The Bookworm Lodge
  • Home
  • About
  • The Tour Stop
  • Featured Books
  • The Book Shelf
    • September 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • August 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • July 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • June 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • May 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • April 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • March 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • February 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • January 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • 2019 Tours >
      • December 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • March 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • January 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • February 2019 Book Blitzes/Tours
    • 2018 Tours >
      • December 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2018 Blog Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • March 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • February 2018 Book Blitzes/Tours
      • January 2018 Blog Tour/Blitzes
    • 2017 Tours >
      • December 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • March 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • February 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • January 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • 2016 Tours >
      • December 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2016 Blog Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2016 Blog Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
  • Contact
  • A Bookworm's Inner Thoughts
  • Alexandra's Author Page

Driving Reign    Author: TG Wolff

7/5/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
The woman in the stingy hospital bed wasn’t dead. The question for Detective Jesus De La Cruz: did the comatose patient narrowly survive suicide or murder?

Faithful friends paint a picture of a guileless young woman, a victim of both crime and society. Others describe a cold woman with a proclivity for icing interested men with a single look.

Beneath the rhetoric, Cruz unearths a twisted knot of reality and perception. A sex scandal, a jilted lover, a callous director, a rainmaker, and a quid pro quo have Cruz questioning if there is such a thing as an innocent man. Truth is a strong rope, tied in a noose. As he closes in, the knot tightens, but who will pay the price? A killer or a member of Cruz’s own family?

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

EXCERPT

Chapter One


“She’s not dead.” Cleveland homicide Detective Jesus De La Cruz stood beside the hospital bed, watching the sheet over the woman’s chest rhythmically rise and fall.
“I know she’s not dead. I wouldn’t have ‘MD’ after my name if I couldn’t tell a comatose patient from a dead one.” Dr. Oscar Bollier had the ruffled look of a man above caring what society thought. He normally spoke in a tone underwritten by arrogance. Today, superiority was replaced with something Cruz couldn’t read. It was more than sad; less than desperate.
“So why am I here?”
“Because she shouldn’t be.”
The cop and the doctor met by chance, a wrong room number left on a message. Cruz had been in the bed, the right side of his face doing an imitation of dog food after the bloody night that ended his undercover narcotics career. The doctor took an interest in the cop suffering through alcohol withdrawal. He had been patient, returning daily, throwing a life preserver to the drowning man. Eventually, Cruz grabbed on.
And so, he waited with equal patience for the story of the not-dead woman to unfold.
“Her name is Sophie DeMusa. She’s a senior at Case Western Reserve University and works as a waitress at Three Witches. Do you know it?”
Cruz shook his head.
“It’s one of those hip places on Murray Hill, close to campus. She lives in the apartment below. She was found in her bedroom, nasty cut on her head, and a handful of pills in her stomach.”
The richness of the girl’s Mediterranean heritage showed through the pallor of unconsciousness. Her heart-shaped face featured the sculpted contours of a Greek or Roman maiden. Her eyes tipped up, though, nearly cat like. Exotic. Objectively beautiful.
Beauty was what it was. Not necessarily happy or healthy or stable. Beautiful people killed themselves just as often as the rest of us.
“She didn’t try to kill herself,” Bollier added, reading his mind.
Cruz mentally rolled his eyes. Maybe physically, too.
“She wasn’t the kind to take pills,” Bollier said quickly, a bite in his voice now.
“Pills didn’t cause that wound.” The side of the woman’s head was shaved, the short stubble disrupted by a line of stitches.
“She hit her head on her nightstand.”
When no further explanation came, Cruz waded in. “Since you called me, I assume you think someone other than her put those pills in her belly?”
“Someone had to at least help. She wouldn’t turn to suicide.”
Cruz exhaled slowly, searching for solid footing. If he heard it once, he heard it a hundred times. He wouldn’t do this or she would never do that. Denial was a slow, deep river. “Good people make bad decisions, Oscar. We both lived that truth. I’m sympathetic to the woman’s situation but not hearing anything needing my attention. I’m sorry she did this, but she needs a counselor, not a homicide detective. Call Dr. Edna,” he suggested, referring to Bollier’s psychiatrist friend who had been helpful to him during the Drug Head case. “She’s your better bet.”
“You’re my better bet.” Bollier turned a hundred-thousand watts of ill-tempered doctor on him. “I said she wouldn’t kill herself, you’ll have to take that as fact, and since she wouldn’t, somebody else tried to. She lives in Cleveland, she was found in Cleveland, she’s in the hospital in Cleveland. You, a Cleveland detective, need to do your damn job and find her killer.”
Cruz stood his ground, stamping out the temptation to go toe-to-toe with Bollier. Instead, he probed the reason behind the temper. “Who is she to you?”
“She’s just a girl.” His gaze dropped to her face, his expression softening. “An acquaintance.”
A lie. If anything got to him about his job, it was the number of lies. Big ones, little ones, lies of omission, of exaggeration. The lies were so old, they had their own AARP card.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it. You’re thinking too hard. You’re going to help her.” It wasn’t a question.
First the lie, now an order. Cruz fought the instinct to push back because he respected the asshole doing the pushing. “Look, Oscar, I know you don’t want to hear it, but many suicides or attempts come with a plethora of friends and family who didn’t see it coming. Mental health issues can be overlooked and explained away by the people closest. At least now, you can get her the help she needs.”
“I’m a doctor, you twit. I’ve forgotten more about suicide than you’ll ever know. One five-minute conversation and you’ve made up your mind. You’re not even going to look into the circumstances.” Bollier lifted his chin, exuding dominance and superiority. “In the years we have known each other, I have never asked for you favors or to use your position in anyway. Conversely, you have ‘picked my brain’ on your cases and asked me for connections to help you find the answers. You owe me. The entire department owes me. I’m calling in my marker. You won’t honor your obligation; I’ll call Montoya direct.”
Cruz couldn’t think for the insult coursing through his veins. His mentor, his AA sponsor, was keeping a tally? Threatening to go over his head to homicide’s commander?
Fuck peace-making.
“You son of a bitch, you can—” Words flooded him now, articulating where the arrogant fucker could shove his threats. Except, some infinitesimal part of his brain told him anything he said now, he would regret. Or worse, he wouldn’t. “No. I’m not doing this with you. I’m walking away and if you’re as smart as you claim, you won’t follow.” He stalked out the door into the busy corridor.
“She doesn’t have another option.” The pompous, white bread voice followed him down the hall. Nurses and orderlies stared as the words fell on deaf ears. “If you don’t step in, her killer gets away. I know you Jesus De La Cruz. You won’t let that happen. You won’t—”
The doors to the floor closed behind him, cutting off the sermon.
Cruz seethed as he stalked the circuitous route out of the hospital. Never in his thirty-three years on this planet had he so misjudged someone. He’d known from day one Bollier could be an asshole. He’d witnessed it, was entertained by it. Over the years, he fell into the delusion that he was immune from the tirades, that their relationship went deeper than superficial shit. He played the sap, short and simple, sitting bright-eyed and bushy-tailed waiting for the almighty Dr. Oscar Bollier to dispense bits of wisdom.

