Tunnel Vision Part 14

aI think I can endure it,a Brodie said as she coughed. aOuch! Remind me not to do that for a while.a aExcuse me, maaam,a the male nurse said. aWeare ready to move her now. You can follow us.a aHow about if I walk beside the bed while you move it?a Seeing Maggieas grip on his patientas hand, he smiled. aI guess that would work, too.a Looking at the orderly who would be helping with the transfer, he said, aLetas rock and roll, Leon.a By the time she received her hospital dinner tray Brodie and Maggie had talked and napped through the afternoon. After she ate the skimpy meal the hospital nutritionist provided for her, Brodie couldnat stop herself from going to sleep again. Maggie used the opportunity to leave for an hour to grab some dinner. She was hungrier than she thought and even the hospital cafeteria food tasted good. She finally pushed her tray away and leaned back to finish drinking a gla.s.s of tea.

Maggie stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor and nodded and smiled at hospital workers she pa.s.sed in the hall as she walked back to Brodieas room. Pus.h.i.+ng open the door to the room, Maggie stopped immediately. She would have recognized the back of the person standing next to the bed anywhere. Tim Weston turned his head toward her when he heard the door open. She glanced at Brodie, who was still sleeping peacefully.

aWhat are you doing here?a Maggie hissed.

aJust came to pay my respects to an injured officer,a Weston said as he joined her at the door.

aIall tell her you were here,a she said, holding the door open for him.

aCan we talk?a aNot here. Thereas a waiting room down the hall. Iall meet you there.a Tim left the room quietly while Maggie went to Brodieas side. Gently brus.h.i.+ng dark hair away from her forehead, she leaned down and kissed her. She was almost to the door when she heard her voice.

aDonat be too hard on him, Maggie.a Returning to the bed, she took Brodieas hand and smiled. aI didnat mean to wake you up.a aItas all right. Go talk to him, Mag.a aWhatas the point, Royce? I already know what heas going to say. Iave heard it all before. Heas not going to convince me to leave this time.a aIs that what happened eight years ago?a Brodie frowned.

aHe threatened to ruin your career and could have gotten you killed. IaI couldnat let that happen to you.a aThereas nothing he can do to me now. Heas your father. I canat blame him for wanting to protect you from getting hurt.a aHe hurt us both.a MAGGIE SHOVED HER hands into her jeans pockets as she walked into the waiting room. Tim Weston stood up when he saw her. He still carried himself ramrod straight, a habit he hadnat managed to break even in retirement.

aWhat do you want, Dad?a aJust to talk. How is Brodie?a aNot that you give a s.h.i.+t.a She took a deep breath and cast her eyes down to the floor. aShe has broken ribs and nearly bled to death from the shoulder wound. Iam sure youall be disappointed to know she will survive.a Looking uncomfortable, Tim motioned toward a chair. aCan we sit? Please.a Maggie shrugged and sat down, stretching her legs in front of her, crossing them at the ankles and waited for her father to make the first move.

aFred Donaldson called me yesterday,a Weston began awkwardly. Clearing his throat, he continued, aWe had a long talk.a aAbout what? Getting me re-a.s.signed? I wonat accept that.a aNo, it wasnat about your training. Brodie is doing aafine job with that,a he said looking at his hands.

aSheas an excellent officer and always has been,a Maggie said flatly.

aYes, yes she is. Listen, Maggie, Iam sorry about what happened, you knowabefore.a aIam not the one you need to apologize to. You didnat try to destroy my career.a aYouare my daughter, Maggie. Stan Wheeler was my best friend. I was angry when he died because of a stupid mistake. And I was angry because I couldnataaccept who you were. I had to blame someone.a aAnd Royce just got in the way both times, I suppose.a aLook, Mag, I wonat try to say I understand the choices youave made about your life. I probably never will. But you were only twenty-three. Iad heard lots of rumors about Brodie during the ten years I was her commander, not all of them good. She was fifteen years older than you and had, wellabeen around. Of course, I questioned her motives. I didnat want my daughter to wind up another notch on her belt.a aSheas still fifteen years older, Dad. She has never treated me with anything but respect. When I was hurt eight years ago, you were the one who pushed her into it with the way you were riding her,a Maggie said forcefully. aShe almost lost her life to save me and bring a killer in. She would have done the same for Stan if she could have.a Maggie stood up and straightened her jeans. Tim looked at his daughter and pushed himself out of his chair. aDonaldson also told me youare going to make an excellent detective.a aI hope so,a Maggie smiled slightly in spite of herself.

aJust pay attention to what your training officer tells you,a Tim said as they began walking out of the waiting room.

