Guest Interview

Check out my interview at: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/showthread.php?2456-Shining-the-SPOTLIGHT-on-Kenneth-Hoss

Another Teaser from Storm Warning - excerpt from chapter two

Thursday October 14^th 8:17 A.M. Washington Heights

West 174^th Street – Apartment of Jorge Gonzales

    Kelli approached the dingy five-story tenement and pushed the front door open. Some security. No wonder this guy got robbed. She walked over to the stairs and looked up.  Gonzalez lived on the top floor, and of course this building had no elevator. Not like I couldn’t use the exercise, though I did get plenty last night. A grin crept onto her face at the thought of Kevin and the previous nights events.

    She started up the stairs and as she neared the second floor, gunshots rang out from one of the higher floors, followed by several screams and shouts.  She drew her Glock, moved to the outside of the stairwell for better cover, and slowly edged up the stairs. By the time she reached the second floor landing, the screaming and shouting had stopped.

    Kelli moved quicker now, taking the steps two at a time. When she reached the third floor, she heard a familiar voice shout “Clear” from somewhere above. That was Williams. At least I know he’s okay, but what about Dickerson? “Derrick, this is Kelli. You guys okay up there?”

    “Yeah, both of us are good. What the hell you doing here anyway?”

    “The boss sent me over after you guys left, figured you would appreciate having an extra set of hands,” she shouted, not reacting to the annoyance in his voice. “What the hell happened up there?”

    “Some dumbass punk had to take a shot at Jon and me. It’s all clear now, you can come on up.”

Kelli holstered her Glock and bounded up the stairs. When she topped the landing of the fifth floor, Williams and Dickerson were waiting for her. She looked from Williams to Dickerson and back. “You guys okay?”

    Williams nodded. “Sure, stupid fuck missed. Jon here took him down with the first shot,” he said, slapping Dickerson on the back.

    “Yeah, dumb motherfucker came out of an apartment down the hall just as we were leaving. Guess he saw mine or Derrick’s badge and lost it,” Dickerson said, shaking his head.

    “Hey, it was a good shoot, Jon,” Kelli said, seeing that it was bothering him. “It’s not like he gave you a choice.”

    He nodded and pulled out his cell phone. “I guess I’d better get this called in,” he said, as he punched in some numbers.

Sample Sunday - from Chapter 9 of Storm Rising

CHAPTER NINE

Tuesday August 25th, 10:17 A.M. Queens, New York

45th Street - Apartment of Pamela Dawkins

  Two sector cars arrived within minutes of Bill’s call. The EMT’s arrived shortly after. Kelli had the officers secure the scene while she and Bill checked out the woman’s apartment. The door was still locked and intact when they arrived, and they got the super to open it for them.

  After checking the apartment, she and Bill went back to the roof. Several crime techs were busy collecting evidence and taking pictures. The EMT’s had already removed the woman and rushed her to Elmhurst Hospital. She and Bill approached the lead tech.

  “Did you find anything that looks like it might belong to our perp,” she asked.

  The man turned and shook his head. “There’s a lot of garbage up here. We’ll bag it all and get it back to the lab. I’ve got one of my people going over to the hospital to collect the victims clothes and any other trace.”

  Kelli nodded and turned to Bill. “Okay partner, there’s not much for us to do here. Let’s head over to the hospital and check on our girl.”

Tuesday August 25th, 11:08 A.M. Elmhurst, New York

 Elmhurst Hospital Emergency Room

  Kelli and Bill walked into the bustling emergency room. It was surprisingly busy for so early in the day. Kelli looked around for the two officers that had followed the ambulance from the scene and located them standing at the end of a crowded hallway.

  It wasn’t clear if their victim would make it. The EMT’s at the scene had done all they could, but the woman had been stabbed multiple times. It reminded Kelli of Maria, except for the fact that Pamela was still alive.

  The two officers were facing away from Kelli, talking to one of the ER nurses. Kelli could see that the younger of the two was writing something in a notepad. Probably getting her number for later.

  “How’s our girl doing,” she asked as she got within earshot.

  The older officer wheeled about, surprised. “Oh, hey detective. Uh, they have her in surgery now. We were just waiting for someone to let us know.”

  “Well, you two can take off. My partner and I will take it from here.”

  The older officer looked from Kelli to Bill, and back again. “Sure, no problem. Come on kid, I guess we’d better get back on the street.”

  The younger officer turned his head toward the other officer. “Yeah, just give me a minute,” he said, and turned his attention back to the nurse.

  The senior officer looked at Kelli and shrugged. “What can I say? We weren’t here ten minutes before the kid here starts making eyes at this nurse. Next thing I know, he’s making a date.”

  “Hey, none of my business,” she said. “So who’s the surgeon?”

  “The nurse said it was Doctor Weintraub. She said he was one of the best.”

Kelli ran a hand through her hair, rested it at the back of her neck, and sighed. “She’s going to need it.”

Tuesday August 25th, 2:47 P.M. Elmhurst, New York

 Elmhurst Hospital – ICU

  The woman, their witness turned victim, was hooked up to an array of machines. Doctor Weintraub told Kelli it was sheer luck Pamela had survived. Her attacker had come within an inch of piercing the woman’s heart. She had been very lucky.

  Kelli stood outside the room, looking through the plate glass. The woman had been too afraid to talk at the club and now Kelli could see why. What in the fuck is going on at that club? We’ve got one dead woman and another lying in a hospital.

  She saw Bill’s reflection in the glass. He was coming up behind her holding two steaming cups of coffee. She turned when he got closer. “Thanks Bill, I could use a cup right about now.”

  “Yeah, I kind of thought so. This is turning in to one fucked up case. What do you make of it?”

  Kelli shook her head. “I have no idea. The only person that might be able to tell us anything is lying unconscious in there,” she said, thumbing to the ICU room behind her.

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