ONYX WEBB
Book 7
Diandra Archer
Lust for Living Press is an imprint of
COURAGE CRAFTERS, INC.
Copyright 2018 by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-947814-06-6
Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher or authors.
DISCLAIMER:
This book is a work of fiction. And while some real locations, historical events, company names and easily recognizable public figures have been used, the story is strictly the product of the authors’ imaginations. Beyond that, any names and/or resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Wait, Where Were We?
BOOK FIVE
Episode Thirteen: The Slave Quarters
Koda and Tank are involved in a terrible accident at the executive airport, leaving Tank dead and Koda on the verge. While Koda’s life hangs in the balance, Mika’s financial crisis forces her to steal from Declan Mulvaney. Onyx Webb gets a visit from her old friend Sister Katherine, who is still reeling over the murder at the school for girls and eventually leaves Crimson Cove on a mission of revenge. Things take a turn for the better for Stan Lee when he leaves the farm with his settlement and finds the ideal home in Charleston, next door to the Mulvaneys, and the perfect job with the Savannah PD.
Episode Fourteen: Katherine’s “To Do” List
While Koda lies in a hospital bed in Orlando deep in a coma, Declan and Bruce hold a funeral for Tank. Mika’s troubles continue, and she kicks Robyn out of the penthouse at 55 West. Katherine Keane’s plan to kill Stan Lee goes awry when she accidentally goes to the wrong farm house. As Onyx deals with Katherine’s fate, she ends up saving a family by taking the energy from a man who was about to harm them. The Leg Collector crimes begin happening in Savannah, with Leo Igler on the case and Stan Lee as his dutiful photographer. While the Mulvaneys continue to build their empire, Bruce falls for Nisa when he and Declan end up at a motorcycle shop in Daytona Beach.
Episode Fifteen: Out of the Darkness
Stan Lee’s perfect job comes to an end when he is forced to murder Detective Leo Igler after the detective makes a chance discovery that the killer has been Nahum all along. After moving to Portland and being hired by Bruce Mulvaney, lawyer Alistar Ashley is assigned to get the lighthouse and surrounding land from the current owner, Onyx Webb. Declan and Detective Stormy Boyd come to an understanding about each other and Stormy reunites Declan with some items from his past. Mika deals with a major panic attack as her money problems deepen. Koda finally emerges from his three-week-long coma.
BOOK SIX
Episode Sixteen: The Autistic Savant
Stan Lee follows Nisa Mulvaney to Myrtle Beach and abducts her from a bar. Newt Drystad, a young autistic savant with a talent for solving serial murders, starts working for Agent Pipi Esperanza at the FBI on Nisa Mulvaney’s disappearance. Koda emerges from his coma. Mika, still in financial trouble, rushes to the mansion to steal another valuable from Declan’s study—a rare book this time—and is confronted by Stormy Boyd. Onyx Webb and her lawyer, Alistar Ashley, continue their friendship as he visits with her one night a week for many years.
Episode Seventeen: Death Comes in Threes
Newt and Pipi get called off Nisa Mulvaney’s case, but from all the evidence conclude that she was likely abducted and that her return was not probable. With Kara’s help, Stan Lee finally faces the truth that he accidentally gave Nisa too much ketamine when he abducted her and she died that night. Koda leaves the hospital to recuperate at the mansion with Robyn by his side. Koda and Robyn enlist the help of Gerylyn Stoller to search for Juniper. Declan confronts Mika about her thievery and they end up blackmailing each. Onyx Webb is forced to deal with Clay Daniels III when he sneaks into the lighthouse to frame her with drugs. Nathaniel presses Olympia to solve his murder by confronting Declan Mulvaney.
Episode Eighteen: Journey Into Loll
Koda and Gerylyn go into Loll while Robyn watches helplessly in the living plane at the mansion. After Pipi shortens the trip to Portland to meet with the sheriff of Crimson Cove, Newt and Pipi stop in Oklahoma City and Pipi is killed in the bombing of the federal building. Pipi miraculously turns up at the Dallas FBI office and her working life with Newt is restarted. Alistar Ashley goes for his last visit with Onyx after his wife Kizzy discovers he “invested” all their money into the lighthouse, and his car is annihilated in a fiery crash on his drive back. After Abigale Dietz is given Claudia Spilatro’s 1953 film (where Claudia accuses Onyx Webb of murdering Hell Daniels), she and her brother decide to hold the Onyx Webb Film Festival.
“People are so concerned with eternity and life after death. If only they were a bit more concerned with life before death.”
- Onyx Webb
This Episode Dedicated to the Loving Memory of:
Karen Bishop
Quiet, kind, and caring.
Generous with her time and her praise.
Karen was the best of us.
Onyx has lost a fan, but our loss runs far deeper.
We have lost a friend with an editor’s eye for detail who challenged us as authors to communicate more clearly and write more quickly—and as human beings to start each morning with an open heart, and end each evening with the belief that tomorrow will be an even brighter day.