Stopping him, Maggie looked at Tim. aI donat expect you to understand me or my life, Dad. Iam sorry if Iave disappointed you and Mom, but this is who I am.a aYouare a strong woman, Maggie,a he nodded.

aAlways have been. I want you to be happy. Iam proud of what youave accomplished in spite of my interference.a When they reached Brodieas room, Tim turned to Maggie. aIad like to speak to her alone, if you wouldnat mind.a Maggie frowned, but finally shrugged and leaned against the wall outside the room. aShe knows how to take care of herself.a Fifteen minutes later, Tim left the room and kissed Maggie on the forehead. aI better get home before your mother reports me as a missing person.a Maggie found Brodie lying partially inclined on the bed. She smiled when she saw Maggie, aIam glad youare back. I missed you,a she said, extending her hand.

Maggie stepped forward and took Brodieas hand, lifting it to her lips. aI was only gone an hour.a aIt was an eternity.a Leaning closer, Maggieas fingers caressed Brodieas face.

aMaggie, Ia,a Brodie began softly.

aDonat talk, baby,a Maggie said as their lips met. Deepening their kiss longingly, they were both breathless when their lips finally parted.

aYouare in some serious trouble when I get out of here,a Brodie said huskily.

aI think I can handle it, Lieutenant,a Maggie grinned. aRight after you tell me about Kara.a More Brenda Adc.o.c.k t.i.tles:.

Redress of Grievances.

In the first of a series of psychological thrillers, Harriett Markham is a defense attorney in Austin, Texas, who lost everything eleven years earlier. She had been an a.s.sociate with a Dallas firm and involved in an affair with a senior partner, Alexis Dunne. Harriett represented a rape/murder client named Jared Wilkes and got the charges dismissed on a technicality. When Wilkes committed a rape and murder after his release, Harriett was devastated. She resigned and moved to Austin, leaving everything behind, including her lover.

Despite lingering feelings for Alexis, Harriet becomes involved with a s.e.x-offense investigator, Jessie Rains, a woman struggling with secrets of her own. Harriet thinks she might finally be happy, but then Alexis re-enters her life. She refers a case of multiple homicide allegedly committed by Sharon Taggart, a woman with no motive for the crimes. Harriett is creeped out by the brutal murders, but reluctantly agrees to handle the defense.

As Harriett's team prepares for trial, disturbing information comes to light. Sharon denies any involvement in the crimes, but the evidence against her seems overwhelming. Harriett is plunged into a case rife with twisty psychological motives, questionable sanity, and a client with a complex and disturbing life. Is she guilty or not? And will Harriet's legal defense bring about justicea"or another Wilkes case?

ISBN 978-1-932300-86-4.

Reikoas Garden.

Hatredalike loveaknows no boundaries.

How much impact can one person have on a life?

When sixty-five-year old Callie Owen returns to her rural childhood home in Eastern Tennessee to attend the funeral of a woman she hasnat seen in twenty years, sheas forced to face the fears, heartache, and turbulent events that scarred both her body and her mind. Drawing strength from Jean, her partner of thirty years, and from their two grown children, Callie stays in the valley longer than she had antic.i.p.ated and relives the years that changed her life forever.

In 1949, j.a.panese war bride Reiko Sanders came to Frost Valley, Tennessee with her soldier husband and infant son. Callie Owen was an inquisitive ten-yearold whose curiosity about the stranger drove her to disobey her father for just one peek at the woman who had become the subject of so much speculation. Despite Callieas fears, she soon finds that the exoticlooking woman is kind and caring, and the two forge a tentative, but secret friends.h.i.+p.

When Callie and her five brothers and sisters were left orphaned, Reiko provided emotional support to Callie. The bond between them continued to grow stronger until Callie left Frost Valley as a teenager, emotionally and physically scarred, vowing never to return and never to forgive.

Itas not until Callie goes ahomea that she allows herself to remember how Reiko influenced her life. Once and for all, can she face the terrible events of her past? Or will they come back to destroy all that she loves?

ISBN 978-1-932300-77-2.

The Sea Hawk.

