Love Bytes is happy to say welcome to author K.Sterling who is joining us today to not share one but TWO exclusive excerpts with us!

Welcome K. 🙂

I’m sharing TWO excerpts for Love Bytes readers because I’m excited to introduce a special character today! Dr. Jake Tyler first appears in Throttled and we see him jump right into danger in Snatched. I also wanted to share the first excerpt from Throttled because it’s from a chapter that was very important to me and gut wrenching to write. I knew how much Wal’s heart would break over Medford and it broke my heart too because they’re all real to me, even the most minor of characters. They all whisper in my ear and hold my hand.

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            Here’s an exclusive peek at Throttled:

 

“He’s in the kitchen, Wal,” the tech said as he pointed the camera’s lens. Wal gave him a nod then glanced at the shelves in the living room as he passed through. He’d never been in Medford’s house but he’d stopped and sat with him on the stoop on several occasions. He was a little surprised to find all the medals, awards and photos of Medford. Wal knew he’d served in Vietnam but Medford never discussed it. Wal wanted everything to stop so he could study the pictures of Medford when he was a young soldier and ask him about the things he saw and lost in the war but he had to keep moving. His feet were as heavy as lead and his chest felt hollow when he stepped into the kitchen. The body on the stretcher didn’t look like Medford and Wal’s eyes swept past it and went to Jake Tyler’s before they returned to the corpse.

“This is a rough one,” the coroner said and Wal locked his jaw as his eyes and nose stung. Medford would often come by the shop when Jake brought his Bel Air in for an oil change and they’d talk about just about everything as they drank beer and puttered with the car.

“Where did they find him,” Wal asked as he went to Medford. He braced himself as he stood over him but Wal’s hand jerked and he recoiled at the cold rubberiness of Medford’s cheek. He could never get used to it or get past it, the unnatural stiffness and stillness of dead bodies made him anxious and queasy but Wal felt desperate as he cradled Medford’s jaw. He silently begged the color to come back to his face and to see his warm brown eyes twinkle and glow with laughter. He wanted to hear Medford’s deep, soothing voice and one of his terrible jokes.

“The neighbor found him in the freezer. She had a key and Jones let her use the chest freezer when she ran out of room. She called Jones’ daughter and asked if she could retrieve her things and called it in after she found him. The neighbor works in Dispatch,” Jake said then cleared his throat as his voice broke. “We went ahead and took him out, I didn’t want you to see him like that,” he added quietly and Wal pressed his sleeve to his lips. They were trembling and his nose was running.

“How did he die?”

“We won’t know for sure until we can get a closer look at the wounds but he was found with one of his canes and there was a lot of blood. I’d say blunt force trauma to the back of the head,” Jake stated and Wal’s eyes went to Medford’s hands. His dark brown skin had become grey, and vivid purple and green bruises wrapped around his hands and wrists.

“Defensive wounds,” Wal noted and Jake sighed.

“He fought with his attacker,” he agreed and Wal’s lips pursed and he pushed out a long breath as he turned to the door to the back patio then quickly strode out. Medford was seventy-six years old, couldn’t stand for more than a few minutes without a cane and weighed about as much as a wet cat. The violence and strength of Medford’s attack was brutally shocking and infuriating but so crushingly senseless that it broke Wal, for a moment. He pinched the bridge of his nose and cried as he saw Medford fighting with his attacker and throwing his hands up to block the cane’s blows. Wal sniffed hard as he pushed his fingers through his hair and his nostrils were flooded with the smell of bleach and he turned. The chest freezer was opened and unplugged so it could be defrosted and taken back to the lab but Wal’s eyes went to the bottle of bleach and the roll of paper towels. He assumed they were left on top of it after the killer wiped the outside of it down to remove traces of blood. Wal stepped closer and leaned so he could see inside and it was littered with blood and bleach soaked paper towels. He spun and scanned the patio for other signs of a struggle. Medford loved classic cars but couldn’t afford one of his own so Marco gave him old engines and parts to tinker with and restore in the little workshop he’d set up for himself on his back patio. Shelves that should have been neatly arranged were in disarray and his gaze caught on a broken wooden stool in the corner. He saw it fly across the room to its proper spot at the work table before it was swung like an axe and crushed the back of Medford’s skull. That was the murder weapon. Medford was holding on to the cane when he was attacked and the killer tossed it into the freezer with him when he was finished. At first glance, they were easy to miss, but the hastily wiped smears of blood lit up like Christmas lights, wherever Wal looked. He followed them around the patio to the screen door and his brow lifted at the large bloody footprint on the step. It was facing the patio, not leaving it, suggesting the wearer stepped into blood before entering. Wal’s head angled as he looked for any other bloody prints around the narrow wedge of pavement and lawn but the rest of the backyard was undisturbed. He squatted and inspected the footprint. It was marked by the techs but Wal already knew it would match the size and style of Donnie’s missing Nikes. He mentally overlapped the tread patterns and snorted. It was so random and clumsy. Wal talked to Medford the day they discovered Donnie’s body. Donnie couldn’t have been at Medford’s so the killer was ham-handedly suggesting he was someone likely to kill Donnie and steal his shoes. One of Wavy’s boys. Except Wavy’s boys wouldn’t walk through puddles of blood in $300 Nikes. And as far as Wal knew, none of Wavy’s boys were in the habit of going down stairs backwards or had backwards feet.

