by Ann Charles
His grin turned sheepish. “Sorry. The idea hit me all of a sudden—you know, vulnerable in a small vessel.” Doc offered to take my mace.
It made sense—Ottó being that vessel, of course. I handed over my mace and then turned to Cornelius. “Next time, you need to warn me when you’re going to shove that hard.”
His crooked smile surfaced. “You should have seen your face.”
“Stop your chatting, Parker,” Cooper snapped. “We need to wrap this up.”
“Why, birthday boy?”
“It’s not my birthday yet.”
“Almost, though.” And we sure had a surprise coming for him this year. “What’s going on? Is Natalie okay?”
“Nat’s fine and so is your aunt.”
I sighed in relief. “Then why has your sweet little purr turned into snarly growls?”
He held up his cell phone. “I got a call from dispatch. It seems your damned buddy is back to his old tricks.”
“What buddy?” Was this about Rex? Or Ray?
His mouth flat-lined. “The fucking imp, Parker. Clear your shit out of here. You’re coming with me.”
The End … for now
Ann Charles is a USA Today bestselling author who writes award-winning mysteries that are splashed with humor, romance, paranormal, and whatever else she feels like throwing into the mix. When she is not dabbling in fiction, arm-wrestling with her children, attempting to seduce her husband, or arguing with her sassy cats, she is daydreaming of lounging poolside at a fancy resort with a blended margarita in one hand and a great book in the other.
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More Books by Ann
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Books in the Deadwood Mystery Series
WINNER of the 2010 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense
WINNER of the 2011 Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart Award for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
Welcome to Deadwood—the Ann Charles version. The world I have created is a blend of present day and past, of fiction and non-fiction. What’s real and what isn’t is for you to determine as the series develops, the characters evolve, and I write the stories line by line. I will tell you one thing about the series—it’s going to run on for quite a while, and Violet Parker will have to hang on and persevere through the crazy adventures I have planned for her. Poor, poor Violet. It’s a good thing she has a lot of gumption to keep her going!
Books in the Deadwood Shorts Series
The Deadwood Shorts collection includes short stories featuring the characters of the Deadwood Mystery series. Each tale not only explains more of Violet’s history, but also gives a little history of the other characters you know and love from the series. Rather than filling the main novels in the series with these short side stories, I’ve put them into a growing Deadwood Shorts collection for more reading fun.
The Deadwood Undertaker Series
Deadwood (late 1876) … A rowdy and reckless undertaker’s delight. What better place for a killer to blend in?
Enter undertaker Clementine Johanssen, tall and deadly with a hot temper and short fuse, hired to clean up Deadwood’s dead … and the “other” problem. She’s hell-bent on poking, sticking, or stabbing anyone that steps out of line.
But when a couple of Santa Fe sidewinders ride into town searching for their missing uncle, they land neck deep in lethal gunplay, nasty cutthroats, and endless stinkin’ snow. Their search leads them to throw in with Clementine to hunt for a common enemy.
What they find chills them all to the bone and sends them on an adventure they’ll never forget.
From the bestselling, multiple award-winning, humorous Deadwood Mystery series comes a new herd of tales set in the same Deadwood stomping grounds, only back in the days when the Old West town was young.
The Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series
Bestseller in Women Sleuth Mystery and Romantic Suspense
Welcome to the Dancing Winnebagos R.V. Park. Down here in Jackrabbit Junction, Arizona, Claire Morgan and her rabble-rousing sisters are really good at getting into trouble—BIG trouble (the land your butt in jail kind of trouble). This rowdy, laugh-aloud mystery series is packed with action, suspense, adventure, and relationship snafus. Full of colorful characters and twisted up plots, the stories of the Morgan sisters will keep you wondering what kind of a screwball mess they are going to land in next.
The Dig Site Mystery Series
Welcome to the jungle—the steamy Maya jungle that is, filled with ancient ruins, deadly secrets, and quirky characters. Quint Parker, renowned photojournalist (and lousy amateur detective), is in for a whirlwind of adventure and suspense as he and archaeologist Dr. Angélica García get tangled up in mysteries from the past and present in exotic dig sites. Loaded with action and laughs, along with all sorts of steamy heat, these books will keep you sweating along with the characters as they do their best to make it out of the jungle alive.
The Goldwash Mystery Series
The Old Man’s Back in Town
This short story is a bit of a puzzle. Each scene is a different variation of the same story for a reason, which you’ll learn at the end. See if you can pick up on the clues along the way and figure out the puzzle before you finish the story. Thank you for giving it a try!
~ Ann
Overview…
In the lonely mining ghost town of Goldwash, Nevada, Christmas has come early. Unfortunately, the local bar owner must be on this year’s naughty list, because Santa brought her something even worse than a piece of coal on this dark, cold winter night—her old man.
Acknowledgments
Once upon a time I wrote a book called Devil Days in Deadwood. I’d like to thank the following folks for helping me make it to “The End … for now” yet again:
My husband for all of your love and laughter throughout this quarantine craziness.
My kids, Beaker and Chicken Noodle, for taking me on walks regularly so that my fingers didn’t fuse to the keyboard.
My First Draft team: Margo Taylor, Mary Ida Kunkle, Kristy McCaffrey, Jacquie Rogers, Marcia Britton, Paul Franklin, Diane Garland, Vicki Huskey, Lucinda Nelson, Marguerite Phipps, Stephanie Kunkle, and Wendy Gildersleeve. Your patience is legendary. Your help is much appreciated.
My editor, Eilis Flynn, for your sharp eyes and even sharper wit. You have the best socks!
My WorldKeeper, Diane Garland, for help keeping track of my many threads and characters, and for helping me coming up with fun quizzes for readers for the other books.
My Beta Team for making time for me at the drop of a dime and finding needles in the haystack.
My brother, C.S. Kunkle, for drawing what I daydream and nailing the cover art.
My graphic artist/cover designer/formatter, aka my husband, for making the outside and inside of the book look amazing.
Bev Caserio, Bruce Outka, and Tim Agena for taking Mr. Lucky and me on an amazing top-to-bottom tour of the Lawrence County Courthouse in Deadwood.
My readers and friends for lifting me up time and again with your kind words and shared laughs. Together, we can conquer the world—or at least we’ll give it our best shot … of tequila.
And as usual, Clint (my brother), for spending almost all of your money in Omaha on a stupid video game, thereby giving me a great story to tell time and again.
Devil Days in Deadwood
Copyright © 2020 by Ann Charles
Presco
tt AZ, USA
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means now known or hereafter invented, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Ann Charles.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is coincidental.
Cover Art by C.S. Kunkle
Cover Design by B Biddles
Editing by Eilis Flynn
Formatting by B Biddles
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020908148
E-book ISBN-:13: 978-1-940364-71-1
Print ISBN-:13: 978-1-940364-70-4
Table of Contents
Blurb
Title Page
Table of Contents
Dear Reader
Also by Ann Charles
Dedication
Character Key
Start Reading
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
About the Author
More Books by Ann
Books in the Deadwood Shorts Series
The Deadwood Undertaker Series
The Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series
The Dig Site Mystery Series
The Goldwash Mystery Series
Acknowledgments
Copyright