Dr. Julia Blanchard, a marine archaeologist, and her team of divers have spent almost eighteen months excavating the remains of a s.h.i.+p found a few miles off the coast of Georgia. Although they learn quite a bit about the nineteenth century sailing vessel, they have found nothing that would reveal the ident.i.ty of the s.h.i.+p they have nicknamed aThe Georgia Peach.a Consumed by the excavation of the mysterious s.h.i.+p, Juliaas relations.h.i.+p with her partner, Amy, has deteriorated. When she forgets Amyas birthday and finds her celebrating in the arms of another woman, Julia returns alone to the Peach site. Caught in a violent storm, she finds herself separated from her boat and adrift on the vast Atlantic Ocean. Her rescue at sea leads her on an unexpected journey into the true ident.i.ty of the Peach and the captain and crew who called it their home. Her travels take her to the island of Martinique, the eastern Caribbean islands, the Louisiana German Coast and New Orleans at the close of the War of 1812. How had the Peach come to rest in the waters off the Georgia coast? What had become of her alluring and enigmatic captain, Simone Moreau? Can love conquer everything, even time? On a voyage that lifts her spirits and eventually breaks her heart, Julia discovers the ident.i.ty of the s.h.i.+p she had been excavating and the fate of its crew. Along the way she also discovers the true meaning of love which can be as boundless and unpredictable as the ocean itself. ISBN 978-1-935053-10-1 Pipeline.

What do you do when the mistakes you made in the past come back to slap you in the face with a vengeance? Joanna Carlisle, a fifty-seven year old photojournalist, has only begun to adjust to retirement on her small ranch outside Kerrville, Texas, when she finds herself unwillingly sucked into an investigation of illegal aliens being smuggled into the United States to fill the ranks of cheap labor needed to increase corporate profits.

Joanna is a woman who has always lived life her way and on her own terms, enjoying a career that had given her everything she thought she ever wanted or needed. An unexpected visit by her former lover, Cate Hammond, and the attempted murder of their son, forces Jo to finally face what she had given up. Although she hasn't seen Cate or their son for fifteen years, she finds that the feelings she had for Cate had only been dormant, but had never died. No matter how much she fights her attraction to Cate, Jo cannot help but wonder whether she had made the right decision when she chose career and independence over love.

Jo comes to understand the true meaning of friends.h.i.+p and love only when her investigation endangers not only her life, but also the lives of the people around her.

ISBN 978-1-932300-64-2.

Soiled Dove In 1872, sixteen-year-old Loretta Digby fled her home in Indiana to escape an abusive step-father. Rescued from the streets of St. Joseph, Missouri by brothel owner Jack Coulter, she turns to the only work available. By twenty she became a much sought after prost.i.tute catering to St. Jo's most influential men and dreaming of the day she can leave her past behind and start her life anew. Jack is enraged when he discovers his favorite employee's plan to leave. b.l.o.o.d.y and beaten, Loretta is rescued by a young prost.i.tute, Amelia Benson, and customer Reverend Cyrus Langford. Working with teacher, Hettie Tobias, who is traveling west for a teaching position in Trinidad, Colorado, Loretta and Amelia leave their former lives behind.

In the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains outside Trinidad, Clare McIlhenney has been struggling for years to make her father's dream of owning a cattle ranch in the west come true. Working with a few ranch hands and her foreman, Ino Valdez, Clare has slowly built the ranch over the last twenty years while overcoming everything that should have stopped her.

In the spring of 1876 Loretta and her friends arrive in the dusty Colorado town. Her first meeting with Clare McIlhenney is less than inspiring. When Clare is injured, over her strenuous objections, Ino hires Loretta as a temporary cook and housekeeper for the ranch. Over the next few months, Clare struggles with her unwanted attraction to the much younger woman, unable to forget the events of her past that led to the deaths of everyone she had been close to. Determined to never lose anyone else, Clare closed off her emotions and became a distant and disliked stranger to everyone around her.

Will Loretta be able to keep her past a secret and find a new life? Will Clare open herself up to loss yet again and put her own prejudices behind her? In a story of the struggles in a harsh and unforgiving time will the two women find peace at last?

ISBN 978-1-935053-35-4.

About the Author.

Originally from the Appalachian region of Eastern Tennessee, Brenda now lives in Central Texas, near Austin. She began writing in junior high school where she wrote an admittedly hokey western serial to entertain her friends. Completing her graduate studies in Eastern European history in 1971, she worked as a graphic artist, a public relations specialist for the military and a display advertising specialist until she finally had to admit that her mother might have been right and earned her teaching certification. For the last twenty-plus years she has taught world history and political science. Brenda and her partner of fourteen years, Cheryl, are the parents of four grown children, as well as three grandchildren. Rounding out their home are three temperamental cats and a poodle mix of suspicious parentage.

She may be contacted at and welcomes all comments.

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