Brief Interludes

by Susan Griscom

  Beth, her best friend and lover gone, vanished, without a word. Never to be heard from again. Russ had consoled her and she took comfort in his arms as he convinced her it was for the best, saying Beth would only hurt her in the end. He'd called Beth a wildcard. Uncontrollable. He also said Beth confessed to him that she was only using Jenna.

  Like a fool, she believed him. Now Beth is dead. Had been for fifty-three years. Oh God. Somewhere deep down she'd sensed it. The emptiness in her heart spiraled to a bottomless pit.

  Russ stepped toward Jenna and stood in front of her. His face inches from hers. His warm coffee breath flowed over her mouth and nose.

  “Don't you ever mention her again. I forbid it.”

  “You forbid it?” Russ had never forbidden her to do anything before.

  “Why?”

  “Beth was a slut and you know it. I don't want people to get the wrong idea about you.”

  “No. If you call her a slut, you call me a slut. She was my best friend and all of this was so long ago. No one would care. No one would even think to care.”

  Russ placed his age-spotted boney fingers around Jenna's throat and shoved her back against the counter. “Then you're a slut. Think of the miserable life you would have had, people whispering behind your back. Think of the life you have. I care...”

  “You're hurting me.”

  His grip tightened and Jenna couldn't breathe her eyes stinging with fear and she prayed to God she would wake up from this nightmare.

  “Don't ever mention her again. I wouldn't want you to have to end up dead like her.”

  He released her and walked away.

  Jenna clutched her throat and coughed as she slunk down to the floor sobbing, bile rose and she retched.

  All these years I've lived with a murderer.

  The End

  Keep reading for a sample chapter from Whisper Cape, the first book in Susan Griscom’s Whisper Cape series…writing as Regan Walsh.

  Whisper Cape

  An Amber Glow Books Publication

  ISBN: 978-0615585734

  e-ISBN: 978-1-4507-8981-3

  A powerful woman, an extraordinary man, and a maniac who wants to destroy them. Fate has brought them together, but will it make them stronger or destroy them all in end?

  Escape to a world where the impossible becomes possible and sparks ignite.

  WHISPER CAPE is a town of secrets and Addison MacKenna soon becomes tangled in a web of them. Plagued with nightmares of her father's sudden and brutal death, Addie struggles with her anguish and refuses to believe his demise was accidental.

  Fighting to shake off one of those devastating early morning nightmares, Addison finds it even harder to escape from the vision of a man lying on the side of the road--a man she may have just killed. When she frantically tries to locate him, he seemingly disappears, just the beginning of strange occurrences in her life. She also cannot ignore the weird sensations in her own body. Suddenly, the impossible seems possible, but is that a blessing or a curse?

  Believing that her continual and worsening nightmares are both the key to her own new abilities and the clue to her father's death, Addie knows she will not rest until she has the answers she craves. As she strives to cope with her new remarkable talents, someone else learns of her abilities—a disgruntled maniacal psychopath with his own agenda that involves eliminating Addie. The only one who can protect her, instruct her in the use of her powers and teach her how to destroy the murderous monster is the same man who makes Addie's heart race and her blood heat with passion. The same man she'd left for dead.

  Cael Sheridan may be arrogant and mysterious but he's also undeniably gorgeous. A member of a secret society, he is sworn to protect the woman he believes to be the daughter of his recently murdered mentor. In the process, he finds it impossible to resist her magnetic sensuality, complicating his efforts to shield and guide her as she learns to manage her newly acquired skills. At the same time, Addison has much to teach him about trust and commitment. Will fate win in the end? You be the judge.

  Chapter 1

  Nightmares suck.

  Addie put her face in her hands, rubbing her tired eyes.

  “Recurring ones suck more,” she grumbled and resumed her unskilled search of the internet.

