*drum roll*
*ta-da!!!*
Isn't it gorgeous? I can't wait for you all to read this one. It will be released in May 2014 and is Captain Reed's story.
Here's a look at the series covers all together. *stares at screen* I have so loved writing these books!
And just because I love you and I'm so excited about cover reveal day, I'm going to give you a sneak peek of the first chapter of Ring Around the Rosie. Let me know what you think!
Ring Around the Rosie
by Julie Coulter Bellon
copyright 2014
Chapter One
Every time a
hostage walked away from a situation unharmed it was reason for the Hostage
Negotiation Team to celebrate.
Today was one of
those days.
Captain Ron Reed,
head of Hartford’s Hostage Negotiation Team, couldn’t stop smiling. Coming off today’s case where three lives
were saved gave him a rush he’d never experienced any other way. His team was well trained, worked hard, and
were good at what they did.
But they were
celebrating more than a job well done.
Claire Michaels was his best negotiator, had saved three people’s lives
today, and she was getting married tomorrow.
That thought made him slow his steps as he walked out of the station to
the street. I’m not losing anyone just because Claire is getting married.
She’ll still be part of the team, he told himself for the millionth
time. But deep down, he knew everything
would be different after today. The team dynamic would change no matter what
anyone said.
Picking up the
pace again, he crossed the street to Eli’s Diner. How many times have I made this trip? The twenty-four hour diner had been a refuge
for Ron after tough cases and tiring days.
It had been more than just somewhere to get good food, but surrounded by
his team, it had been a place to recharge as well. Up until now, the team had all had empty homes waiting for them
at the end of the day, so they’d gathered here for meals as often as they
could. The diner grounded them and gave
Ron a way to have a pseudo-family. And
Claire, Colby, and Bart had become his family.
He’d been a bit
surprised when Claire had suggested having a little get-together of their team
the night before her wedding, but he’d been glad she was feeling sentimental,
too. Their “family” was expanding and
tonight was their last chance to be together, like it always had been, just one
more time.
He entered the
diner and the old-fashioned bell chimed to announce him. He loosened his tie a bit and shrugged out
of his jacket. It felt odd not wearing
a heavier coat in March. Mother Nature
was teasing him with warmer than normal days one week and chilly winter days
the next. Today had been warm, but
consistent spring weather couldn’t get here fast enough for Ron.
“Be right with
you, Captain,” Cecily, the main waitress, said over her shoulder as she grabbed
two plates and carried them to the front counter to serve a young girl and her
mother.
“Hey, I thought we
agreed you’d call me Ron.” He smiled and took his usual seat at the end of the
counter where he had a view of both exits. His eyes were drawn to the back of
the diner covered in plastic sheeting.
Drywall dust peeked out from underneath and hammering noises came from
the area. “When did Eli decide to
renovate?”
Cecily came over with her order book in
hand. “It was the strangest thing. Day
before yesterday Eli tells us he’s got a guy coming in to rewire the place for
WiFi, renovate his office, and maybe knock out a wall to give us a little more
seating. It was so out of the blue.”
She shuddered. “The contractor guy
gave me the creeps, though. I’ve steered away from the whole mess.”
“Maybe you should
introduce us. I’ll put this guy on notice that Eli’s diner is special to a lot
of cops in Hartford.”
“I just might do
that if he gets any weirder. Can I get
you a cup of coffee?”
“Yeah,
thanks.” He turned his attention to the
little girl sitting a few seats down from him.
Her mother was talking on the phone while the girl twirled on her seat. Every time she came around one full
rotation, she giggled.
“Beth, stop that,”
her mother commanded, pulling herself away from her phone conversation for a
second. “We’re in a hurry, so eat your
fries.”
The way the little
girl’s face fell made Ron want to ask the mom to let her do it, but he kept
quiet. Who was he to contradict a
parent? He’d never had children of his own.
The memory of his ex-wife Sarah and the one chance he’d had to be a
father wormed its way into his mind, but he quickly pushed it back and locked
it up. He couldn’t allow himself to go there.
Today was a happy day and he was determined to keep it that way,
focusing on the family he’d built from his coworkers, not the one he’d lost.
Cecily brought his
coffee out, and he busied himself with adding the cream. “You must be glad for
a little lull before the dinner rush,” he said, nodding to the nearly empty
diner.
“You have no
idea. It gets crazy around here.”
Cecily brushed an escaping bit of hair back from her face and tucked it in her
ponytail. “I heard tomorrow is the big day?”
“Yeah. Today was
her last day of work before she gets a week off for her honeymoon. That’s where they all are now, finishing up
some paperwork from a big case we worked today and making sure Claire is set to
go.” Ron smiled and leaned forward on the counter. “That’s one of the perks of
being a captain. You can farm out the paperwork.”
“Claire sounded so
happy when she called earlier to make sure we had plenty of Dutch apple pie,”
she said with a wink. “And promised me
a front row seat to the wedding if I had banana cream, too. Eli has spent every
moment baking since then. Well, when he’s not with that contractor.” She smoothed down her apron. “Can I get you
anything else?”