Wherever it is in the universe that you lay your head tonight, we are certain it is a place of peace, love, and serenity—surrounded by stunning quilts and lighted by the love of those who cared for you most.
It has been said that we do not understand death until it lays a hand on the shoulder of someone we love. If we did not understand the true nature of death when we began writing this series, we most certainly understand it now.
-Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz
Orlando, Florida
August 11, 2016
This book written primarily to music by:
Damian Rice
Evan and Jaron
Jackie Evancho
Episode 19
The Hot Pie
SUPAI, ARIZONA
AUGUST 23, 2010
Very impressive,” Graeme Kingsley said after Quinn Cole finished walking him around the Juniper Canyon Spa & Resort.
Graeme was an ex-NFL linebacker who played three seasons with the Washington Redskins before he returned to his home in Australia, where he played rugby for seven years with the Sydney Roosters. After two years of retirement, Graeme was bored silly. To fill in his time, he started his own business as a personal trainer. Thirteen years later, Graeme Kingsley was one of the most sought-after personal trainers in the world.
“Take a seat anywhere,” Quinn said. “Just not too close to the waterfall.” Graeme sat in one of two hand-carved mahogany chairs, while Quinn lowered his enormous frame onto the sofa.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been asked to audition for a job,” Graeme said.
“Is that what you think this is? An audition?” Quinn asked.
“Isn’t it?” Graeme said.
“Okay, let’s say it is. What are the six keys to weight loss?” Quinn asked.
“For weight loss? Well, I know the first five. Stop eating so damn much,” Graeme said, ticking off each word on his fingers as he said them.
Quinn smiled. “Okay, what’s the sixth?”
“Stairs.”
“I hate stairs,” Quinn said.
“Yeah. Everyone hates s
tairs, mate—especially the first fifty flights of the morning,” Graeme said. “But they learn to get over it.”
So far, so good, Quinn thought. He not only needed a trainer who knew his stuff, but he also wanted someone who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. “How much do you think I weigh?” Quinn asked.
Graeme looked Quinn over. “How close do I need to be?”
“Within two,” Quinn said.
“Within two? That’s easy, mate,” Graeme said. “You weigh too damn much.”
“I’d appreciate it if you took this seriously,” Quinn said.
“I just did,” Graeme said. “But, you want a number, do you? How tall are you, five-eleven?”
“I’m six-one,” Quinn said.
“Sorry, mate—you used to be six-one. But there’s this thing called gravity, so now you’re five-eleven. And, for the record, I didn’t take a twelve thousand-kilometer bird-fly for a job I’m not serious about. Now, to answer your question, right now you’re a bit north of four hundred pounds. I’d say 406.”
Quinn nodded. He’d weighed himself an hour earlier. He was 407. “Go on.”
“Your fat percentage is forty-three, maybe forty-four,” Graeme continued. “BMI is over forty. Blood sugar is nine, maybe ten. Blood pressure—with meds—145 over a hundred. Without meds, you’d be dead already. Cholesterol is tricky because of genetics. Tell me about your parents.”
“My mother was a drunk, and my father was a prick,” Quinn said.
“Let me rephrase,” Graeme said. “Any history of health issues in the immediate family? Mother, father, sister, brother? Anyone die early?”
Quinn went silent for a moment before responding. “No.”
“Do you smoke?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“Never.”
“Drugs?”
“Does caffeine count?”
“No.”
“Then no.” Quinn decided not to mention the year and a half he was hooked on cocaine.
“Do you drink?” Graeme asked.
“A lot.”
“Before noon?”
“No.”
“Hard liquor?”
“I drink like Billy Joel,” Quinn said. “Bottle of red, bottle of white—”
“All depends upon your appetite?” Graeme asked.
“You like music?” Quinn asked.
“I like people who don’t screw with me,” Graeme said. “How about you tell me what it is you want, and I’ll tell you if I can deliver.”
Quinn nodded. “I’m an obsessive-compulsive who jumps from one addiction to another and sometimes back again. In the last thirty years, I’ve been addicted to cocaine, caffeine, alcohol, gambling, video games, overeating, overspending, wheat, television, Diet Coke, gummy bears, you name it. Sometimes I have multiple addictions. The only addictions I haven’t had are Internet porn and Star Trek—but if I live long enough, who knows? Right now I’m thinking about trading in my food addiction for an addiction to physical fitness.”
“That easily?” Graeme asked. “I mean, can you just exchange one for the other like flipping a switch?”
“No,” Quinn said. “I’ve been searching for the on-switch for nine years. I finally found it. What I need is someone like you by my side so I don’t kill myself in the process.”
“Are you under the care of a doctor?” Graeme asked.
“Physician or psychiatrist?”
“Either.”
“Yes,” Quinn said.
“Which?”
“Both.”