  Gritting her teeth at the annoying hum of the old laptop, Addie tapped the keyboard, one finger at a time, thinking the sound might be enough to drive her insane. “Come on, don’t die on me now.” She stroked the lid, the gentle motion softening the hum to a silky purr. “Hmmm, that’s it, hold steady old girl, hold steady,” as if the machine could actually hear her. “Atta girl, I must have a magic touch.” She blew out a puff of air, relieved she wouldn't need to spend her next paycheck on a new computer.

  Addie clicked on the top search result, “Dreams and Nightmares, Types of Dreams ...”

  With one hand on the mouse and the other massaging her throat, she tried to ease the phantom pain where, just moments ago, it seemed as though someone else’s hands had been. She read the comments on the computer screen.

  “When repeated, nightmares are a way for the subconscious to wake up and take notice. Pay attention!”

  She sighed. Hugging her knees to her chest, she rocked back and forth, willing the vision and the sensation away, and then sank back against her pillow. Addie glanced around at the familiar and somewhat comforting surroundings of her tiny one-room apartment. She stared at the bare walls and stark beige counter separating the kitchen from the living room, wishing for just a second—one tiny second—that she wasn’t alone as she remembered the horrible dream.

  Everyone has nightmares, but night after night? And why were they always the same? The same, except along with each new episode rolled in an additional piece of the story, but they always ended with someone choking her, the face shadowed or masked each time. Similar to a suspenseful horror story where you know the beginning and end, but the middle—the who, the where, and the why—comes in bits and pieces like tiny clues, each new revelation more terrifying than the last.

  They seemed so real and drained her energy. She shuddered and read on.

  “Recurring dreams show little variation in story or theme.”

  “Well, the theme’s the same, but what about the rest ... and the face; why can’t I ever see the face?”

  “Dreams may recur because an encounter portrayed in the dream remains unsettled. Once a resolution is recognized, the dreams will stop.”

  “Hmmm ... a resolution. Identifying the murdering bastard would help,” she said, the memory of her father’s death forever present in her mind. Always.

  She'd been awake for hours, never able to fall back to sleep after a nightmare. Addie rubbed her burning eyes and gingerly pulled herself up from the sofa. Holding her breath, she tiptoed to the kitchen as though the nightmare might gather substance and engulf her any minute. She poured herself another cup of coffee and sighed.

  “Get a grip, Addie, it was just a bad dream,” she said, having developed the habit of talking to herself now that she lived alone.

  Bad dream my ass. Something evil lurked in those dreams, those nightmares. She trembled a bit remembering the way it took hold and wouldn’t let go, strangling her until she woke up.

  She sipped the strong brew while absently massaging her throat, glancing out the window and down at the almost empty parking lot. Her truck sat in its usual spot—alone in the lot—the last of its fellow smog machines. At half past nine in the morning everyone else in the small apartment complex had already left for work, school, or wherever. It looked so lonely—the way she felt now—and that familiar longing for her dad crept over her. Addie was convinced her nightmares had something to do with his recent death.

  ***

  The eerie wail of the howling wind sent shivers down Addie’s spine. Pulling her jacket sleeves down over the palms of her hands, she gripped the steering wheel to hold it in place. Thank God the heater worked. The vicious cold air outside mixed with the fog float
ing in from the ocean, enveloping her truck, filling her with an ominous sensation. It swirled its way over the landscape, transforming the spectacular terrain into something unfamiliar. Sinister. The late morning haze shrouded most of the highway, snaking its way through the massive redwoods, stirring visions of her nightmare. The roar of the surf thrashing against the rocks emphasized the menacing force.

  She shuddered. Her breath quickened. Hot and tingly blood pulsed through her body, swamping her with a sense of dread. The force strengthened and burned as though her veins were on fire.

  Addie inhaled, holding her breath for a few seconds before exhaling. “Deep breaths, Addie, slow, deep breaths,” she whispered as the memory of the horrible nightmare flooded her mind.

  She concentrated on her breathing, feeling the rapid beat of her heart, determined to steady her nerves.

