
Did she?
Fresna’s feet turned toward the birdbath and walked to it, leaving the complaining Mrs. Stith sitting in her wheelchair by the sliding glass doorway. She felt incredibly foolish.
The raven waited, perched on the concrete, as if it was expecting her.
He’ll just fly away when I get over there, Fresna reasoned to herself.
She reached the birdbath, but the raven didn’t move, and continued to stare at her. Then, it bobbed its black head toward the still pool of rain water, as if it was telling her, “Look inside.”
Feeling fearful and idiotic, with a snippet of curiosity, Fresna leaned over the pool.
She could see herself in the water, and the bird perched along the edge. Fresna frowned. Suddenly, she was able to see something else in the pool.
The reflective surface revealed a picture, like an old television screen, of her husband, Steve, in their driveway.
What was happening to her?
She started to back away, but the harsh caw of the bird stopped her.
The pool revealed an image of Steve, carefully looking around, while using a wrench to loosen the bolts holding the tire on her car.
Fresna straightened and pressed her eyes shut. Her husband had tried to kill her.
She opened her eyes. And, she was seeing it in a birdbath, for God’s sake!
The sound of a throat clearing beside her made Fresna jump. Her eyes bulged.
A tall, slender man with short, slicked back, dark hair was standing right next to her. His suit, shirt, and tie were as black as the darkest night. His eyes were shining ebony, connecting intimately with hers. His nose was unusually long and hooked, resembling a bird’s beak.
“Caw! I mean, Fresna! Damn, sometimes bilingualism can be a curse!”
Fresna slowly shook her head. He looked familiar. Add wrinkles, bent shoulders— “Mr. Corvus?”
He smiled. “Please. Call me Aviary.”
A disturbance at the sliding glass door caused them to turn their heads.
“Get out of the doorway, you old witch! We have a score to settle with that fat cow and the old man!”
“We’ll make them pay for getting us fired! Push the old bitch and the damn wheelchair out of the way, Terry!”
Jeneva? And Terry? Fired? And now they were after her and Mr. Corvus?
“What’s it to be, Fresna? Do you want a life of happiness with me, who appreciates your gentle spirit and warm heart? Or do you want a life of misery with your husband, albeit a very short one since he will do anything to get you out of the way?”
“Damn it! She bit me!” Jeneva’s outraged scream drowned out Terry’s squeal of pain.
Looks like Mrs. Stith got a two for one, Fresna thought, with a hint of satisfaction. She wrenched her attention back to the man in front of her. She slowly, and regretfully, shook her head. “I can’t take what the raven offers. I’m old, I’m tired, and I’m hopeless.”
He pointed to the pool. “Look.”
Fresna gazed into the water. She expected to see her limp hair, streaked with gray; her tired eyes, full of despair, and her sloping shoulders; holding the unrelenting weight of her worries.
She squinted for a moment, then widened her eyes in shock. The woman she saw in the reflection had thick, glossy hair, with eyes bright with hope and happiness. Next to her was a face with a beak-like profile, staring at her. Love was naked in the bony features.
Fresna looked up. As she took his hand, she felt the warmth of the setting sun on her face. “Where will we go?”
“Not far. Not far, as the crow flies.”
Having drawn their blood and routed the enemy, Mrs. Stith settled back in her wheelchair, and watched the two crows take flight. They circled, the glistening sun reflecting off their glossy, black wings. One wobbled a bit as the other protectively hovered. With a flourish of her wing, the newborn crow righted herself. Her companion cawed in happy approval.
Mrs. Stith watched until they both flew out of sight.
Wiping a tear from her eye, Althea packed her typewriter. As she gathered her clothes and other belongings, she wondered if there were parallels to be drawn between her life and Fresna’s.
She wondered if she’d live happily ever after, like Fresna.
As she walked out of her room, she saw Clay entering the hall from another room. “What are you doing, Clay?”
Clay glanced back in the room. “Just saying good-bye to an old friend.”
He gently shut the door, and slid one hand into his pocket.
Althea thought she’d glimpsed a cylinder of some sort in his hand before it disappeared into his pocket. The thought fluttered away from her mind as Clay took her suitcase, and led the way down the hall.
THANK YOU FROM JADA
Thank you for reading this book. The characters in this book have lived in my imagination for a long time. I loved bringing them to life on the pages of this book. I hope you enjoyed meeting them, and I hope you will read Marisa’s further adventures in Mayhem Takes a Dare, available on Amazon in both electronic and paperback versions.
If you enjoyed reading the book, please take a moment to leave a review on the Amazon detail page of Murder Takes a Dare.
Click Here to Review Murder Takes a Dare
If you would like to try a different type of book, Dog Days of Karma is a mystery adventure with romance and a soupçon of the paranormal. It’s the first book in the Karma series, chronicling the adventures of Celeste Carr and Ericka Maah, of the Carr – Maah Consulting Agency.
