Liz’s Lair: Who Wants to Party??

MORTAL DECEPTION is finally here. And guess what? I'm offering it at a special promotional sale price of $.99 until January 1.

Okay, it’s not up yet, but it will be by tonight. Since Monday is my day to blog, I decided to start the celebration a little early. Find out how you can win a download and something special at the end of the post. I’m so darn excited about this one since it is a story I loved writing. One reviewer has already read it and loved it, and I have five more waiting for me to send it. To all you cozy lovers out there, remember that MD is not a cozy and does contain sex and language. You'll have to check with Amazon under Liz Roth since it may take a day or two to get my webmistress to put the BUY buttons on my website right away. Here’s an excerpt to tickle your curiosity.

Before the night ends, I’m going to have sex with a total stranger.

Oh, God.

Taking a deep breath Dani Perez walked toward the hotel bar, her red stilettos clattering like a Riverdance audition on the black marble floor.

What the hell are you looking at? she wanted to scream when the desk clerk glanced up with a knowing smile. But she knew exactly why he was looking. The stupid dress damn-near showed the cheeks of her ass.

Dani smiled, thinking when she got home, she’d have to make a big deposit in Abby’s pickle jar decorated with commodes. Her daughter called her creation the “potty-mouth jar”. Since Christmas, Dani had to pay up every time she cursed. She and Abby were saving for their dream vacation, and at the rate she was going, Hawaii wasn’t an unrealistic destination. Hell, the F word alone was worth a whopping twenty bucks.

Dani wasn’t proud of the way she talked, but old habits die hard. Five years on the Cimarron Police Force riding with Jerry Spigoretti had added a variety of colorful words to her vocabulary. She’d thought when she left the job last year, she’d clean up her language, but working with Harry Fielding, another hard-nosed, ex-cop-turned-PI, hadn’t helped. On a good day, she was able to keep it under control.
Today wasn’t a good day.

She stopped in front of the door, a sudden rush of apprehension overwhelming her as she struggled to keep a falling ringlet of hair out of her eyes. Silently, she cursed her twin. Her usual ponytail would have been so much easier, but Nikki had insisted on pulling her unmanageable hair up and curling it around her face--said it was sexy. How freakin’ sexy would it be if she landed on her barely-covered tush because she couldn’t see?

The huge purse they’d picked out felt like it was full of rocks, but she needed one this size to hold the equipment she would use. She jerked it higher on her shoulder, glancing back to see if the clerk was still watching.
He was. She fought the urge to flip him off.

Breathe, chica. A lot is riding on tonight.

The minute she opened the door, her eyes widened, a reaction to the darkened room, lit only by the neon signs behind the bar and the candles on the ten or so tables strategically placed around the room. Even in this light, she could see the entire bar area, praying he’d be there, petrified he was. She’d counted on him being a creature of habit and doing the exact same thing he’d done every Thursday for the five weeks she’d tailed him.

Dr. Nathan Randall didn’t disappoint her. He was alone as usual, at the far end of the bar, mindlessly twirling a glass on the counter. The lump in her throat threatened to cut off her breathing while she watched him put down the drink and rub his forehead, probably unaware he did that often. She didn’t have to see his searing blue eyes to know they were squinted in deep thought, an image she’d captured on film many times.

She hated what she had to do to him.

Eyes finally adjusted to the dark, Dani chose a table far enough to be out of sight from where he sat but close enough for observation. She attempted to sit down gracefully without compromising her dignity in the skin tight dress, but it was a losing battle. She reached behind and tugged at the hem of the red jersey number as it rode up her thighs.

Oh, hell!

She was sure she had given everyone a peek all the way up her legs to the thong panties she was dying to pull out of her butt. She didn’t get the whole thong panties thing. Number one, they’d cost eight dollars on sale. Who pays eight dollars for panties that barely had enough material to qualify as a G-string?

And damn! Who wants to walk around with a constant wedgie?

She plopped the heavy purse on the floor and glanced up to see if anyone had seen her flash. Her eyes connected with a middle-aged man sitting at the corner of the bar, facing her. He lifted his glass and smiled.

Christ!

She lowered her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was call any more attention to herself before she was ready. And she needed a whole lot of courage to be ready.
Liquid courage.

Dani waited until the waitress approached before she looked up again, afraid the guy in the suit might consider any further eye contact an invitation. She’d prided herself on reading people, had actually avoided danger on the job because of that particular skill. Her radar said this guy definitely had the married-but-trolling-for-stray-action look all over his Midwestern face.

“What can I get you?” The flat tone in the waitress’s voice conveyed her disapproval.

Dani didn’t blame her. Hell, she’d disapprove of herself, too, in this outfit that screamed I come with a price.

“What’s the latest drinking rage these days?” she asked, knowing the Corona she craved wouldn’t go with her on-the-prowl persona.

Marcia, according to the nametag on her blouse, looked surprised by the question. “Depends on what you like.”

What does someone whose ass is hanging out of a dress usually drink?

“I’d like to try something different. Can you suggest anything?”

Marcia shrugged. “Cosmopolitans are popular, and apple martini’s a favorite with a lot of the single women who come in here.”

“Then an apple martini it is.” Dani smiled as the waitress pursed her lips in a condescending manner before she hurried back to the bar.

She relaxed her shoulders slightly and leaned back into the chair. For a Thursday night, it wasn’t too busy, thank heavens. She didn’t know what she’d do if the place was rocking, or if, God forbid, someone recognized her.

Who would? Most people avoided downtown Dallas like the plague. Even though Cimarron was only twenty miles away, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d come to town before this. But she wasn’t reassured. Even in a city this big, stranger things were known to happen.

Marcia arrived with the drink and set it on the table. “That’ll be five fifty.”

Dani handed her a ten. “Keep the change.”

For the first time, the waitress smiled. Guess she thought a tip that big warranted an attitude adjustment.

The minute the cool liquid hit her throat, Dani raised her hand to her mouth to suppress the cough. Holy Crap. She forced down another sip and waited as it scorched a trail of fire from her esophagus to her stomach, the warmth rushing through her gut.

As the tingling sensation raced through her veins, she lifted the glass to her lips and downed the remainder of the drink. Within seconds, she felt her fears slipping away as she savored the hurts-so-good burn all the way down.

She could do this. Hell, she could do anything for one night. She had to. Casey’s life depended on it. Just the thought of Nikki’s son had Dani fighting to keep her emotions in check.

When she’d dropped Abby off at her sister’s earlier, she’d noticed how pale Casey had become. Watching her nephew and her daughter kick a soccer ball around in the back yard, she’d been reminded of the rapid progression of the anemia.

Fanconi Anemia, a killer whose genes she carried in her own DNA, was sucking the life out of Nikki’s only child. It had become more and more difficult to see him struggle with everyday activities, stopping to catch his breath every few minutes.

Time was running out for Casey, and she’d vowed to do whatever necessary to save him. If that meant sitting in this bar dressed like a slut, so be it.


ME AGAIN: So, here’s where it gets good. I’m going to give away free downloads of MD to three lucky commenters today. See if you can guess why she’s in the bar. I’ve told some of you the plot, so please don’t let the cat out of the bag. You can still comment and say hey and be entered in the random drawings for the contest.

But wait, there’s another freebie. The first person who downloads MD and then posts a comment with the first sentence of Chapter Eleven will win an ARC of BEEF STOLEN-OFF when I get them in the spring. So, have at it!!