UPDATE: The winner is…Katherine Horvath!
*~*~*
I hate running up to a deadline and losing sleep over whether I’ll get to “The End” of a book on time, but it happens more often than I’d like. I finished yesterday! Not today, so I actually had a day to spare. That’s only because I looked at today’s forecast and saw a bunch of rain and thunderstorms heading our way, and I was worried about there being a power outage in the middle of my run to the finish line! There’s nothing like adrenaline to fuel the race to the finish. 🙂
Anyway, I made it. The book is locked in. If you pre-order the bitch, er, book, you’ll have it sometime late Monday night.
I love my bounty hunters in Dead Horse, Montana. I’m not sure, but Malcolm may be the last unless I miss my cast of characters so much that I have to revisit them. That could definitely happen. For sure, we’ll see them now and then popping in to help out at the new MBH office in West Yellowstone. I like my MONTANA bounty hunters but after Yellowstone…? I may have to rebrand and set up an office in Wyoming or Texas or somewhere else I can build myself a crazy little town like Dead Horse. It’s been a ride. The one bright spot is that I do have my We Are Dead Horse, MT series to satisfy my need to see more of Nadine (my crotchety waitress in the Dead Man Walk-in Diner).
You can “meet” the hero, Malcolm, here. It’s a fun excerpt at the opening of the story. Below, I’ve included an excerpt that showcases my heroine, who’s also a bounty hunter. The book talks about the new office in Yellowstone that they’re getting ready to open. You also get hints about who might be hired to join them. Their first hire is someone who’s appeared in a couple of the Dead Horse stories.
Malcolm
MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: DEAD HORSE, MT
Authentic Men… Real Adventures…
Two fiercely independent bounty hunters, newly hired by the Montana Bounty Hunters, must learn to trust each other’s abilities as they work together to bring in a dangerous skip.
Former SEAL Malcolm Winslow was looking for a change. He’s been bounty hunting on his own since leaving the teams and has missed the camaraderie of fellow warriors, so he accepts a job with the Montana Bounty Hunters. His first hunt takes a turn when the MBH team discovers that another lone hunter has found their target first. Not wanting to infringe, they stand by just in case their competition needs help.
Darleen Crockett has things well in hand. Sure, she’s alone, without a weapon (because where would she hide it in her skimpy outfit?), and the skip she’s determined to take down is one mean MF, but Darleen likes to ride that dangerous edge between victory and disaster. She’s an admitted adrenaline junkie.
When her skip attacks, she has things well in hand but is suddenly rescued by a rugged, tattooed man who makes her heart pitter-patter. What’s up with that? She’s quickly recruited by Malcolm’s agency and finds herself on the biggest hunt of her career. Denying her attraction to her temporary new partner isn’t possible when they spend so many hours alone, but what she doesn’t expect is finding something more with the equally footloose and independent Malcolm. Things get thorny between them when Malcolm can’t seem to get past the fact she’s a woman to trust that she can handle herself.
When the agency prepares to track an old adversary preparing to flee justice, Malcolm and Darleen are quickly folded into the team heading to Lander, Wyoming, to find their dangerous skip.
Excerpt from Malcolm…
Our heroine, Darleen, is inside an isolated cabin with her target, his girlfriend, and the skip’s best friend, waiting for the right moment to take Cameron Kitchens into custody. She saw someone peek into the window and suspects another hunter is trying to scoop (steal) her skip…
“Where you goin’?” Cam growled.
“Too much beer,” she said, rubbing her belly. “Thought I’d use your bathroom.”
He grunted but sat back in his chair, his glare moving to Paulie.
She crossed the kitchen to the bedroom and beyond it to the bathroom. Once inside, she turned on the faucet to mask the sound of her sliding up the small window. Then she climbed on the toilet and went headfirst out of the window, breaking her fall with her hands. When she stood and shook leaves from her hair, she found herself staring into the dark, curious eyes of none other than Chase Kudrow. She’d have known him anywhere because she’d laughed herself silly at his and Cowboy’s antics whenever she’d had time to catch their cable TV show.
She groaned softly as he raised a single eyebrow.
“Our little hunter snuck out the window,” he whispered, no doubt signaling to the bearded man she’d seen in the window.
She leaned close to speak into his earpiece. “I snuck out because some knucklehead let himself be seen. I came out here to tell you guys to back off.”
Chase chuckled softly. “We’re just here in case you need us. Cameron Kitchens has a short temper and hard fists.”
“You think I can’t handle him?”
Chase looked her up and down. “Just where are you hiding your piece, sweetheart?”
“I’m heading to my car to get it now,” she said. “I’ll stash it close by.”
Chase bent, pushed up the leg of his jeans, then slid a small handgun from a holster he had strapped to his ankle. “You don’t have time now. How long do you think you have before he gets curious about why it’s taking you so long to pee?” Chase froze, tilted his head, and his eyes narrowed. “Malcolm says Kitchens just headed to the bedroom. You’re about to be busted.” His eyebrows rose. “You want our help?”
She grimaced. “Have your Malcolm go through the front door after you boost me back inside.”
He gave her a nod. “You hear that, Malcolm?” he said as he bent and cupped his hands together. When she stepped onto his laced fingers, he lifted her easily to the windowsill, and she climbed back inside, turned off the water, and stuffed the gun into the waistband of her shorts at her back.
When she swung open the door, Cam rushed her, one hand going to her throat and the other gripping her hip. “Why the hell are you really here?”
She wrinkled her nose and stretched her neck. “Let go, and I’ll tell you, asshole.”
Beyond the bathroom, a loud crash sounded from the living room, and heavy footsteps thudded inside. The cavalry had arrived, and none too soon. Still, she wasn’t going to let them get her skip. She might have to share the bounty, but Cameron Kitchens was hers.
With his hand tightening on her throat, her vision was narrowing. She reached behind her for the weapon tucked into her waistband, then shoved the nozzle against his side.
He froze for a moment, and his eyes narrowed to terrifying slits like he was pondering whether he could outlast her or whether she’d have the guts to pull the trigger.
But the pounding through the living room was getting louder and closer. He snarled, released her throat and hip, and raised his hands a second before a large, bearded man, Malcolm, she assumed, threw an arm around his neck and torso and dragged him into the bedroom.
She tried to tell him she already had it handled, but her throat wasn’t cooperating. She couldn’t get out more than a croak. So, she waved her handgun, or rather Chase’s, just so he’d know she hadn’t been defenseless.
Malcolm shook his head and took Cameron to the ground with a heavy whomp that shook the floorboards. Then he drove a fist into the man’s side. “You don’t choke ladies.”
“She ain’t a fucking lady,” Cam said, his voice tight and little breathless.
Darleen had to admit that seeing the big guy with his knee on Cameron’s ass after he’d flipped him to get his wrists into cuffs was a satisfying sight.
Contest
Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Let me know if you’ve read any of my Montana Bounty Hunter stories, and whether you’d like to read more stories set in West Yellowstone, Montana!
Malcolm Winslow knew he stood out in this crowd. How could he not? With his longish, uncombed hair, thick beard, and the tattoos displayed by the rolled-up sleeves of his plaid shirt, not to mention the fact he was armed and wore a Kevlar vest, he drew every eye the second he entered the fancy barn that was lit up like the Fourth of July.