  “Think of something else,” she demanded and glanced down at her camera and tripod. She’d remembered to bring them along today, hoping the sun would come out so she could go to the cliffs during her afternoon break, still determined to decorate her bare apartment walls with pictures of the giant waves crashing against the massive rocks. She grimaced, leaning forward to peek at the sky, perturbed the sun wasn’t going to cooperate.

  Addie turned her concentration back to the road. One wrong turn could be fatal if her truck were to swerve and go over the cliff. Her new truck—well, new to her anyway—was sturdy and powerful, exuding confidence and strength, the exact attributes Addie needed at the moment.

  She absently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “Another cloudy day. I should have taken pictures during the summer months, like any other normal person.” She glanced up at the sky again before bringing her eyes back to the road.

  That’s when she saw him standing in the center of the highway.

  She screamed, grasped the wheel with both hands, and steered to the right. The truck lurched. Her camera and tripod clunked against the passenger door and then fell to the floor. Addie tried to straighten the wheel, but the gravel on the side of the road sent the wheels spinning toward the ditch. She slammed on the brakes, skidding several feet before finally stopping inches from a very steep slope.

  “Oh, God … did I hit him?” She’d heard a thump against the truck. “I must have hit him.”

  Her hands shook. In fact, her entire body trembled with fear. Forcing her uncooperative limbs to move, Addie shoved open the heavy truck door, held on to support her quivering body, and stepped out. Her rubbery legs buckled under her as the fierce wind blew her jacket open. Steadying herself, she used both hands to keep it closed and crept to the back of the truck, scanned the area, but saw no one. Not even a hint of a body.

  She called out. “Hello? Sir, are you all right?”

  No one answered. The silence was disturbing, as if something sucked all evidence of life out of the area, leaving nothing behind except the sound of the wind rustling through dead leaves and the surf pounding against the rocks below. Still holding her jacket closed, she sprinted to the other side of the truck, but there was no trace of the guy.

  Her stomach knotted. Her eyes fell upon the dents and scratches on the front fender. She studied them for a few seconds, but it was impossible to tell if there was any new damage. Just last week she’d miscalculated a turn and scraped the fender against the dumpster at work.

  Keeping her jacket closed with one hand, she held her long dark hair back from her eyes with the other and searched the area the best she could. She didn’t see anyone.

  “Where did he go?” She ran back to her truck, pulled herself up onto the seat, and quickly shut the door. Her hands shook as she pushed down on the locks, and for a moment, she just sat, frozen.

  “No one was there.” Her eyebrows tightened and tears stung her eyes. Certain there was nothing to do, Addie glanced down the highway before slowly easing the truck back onto the road. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other fumbling with her seatbelt, she glanced in the rear view mirror. Addie let out a long, uneasy breath, and managed to relax some, but questioned her sanity. Was she seeing things? No, she saw him. Why was he standing in the middle of the road, and how did he just vanish? Where had he come from? She hadn’t seen a car parked anywhere and knew this stretch of the road. There wasn’t a house or any other building around for at least a quarter of a mile.

  Addie tried to picture his face after only a brief glimpse of the guy. He wasn’t someone she recognized. He wore a tattered black leather coat that hung down to his thighs and his thick black hair, falling just inches above his shoulders, blew around his face. Any more detail was impossible to recall. The idea of a man standing in the middle of the road and then just vanishing was absurd, but she had seen someone and the whole experience frightened her. She considered the possibility that it was a ghost, but he’d looked so real. Then again, she had never seen a ghost before, so how would she know what a ghost really looked like? No, no, the ghost theory didn’t cut it. He had been real.

  She needed a distraction, something to take her mind off the man, and out of habit, pushed the power button on the radio before remembering it stopped working during an electrical storm a week ago. Frustrated, she banged the top of the dashboard with her fist. The veins in her fingers burned and as she opened her hand, tiny sparks shot forth from her fingertips.

