Book Excerpt
Julie Hastings, veterinarian, moonlights as
lead singer in an all-police band called the Copper Pigs. She’s had a string of
personal challenges including a stalker and a close encounter on a hiking trail.
She tried to quit the band in order get her life back together, but the band is
not willing to let her go. In this scene, band leader Elliott Rand convinces
her to stay.
Julie
practically bolted out of the apartment. Her heels clicked against the flooring
like machine gun fire. Elliott followed behind her, his eyes following the
swing of her hips and a lot of copper tassel. He couldn’t keep up. She was
wearing freaking FMPs, and he couldn’t keep up.
“Why
are we running?” Elliott asked.
“I
thought that we were in a hurry,” said Julie, not breaking stride.
“I
don’t want you to break a stiletto. Or punch a hole through the floor. I’ll put
a bubble on the roof. Slow down, Jules.”
She
slowed, then stopped, her shoulders set, her back to him. When he was abreast
of her, she sighed. He bumped her gently with his shoulder. She bumped him
gently in response.
“The Copper Pigs won’t let you quit.”
“They
cannot hog-tie me to a microphone, Elliott.”
“That
was one of the plans. There were a few others.”
“Such
as?”
“Well,
we’ve got this holding pen back at the station.”
“Oh,
good grief. I don’t want to hear anymore.”
Elliott
chuckled. “Julie?”
“Yeah?”
“I
won’t let you quit either.”
“Could
I maybe have a little break, then? A couple of weeks? I’ve had a rough go of it
lately.”
“I
think we can manage a little sabbatical. The guys and I will use the time to
learn a few new songs. Any requests?”
“‘Please
Release Me, Let me Go?’”
“Nah.
We’re not going to learn that one. How about ‘Stay’?”
She
exhaled forcefully. “Okay. You win.”
“Yippee.”
They
played until eleven. The tension that filled the air when Julie first arrived
dissipated quickly, but then, Elliott had boomed, “She’s back on board, men” as
soon as they had entered the room. She made her humble apologies and got bear-hugs
in return.
“Damn
good thing,” said George. “But, you weren’t going to get away.”
“We
were hoping that Elliott would sweet-talk you,” said Ro-Bear. “If that failed,
we were switching to Plan B.”
“Yep,
Plan B,” said George.
“What
was Plan B?” asked Julie.
“Well,
Petey wanted to use the taser on you,” said Ro-Bear, “but he got overruled.”
“Taser!”
exclaimed Julie.
“On
low,” said Petey, “Just a little jolt to bring you back to your senses.”
“It
was overruled. So that brought us to
Plan C,” said George.
“The
holding pen back at the station?” asked Julie.
“Tsk.
Tsk. Tsk. Someone has been divulging state secrets,” said George.
Everyone
looked at Elliott.
“Whaaaat?”
said Elliott. “I was just giving her a few options. Cooperation or coercion.
She opted for cooperation. I had a solid plan, a successful plan.”
Elliott
handed her a cup of hot tea. She was surprised to smell the heady note of
Gentleman Jack. “And I need this because?”
“Because
the last song on the first set is ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ by Shakira.”
“No!”
Julie breathed.
“Paybacks
are hell,” said Elliott. “My band has been sweating bullets since you went all
negatory on us; it’s your turn to squirm, Ms. Hastings.”
