DISCONNECT (The Bening Files Book 2)
Page 44
To my daughter, you are so much fun. You are full of life and someday you will take whatever dreams you desire and make them yours. But, for now, enjoy sippy cups and snack time without repercussions. And naps. Enjoy naps without the thought of being old.
To my Beta Reader group, Christina, Kim, Kristy and Lori. You ladies are amazing. It can’t be easy reading in raw form, but you took one for the team and made it possible for future readers to understand this novel. Thank you.
To Christian Indie Authors, your wisdom astounds me. I would still be writing in my spare time (read: once or twice a month) and have nothing to show for it. Not that I wouldn’t still write, for fun. But your knowledge and encouragement made this journey seem less tedious and more like the adventure it should be.
A multitude of people helped me with some of the trickier aspects of this novel. Your expertise in law enforcement, social services, judicial codes and Harley Davidson was immensely helpful. Without you, Wiki Answers and I would have had a few go-arounds. I probably would have lost.
Thank you all. From the bottom of my heart.
AFTERMATH
When a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) agent turns up beaten and left for dead, Detective Amanda Nettles is called to the scene. Reinstated after a thorough Internal Affairs investigation, Amanda knows toeing the line is more important than ever before.
SBI Agent Parker Williams—a man who saved her life a year-and a-half earlier fights for his own, after a vicious attack. The young girl who saved him, is none other than Baker Jackson Robinson’s niece.
Eating poison sounds better than contacting the handsome SAC. The memory of an unfinished wedding is a painful reminder that almost doesn’t count. Family hurdles can’t be overcome. Forgiveness doesn’t come to all. And love is an agonizing reminder of loss.
Forced to build a task force together, Amanda and Robinson put their differences aside, in order to catch a predator that’s hunting down teenage girls and doing the unspeakable. In the chaos, a purple journal surfaces. A window into the world of a missing girl no one seems interested in finding.
As they delve farther into the tattered pages, the passages are, eerily, like another diary. Another victim. Another woman, whose actions left a wide path of destruction. A mess that Amanda and Robinson will either clean-up together or allow to destroy them.
Will coming face-to-face with unspeakable evil yield the answers they seek or crumble an already shaky foundation?
LINKED
Jordan Bening put his mother’s murder behind him when he left Charlotte North Carolina—and the innocent man in prison for the crime. Almost a decade later, Jordan has college completed, a solid career with the FBI, and a girl he plans to settle down with as if the past never happened. As if the real killer isn’t still lurking. When a postcard bearing the smiling face of his childhood friend finds him, a special message attached, he knows it’s time to deal with his unfinished business.
McKenna Moore doesn't think about the day in April when her best friend’s mother was murdered. She doesn't dwell on Jordan Bening’s disappearance or how her testimony might have changed the trial, in which, her uncle was charged with the murder. Instead, she’s focused on her career with the FBI and vindicating each victim that crosses her desk.
When McKenna runs into Jordan in Las Vegas, on a forced mini-vacation, she puts her questions and guilt to the side long enough to enjoy his presence—a little too much. One too many drinks and a chapel wedding later, she finds herself married to a man she hasn’t seen in ten years. What’s worse, he’s not the boy she remembers, but an attractive man she can’t stop thinking about. He’s also her new co-worker.
With McKenna’s car stolen, mysterious bouquets of flowers arriving, a grave robbed and a murder-suicide to investigate, Jordan suspects nothing about their current position is random. Right down to their hasty nuptials, he knows the details are linked. He just has to prove to McKenna that he’s not that same kid who left home. And he’s not going down without a fight.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel lives in sunny California with her wonderful husband, adorable daughter, two unruly dogs, and a fat cat. She’s worked in the healthcare industry for over fifteen years and has loved the written word far longer. Football is one of her passions (SKOL VIKES!) and she considers August thru February to be a sacred holiday, where football rules all. Spending time with her family, friends, reading and enjoying the outdoors are some her favorite hobbies. In the summer, you can find her by the pool, teaching her daughter to swim and enjoying her husband’s company.
Rachel is currently working on books 3 and 4 of The Bening Files, set for release in late 2015 and early 2016.