“No, thanks. I’ll
just wait for everyone else.” She nodded and disappeared into the back.
Ron’s gaze fell on
the little girl now watching him. She
had ignored her mother and her fries were still untouched. Her mother was still
on the phone begging someone to babysit for her. He gave the girl a smile.
“Hey there. Do you like pie?”
She just watched
him for a moment, her brown eyes measuring him before she nodded. “Banana cream is my favorite. Is that a real policeman’s badge?” She
pointed to his badge on his belt.
Ron looked down
and lifted the corner of the badge to the light. “Yes. My name is Captain Reed, what’s yours?”
“I’m Beth and I’m
five.”
She started to say
something else, but her mother got off the phone and stood between them, her
back to Ron. “Beth, why aren’t your
fries gone? I told you we’re in a hurry today.
I’ve got to get you over to Dustin’s.
He said he’d babysit you until I get home tonight.”
“No, Mom, please
don’t take me to Dustin’s.” He couldn’t see Beth anymore, but he could hear how
small her voice sounded. What
doesn’t she like about Dustin? With
his job he’d learned long ago to listen to children when they used that tone of
voice.
“It’ll just be for
tonight, sweetie, then I’ll work something else out. Now hurry up, we’ve got to go.”
She leaned over the counter to call to Cecily. “Miss, can I get our check please? Right away?”
“Sure thing,”
Cecily said coming back into the dining room. “I’ll be right with you, ma’am.”
Ron took a sip of
his drink while he watched Cecily get the mother’s check ready. Beth was eating her fries slowly, her long
brown hair covering her face like a curtain as she looked down at her
plate. Such a difference from the
giggling girl who’d been in that seat a few moments ago. Her mom impatiently watched her eat the last
fry. “Come on, baby, let’s get out of
here,” the mom said, as she helped Beth down from her seat.
“I have to go to
the bathroom,” the little girl said the moment her feet touched the floor. It was obvious she was doing all she could
to postpone their departure.
The mom sighed
dramatically before hustling her to the back of the diner. “Can we hurry, please?” she said to her
daughter as they passed the sheeting.
The bell over the
door chimed and Ron turned to see his team of Colby, Bart, and Claire walk
in. Claire was between the men,
laughing. She looked so peaceful and on
a hostage negotiator, that look was something rare. He was glad to see it.
Ron smiled and tapped his watch as they approached him. “You’re late.”
Bart ran his hand
over his unshaven jaw and shook his head.
“But we got all the paperwork done like you asked, Cap’n, and with what
happened today, you know we worked a miracle on that.”
He fist-bumped
Colby, the stress of the day dissipating into the diner’s atmosphere. It wasn’t just today, though. Bart had been
different since his trip to South America and his father’s death. It was like he’d laid some ghosts to rest
and was more comfortable in his own skin.
Open to really being himself. It
also probably helped that Lucy was becoming a permanent fixture in his life
lately.
“We’ve been so
busy lately,” Colby added as he moved around the stool and sat down next to the
captain. “Hopefully nothing goes down
tomorrow that would affect the wedding.” He gave Claire a teasing sideways
glance, barely suppressing a laugh.
“Don’t even joke
about that,” Claire admonished, rapping the wooden underside of the
counter. “You’ll jinx it.” She sat on the other side of Ron and took
the clip out of her hair, letting it fall down her back. “I’m just glad we’ve made it this far. We’re headed down the home stretch.”
“Rafe would take a
priest hostage to make sure Claire marries him,” Colby said, reaching across
Ron to pat her hand. “I think the second we’re all in the church he’ll bolt the
doors so no one can go in or out until you’re officially his wife.”
Claire swatted his
arm. “Believe me, he doesn’t have to take hostages to get me to marry him. Now, you on the other hand, might need to
resort to extreme measures to get Sophia in the same place as you are for more
than a day or two.”
Bart’s laugh
turned into a groan. “I can’t believe
you just said that. Let’s not have anyone take hostages for any reason okay?
Deal? We want a crisis-free wedding day.”
Colby grimaced,
all teasing gone. “Well, she’s right
about one thing. Long distance
relationships suck.”
“It’s only been a couple
of months,” Claire pointed out. “And you guys visit every other weekend.”
“It’s not enough,”
Colby frowned. “I want her here.
Close.”
“Believe me, we
do, too,” Bart said with an arch of his eyebrow. “We’ve had to put up with you
after a weekend of visiting her. Your
mood when you come back to work isn’t pretty. Like you don’t even want to be
there or something.”
“I’m not moody,”
Colby protested with a dark look and they all laughed, especially Ron. Colby had been a bear to work with
the last little while. “Well, that will
all change when she moves down here in a few weeks,” he amended.
Ron leaned back
and looked at the three members of his team laughing together. He wanted to imprint this moment on his
memory forever, their teasing, their bond.
He was realizing more and more that he needed to cherish the happy times¾and
remind himself that he wasn’t losing another family he’d built.
The bell on the
door rang again, interrupting his train of thought, and Ron glanced over to see
a woman walk in and head straight for them.