1 Comment
TG Wolff link
7/5/2020 08:20:47 pm

Hello Lodgers. This mystery was a challenge to write because Sophie Demusa refused to die. I tried killing her three times before I gave in and let the story go where it wanted. I hope you all enjoy it and let me know if you solved the mystery. Thanks for featuring Driving Reign, Alexandra.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All
    Biography/Memoir
    Chick Lit
    Children's Literature
    Christian
    Contemporary Fiction
    Contemporary Romance
    Crime/ Adventure/ Law
    Drama
    Erotic
    Family
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Historical Fiction
    Horror
    Inspirational
    LGBT
    Multicultural/ Interracial
    Mystery-thriller
    Non Fiction
    Paranormal/ Science Fiction
    Parenting
    Poetry
    Romance
    Self Help
    Spirituality
    Street Lit
    Suspense
    Urban Fantasy
    Urban Fiction
    Women's Fiction
    Young Adult

    Amazon.com - Read eBooks using the FREE Kindle Reading App on Most Devices

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
  • The Tour Stop
  • Featured Books
  • The Book Shelf
    • September 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • August 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • July 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • June 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • May 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • April 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • March 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • February 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • January 2020 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • 2019 Tours >
      • December 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • March 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • January 2019 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • February 2019 Book Blitzes/Tours
    • 2018 Tours >
      • December 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2018 Blog Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • March 2018 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • February 2018 Book Blitzes/Tours
      • January 2018 Blog Tour/Blitzes
    • 2017 Tours >
      • December 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • March 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • February 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • January 2017 Book Tours/Blitzes
    • 2016 Tours >
      • December 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • November 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • October 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • September 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • August 2016 Blog Tours/Blitzes
      • July 2016 Blog Tours/Blitzes
      • June 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • May 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
      • April 2016 Book Tours/Blitzes
  • Contact
  • A Bookworm's Inner Thoughts
  • Alexandra's Author Page