QSFer Dee Rismiller has a new sapphic paranormal mystery out: Rare Vintage.
Jessica Morgan is a gifted profiler. Some might even use the term legendary when speaking of her skills. So much so that the FBI Director takes it upon himself to call her back into service years after a personal tragedy caused her to walk away from the Bureau. Returning with her profiling skills intact and a medical degree, Agent Morgan’s task is to assess the investigation she’s assigned, profile the UNSUB (unknown subject), and deliver the profile to the investigating agents before moving on to the next case. She works tirelessly, relentlessly, and most importantly…alone.
Until now.
The Director pairs Jessica with Dr. Erin Little, a skilled forensic pathologist and an outstanding FBI agent. Erin has earned a favorable reputation during her ten years at the Bureau. Erin’s task force, assigned to find a serial killer dubbed The Slasher by the newspapers, continues to hit dead ends, prompting the Director to ignore Jessica’s rule of working alone. He puts them together, knowing their combined skills are needed to catch The Slasher and bring him to justice. As sparks fly professionally and personally, Jessica and Erin race against time to stop the serial killer before he strikes again.
Get It At Amazon | Publisher | B&N | Bookshop.org | Kobo | Apple | Smashwords | Universal Buy Link
Excerpt
FORTY-EIGHT HOURS LATER, ERIN was exhausted from re-examining the bodies of the earlier victims that had been shipped to Quantico. She also knew she wasn’t the only one feeling the investigation’s stress and strain. AD Taylor had called a meeting for that afternoon. Everyone on the taskforce, regardless of what shift they worked, was required to be in attendance.
She sat at her desk and checked her email while waiting for the appointed time to arrive. Holton came and sat on the edge of her desk with a coffee cup in hand.
“You know, Little, I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s a dangerous thing,” she quipped. “And you better have another coffee if you’re going plop your butt on my desk.”
“This one is yours,” he said with a bright smile, holding the cup out to her. “Just the way you like it—black, two sugars.”
She accepted the proffered cup and carefully sipped the steaming liquid. She suppressed a moan of pleasure. “Adequate,” she told him. It would not do to let Holton know he’d done well. He was still a rookie. After a couple more sips of the delicious coffee, Erin looked up at Holton. “Okay, so what have you been thinking about?”
“The blood.”
“What do you mean?”
Before Holton could answer, AD Taylor entered the bullpen and started the meeting. In truth, it wasn’t much of a meeting. It was simply a rehashing of everything the taskforce had investigated and a review of their working theories. Unfortunately, there was nothing new of significance to report or share with the taskforce.
After everyone was dismissed, Erin turned to her partner. “You were saying something about the blood?”
“Well, I was just wondering.”
“About what?”
“There’s a lot of blood missing from the bodies. Where is it?”
“Holton, the knife wounds explain the blood missing from the bodies.”
“Not all of it is at the crime scenes. The missing blood didn’t just evaporate into thin air.”
“Maybe the UNSUB is a vampire and drank it.” She smirked.
His eyes widened, full of alarm.
If he was too tired to recognize her jest for the joke that it was, he was overdue for some sleep. “Until we solve the case, we’re not going to know for certain.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Come on, Holton, you’re obviously sleep-deprived. Go home, Get some sleep. It’s okay to think about and wonder about these things, but don’t let the minutiae prevent you from getting sleep and taking care of yourself. You’re no good to anyone if you’re walking around half asleep anyway.”
“Little—”
“Go. Get some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She pushed him toward the elevators.
“You’re right. See you tomorrow, Little.”
Erin started to follow but stopped. She felt the pull to go back to the bullpen, so she turned back. Regardless of the time of day, some agents were always present when a taskforce was formed to work a case such as The Slasher. The mood in the bullpen was subdued due to the lack of progress and growing body count. But that wasn’t why she was there.
She stopped and looked at the closed door to one particular office. She hadn’t seen the mysterious agent since they had finished the autopsy on the most recent victim, Andrea Bishop. Something about the enigmatic agent intrigued Erin, something she couldn’t put her finger on. A good investigator didn’t rush to conclusions without evidence, and Erin was nothing if not a good investigator. Nor was she a coward.
Erin took a deep breath, marched to the closed door, and knocked.
“Come in,” came from inside.
She opened the door and saw Agent Morgan sitting at the worktable in the room. The walls were covered with grim crime-scene photos. The desk and worktable were overflowing with stacks of file folders, reports, and even more photos.
The fact that Morgan had obviously been holed up in the office for over forty-eight hours didn’t diminish the woman’s attractiveness. Though a bit creased, her suit still snugly fit the toned form of the agent. Her dark, shoulder-length hair had lost none of its shininess. And her captivating gray eyes were still alert and bright, though a tenseness surrounded her mouth and eyes. Even so, she smiled warmly at Erin when she looked up.
“Ah, Agent Little, you have great timing.”
“Oh?”
“I need your expert opinion on something.”
“What can I help you with?”
“I’ve got some autopsy reports I’d like you to look over for me, if you don’t mind.”
“All right.” Erin slipped off her jacket and set her briefcase down on the end of the worktable. She opened it, took out a folder, and gave it to Morgan. “Here are my findings regarding the last re-examinations of the earlier victims. Unfortunately, there’s nothing new to report. Sorry.”
“Not your fault.” Morgan handed her a file folder.
“Is there something specific I’m looking for in these reports?”
Morgan shook her head. “I don’t want to bias you. In the meantime, can I get you something to drink? I can offer you bottled water or hot tea,” she said with a gesture to the small square refrigerator in the corner next to the desk and the coffeemaker sitting on top of it.
“Tea would be fine.”
While Erin began to read the autopsy reports, Jess prepared two mugs of hot tea. Both women sipped their drinks while they reviewed their respective reports.
It wasn’t long before she saw why Jess had asked her to review the autopsy reports. After an initial, quick review, Erin felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. She then went back through the reports slowly and carefully to make sure. She set the last report down and closed the folder on the table. “Oh god,” she whispered. She looked up and met Morgan’s eyes.
“So I’m not crazy?” Morgan asked quietly.
Erin shook her head.
Author Bio
Dee was born in California and raised in Iowa. After two years in college, she served in the US Navy from 1981 to 1985. Upon leaving the service, she held a couple different jobs, until settling in as a financial fraud investigator in the banking industry. Over the years she’s lived in Georgia, Virginia, and Delaware. Currently, Dee is retired, single, and living in Corpus Christi, TX.