By Julie C. Gilbert
Even as Marcella’s eyes widened in alarm, Matt triumphantly stabbed the button to place the call on speaker.
Her mother’s excitable voice filled the car. “’Cella! Why you no call? Your papa and I, we wait days to hear from our baby and no calls!”
“Hi, Ma,” Marcella said, trying to rub away a tension headache. She reached for the volume button since conversations with her mother tended toward the loud side. “I meant to call yesterday.”
And the day before. There just wasn’t much to say. And I didn’t—
“What you think more important than family?” The question held the warning signs of a high-strung Italian mama about to launch into a well-loved lecture.
Suppressing a sigh, Marcella weighed the options of protesting her innocence and settling in for the scolding. Whenever her mother’s accent thickened this much, she knew she was in for it.
“You have boyfriend? That only good reason a girl have to forget to call her mama.”
Matt’s face twisted as he tried to keep from laughing aloud.
“What? No!” Marcella sat up straighter, shocked into better posture. “Ma, I don’t want a boyfriend. I have a job, a very busy one. I don’t—”
“Tut. You must make time for such things, ’Cella! You late twenties, mi amore. Make time for a nice boy to sweep you off your feet and …”
Where is that blasted warrant?
“Mattie!”
The laugh lines disappeared from Matt’s face, and Marcella was pleased to note he too straightened in his seat.
“Yes, Mrs. Scatalina?”
“You must help my ’Cella. She needs a man! Hawaii beautiful place. Is not right her being alone there!”
“Oh, I don’t think Marcella needs any help from me, ma’am. It’s all I can do to keep the wrong sorts at bay around here.”
“Thanks for calling, Ma, but we’re working. I’ve got to go. Love you. Kiss Papa Gio for me.” Before her mother could respond, Marcella ended the call.
As blessed silence fell, Rogers blinked at her. “Did the warrant come through?”
“Not yet.” Marcella’s eyes dared him to question how she handled the conversation. “But it’ll be here any second. I can feel it.”
“Did you just lie to your ma?”
“Not exactly. We are working.”
“Marcella—what’s your middle name?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
Matt shrugged. “I’ll look it up later.”
“If you’ve got enough time to poke around in my file, you clearly have more time than I do, so you should write up both reports for this takedown.”
“Nice try. I—”
The tablet in Marcella’s hands pinged and flashed with the warrant and confirmation from their boss that they could make an arrest. Marcella let a war whoop fly and reached for the door handle.
About Money Makes it Deadlier
Money can buy many things, but can it purchase a permanent solution to divorce?
Martin Cantrell would like to know the answer to that question. He has money, respect, and power, but he also has a monthly alimony payment that’s making him miserable. When a friend offers to deal with the “ex” problem for a fee, he can hardly say no. Time is of the essence. The life insurance policy on his ex-wife expires in less than two months.
Unaware of the plans set in motion, Special Agent Marcella Scott goes about her business as usual, only now, she finally has an excuse to dress up on the job. She’s been asked to go undercover to check out some banks. One of the branches just happens to be managed by Martin Cantrell’s ex-wife.
What’s an agent to do when a perfectly peaceful morning turns into a hostage-taking standoff?
The Lei Crime Kindle World
Kindle Worlds is an Amazon initiative that allows authors to publish stories set in another author’s fictional universe. The Lei Crime series is the best-selling creation of Maui-based Toby Neal. So far, Toby has published nine novels about the Hawaiian police detective Leilani Texeira, plus companion novels featuring other characters from the books.
Julie C. Gilbert was part of the launch of the series with her first Defining Moments book, Never Again.
About Julie C. Gilbert
Julie is a high school chemistry teacher who spends all summer writing. Her stories tend to fall in YA, YA sci-fi, sci-fi, or Christian mystery genres though on a challenge from a friend, she’s also attempted YA paranormal.
She has had the recent privilege of working with some extremely talented people: Timothy Sparvero (artist – book covers), Kristin Condon (actress – narrator for audiobooks), and Matthew Tanner (music composer for audiobooks).
She enjoys warm (not hot) weather, tea, coffee, reading, writing, teaching, and listening to books on CD.
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And follow her on Twitter @authorgilbert.