Tagline:
She stole a cop's heart... will this thief pay for her crimes?
Blurb:
Crystal
has spent her entire life training to be a thief in order to find evidence
against the man who had her parents murdered. In her pursuit of justice she's
had to give up her identity, her name, and any chance at love. When
Crystal is forced on a blind date with the cop who is investigating her, she
plays a dangerous game of hearts that could land her in a prison cell.
Kade is in search of a new life, after losing his partner. He's taken a new
job, in a new city, and met a new girl. In order to keep his fresh start, he
will have to catch an elusive thief targeting one of the largest corporations
in the country. Desperate to forget the failures of his past, Kade has no
intention of failing.
But secrets can’t be hidden forever.
Excerpt:
Crystal
shimmied down the drainpipe with her trophies tucked inside her backpack and
computer files loaded onto her USB, hung around her neck disguised as a locket.
This was too easy. Not like the Warren job where the COO kept changing the menu
and supervised their catering to ensure they had followed the strict rules of
kashrut.
She
landed on the concrete with a thump, then removed her mask. Usually she worked
at night when the catering gig didn’t provide the necessary cover, but she had
a date this evening.
A
blind date.
Her
sister’s fiancée had called earlier that day to let them know his cousin from
Texas would join them for dinner and would Crystal come along? As far as
Crystal was concerned, it was the closest thing she’d come to as a real date in
a long time. She’d take it.
Thankfully,
her catering appointment with Westridge canceled yesterday. While she enjoyed
cooking, it was only a cover for her and her sister’s illegal activities. What
she excelled at was computers, but having a career in that field, now, would be
too suspicious. Her IT skills far exceeded a Level One Help Desk worker. She
despised working for Westridge, the man who had her mother killed and her dad
thrown into jail, but catering was the easiest way into her target’s homes
without suspicion. And she refused to pose as a cleaning lady and scrub their
filth.
Years
ago, Dad found what he thought was a series of accounting errors. For his
honesty trying to help Westridge correct the problem, he was thrown in jail to
rot. Westridge and his company framed her dad for embezzlement and sharing
confidential information with preferred suppliers to obtain favors. Now she and
her sister were halfway toward exonerating him and exposing Westridge and his
corporate crimes. To see the look on Joshua Westridge’s face when he was
convicted would make all her and her sister’s sacrifices worth it.
Thunder
boomed as she weaved through alleys, stinking of rotting food and urine. She
barely made it to her car before thunder rumbled.
Crystal
checked the time on the dashboard, almost seven. No time to waste. Paul and his
cousin, Kade, were picking up her and her sister at seven-thirty. Her car
hummed to life as she stashed her backpack behind her seat. The stolen cash,
including a recently purchased blood diamond necklace, lay inside. Hopefully
the money and necklace would throw off Westridge’s Sales Manager to the fact
that computer information had been the real prize. And hopefully, they wouldn’t
discover the truth until it was too late. For now, another piece of the puzzle
to exonerate their dad and lock Westridge away lay on her chest inside her
locket.
She
whipped into traffic and hit the wipers as fat drops of rain slapped against
the windshield. Great. Ahead, a red light flickered as taxis and cars lined up
behind it. She debated taking Ninth, but decided against it. Construction was
still ongoing and traffic would be worse than this.
Maybe
squeezing in a job before dinner wasn’t such a great idea.
*******************