He stood, blinking twice. He’d just been thinking of family and loss and
his ex-wife appeared? What kind of karma was that? “Sarah?” Her named rolled
off his tongue easily, as if they still talked every day and part of him still
wished they did. The fact was, they’d barely spoken in five years.
She didn’t waste
time with a greeting. “Why couldn’t you
have just done all this through email?” She stood in front of him, calm and
collected, her eyebrows raised while she waited for his answer. When his tongue refused to work and he
didn’t reply right away, she added, “We could have met somewhere and discussed
Grandma’s will like adults. I don’t like being summoned to bring the Corvette
all the way down here. I had to push back a client just to meet your time
deadline.”
“What are you
talking about?” She wasn’t making sense.
Looking at her, not a hair out of place, with a white blouse and navy
pants as starched as her expression, part of him was tempted to try to provoke
her out of that calm state she was trying so hard to maintain. He knew what was under that orderly exterior¾a
passionate woman that he still loved.
And that was why he needed to stay away from her. She didn’t know it, but she still held his
heart and had the power to hurt him.
That was enough reason for him to back away now. With that thought, Ron retreated until his
leg hit the stool behind him.
She stared up at
him, her blue eyes narrowed, the tips of her short blonde hair brushing her
chin. “You know how much that car means to me. I really think we could have
discussed this in a civil manner. Come to an agreement of some kind.”
He reached out and
took her arm, then pulled back at the zing he felt when his fingers touched
her. It had been so long, but the connection
was still there. He scrambled for
something to say to cover his confusion at that fact. “I’m all for civil
discussion. But I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She adjusted her
purse on her shoulder. He knew it was
probably heavy since she kept so many odds and ends in there. He’d jokingly
called it her “just in case” bag when they’d been married.
“Ron, I’m still on
billable hours. And while I know my job as an accountant isn’t as exciting as
you chasing down the bad guys, my time is valuable. Don’t play games with me. I
got a message that you wanted me to bring the Corvette to the diner parking lot
by 5:00 sharp.”
Ron took a careful breath. He didn’t want to
do this in front of his team. He didn’t talk about his ex-wife much and they
were staring in curiosity. “How about we go to my office and talk about this in
private?” He turned to grab his jacket
off an unoccupied stool. “I’ll be right
back, Claire,” he said in a low voice.
“You guys go ahead and start without me.”
Sarah moved
between him and Claire, pressing her lips together as she took in Claire,
Colby, and Bart sitting behind him. “Am
I interrupting a ‘work’ meeting for you?” She folded her arms, watching him
carefully. “Why would you call and
interrupt my work day when you’re obviously busy yourself?”
Leaning down to be
eye level with her, he counted to ten. “Sarah, I didn’t leave any message for
you. I have no idea what’s going on. I just want to talk about this privately.
It has nothing to do with interrupting anyone’s work day.”
Sarah’s head
dipped to her chest as she inhaled slowly.
When she raised her chin, she exhaled with a little puff of air. “I know your job and your ‘people’ always
come first, before anything. Nothing ever changes. But I have a routine now that
I like to stick with, okay?” She waved
her hand between them. “Let’s settle
the issue with the Corvette so we can both get back to our lives. My schedule
is already way off now that I’ve got a dinner client to finish up with that I
wasn’t expecting to have this evening.”
Ron clenched his
jaw. “I’m sorry, but that’s not my
fault. Besides, having flexibility in your schedule is a good thing.”
“Not in my book.”
She stared back at him with a mutinous expression, her slight pout showing her
mask of calmness was slipping.
He stared, tempted
to reach out and touch that lower lip.
She was still so beautiful. His
hand started to rise, nearly of its own volition.
“So can we hurry
this up?” Sarah said, glancing down at
her watch.
Ron quickly put
his arm at his side, ignoring the stab to his heart. What am I thinking?
Since the divorce she’d kept her distance, but that had made it easier
to keep her in the dark about what she still meant to him. Leading separate lives helped make the confusion
and pain better somehow¾at least that’s what he told himself.
“Fine, let’s go to
my office and get this over with then.” Ron strode past her toward the door,
deliberately not noticing little wrinkle in her brow she always got when she
was puzzling something out in her mind and had questions. How many times had he smoothed that little
wrinkle with his thumb, right before he kissed her questions out of her? He shoved the memory away. Well, she didn’t want his touch anymore and
it stung like a face slap when she was standing right in front of him.
He reached the
hostess podium and turned back to look at Sarah, not far from his friends. His
straying thoughts took in the fact that, right then, everyone he loved most in
the world was gathered in the same place for the first time. And probably the
last.
Sarah caught up
with him, pulling her purse up on her shoulder again. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but¾”
Her words were cut
off by a blast of hot air and fire, an explosion so large it blew them all
backward. Ron hit the floor hard and
lay there dazed and groggy. Glass and
debris rained down. Confetti-sized menus and napkins floated like snowflakes in
slow motion all around him. For a second the entire world was a silent tunnel
with him at the end of it. It would be
so easy to just close his eyes and let the blackness suck him down into
unconsciousness. But he couldn’t. Not yet.
Get up. Get everyone out.
