CURRENT AFFAIRS:
A TIARA INVESTIGATIONS MYSTERY by Lane Stone is
about three women who find their true selves in mid-life. It
was released in November 2011 by Mainly Murder Press.
The detectives of Tiara Investigations are former Georgia beauty queens, now in their
late-40's. When they're at the scene of a murder and cannot give a
single clue, a police detective with a grudge against them sees a
perfect opportunity to shut them down. To save their agency they'll
have to stay one step ahead of him, and to save themselves one step
ahead of the killer. And then there's the matter of their own
husbands knowing nothing about their enterprise.
Read on for an excerpt from Current Affairs:
“Oh, wait. Here he comes. Smoke ’em if you got ’em, boys. We’re goin’ in.”
I knew it was David Taylor from the photograph his wife had given us, and there was the fact that it was his house.
“Huh? Why isn’t his garage door opening?” Victoria was whispering like we always do when we see the follow-ee.
“He came out a side door, must have been from the kitchen.” Mr. Taylor turned and headed away from the house.
During a chase I like to plan three or four moves ahead and this guy was not helping.
“He’s not going to his garage!” Tara’s voice had just a touch of panic. He walked purposefully down the long,
straight driveway which was flanked on both sides with yellow and purple pansies. At the end he stopped to look
around. His one last glance back at the house was not in the usual cheaters’ furtive manner.
“Where does he think he’s going?”
Victoria kept her eyes focused ahead. “We can’t exactly ask him, so we need a plan.
Just as soon as Leigh thinks of something, we’ll have one. Leigh?”
“What do we do if he walks to wherever he’s going?” I was thinking aloud and as much as
I would like to say I was shuffling through a deck of possibilities, I didn’t have any idea
how to follow a walker from a car in a quiet subdivision at night.
“Should we follow him on foot?” Victoria had her hand on the keys waiting for my answer.
Tara lifted up her left foot and put it on the consol between the front seats. “In these, no way.”
She was wearing navy patent three inch heels.
“Are those new?” Then I got a hold of myself. “We can’t let him see us sitting here.
Let’s pass him and then watch to see where he goes. He can’t be going far.”
“Maybe he’s about to get neighborly with someone.” Tara rotated her ankle admiring her own shoes.
Victoria started the car and pulled away from the curb. We hadn’t driven but just a few yards when
we heard or felt or sensed, a swish and Mr. Taylor dropped to the ground. Victoria slammed on the
brakes and cut the engine. In a matter of seconds the front of his shirt was soaked in blood.