“This is arrogant and stupid and a waste of time,” Wal whispered to himself then stood and turned back to the house. “It’s the stool,” he announced and pointed at it as he walked back into the kitchen. “Jones used the cane to defend himself but you won’t get anything but his prints off of it. Bag the stool and run it but it’s been wiped down with bleach. Compare the footprint with Wexler’s missing Nikes and bag the trash in the freezer before it absorbs whatever’s defrosting. I don’t think Jones injured his attacker but there might be other blood samples on the paper towels,” Wal said. Jake nodded then whistled and two techs hurried into the kitchen. He relayed Wal’s suggestions then threw him a hard look.

“Why do I feel like I’m being pranked or working with a bunch of children all of a sudden?” He hissed at Wal as he stepped closer. The tension stretched as they weighed each other’s concern and silently agreed they had good reason not to say what they were thinking out loud.

“Welcome to the funhouse,” Wal said and saw a spark of fury in Jake’s eyes. Wal held up a hand and shook his head faintly. “Do me a favor and be one of the few people I can count on to do exactly what you always do and don’t throw any surprises my way,” he replied just loud enough for Jake to hear. Don’t do anything to let anyone know you suspect something, Wal’s eyes warned him. Jake nodded slightly then looked at Medford.

“I’ll make sure he’s taken care of and keep a close eye on him,” he promised and Wal thanked him as he gave his arm a squeeze.

 

 

 

Snatched will be available soon and picks up right where Throttled left off. Here’s an unedited excerpt and the start of Snatched:

 

“Help me lift him into the bag and then you can go ahead and get the stretcher,” Jake said and Brian nodded as he got the victim’s legs and they carefully lifted the body into the bag. Brian waited for Jake to give him a nod then hopped to his feet and ran outside to the van. Jake quickly zipped the bag then stood and checked the area beneath the body but there was nothing but the puddle that formed around the victim’s head. He chewed on his lip as he scanned for anything he might have missed then peeled off his gloves.

“I think we’re just about it. There’s two units in front of the warehouse but they’re just waiting for us to let them know we’re done so they can go,” Brian said as he pushed the stretcher through the open bay door and Jake hummed absently as he slowly turned. The whole scene felt weird and the hair was standing on the back of his neck. The mood had been generally tense and weird in the aftermath of a major corruption scandal in the police department and the takedown of a powerful gang leader named Wavy T but this felt unusually weird and ominous. Jake missed the old days, when just the basic tragedy and gruesomeness of the crime scene made him uneasy. There were undercurrents and shadows everywhere and a body was rarely “just a body” these days. With Wavy T gone, along with most of his chain of command, a vacuum was created. Rival gangs and the Irish and Italian mafias were all circling and jostling for control of the vacated territory. The police department was doing everything in its power to protect the neighborhood and businesses and so far, it was working. But bodies were piling up as dealers, pimps and gangsters went to war in alleys and backstreets. Jake could tell from the combination of shamrocks and Aryan themed tattoos that the victim was from one of the Irish families and a hard timer. Jake winced as he considered the possible implications. Things were especially tense with the Irish at the moment.

“I need to get him identified and talk to Wal as soon I can. He’ll want to get on top of this,” Jake said and Brian nodded in agreement as he looked behind him and guided them toward the van.

“Poor Wal,” he said. “He’s barely had a day off since he got back,” Brian said and Jake shook his head.

“Kind of hard to go house hunting if you can’t get out of the office,” he muttered then waited as Brian got the van doors. “We’ll do what we can to make his life easier,” Jake said as they eased the stretcher in and Brian snorted.

“Wal just needs to pick a day, turn off his phone and call time-out,” he stated and Jake nodded.

“Yup. There’s never going to be a good time,” he said as Brian tossed the keys at him. He caught them then turned.

“As a matter of fact…” A low, hard, raspy voice growled as a gun was pointed at Jake’s nose. Jake put his hands up but his nose wrinkled as he tamped down the urge to push the gun out of his face or knee the asshole in the balls.

“Is there something I can do for you?” Jake asked as he glared through the other man’s sunglasses. He had a hard, angular face and his square jaw was dusted with stubble beneath a heavy grey hoodie. A menacing grin spread across the other man’s lips and Jake’s eyes dropped to the fist around the gun. It was covered in tattoos and it remained steady as he chuckled softly.