“So, do you want to tell me what happened?” Graeme said.
“To me? Nothing happened to me,” Quinn said.
“Seriously, Quinn,” Graeme said. “No one is as screwed up as you seem to be without there being some inciting incident. So what was it? Child abuse? Abandonment?”
“It’s personal,” Quinn said.
“Okay, I get it,” Graeme said. “Trust is earned. You can tell me about it when you’re ready.”
“Does that mean you’ll take the job?” Quinn said.
“Well, there is that pesky little thing called my fee, mate,” Graeme said. “Like I told you over the phone, I usually charge $15,000 for a six-week package, which includes three sessions per week. But that’s my fee down under. We’ve got an eight thousand-mile distance to consider.”
“I thought about that,” Quinn said. “I want you to live here at the resort full time.”
“For how long?”
“Six months,” Quinn said. “I’m willing to pay you five times your normal fee—$75,000—and a private suite here at Juniper Canyon, plus all meals, unlimited access to all spa facilities, and two round-trip, first-class tickets to and from Sydney every six weeks.”
“Any kind of performance bonus involved?”
“Whose performance would it be based on—yours or mine?” Quinn asked.
“Aren’t they one and the same?” Graeme asked.
Quinn nodded. Graeme was right. “Yes, I’ll pay you an additional $100,000 for helping me lose 180 pounds in the next 180 days.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Graeme said. “Seriously, Quinn—are you trying to kill yourself?”
Quinn smiled but said nothing.
It was the kind of smile that scared Graeme. It was also the kind of smile that made Graeme want to take the job. “I’ll need a signed waiver releasing me from all responsibility if you have a heart attack. Which you very possibly could at that pace.”
“Fine,” Quinn said. “When do we start?”
“Right now,” Graeme said. “Can you touch your toes?”
“I don’t know,” Quinn said. “It’s been a while since I tried.”
“Well, stand up and let’s find out.”
Quinn worked himself off of the sofa and stood up, then he slowly bent forward, stopping when his fingertips were approximately three inches below his knees.
Graeme nodded. “Well, it’s a start, mate.”
Quinn extended his hand, and Graeme shook it. “Thank you, Graeme.”
“So, I’ve got to ask,” Graeme said. “Once we get you back in shape, are you planning to start another fitness chain?”
“You know about that?”
“Of course,” Graeme said. “Who doesn’t know about Body by Quinn?”
“I haven’t owned the chain for years,” Quinn said.
“So I’m told, but I was in the Miami location a year ago,” Graeme said. “They still have your picture on the wall.”
“Huh? How did I look?”
“Dusty,” Graeme said.
CRIMSON COVE, OREGON
SEPTEMBER 26, 2001
George Dietz used his cane to make his way into the living room, where he found his son and daughter, Aaron and Abigale, sitting side by side on the sofa. George had remained hopeful that their plans wouldn’t be a complete loss but could tell by the worried looks on their faces that the news wasn’t going to be good.
“So, did we have any luck?” George asked as he settled himself into his regular chair in the corner. Abigale burst into tears, unable to speak. Aaron shook his head and looked down at the floor.
“This is all my fault,” Abigale said finally. “The Onyx Webb Film Festival was my idea. My God, we could lose the house.”
“Hey, I’m the one who said we should do a national campaign,” Aaron said. “There’s enough blame to go around for everyone.”
George had encouraged his children to be bold and take chances when they’d taken over the day-to-day operations of the theater when his health began to fail. Now that advice had backfired. He most certainly did not tell them to mortgage the house.
But who could have known a group of Islamic terrorists was going to hijack planes and crash them into the twin towers just days after they’d placed non-refundable deposits for full-page ads in the nation’s largest newspapers and magazines?
“The magazines—did you threaten them?” George asked.
Aaron look
ed up. “Threaten them with what, Dad? That we wouldn’t run ads with them in the future? Everyone’s in such a panic. No one knows if there’s even going to be a future.”
The kid had a point.
George wished there was something he could say to make them all feel better. There wasn’t. “Well, the money is gone,” George said. “I say we let the ads run and see if anyone shows up. Who knows, maybe January will roll around and people will be looking for a diversion.”
“Horror, Dad?”
George shrugged. “I don’t know. I remember how people flocked to the theaters during World War II to see The Black Cat with Broderick Crawford and Bella Lugosi and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman. The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney came out then—heck, Horror Island, Invisible Ghost, The Picture of Dorian Gray—they all came out during the war. The House of Frankenstein with Boris Karloff was released in ‘44 and people went to the theater in droves.”
Abigale and Aaron shot each other a glance. “I say we roll the dice,” Abigale said. “What choice do we have?”
“It would be a shame to let such great art go to waste,” Aaron said, holding up the full-page ad scheduled to run in Entertainment Weekly in early November.
Abigale and Aaron remained silent, waiting for their father’s reaction.
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