  “Ouch!” She shook her hand as the radio crackled for a few seconds then began to play. Perplexed, Addie glanced at her hand as though it belonged to someone else and then back at the radio again. She shrugged, deciding the jolt from the sudden stop somehow jarred the wires. In an effort to calm down, she sang along with the radio, her voice timid. Every now and then, she glanced in the rear view mirror as if the man were somehow running behind her. She couldn’t help wondering how he materialized out of nowhere, and then ... poof, just vanished. Was he a figment of her imagination?

  The song changed, luring her back to reality. She glanced at her watch. She was late for work, and Gerry, her boss, would be livid.

  ***

  Cael Sheridan stepped out from behind a thicket of Manzanita bushes and onto the highway. He looked left then right, and proceeded to walk along the side of the road, a bit more cautious of oncoming traffic than he’d been a few minutes earlier. She’d nearly run him over. He knew it had been careless of him to be in the middle of the road, but from what he’d remembered, there usually wasn’t much traffic on this stretch of highway, especially this time of year.

  It had been several years since he’d been back to Whisper Cape, though he sensed not much had changed. The narrow highway was completely deserted other than the one truck. The swirling wind stung clear down to his bones. He pulled up the frayed collar of his coat and frowned as the loose strands of fabric tickled his chin. Glancing down the side of the cliff, he paused to admire the roaring surf crashing against the rocks.

  “Ah, still breathtaking.” He smiled, then breathed in, as the cool moist air filled his lungs. He reveled in the fresh ocean breeze with the faint taste of salt in the air.

  Yes! I love this coast.

  Taking in another deep breath, and suffering the bite of the wind, he continued walking.

  He hadn’t meant to frighten the woman in the truck, but hadn’t wanted to die either. So, he did what came naturally to him and disappeared.

  Hiking along the road, Cael willed his thoughts back to business. He was tracking a killer on a hunch—a hunch leading to the sister of his friend, his mentor, Ristéard. Soon after Ristéard’s death, his sister left New York and moved out west to Oregon. Cael’s gut warned him the murdering monster, known as Eidolon, might have followed her. Cael was certain Eidolon hadn’t found what he’d been looking for when he slaughtered Ristéard. Eidolon was sinister and deranged. Cael knew he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He enjoyed the walk into town, but picked up the pace, hoping he’d arrived in time.

  Please read on for a sneak peek into Reflections, book two in the Whisper Cape Series.

&n
bsp; Excerpt from Reflections

  Look for it soon on Amazon.com

  Gerry has loved Maia from the very first moment he laid eyes on her and now that she’s pregnant with his child, he’s over the moon with happiness. Likewise, Maia is overjoyed about having Gerry’s baby, but when she starts seeing and hearing an old woman who always seems to want to warn Maia about the pregnancy, Maia starts to think she is losing her mind.

  But Maia’s nightmare has only just begun . . . A most sought after beautiful woman, a talented lead singer in an up and coming rock band sets her sights on Gerry determined to rekindle an old flame. But murder befalls the sleepy town of Whisper Cape once again, creating suspicion and betrayal, and a love, considered invincible, begins to crumble and fall apart.

  Chapter 1

  Cucumber Salad

  Tomato juice splattered everywhere as the bottle hit the gray tile floor. Maia gasped at the shattered glass, unable to tear her eyes away; the thick red liquid pooled at her feet like a stagnant river of blood.

  “I’m sorry, Manny, the jar just slipped out of my hand,” she said, sensing the old man’s presence at her side and half-wondering how he’d gotten across the aisle so quickly.

  “Don’t you worry, sweetheart.”

  “I’m so clumsy lately. I can’t seem to hold on to anything these days.”

  “Are you hurt? Did any glass cut you?” He took her by the elbow, leading her away from the debris.

  “No, I’m fine. Let me help you clean up.” She glanced back at the slimy red liquid mixed with pieces of sharp, ragged-edged glass, making the aisle resemble a murder scene from some B-rated detective show on TV.