Prize giveaway! The author is giving away 1 e-book copy to 15 randomly drawn winners for this tour, so be sure to go here and enter!
Available at:
Amazon - http://amzn.com/B009QBRL4M
Blurb:
A juvie kid trying to stay on the right path stumbles into
trouble...
Gemma takes her camera everywhere. From juvie hall to a
halfway home, the new hobby gives her a focus she'd never had before and...
hope in a future. Until she takes pictures of something that could get her
killed.
And not just her...after she and another juvie girl are
chased by a stranger to the halfway home that same night, the other girl goes
missing and Gemma knows she needs help. But who can she trust?
Not the authorities that's for sure. Trusting them is
impossible for a girl with her damaged history, and besides, who cares about a
troubled kid...especially when trouble just naturally seems to find her.
Excerpt:
Damn Misty. Forcibly keeping her expression neutral, she
struggled to match it to her voice. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir."
"I'm going to
ask you once and once only. Did you cheat?"
"No, sir."
She didn't need to cheat on exams. School was easy for her.
"Did you help
anyone else cheat on their exams?"
At least she could
answer honestly again. She looked him straight in the eye. "No, sir."
Silence.
"That's not what
I'm hearing from other sources." He studied her intently as if hoping to
read a different truth on her face. "I wouldn't want you involved in
anything that would make me reconsider your placement here."
Shit. Misty was a bitch. The girl would do anything to
avoid getting into trouble herself. Including throwing Gem into the mess to
confuse the issue. Again.
"People will
always talk, sir."
"Yes. They will,
won't they? Well, we will leave it for the moment. As long as you realize, that
if I receive one ounce of proof that you cheated, your permission to stay here
will be rescinded. Got that?"
"Yes, sir."
She dropped her gaze to her feet and the almost-too-short jeans. There were a
lot of good things happening here. She didn't want to leave. She also didn't
dare let him know how much this mattered.
Silence again.
Gemma risked a quick
look at him. He was staring at a thick file open in front of him. Her file. Gemma groaned silently.
"I see you're
still busy with that camera of yours…"
Was that a question?
Gemma didn't know what she was supposed to say. "Yes, sir."
"You know better
than to take pictures of people and situations that you aren't supposed to,
right?" His pale gray eyes lifted from the desk, flicked to the field
outside the window then back, catching hers.
Acid bubbled in her
stomach. Did he know?
"We wouldn't
want you ignoring other people's privacy now, would we? Even if the pictures
don't turn out well, people might think you captured events you weren't
entitled to see. Understand?"
A frisson of fear
slid down her back. He couldn't know,
could he? She didn't even know what she'd seen. She gulped and nodded once.
"I'm very careful."
"Yes. Careful.
That describes you very well. Careful in what you say. Careful in what you do.
Careful in how you act. Always. What goes on behind those big brown eyes of
yours, Gemma? You're always quiet. Deep. You've been here with the others for
several months now and yet, you're still essentially a loner."
And what was she
supposed to say to that? She remained silent.
"A word of
warning, there will be several new girls arriving over the next few weeks, so
expect to go back to sharing your room again." He studied her carefully
for a reaction. "And still you stand there and say nothing." He
closed the file before resting his interlocked fingers on top. He stared up at
her, a frown creasing his forehead. "I'm not a big fan of mixing boys and
girls at your age. Unleashed hormones and troubled kids make for a nasty
mess." He narrowed his gaze and added, "Make sure you don't
contribute to the problem."
"No, sir. Are we done here, sir?"
Gem stared down at her standard-issue running shoe. Like all her clothes. The
home provided everything, slightly less institutionalized than at the center,
but still generic. Soon she'd be allowed to get a job, then she could buy her
own clothes.
He studied her bent
head.
"Never an ounce
of give in you, is there?"
"Sir?" She
eyed him curiously.
"Never
mind." He picked up her file and added it to the stack on the right.
"Yes, we're done."
She took that as a
dismissal. "Thank you, sir." Just before escaping down the hallway,
she popped her head back in and said, "I don't cheat."
He looked up in
surprise. "I know that. You don't bother reading the textbooks either, do
you? But not everyone here has your IQ. Make sure you aren't helping the others
cheat. It won't do either of you any good in the long run."
She nodded. She had
no intention of helping anyone cheat, but that didn't stop them from cheating
off her. Though it would have been easy to point the finger in the right
direction, she wasn't Misty. She wasn't going to turn anyone in to make it
easier for herself.
Life here hadn't
changed the first rule, learned the hard way on the streets and reinforced in
juvie. That rule was to keep your mouth shut – no matter what. Or else.
She bit her bottom
lip as she raced down the hallway. She didn't want to miss dinner. She'd
already outstripped most other girls her age, for height. She could only hope
one day, she'd match them for curves. At least she had them all beat for
brains.
About the Author:
Dale
Mayer is a prolific multi-published writer. She's best known for her Psychic
Visions series. Besides her romantic suspense/thrillers, Dale also writes
paranormal romance and crossover young adult books in several different
genres. To go with her fiction, she also
writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing,
companion gardening and the US
Visit
Dale online at:
Website - http://www.dalemayer.com
Twitter
- http://www.twitter.com/dalemayer
Facebook
- http://www.facebook.com/dalemayer.author
BOOKS BY DALE MAYER
Psychic Vision Series
Tuesday's Child
Hide'n Go Seek
Maddy's Floor
Single Title Romantic Suspense/thrillers
Touched by Death – out now!
Novellas
It's a Dog's Life- romantic comedy
Young Adult Books
In Cassie's Corner
Dangerous Designs – Book I
Deadly Designs – Book 2 – out now!
Vampire in Denial – Book I of Blood Ties
Vampire in Distress – Book 2!
Gem Stone Mystery Series- out now!
Non-Fiction Books
Career Essentials: The Resume
Career Essentials: The Cover Letter
Career Essentials: The Interview
Career
Essentials: 3 in 1
No comments:
Post a Comment