This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Reeves
for an upcoming interview on his radio show “Dr. Paul’s Family Talk”. Primarily we were discussing the release of
the second Jefferson Chene mystery “Your Turn to Die”.
During the conversation, Paul asked if there’s another story
in the works. I explained that my next project will be a third Chene book,
possibly involving some characters with a history in organized crime. That’s when he asked about Jamie Richmond, my
stubborn redhead who stars in three novels of her own.
“Are you done writing about Jamie?” he asked.
“Not at all. She is a great character. And she’s not one to
sit on the sidelines for long. Last summer there was a short story with her titled
‘Stealing Haven’ which appeared in a collection called ‘Once Upon a Summer.’ Jamie also plays a supporting role in the
new Chene book as well.”
“So there is a chance for another story?” he asked
“Sure. But there’s only so much room at the bar. And Chene has broader shoulders! Jamie may appear in his third novel too.”
We moved on to other topics.
But it got me thinking afterwards about these two primary characters. After finishing the first
draft for “Your Turn to Die” I started writing Jamie’s short story. When that was done, my attention returned to
Chene. So maybe they are taking turns. We’ll
have to wait and see who commands more of my attention. Chene is subtle. Jamie can be more insistent, pestering me
with a tug on the earlobe or an elbow to the ribs.
Time will tell.
Here’s an excerpt from “Your Turn to Die” where Chene and
Jamie are interacting. Several years ago, Jamie had interviewed Kyle
Morrissey, whose murder Chene and his team are investigating.
Early Thursday morning I decided to recruit some help. Someone who was
comfortable with research, who was used to digging deeper, who had a fresh set
of eyes and a different perspective. So I made the call.
“Malone.” His voice was thick with sleep.
“It’s Chene. I’ve got a few more questions for Jamie. Is she around?”
There was a deep chuckle. “Yes, but she’s not coherent. You have any idea
how early it is?”
“Sun’s been up for a couple of hours.”
“She’ll call you.” The phone went silent.
I remembered now that Malone worked afternoons, finishing his shift
around midnight. No wonder I woke him up.
It was an hour before Jamie called back.
“Sorry, Chene, but I’m adjusted to Malone’s schedule. Neither one of us
is functioning before nine. And even then it requires massive doses of
caffeine.”
“No problem. I wanted to thank you again for your notes on Morrissey.”
“I hope they were helpful.”
“Indeed. But that leads me to a question. Do you know how he put together
the money to buy the Shores Madrid?”
Dead silence followed for so long I thought the connection broke. I was
about to check and see if there was still a signal when Jamie cursed.
“I don’t know. But that’s something I should have looked into when
researching him. Damn it! How did I miss it?”
“You’re not the only one. Everything I can find seems to look like he
just appeared on the scene at a city council meeting, with a proposal to buy
the property for the amount of taxes due. Somewhere along the way, the theater
had been foreclosed and the city ended up with it. They must have carried the
previous owner’s debt in the hopes that they’d be able to bring it back.”
“But that doesn’t explain where he got the money.” There was a flicker of
excitement in her voice. “I never saw anything about investors, silent or
otherwise. There was nothing on the corporate records at the time beyond his
wife and a couple of key people in management. I looked!”
“So you have any ideas about the money?”
“None.” She paused, as if weighing the options. “But I can look into it.
I still have a lot of contacts. I’ll pull court records, public information,
talk to a few friends and see what I can learn. This is important, isn’t it?”
“It could be.” I hesitated, weighing my options. “I can’t ask you to do
this, Jamie. I’ll put one of the detectives on it.”
There was another pause, followed by a loud, raucous laugh. “Bullshit,
Chene. You called me hoping I’d jump in.”
“No, I called you to ask about the money, not to draw you into part of an
active police investigation.” I managed to sound sincere.
“You’re full of shit, Chene. And I’ll let you know when I have some
answers.” Jamie was still laughing as she ended the call.
A tip of the hat this week to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan with this rock and roll tune.
No comments:
Post a Comment