Best Wishes,
Jada
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jada Ryker spent the first twenty-odd years of her life in rural Kentucky. Now, she lives in central Kentucky with her husband and their cat, rescued from the animal shelter. In her day job, Jada works in higher education. To learn more about Jada, connect with her through her website www.JadaRyker.com.
Jada loves feedback from readers. To share comments about her work, you can visit her website or email her at [email protected].
Her published titles are listed on the following pages, and are available on Amazon in electronic and paperback formats.
Takes a Dare Series
Book One: Murder Takes a Dare
“I’ve gotten myself in too deep—” Jonah’s last words are an epitaph to a life spent on the wrong side of the law.
Marisa Adair is shocked when her former friend Jonah surfaces from her chaotic past of drinking and partying, only to be murdered. She must solve the crime before the killer destroys her new life.
/> To find the murderer, Marisa partners with unusual collaborators. Dithering Russell is focused on ferreting out secrets, including her colorful past. Childhood friend Alex is a chief financial officer, and the chief pain in her… neck. Esther is the daughter of a former agent in the FBI’s controversial "Dickless Tracy" program for women. She learned to disable an opponent in hand-to-hand combat around the same time she learned to spell and throw the quintessential tea party.
Marisa must revisit her dark past of childhood deprivation and adult struggles with addiction. The clues point to the shadowy underbelly of a notorious club, the setting for the glittering fool’s gold of her old double life. As Marisa and her friends track the killer, can they solve the mystery before the murderer strikes again?
Click Here to Purchase Murder Takes a Dare
Book Two: Mayhem Takes a Dare
Fantasy and reality clash when the members of an online group meet in person. Behind the glitter of the profiles, true identities are entwined with deadly secrets.
“You can’t tell him.” Sarah’s pretty face hardens, the dimples fading like a whimsical daydream. Her fingers claw Marisa’s arm.
Marisa is furious. “I won’t let you get away with it. You’re trying to trick my friend into a relationship.” Marisa’s gaze rakes the bulky sweatshirt and boxy jeans camouflaging the lush figure. “You’re a stripper with a volatile boyfriend. You’re not a high school teacher looking for love.”
Later, Sarah is stabbed to death during her exotic routine. Marisa and her devastated friend are among the suspects.
To solve the murder, Marisa joins forces with unlikely allies. Parvis, an attractive online investigative reporter, will do anything for a story to shock his followers. Handsome accountant Alex is accustomed to saving money and cutting expenses. Now, he’s focused on saving lives and cutting off a desperate murderer. Clara, a retired lunch lady fearless to the point of foolhardiness, uses her own version of “slay-dar” to hunt the murderer.
In the past, Marisa lived a reckless double life. She was a conservative administrator by day. After hours, she partied the nights away in a notorious club. Now, she finds herself back in shadowy, forbidden places as she and her friends track down a killer. The twisted trail to the murderer leads to explosive, decades-old secrets, including a vigilante-style killing.
Marisa and her friends follow the clues to a twisted killer. Can she solve the mystery before her online account is deleted… permanently?
Click Here to Purchase Mayhem Takes a Dare
Book Three: Arson Takes a Dare
An obscenely rich lottery winner tricks Marisa Adair into joining forces with a famous Florida private detective to investigate her daughter’s twenty-year-old murder. During a serial arsonist’s reign of terror, Mayla died in a fiery inferno. The newly wealthy mother wants to dedicate her considerable resources to finding her daughter’s killer and bringing him to justice.
Marisa is busy with problems of her own. After her troubled brother’s death, Marisa discovers he was stalked online. The stalker is the vicious bully who had made their childhood a living hell. She decides to track down the bully, confront her, and hold her accountable for her crimes.
Alisa was a beautiful girl. She was also the ringleader of a gang of bullies. Now, as an adult, she seeks out the weakest of the herd to torment through the anonymity of her computer. Alisa also holds the key to dark secrets, with the chilling tendrils reaching from her childhood to the present.
After Alisa’s brutal murder, Marisa is the number one suspect. When Marisa is arrested, her friends rush to help her. Alex, convinced he will be driven mad by Marisa, is determined to clear her. Althea, Marisa’s friend and former teacher, is combat ready after decades of teaching elementary schoolchildren. Marisa’s support group, as ruthless as they are loyal, go to great lengths to help their fellow member. Tara, Marisa’s best friend and in need of her own twelve-step program for her shoe addiction, demands hard choices of her boyfriend, the lawman who put Marisa behind bars.
Marisa lived a chaotic life of drinking and partying. Hitting bottom left her existence in shambles. Like a phoenix, Marisa rose from the ashes. Now she’s a savvy and respected human resources administrator. Accused of a murder she didn’t commit, Marisa faces losing her hard-won new identity... and possibly her life.
