Garden of Sorrow by Dale Mayer ~
Her world is in chaos. His world is in order. She wants to help
the innocent. He wants to catch the guilty. But someone is trying to make sure
that neither gets what they want.
Alexis Gordon has spent the last year trying to get over the loss
of her sister. Then she goes to work on a normal day...and reality as she knows
it...disappears.
Detective Kevin Sutherland, armed with his own psychic abilities,
recognizes her gift and calls in his friend Stefan Kronos, a psychic artist and
law enforcement consultant, to help her develop her skills. But Kevin has never
seen anything like this case - a killer with a personal vendetta to stop Alexis
from finding out more about him...and his long dead victims.
The killer can be stopped. He must be
stopped. But he's planning on surviving...even after death.
Warning: This title is intended for
readers over the age of 18 as it contains adult sexual situations and/or adult
language which may be considered offensive to some readers.
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal, Romance
Format: ebook, paperback
Series: Psychic Visions #4
Length: 521 Kb, 351 pages
Release date: December 3, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble
************************************************************************
About the author:
Dale Mayer is a prolific multi-published writer. She's best known
for her Psychic Visions series. Besides her romantic suspense/thrillers, Dale
also writes paranormal romance and crossover young adult books in several
different genres. To go with her
fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books
available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage
system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series
. All her books are available in print format as well.
Find Dale online:
************************************************************************
Excerpt
"Ouch."
A thin stream of red oozed up from her mud-covered fingers. Whatever that thing
was, it had scratched her palm. She stared at the surrounding puddle. Where had
it gone? There, beside her right foot. Alexis leaned over for a closer look.
It
couldn't be.
Several
voices called down to her. She ignored them, and tugged the muddy piece free.
Blowing away several strands of hair blocking her view, she swished the item
around in the rainwater and managed to clean off most of the dirt.
Small,
white and with a distinctive shape, it resembled a bone. More like several tiny
bones barely connected by stiff mud. And oh, God… It looked like…a finger!
Ice
settled into her spine. She held a finger.
A
tiny finger.
A
child's finger, still wearing a toy ring.
Her
fingers tightened around the bones. Her insides warred to keep the precious
item safe while another part of her wanted to throw it far away from her.
Then
something changed.
Dizziness
and nausea fought for supremacy as her vision blurred. Disoriented, she wavered
as the ditch before her suddenly lengthened and narrowed, morphing into an
interior hallway.
Alexis
froze, her horrified gaze locked on the changing scene.
Dear
God, what was going on? Her mind raced to sort out the change. How had the dirt
bank turned to gray paint? And the sewer smell smothered by heavy cooking
odors? Fried chicken?
Where
was she?
Alexis
stared down the hallway. A young child, caught inside this peculiar scenario,
stumbled toward her with both hands clasped over her ears. Tears streamed down
her young face, and her t-shirt was inches above the dirty shorts. Bruises
decorated her lower legs, and well…dirt covered the rest of her. As if she'd
recently been playing in a dirt pile. Alexis tried to run to her, to hug her
tight, to protect her…only to find she couldn't move. Her feet were paralyzed
in place. Terror filled her heart.
She
opened her mouth to scream. No sound came out.
Run. The scream seared through her
mind.
Dimly
in the background, loud crashes and yelling could be heard, as if someone gave
chase. Fear of retribution accentuated every step the distraught child took.
The sound and tone distorted.
Alexis
shuddered. Tears clogged her throat and pain choked her heart.
"Alexis.
Alex? Alex!"
Scott's
alarmed voice pulled at her from outside the vision that held her transfixed.
Caught between two realities, Alexis jerked toward Scott, the object dropping
from her fingers.
Instantly,
the hallway disappeared.
It
was if a vacuum sucked the dirt walls back into place, with a rush so powerful
it forced Alexis to lean forward. Then as if caught in a giant rubber band, the
force suddenly released, to throw her into reverse. She flew backwards and
landed, once again, on her butt in the middle of the large puddle.
Her
gut screamed and bile tried to escape her throat. She shuddered. What the hell
had just happened? She swallowed convulsively, willing her breakfast to stay
down. Tremors started at her toes and rattled up her spine.
"Alexis,
damn it. Answer me!" Scott demanded.
"I
– I'm fine." Was that croaking her voice?
The finger... Where was it? More than a little daunted by the prospect of
touching it again, she remained seated and eyed the surrounding mud.
There.
It
rested on the muddy surface…waiting for her.
Eerie.
She hated to touch it again, the last experience too horrific to repeat. She
reached for it, but her fingers shook so badly she stopped. Yet, she couldn't
force herself to leave it behind. Compromising, she pulled a tissue from her
pocket and gingerly picked it up.
The
size bothered her. The vague image of the running child from a few moments ago
slammed back. Ruthlessly, she pushed the vision out of her mind. She couldn't
even begin to analyze what had happened. It had been way too weird. Alexis
focused on what was important right this moment. Where there was a finger…
She
studied the high expanse of dirt wall. She dimly remembered digging her fingers
into the bank on her downward tumble. But how high up had that been? The ditch
stood eight to ten feet deep.
"Here's
the ladder, Alexis," Scott said as Mike, another coworker arrived with the
ladder. Scott held the long metal structure several feet off to the side.
"No!"
she motioned. "Please, bring it over here. Where I fell in."
Scott
shrugged and the two moved the ladder to the right spot.
Alexis
struggled to position it the best she could near her original flight path. Once
the ladder was secured, she moved upward, one rung at a time. At each new
level, she stopped and searched. The bone had to have come from somewhere.
"Oh,
for the love of God. Alexis, what are you doing?" Scott peered over the
ladder at her.
Alexis
didn't answer. What could she say? Three, maybe four feet from the top, a speck
of white caught her eye. Reaching between the ladder rungs, she gently brushed
some of the dirt away. Another bone, possibly another finger. Vomit lined her
throat. She rested her forehead against the steel frame of the ladder for a
long moment.
"Scott?"
Her hands squeezed the ladder tight. She kept her voice low.
"Yes,
beautiful. What's going on?" He crouched down for a better look, but he
was at the wrong angle.
"Are
there any police close by?" She cleared her throat, tears suddenly
clogging her throat. Willing him to not ask her any questions. "If not, go
get one – now."
Startled,
Scott stared at her for a brief moment before disappearing from sight, his
heavy footsteps fading rapidly. Mike held the ladder steady. Alexis rested her
head against a rung, and waited with her arm wrapped around one side of the
ladder. The steel dug into her forehead as she realized something important.
This wasn't just a ditch. This was a grave.
************************************************************************
