****SPECIAL SURPRISE****
As a little teaser, I am going to post on my blog the first chapter to each of the five short stories in my latest release. I have loved these characters for quite some time. I’m so happy to be sharing them with my followers.
Sam’s Communication is Book and tells the story of Samantha Davis. The story delves into the lives of Trig and Taps. Both are seeming happy individuals and work will together in every aspect of their lives. the two have been there for one another . Even armed with that knowledge, there is something that Sam is keeping from Trig. Will she make the right choice and confess or will she hold fast to her secret long enough to lose him?
It shares how he brought the team together and a little-known fact about his past. The woman who held his heart is now a member of his new team. How shall this man deal with working with someone who chose to walk away from him years ago?
Here is chapter one:
“Sam, it’s been a whole month. What’s going on?”
B.B’s voice came through the phone loud and clear. It wasn’t the only thing that came over the airwaves. Her concern seeped through just as clearly.
“Aww. Look at the soon-to-be ‘mama’ again showing concern for someone else. I’m touched.”
B.B.’s derisive snort came through the phone just before she verbally squelched any sentimental moment the two of them might have had.
“Woman please! This call is purely for selfish reasons alone.”
Sam covered the smile that was threatening as if she could be seen on her phone. It wasn’t as if they were video chatting.
“Enlighten me.”
A loud sucking noise came through the phone before B.B. began to speak.
“One, you said this thing you were doing wasn’t going to take long. I believe it was said to have a ‘two week minimum’ fact collecting time frame on it. Two, my scheduled check up is in a few days. A certain doctor friend stated they would be around for the procedure which is exactly thirty-six hours after that appointment. Third, you are supposed to be on the committee for this surprise event that Brian’s putting together. It was your idea. I’ve been roped into it as a stand-in and I seriously don’t appreciate it. When are you getting back? Why are you dodging everyone else’s calls, including Trig’s?”
That was the million dollar question and the one she’d been avoiding like a pregnant woman avoids the scale. She just wasn’t ready to give up on her mission. All of the members of her team had told her it was a lost cause, but she couldn’t believe that. The man had been rerouting her and rescheduling their “get togethers” since the moment she touched down in Washington. Sam should take the hint, but she wouldn’t be the woman that he raised her to be if she had.
“I’m not ready to give up on getting him alone in a room, B.B. Everyone else is telling me to let this go or we’ll figure out another way to get the information. I’m actually getting pissed off because I know for a fact that he knows something. It has to be huge too because he’s done everything in his power to make sure he is unavailable. Plus, my being in the area has allowed me to touch bases with some of my old connections who recently had interactions with my brother. I really believe what we thought was going on and Jeremy’s role in it might not be accurate. This isn’t his little sister talking either. This is the investigative individual who wants someone to answer for involving my kid in some fucked up bid for power and money. Plus, I made contact with the guy who was supposed to be my brother’s boss and he told me that Jeremy left his company years ago to become some big wig with one of those lettered outfits.”
“Are you saying that Jeremy may have been working with the CIA or FBI or something?” B.B.’s side of the call went quiet for so long that Sam had to pull the phone from her ear to make sure she hadn’t dropped the call. “I don’t know, Sam. You might be reaching. I’ll ask Eli to check into any connection like that, but we may be digging into an empty ditch here.”
“I know. I’m just trying to make sense of all of this. Hey, do you know if Proph had any findings on Jeremy looking into my ex? One of the females that Jeremy was close with implied that he was trying to find answers on what Paul was doing while I was at the office. I’d assumed the jerk was finding ways to be better at his job since I knew his goal was to work directly with my father. Apparently, I might have been wrong about that, amongst other things.”
“Yeah babe? She wants to know if you have anything that said J. Wilkens might’ve been investigating P. Wilde.” She heard movement before a gruff voice could be heard then B.B.’s rare giggle. “You’re an idiot. If this kid comes out growling, it will be all your fault. You animal. He just handed me a folder.”
“What was that about Proph being an animal?”
B.B. chuckled before responding. “Oh, the only male in the house has decided that he wants to prep the soon-to-be other male in the house for some of his crazy ass antics like the growling he just did. He tends to growl then place kisses over my stomach every time he sees me. I swear this kid attempts to respond every time he does it. His foot or hand gets to moving across my skin and the big goof that my husband is just beams with some moronic pride.” Sam heard him yell something but couldn’t quite make it out. “It is too moronic. I will not have this house turned into a three-ring circus. Oh shit. I sounded just like my father just then. You see what you did!”
Sam was outright laughing by the time B.B. yelled the last statement.
“Okay. What’s in the folder?”
“There may be something to your theory. There are notes here. I don’t know if they’re official or not, but someone was trying to figure out what your ex was doing during his down time. Do you want me to share this with the team while you try again to reach your father?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d be ever so grateful. I promise this is my last attempt. I’ll be flying out this evening. I think Ming is over the whole hotel experience. Plus, I believe we’re both missing a certain sharp shooter something fierce.”
“He misses you guys, too. He’s grumpier than normal when you aren’t around. I’ll bring the team up to speed and see you tomorrow. The line will revert back to unsecure as soon as we hang up. Be safe.”
“You too. I’ll brief you guys when I’m back in the state. Have Proph kiss the belly for me, will you?”
