Today we have a sneak peek of author R. E. Donald’s second book in the Hunter Rayne highway mystery series, Ice on the Grapevine:
Ice on the Grapevine is a traditional mystery featuring Hunter Rayne, a retired homicide detective turned long haul truck driver. The story opens on a July morning with the discovery of a frozen corpse at a brake check just south of the Grapevine Pass in L.A. County. Hunter is persuaded by his irascible dispatcher, Elspeth Watson, to help clear two fellow truck drivers who are arrested for the murder. His job is made more difficult by the fact that the suspects, a newlywed couple, won’t speak up in their own defense.
The circumstantial evidence is strong, and a rookie detective from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is eager to score a win. The investigation crosses the Canada-U.S. border when the victim is identified as a second rate musician from Vancouver, and it turns out there were more than a few desperate people happy to see him dead, including the accused couple. Hunter has to use all his investigative skills to uncover the truth.
Ice on the Grapevine is available at Amazon.com, Smashwords, and at ibooks and Kobobooks.
And now, from Ice on the Grapevine:
When she saw the first police car pass her, she felt a shiver of fear, but it disappeared when he settled into the stream of rush hour traffic one lane over just ahead of her. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life freaking out every time she saw a cop car, for Pete’s sake. It had been there for ten minutes or so when she saw the second one come up beside her, staying level with the cab of the truck. She caught the cop in the passenger seat looking up at her with that unreadable expression cops have, and her stomach lurched. She wondered if she should wake Ray.
Get a grip on yourself, girl. She managed a tight little smile, then decided to try an experiment, taking her foot off the gas and letting the gap between her and the car in front widen. The cop car beside her nosed ahead at first, then slowed to keep pace. Sharon felt a wave of heat rise up her face and it occurred to her that she might faint. She took a deep breath. This can’t be happening, she told herself. Just then the flashers on both police cars went on, and the cop beside her, looking right at her, pointed at the exit up ahead. Sharon suddenly turned cold and just as suddenly hot again. Could she just pretend she didn’t see them? She fought the urge to put the pedal to the floor.
Sharon eased the truck down the exit ramp, and pulled over on the shoulder just behind the first police car. Ray’s hands had started moving, adjusting Peaches on his lap, so she knew he was awake. She tried to speak but her mouth and throat were so dry, she had to suck on her tongue and swallow before any sound came out. “Police,” she said. “They’ve been following us a long time, Ray.” She could see her own worried face reflected in his sunglasses, tried a smile, but it wouldn’t take. “It’s not a normal traffic stop, is it, Ray?”
“Don’t say a word,” he said in a low voice. “You hear me? Not one word to any of them, ever. Nothing!” She’d never heard him talk that way before, with such force and anger.
“But, Ray. I don’t know …”
“No, Sharon. When I say not one word, I mean it. You don’t know how these guys can twist things around on you”
“I can tell them I don’t know anything, Ray.” She couldn’t keep her voice from shaking. She looked down at her hands and they were shaking, too.
“Promise me, Sharon,” said Ray, grabbing her hands and pressing them together, holding them still. “Promise me that you won’t say a word.”
And then a man’s voice yelled, “Get out of the truck! Keep your hands where I can see them, and get out of the truck!” Sharon looked around her. There were six of them, now. Six cops standing at intervals around the cab, and every single one of them pointed straight at her and Ray, with a gun.[subscribe2]
Sounds like a great mystery. I enjoyed the excerpt.
I don't think I like Ray much. 🙂
Thanks for the comments. You'll like Ray better once you get to know him!