Ivan coupe, a detective must find a way to save Clara Nest as he gets involved in the murder trail following her. Alongside his boss Mr Bolton in his quest he gets tangled in a lot more confusing drama, but will they be able to clear Clara's name and find the culprit?
After I first set my eyes on Clara Nest, as soon as I opened the front door and she was coming up the five steps to the stoop, she looked like a problem, though only a minor one compared to what followed.
At this very moment I was unemployed. During the years I worked for Jake Bolton and lived under his roof, I have quit my job and also been fired about the same number of times, say fifteen or twenty. Mostly we have been letting things slip by, but most times we have meant it, more or less, and that Saturday evening in July I was so fed up, I couldn't take it anymore. The main dish at dinner had been sauced steak, which both Bolton and Larry know I didn't like so much and can get along without, and we had left the dining room and crossed the hall to the office, and Larry had brought yea and Bolton had poured it, and I had said, "By the way, I told Jerry I'd phone and confirm his appointment for tomorrow noon."
And Bolton had said , "No. Please cancel it." He picked up his phone which he was previously on.
I sat in my working chair and looked across his desk at him. Since he weighs an eighth of a ton he always looks big, but when he's being unpleasant he looks even bigger. "Do you presume it possible," I asked, " that the steak has a bloating effect?"
"No indeed," he said, and stared back at his phone
If I had been a camel and the phone had been a straw you could have heard my spine crack. He knew darned well he shouldn't have picked up his phone until we had finished with the tea. I put my cup down. "I am aware," I said, "that you are sitting pretty. The bank balance is fat enough for months of paying Larry and Andy and me, and buying steak and beer in car lots and adding more orchids to the fifteen thousand you've already got. I'll even grant that a private detective has a right to refuse to take a case with or without a reason, But as I told you before dinner, this Jerry is known to me, and he asked me as a personal favour to get him ten minutes with you, and I told him to come by twelve o'clock tomorrow noon, If you're determined not to work because you tax bracket is already too high, okay, all you have to do is to tell him no. He'll be here at twelve".
He was holding his phone and his eyes were on it, but he spoke. "You know quite well, Ivan, that I must be consulted on appointments. Did you owe this man any sort of favor?"
"I do now that he has asked me for one and I said yes."
"Did you owe any one before?"
"No."
"Then you are committed but I am not. Since I wouldn't take the job it would waste his time and mine, Phone him to not come. Tell him that I have other important engagements."
So I quit. I admit that on some other occasions my quitting had been merely a threat, to push him into seeing reason, but not that time. When a mule plants it's feet a certain way there's no use trying to budge it. I swiveled, got my memo pad, wrote on it, yanked the sheet off, got up and crossed to his desk, and handed him the sheet.
"That's Jerry's number," I told him. "If you're too busy to phone him not to come, Larry can. I'm through. I'll stay with some of my friends tonight and come tomorrow for all my stuff."
His eyes had slowly left the book to glare at me. "Pfui," he said.
"I agree," I said. "Absolutely." I turned and marched out. I do not say that as I got my hat from the rack hall my course was nearly mapped for the next twenty years, or even twenty hours. Bolton owned the house but he didn't own everything in it, for the furniture in my room and on the second floor had beed bought and paid for by me. All those would have to wait until I found a place to move it to, but I would get my clothes and other items tomorrow, and would I come for them before twelve o'clock and learn from Larry whether a visitor whose name was Jerry was expected, or qould it be a better strategy to come in the evening and learn if Jerry had been admitted and given his ten minutes? Facing that problem as I pulled the door open and walked myself out, I was immediately confronted by another one unknown to me. A female was coming up the five steps to the stoop.
Unexpected drama arises as mysteries begin to unveil in Dark Hollow. Luna and Lydia on their quest to find answers and solutions find more than they expected and they must keep the balance between good and evil.
They don't know I'm a girl. They all look at me and see a boy. A prince. Their kind purchase humans like me for their lustful desires. And, when they stormed into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervened to protect her. I made them take me too. The plan was to escape with my sister whenever we found a chance. How was I to know our prison would be the most fortified place in their kingdom? I was supposed to be on the sidelines. The one they had no real use for. The one they never meant to buy. But then, the most important person in their savage land-their ruthless beast king-took an interest in the "pretty little prince." How do we survive in this brutal kingdom, where everyone hates our kind and shows us no mercy? And how does someone, with a secret like mine, become a lust slave? . AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is a dark romance-dark, mature content. Highly rated 18+ Expect triggers, expect hardcore. If you're a seasoned reader of this genre, looking for something different, prepared to go in blindly not knowing what to expect at every turn, but eager to know more anyway, then dive in! . From the author of the international bestselling book: "The Alpha King's Hated Slave."
"Love is blind!" Lucinda abandoned her beautiful and comfortable life because of a man. She married him and slaved off for him for three long years. One day, the scales finally fell off her eyes. She realized that all her efforts were in vain. Her husband, Nathaniel still treated her like shit. All he cared about was his lover. "Enough is enough! I quit wasting my years with an ungrateful man!" Lucinda's heart was shattered into many pieces, but she summoned up the courage to ask for a divorce. The news caused a stir online! A filthy rich young woman recently got divorced? She was a good catch! Countless CEOs and handsome young men immediately swarmed to her like bees to honey! Nathaniel couldn't take it anymore. He held a press conference and begged with teary eyes, "I love you, Lucinda. I can't live without you. Please come back to me." Would Lucinda give him a second chance? Read to find out!
After three years of loveless marriage, Kira was slapped with divorce papers. She has shown him her unrequited love throughout her entire marriage with him, but he decided to turn blind eyes all because of his lover. Distraught and heartbroken, Kira choose to sign the divorce papers with bitter heart. But then and there, she promised herself that when she's back, he will come crawling to her, but she will make him pay for hurting her. Join Kira as she transform to a wealthy heiress and soared as the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar empire, a remarkable healer and make her ex-husband pay!
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"
Natalie used to think she could melt Connor’s icy heart, but she was sorely mistaken. When at last she decided to leave, she discovered that she was pregnant. Even so, she chose to quietly leave his world, prompting Connor to mobilize all of his resources and expand his business to a global scale—all in a bid to find her. But there was no trace of Natalie. Connor slowly spiraled into madness, turning the city upside down and leaving chaos in his wake. Natalie finally surfaced years later, with wealth and power of her own, only to find herself entangled with Connor once again.