“Yeah, I think he’s got that covered already. Get away. Damn. I can’t get anything done if you’re attached to me and don’t even attempt to make that dirty.”
B.B. laughed and forced a bye into the receiver before the line went dead. If Sam knew Proph, he was probably torturing her by tickling her. What she wouldn’t do was think about what he was tickling to get her to elicit the sound that she’d made before their call ended.
Taking a deep breath, Sam picked up the phone again and dialed the number she knew by heart.
“General Wilkens office, Leslie speaking, how may I assist you?”
“Hey Leslie, this is Samantha Wil …”
“Oh, hi Sam. I was just getting ready to give you a call. Are you and Ming Nai available for lunch this afternoon? Your father has a two-hour opening and is looking forward to seeing you. He wants to send a car to pick you up. He also told me to make sure it’s set for your favorite place to make up for the fact that he hasn’t been available this month.”
Sam looked at the phone then back out the window she’d been periodically peering out of. That was a welcome change. In fact, it had been the welcome she’d been initially expecting when she’d shown up four weeks ago.
“Good. Sounds good to me. He wouldn’t happen to be available right now, would he?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Wilkens, he’s not. He’s walking into a meeting right now.”
“Figures,” Sam mumbled to herself. “What time should we expect the car?”
“12:15. Oh, should I have given that to you in military time? Your father has been working on making sure everyone around here understands both.”
Sam smiled as she responded. “No, Leslie, it’s not necessary. I understand both, so we’re good. Thank you. Have a nice day.”
They said their goodbyes and Sam began getting her and Ming set to meet with her father in the few hours they had before the two would be picked up. This time Sam wasn’t going to tell Ming Nai that they were going to see her grandfather. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with an upset little girl as they traveled back home if her father disappointed them again.
* * *
A few hours later and Sam was getting more pissed off by the second. Every attempt to garner her father’s attention long enough to focus on one of her questions was thwarted.
Sam had forgotten that her father had been too busy with everything Paul and possibly Jeremy that he hadn’t had an opportunity to see his granddaughter since they rescued her. A light bulb flashed on as she sat watching the two of them interact.
“The only reason you agreed to meet with me is due to the fact that you found out I wasn’t alone, isn’t it?”
Her father gave her a look that told her he wasn’t going to spend his lunch answering a bunch of different probing questions from his daughter.
“Jiiji, are we going to see your office before mama and me have to leave today?”
Jiiji is short for ojiisan and baaba is short for obaasan. The terms mean grandfather and grandmother in turn. Those are the Japanese terms that Ming Nai latched on to when Sam’s mother began teacher her little girl the language. Ming Nai has so much of her grandmother in her and takes after the woman that Sam couldn’t help but name her daughter something with an Asian flare. Trying to please both aspects of the family proved to be difficult. Her mother finally relented that she would give in on the name if she was allowed to teach her granddaughter about Japanese customs and the language. Paul hadn’t cared about that part because his parents had cared about the naming of the child. The education of said child was given solely to the parental unit.
Sam watched as her father smiled down at Ming Nai and found herself feeling a little jealous of her daughter. There was a time when she received those looks of adoration from her father. Over the last few months all Sam had received from her father was the cold shoulder and glares of disgust or guilt. Sometimes, she couldn’t determine the difference.
“Do you want to, Little Bug? When are you getting on that big plane to go back home, so I know when we can go see my office?”
Sam knew what her father was doing. He was trying to deduce how long she’d be around to bother him. His salt and pepper hair looked like more gray had appeared in it since the last time she’d seen him a week or two ago.
“Tonight. Right mama?”
“Yes, little beauty, we are. Dad?”
With an exasperated sigh, he looked at her and said, “What you’re inquiring about I have no knowledge to share. This may be something you should probably let go of. Besides, I didn’t encourage this team to come together to investigate this matter. The crew was set in motion for a retrieval mission. You gathered, you concurred, you obtained, and now you should move on.”
Sam blinked at the vehemence of her father’s tone. She decided to match his with one of her own, but added a sugary sweetness to it so Ming wouldn’t catch on.
“The team wasn’t put together for a one-off either. You don’t put that kind of group together and expect them not to have a desire to do more, be more. The intimate nature of this mission condones every action the team has taken. I wish the same could be said for others.”
“If you knew, you might change how you feel about the entire thing.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Her father shut down after that. They communicated with Ming Nai but not with one another. It remained that way for the duration of their visit. Their hug was purely for the benefit of putting on a show for Ming. Nothing had been resolved save for the fact that her father didn’t want her investigating the issue. Later that evening, they said their goodbyes. She and Ming Nai grabbed their belongings from the hotel, checked out, made their way to the airport, then their flight.
They were homeward bound and Sam couldn’t help but be thrilled about it. She missed her friends and the family unit they’d created within the crew. Guess there was truth to that saying, “Family isn’t defined by the blood in your veins, but by those that are there for you when you need them the most.”
Her bloodline kind of sucked right now, so she was living proof of that quote.
*** AVAILABLE NOW ***
Five hot and steamy romances.
Ten lives changed
One book that will tug at your heartstrings and kick the temperature up ten notches. Get ready!
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Life in E-motion, LLC - Author Ellie Keys 