Dear Readers!
Happy Tuesday! As promised, since 100 people supported my Thunderclap campaign (still going until July 31st, feel free to continue to join at http://thndr.it/1sRL1sX), I will now post here the first part of Untainted! Yes, #wheresbook3?? Well, here is the first part!
Before showing you chapter one in Book 3 (Untainted), here is some info about the first two books!! NOTE: Due to violent and dark subject matter, this book is intended for readers over the age of 18 years old.
Love,
Sarah R.
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THE PHOTOGRAPHER TRILOGY:
Tainted Bodies (The Photographer Trilogy, #1)
Kate Jackson is listlessly floating through her life having no idea what or who she wants to be and burdened by the pains of her past. That is until she meets Derrick Kane.
A whirlwind romance leads Kate to believe that Derrick is the answer to all her questions and the patch to heal all her wounds.
Derrick and Kate’s love is quickly tested as a shocking crime forces Kate to have to figure out how to take care of herself and leads her into a mystery that only Kate has the key to solve.
Can she catch an extremely dangerous criminal and keep the love between Derrick and her alive?
*Links*
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Paperback | Goodreads | Scribd
Tainted Pictures (The Photographer Trilogy, #2)
Kate Jackson had no idea who she was until she met Derrick Kane and their whirlwind romance turned out to be the everything she needed to build a future and heal her past.
But a shocking crime leads Kate to uncover the work of an extremely dangerous serial killer, notoriously called “The Photographer” due to his penchant for taking pictures of his victims.
Derrick continues to work to gain back Kate’s trust and to find The Photographer as Kate builds new friendships and finds new skills.
Can she catch The Photographer and learn to trust Derrick again? Find out in Tainted Picture’s sequel and the final installment of The Photographer Trilogy.
*Links*
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Paperback | Goodreads | Scribd
Untainted (The Photographer Trilogy, #3)
Unwilling to wait for the slow pace of the detectives at the crime scene, Derrick must work with Kate’s sister, Annie Jackson, to find the clues that will lead them to the answers they so desperately need.
Will these two catch The Photographer? Can they bring a broken family back together? Will Kate and Derrick ever be able to have their happily ever after?
Find the answer to all these questions and more in the final installment of The Photographer Trilogy.
*Links*
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UNTAINTED –
FIRST PART OF CHAPTER ONE (UNEDITED)
Death is nothing like the movies. Spending your whole life watching crime shows and scary movies, you see murder scenes that range from comical to gruesome. You think you have seen it all. You think you know what it would be like.
You think you know what to expect.
You don’t.
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Derrick slowly walked down the front steps of Kate’s apartment building onto the sidewalk, not even aware of the flashing cameras or murmuring crowd gathered around. The front of the building was roped off with crime scene tape and barricades, keeping the curious neighbors and passer bys at bay while investigators tried to manage the harrowing scene they had just been presented with. Even though it was very early on a bright Saturday morning, the crowd was quite sizeable as no one seemed able to pass up the chance to stand and gawk at the drama unfolding before them.
Some people were still wearing pajamas and robes, mothers were pushing their children into their legs, and a few stragglers looked like they were just getting home from last night. Everyone was craning their necks hoping to see something, anything that they could gossip and brag about later online. Excitement and fear rippled through the crowd like a rumor impossible to cage once it’s been released. Derrick clenched his jaw as he surveyed everyone standing around watching, feeling a slight flare of anger rumble up through him. If any of these people actually saw what he had just seen, they wouldn’t be eagerly standing around for more.
A high pitched wailing and hoarse sobbing came from an ambulance about ten feet away from him parked on the street within the barricades. It’s back doors were open and Annie was sitting there, wrapped in multiple blankets with several paramedics hovering around her trying to calm her down. Annie was Kate’s baby sister and her sobs ripped at everyone’s hearts as they thought of everything that she had just lost. Derrick watched her, his face stone cold. He hadn’t cried yet. He couldn’t even bring himself to understand what had just happened, let alone allow himself to feel the magnitude of pain creeping up on him. So he stood there, silent and blank faced.
He didn’t want to feel any of this.
A paramedic draped a thick and itchy blanket over Derrick’s shoulders and tried to wrap him in it, but Derrick just pushed the young man away. He pulled the blanket tightly around himself, not wanting anyone else to touch him. He was still standing on the sidewalk when he heard some commotion behind him causing him to turn and look.
Multiple crime scene technicians were emerging from the front of the building and bringing a large gurney along with them. Strapped down to the gurney was a large black bag in the silhouette of a person. Even though it was zipped up and hidden from sight, the smell of death crept out from its plastic and hung in the air leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what it held inside.
Derrick’s breath caught in his throat and he felt dizzy, suddenly needing to find something sturdy to steady himself. He grabbed the railing on the outside of the building’s steps and took a deep breath. He couldn’t stop the images of the last hour from replaying in his mind again and again.
Real blood isn’t the corn syrup and red dye mockingly used in films. Real blood doesn’t have that bright red sheen or stay on the other side of a television screen so you can’t smell the coppery scent stinging your nostrils. Only an hour ago, Derrick had rushed into Kate’s apartment and everything he saw was real. The dark red blood pooling beneath the body was real. The vacant stare and bludgeoned face that once use to smile was real. The pungent odor of dying flesh, vacated bowels, and blood was real.
Detective McCraig had been the first one through the door as he kicked it right off it’s hinges, splitting the wood. Detective Snow had immediately followed him and Derrick knew things were going south when he saw her turn away, her face pale and sickly looking, as she leaned her hand against her partner’s shoulder for support. Derrick tried to grab Annie right then, knowing she shouldn’t see whatever hell was awaiting them in that apartment, but she was too fast for him. She flung past all three of them and the scream that followed stabbed at everyone’s heart. He heard that scream every time he closed his eyes.
Reluctantly and with fear coursing through his body, Derrick took a few more steps forward until he was next to the detectives and in full view of the crime scene before him. The apartment he had been in hundreds of times, Kate’s apartment, was unrecognizable. Almost every piece of furniture had been upended or knocked over. Shattered glass from a picture frame crunched beneath his feet. A broken mirror littered the floor a few feet away from him. A potted plant tossed dirt across the hallway. They were standing in the entrance to her living room and even with all the wreckage around them, the first thing everyone saw was the body in the center of the room.
Derrick’s feet felt as if they had been glued to the floor, unable to move, as he stared wide-eyed at Annie who had flung herself onto the body and was screaming at top volume. Her cries filled the silence from the rest of the group as everyone absorbed the scene around them. Annie was rocking back and forth while ….
To be continued…. I can’t give it all away 🙂