“Since you asked…” He said as he stepped around Jake and his hand swung toward Brian.

“Whoa! Let’s keep it over here,” Jake urged but the man ignored him and grabbed Brian’s sleeve as he pushed the muzzle against his temple.

“I’m the one giving orders,” he said and Brian’s eyes were wild with fear and panic as they pleaded with Jake.

“What do you want?” Jake asked as he wondered where the other units were. It would be the perfect time for someone to check on them, he noted.

“I want you to get into the driver’s seat and wait for me,” the man said. Jake started to shake his head but the other man tapped a finger against his lips. “Do what I tell you to and he’ll be fine. And you’ll be just fine, if you listen and do what I say,” he promised and Brian nodded slightly in agreement.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just let him go,” Jake said and there was another smirk.

“We haven’t known each other for very long but somehow, I have a feeling you won’t,” the man predicted and Jake shrugged.

“You can take that out on me, then. He’s a kid and he’s just doing his job,” he said.

“I don’t want to hurt either of you and I’m in a bit of a hurry. You’re going to get in the fucking van and wait. If you take off without me, I execute him. If he even thinks about moving and alerting anyone, I execute you. The two of you cooperate, we all go our separate ways and live happily ever after,” the other man said and Jake didn’t have a reason to believe him but he did.

“Let’s see how far we get,” Jake offered and the other man’s head tilted slightly.

“Maybe I should take the kid. I have a feeling he’ll be less trouble,” he mused and Jake’s lips pulled tight.

“You could but you’d have to kill me first. You’re not getting away from here with my assistant,” he vowed and there was a twitch in the other man’s jaw.

“Leave your phone on the ground and get in the fucking van,” he said and Jake gave Brian a reassuring look before he pulled out his phone then carefully dropped it. He backed around the side then jogged to the driver’s door. There was a slight tremor in his hands but he was focused on getting them away from Brian as fast as possible. Brian had a young, pregnant wife at home and Jake didn’t want to live or die with that on his conscience. “Get down on your stomach and put your hands behind your head. Just don’t think about moving and everything will be fine,” the other man told Brian and Jake’s hands were slick around the steering wheel as he watched them in the mirror. The other man skipped sideways then threw the passenger door open and jumped into the van. Jake noticed a slight jerk and a wince as the man hit the seat before he offered Jake a tight nod. “Let’s go,” he said as he pulled the door shut and Jake gave him a hard look as he put the van in drive.

“Where are we going?” He asked and he was shushed again.

“You’re going to keep heading west and I’ll tell you when to turn,” the man said as he rested his elbow on the center console casually and kept the gun pointed at Jake’s head. “Don’t take any sudden turns or hit any large potholes,” he warned and Jake pulled a face.

“There’s Uber, if you just needed a ride,” he stated dryly and there was a soft snort.

“You’re a funny guy and I appreciate that. I’d like it if I didn’t have to kill you this afternoon. Take the next left,” he ordered Jake then quietly and calmly directed him to an alley behind an abandoned mortuary, just a few miles from the warehouse.

“You’re in a hurry,” Jake noted as he parked the van and the man’s thin, hard lips pulled into a tight smile.

“I’d like to see my friend put to rest,”

K. Sterling is just a very tired and anxious woman with a MacBook who writes to save her sanity. Writing also allows her to stay home and care for her dogs, Milo and the awful Otis, and one very abusive cat, Luna. K. has two teenage daughters who are the most teenage daughters to ever teenage and responsible for all of K.’s premature grey hairs. She also homeschools her teenage son, Alex. Alex has severe autism and is the inspiration behind K.’s most beloved character, Dr. Aiden Sharp. Before all this magical romance nonsense happened, K. served in the U.S. Army as a counterintelligence agent then went on to teach CI Investigations before changing careers and becoming a stay-at-home mom with Alex and the gang. K. has been married for many, many years to Mr. Sterling and he is currently leaving his very long career in counterintelligence to narrate his wife’s audiobooks. And other things.

If you’d like sneak peeks at future releases, including excerpts, inspiration pics and cover reveals, follow Author K. Sterling on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003675825937 and keep an eye on my blog: bawdybookwriter.worpress.com.

And I’m messy and always on Twitter: @_KSterling_.

If you’d like to hear me and Mr. Sterling act like nerds, listen to our Pervy Corner podcast!: https://soundcloud.com/user-321457733. I publish a book almost every month.

You can find them all here, on my Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/K.-Sterling/e/B00WRMUKF4/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1.

Please check it out and check back often so you never miss one of our adventures!

K. brought a wonderful giveaway for our readers!

have a chance to win a ecopy of Throttled and Snatched send to you through Amazon!
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