Sunday Snippet: Feeling Alive

Well, the end of June is going to be a welcome sight for me. It's been a long month and yet somehow flew by in a blink.

Work projects are finally slowing down a little and I feel like I can breathe again. I have to play catch-up on some things that I had to let slide while trying to get through the bulk of my work. Hopefully, I'll get back to some cleaning projects and get more writing done.

Actually made it through all of my shows and finished up two that I had on the back burner. We had a lot of rain and some severe storms, but the power stayed on, so I got a lot watched.

Watched another episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and it's one I always look forward to. I love getting into Phyrne's history and her time in France explains so much about her.

Enjoyed another episode of Art Detectives. Nice to have a little backstory for the characters. Also enjoyed the mystery of this one. Messy rock-star drama added a nice twist.

Caught another Death in Paradise episode … possibly the one hundredth ep because Camile made an appearance. Excellent throwback to the very first episode also.

Watched another Poirot episode where he's either still on holiday or taking another one. I had seen most of this episode before and it's nice to have all the pieces fall into place.

Enjoyed an episode of Elementary. Interesting to see Gregson decide to stay with the eleventh and Iiked him seeking Joan's help with vetting his possible replacement. The overarching mystery also ended up being nice and twisty.

Caught another episode of Batman Beyond. I remembered this one and liked the team-up of Terry and Max. Bruce had some good lines in this episode.

I think I finished up the Classic Rugrats rewatch. I might go back and make sure I didn't end up skipping a season or two. I'll probably switch over the new episodes.

Finally finished up the episode of Peak Practice I started a while ago. Did not expect to see Sam propose even though I knew it would happen at some point.

Also finished up the second episode of Reacher. Gotta say, I really love this show. Glad I have several more seasons to view!

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Feeling Alive, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the miniblurb:

Maddox loses her partner in a bomb explosion and shuts down emotionally. Wakefield arrives to interrogate Maddox about his brother's death, but she refuses to discuss the trauma. She ends up in another explosive situation and Wake finally breaks through Maddox's defenses, but he also opens the floodgates, which may get both killed.

And a snippety peek…

Wake stood outside the precinct building. "Damn, bro. How the hell do I do this?" He'd spent the however many days since he'd returned stateside dealing with his brother's estate—Avery left Maddox half his life insurance—and needing answers to the point he didn't know which way to turn.

Heaving a sigh, he started up the steps. "The only two things I know are my brother is dead, and I was in a motherfucking hot zone when it happened." The fucking irony smacked him between the eyes.

Avery getting killed by an IED and Wake being in an area where the entire countryside ended up being littered with them? The odds had to be astronomical of that happening, right? The answer might give Wake nightmares.

Wake headed up to Avery's former CO's office. He wanted answers and might as well start at the top.

Ray Garvey ushered Wake into his office and shut the door. "It's good to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances. Your brother talked about you a lot."

Wake lifted his chin. "Same. Avery loved this team. Spoke highly of all of you." He should probably get right to the reason he'd stopped by. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened. Can you shed any light on things?"

Garvey's open countenance swiftly changed to cagey. "I'd suggest you talk to his partner, Detective Maddox Reed." He folded his arms over his chest.

Wake raked a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Tried to call her. Several times." He even sent a text. "She's not answering." And he really needed to tell her about the insurance.

He didn't want the lawyers to handle the notification.

The CO sighed. "Look, try the Swirling Swine over on Eighth. She's had a rough time of it lately and goes there to blow off steam."

Wake nodded and turned toward the door.

Garvey stopped him. "Don't tell her I sent you. She's got no idea I know she hangs out there. Maybe tell her Avery mentioned the place to you."

Wake arched his brows. "Is it a problem for her to be there?"

The CO shook his head. "No. But she's been like a ghost since Avery's death. The rest of the squad has started calling her Reed the Robot. I followed her a couple of times to keep an eye on her." He shrugged. "I really don't want to lose another detective."

Wake grunted. "Fair point." He gave Garvey a nod and left.

This story is coming together better than I'd hoped. I think I'm getting a good handle of Wake.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin