Getting so excited. Twenty days and counting until Shocking Finds (A Finder’s Keepers Novel) is released.

Fae assassins, betrayal, electric power surges and lust that won’t be denied. Find it all on Oct 26. For now, enjoy the next part of my growing short story. Get a little taste of Sam (Detective Samantha Cass)… I need to find a way for Sam and Marin to one day meet. Please remember that this piece is unedited and will only be looked through once all the prompts have been given for the month… annnndddd READ!!!

— continuation of short story, using prompt tracks… click HERE to get the prompt (words and pictures) for yourself —

Sam followed leafy trail, occasionally looking around for an oak tree. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but the leaves looked like oak leaves to her. But where in the hell had they come from. The Pier was surround by restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels. Other than that? Nothing.

Coming to the end of the trail, Sam glanced back and spotted Mastins shaking his head. She was nearly four blocks from the crime scene but surely the leaves counted as evidence. She had already screwed up by ignoring the oddly placed pumpkin patch; no ways was she dismissing the vegetation this time.

As Mastins threw his hands up in the air and turned away, Sam allowed her hands to fist and fought the very childish need to stomp her foot. Turning back to the task at hand, she slammed into one of the hottest men she had ever seen. But dammit, how had he managed to sneak up on her?

Stumbling away from the man would have been cowardly. Sam stood her ground but had to grit her teeth at the loss of presonal space. “Can I help you?”

“Actually, I’m here to help you.”

“Sir, this is a crime scene. Unless you have information on the kidnaping, I have to ask you to get behind the tape.” The words had barely left her month, as Sam realized that no one had seen fit to cordon off the area.

Someone had decided to put up yellow tape to block access to the Pier stairs but that was about it. How was she supposed to learn how to follow procedure when everyone seemed to be flying in their own direction. Gritting her teeth, Sam managed to get out, “At least stand back, and try not to mess up my scene.”

His kissable lips curved into a grin. Which was totally not fair. “Sorry Dectective. But as I was saying, I’m here to help. Names Nickolas Savien, but you can call me Nick.”

“Alright Nicky Boy. How do you plan to make my life better?”

This time Nick laughed out loud; his head thrown back, the muscles in chest clearly defined as his dress shirt stretched taunt over every delicious line. Sobering, Nick started examining the leaves as he said, “I’m from the hill area close to Ironton, Ohio. The chief thought your kidnaping looked similar to a few unsolved cases from last month. We lost three kids, no trace, but sure did have a lot of plant life to clean up.”

Sam crossed her arms over her chest and fought the need to scream. Not only was this man telling her about similar cases that had happened in another state, he was implying that Myrtle Beach more than one case of its own that could be linked to his kidnapings. Why was she receiving this information from an out of state cop, while her Mastins and the others neglected to share.

“Why don’t you go over what your department has?” Tight smile firmly in place, Sam shook out her arms and started looking for anything out of place besides the fall leaves leading away from the Pier.

Nick became her shadow as she walked up and down each side of the trail. “Not much. We had strawberries growing through concrete. Forget the fact that the fruits were out of season, they were coming up through some poor bastard’s front porch, through at least three feet of seemingly solid concrete. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Also, the second scene was this little old cabin in the woods. Found a lot of oak leaves on the ground, which made sense when you looked at the dead trees surrounding the home. But what killed the trees? What made all those leaves fall off the branches? I’ve lived in the area for a long time now, and it’s common for parts of a tree to die off, but the leaves tend to hang on even after they begin to shrivel up. There are always trees, no matter the season, standing out in the middle of green healthy trees or even winter bare ones. And they always have clumps of dead leaves that refuse to fall.”

“You’re not suggesting that the leaves from your crime scene and this trail are related? Who in the hell would drive nine, maybe ten, hours carting around crime scene evidence? Besides… look at the number of leaves. It would take an extremely large u-haul to move these. Why would-”

“I’m not suggesting that there the same leaves. But I am suggesting that we have the two samples compared.”

The smile came a little easier as Sam pulled out her phone. Who was she to deny the techs the chance to inspect the entire scene. Besides, it was Captain’s orders. Or close enough.

Sam ignored the crime techs. No one actually thought that they would find worthwhile information by picking up each and ever one of the multi-colored leaves. Everyone but Sam. With each pile removed, small indentations started to show up. “Watch you step. I want to examine the ground underneath the leaves when you’re done.”

“Oh, come one, Detective. What did we ever do to you?”

Sam looked up at the whiner, but couldn’t place his name. “This is about throwing extra work your way; I really need to see what’s under there. And I can’t do that if you guys trample all the evidence.” If the glares being thrown her way were anything to go on, they didn’t appreciate her need for a clean undamaged scene.

Mastins and the others had left hours ago, leaving Sam alone with their out of town co-worker to continue working the scene. A scene that was starting to prove interesting. Getting down on her knees, she looked at every angle. She crab walked down the side of the trail, marking the small prints with a handful of flag markers. Looking up at the whiny tech, Sam opened her mouth but the man cut her off.

“Not my first day Detective. I’m well aware that you need the marked off areas photographed and mold poured into the depressions.”

Sam would swear that the man had wanted to put a different word in there, instead of Detective, but whatever. She knew what she saw. Now she needed someone from the area to tell her if it meant anything.

Nick wondered over and held out his hand to pull her to her feet. “What’s up, Sammy Kins?”

Sam cringed. What type of person walked around handing out sappy nicknames to prefect strangers? And how did he make her want to punch him in the gut and kiss him at the same time? Straightening her spin, Sam went back to work, back to the only clue they had managed to find all day. Glancing at Nick she asked, “I don’t suppose you know if there are lemurs around here?”

“No. Why?”

She could feel that she was on the right track. Her eyes following the small marks pressed into the ground, Sam pointed out, “There are lemur track underneath our trail of leaves. And I want to know why. I also want to look for more of them, see where they went.”

Nick moved to examine the tracks a little closer. “How the hell do you know what lemur tracks look like? And why do we care? What do lemurs have to do with a missing child?”

Sam shook her head. It looked like this job assignment would include just as much weirdness as her San Francisco cases. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked to the sky. “Don’t know. I really don’t know.” Glancing at Nick she continued, “But the weird and out of place seems to follow me. And when I follow it, I get answers.”

—- Now it’s your turn… read the prompt and share your creation… muhahahaha… happy wordage, everyone… tracey