Click Here to Purchase Arson Takes a Dare
The Shaken, Not Stirred, Mystery/Horror Series
A Pink Zombie, with a Mist
Anthropologist Olivia West is determined to find her missing best friend. As children, she and Emma Martin wandered into Heaven’s Bottom, an isolated Kentucky community cut off by the Ohio River and mountainous terrain. The two women share strange memories of the traumatic experience. Emma is convinced they witnessed a blood sacrifice and moon magic, surrounded by zombies. As a scientist, Olivia believes there’s a logical explanation.
Detective Steven Lewis pursues his own investigation of the mysterious town. A social worker, his wife fought her way into The Bottom to investigate suspected child abuse. She didn’t make it out alive. Haunted by grief and regret, Steven is obsessed with finding her killer. He’s convinced the murderer is hiding in the wild forest, camouflaged by the swirling mist.
Olivia and Steven enter into an uneasy partnership to find Emma and solve his wife’s brutal murder. They contact Sheriff Noah McCracken, who holds the local law enforcement role that’s been passed down through his family for centuries. Like his ancestors, the sheriff ignores the chilling events in Heaven’s Bottom.
Can Olivia and Steven convince Noah to “release the McCracken” in time to save their lives?
SPECIAL BONUS: As a reader appreciation gift, “The Hand of Karma” mystery/horror short story is included FREE at the end of the book.
Click Here to Purchase A Pink Zombie, with a Mist
Gimlet and Other Stories
Jada Ryker’s collected short stories run the gamut from mystery to horror to science fiction. The stories include Gimlet, As the Crow Flies, Cross to Bear, An Alien Act of Honor, Winner Takes All, Dead Eye, The Hand of Karma, and Driving Miss Daisy’s Cattle.
In Gimlet, Juneau and Coldwell pose as patients in a mental hospital to solve a paranormal mystery. Fellow patient Iris, notorious for both her séances and her police record, claims she’s in touch with the spirits who have the answers to the puzzle. Will her supernatural connections help Juneau and Coldwell solve the mystery, or lead to a one-way trip to the morgue?
In As the Crow Flies, Fresna is a middle-aged nursing assistant toiling in a nursing home. She likes Mr. Corvis, an eccentric resident. When odd things happen to Fresna, Mr. Corvis is in the vicinity.
Tina returns to her rural Kentucky home to attend her hard-living and hard-drinking brother’s funeral in A Cross to Bear. She reconnects with Chris, her childhood friend’s handsome brother. Tina has to contend with her troubled relationship with her father, her feelings for Chris… and a malevolent watcher.
Mae Rue is on the verge of being arrested for her husband’s brutal murder. An extraterrestrial family invades her grief, seeking to right an old wrong. Mae Rue learns there are many facets to honor, including An Alien Act of Honor.
After her emotionally distant father Billy Ray emerges from a coma with an extraordinary story, Marisa explores her challenging relationship with him. Alex, Marisa's friend from childhood and possibly more today, provides his unconventional support. In Winner Takes All, Marisa and her father learn how a second chance impacts them both.
In Dead Eye, Alex takes Marisa to an unusual Halloween party in an isolated Kentucky community… with a murderer ready with deadly tricks, rather than treats.
In The Hand of Karma, Jessamine, mourning her mother’s sudden death, is trapped in a funeral home’s cellar when she recognizes a monster from her past.
In Driving Miss Daisy’s Cattle, Lieutenant Camden finds viral recordings of a dead bull rider, with a rodeo clown bent over him, don’t tell the whole story. With a brand-n
ew officer dogging his footsteps, Cam has to solve the mystery.
Click Here to Purchase Gimlet and Other Stories
Karma Consulting Agency Series
Book One: Dog Days of Karma
Desperate to locate a missing person, Constance Twist decides to call a detective agency. Waiting for directory assistance and muttering to herself about karma, Constance jots down the address for the Carr—Maah Consulting Agency. On the way to the agency, Constance is shoved into traffic and nearly killed.
Celeste Carr is shocked when Constance storms into the office, demanding help. Celeste tries to explain that Carr—Maah is a human resources consulting company, not a detective agency. Celeste grits her teeth when her mysterious business partner Ericka Maah overrules Celeste and forces her to take Constance’s case.
The killer rectifies the earlier error. Constance is brutally murdered as she leaves the agency.
Several hundred miles away, Jose is a restaurant manager and former agency employee. He helped Sonora escape her abusive husband by giving her a job and an apartment. After Sonora unexpectedly flees, Jose finds a hefty online reward for a lost dog. The posting shows Sonora’s image photoshopped with the picture of a dog. Jose follows Sonora’s trail back to his hometown and the Carr—Maah Consulting Agency.
