Hi all!
Jean is one of my favorite authors. Welcome!
About the book: Sheriff Piper Blackwell’s three-day vacation with old Army buddies ends in tragedy. At the same time, a vile hate crime along a county road enrages her department. Their forces divided, Piper and her deputies must solve both cases before tensions boil and threaten the rural fabric of Spencer County, Indiana. Only eight months on the job, the young sheriff must weave together clues to uncover both a killer and a secret that could scar her soul.
“Piper Blackwell is a smart and capable small-town sheriff, a thoroughly modern woman who leads a colorful cast of characters in this entertaining read. Well-crafted and suspenseful, THE DEAD OF JERUSALEM RIDGE adroitly threads the needle between Cozy, Procedural, and Action-Thriller. Jean Rabe’s fans⸺both old and new⸺won’t want to miss this one.
⸺ Baron R. Birtcher, multi-award winner, and LA Times Bestselling author
Excerpt 15
“Sheriff Blackwell?” Zeke stuck his head in the doorway. “Can I get you another coffee?”
“I’m good.”
“Do you need—”
“I’ll holler.”
The phone rang and he disappeared.
Piper watched the video again.
One more time.
And then she watched it again after that.
She rubbed her eyes, finished the second cup of coffee, stopped in the restroom, went for a third cup, and told an inquisitive Zeke that she was still doing all right. She watched him take a 9-1-1 call.
“What is your emergency?” Zeke used his professional-sounding voice. It was on speaker, so Piper could hear the woman on the other end, saw the caller ID: Jennifer Morris. “How can I help you, Jennifer?” Zeke’s fingers keyed the software to pinpoint her location. Another keystroke would dispatch a sheriff’s deputy or an officer from the Santa Claus or Rockport police departments if it was within one of those towns. His finger hovered over that key.
“I’m not Jeni. My parents took away my cell phone. I’m here at school and I had to call you using Jeni’s. I need my cell phone back. That’s the emergency. That’s why I called.”
The point of origin of the call was the high school. Zeke did not send a car.
“Who am I talking to?” Zeke continued.
Piper was pleased with her dispatcher, a good hire. He was eighteen and had wanted to be a deputy, but he was a few years short of the required age. Instead, she had given him the dispatcher job. He was also a tech guru, and therefore a truly good hire.
“Crystal. My name’s Crystal.”
“Crystal—”
“Just Crystal. I go by Crystal.”
“I need your last name, Crystal.”
She made a huffing sound.
“Crystal Ann Bardimosi. B-A-R-D-I-M-O-S-I.”
Piper smiled. An uncommon last name, they should be able to track down the home address rather easily.
“Crystal, I see that you called 9-1-1 Thursday with the same complaint. And the Tuesday before that.” Piper watched him scroll up a screen. Those calls had come in after three, and Teegan had fielded them. “And Friday, too, pretty late in the evening.”
“Yeah, I did, and the b— lady who answered my call wouldn’t send anybody. But I can’t go any longer without my cell phone. I’ll just die if I don’t get my cell phone. I’ll just die, you understand? I need you to make my parents give it back. Arrest them if they won’t cough it up. It is theft, you know. A crime.”
“Crystal, this line is for emergencies,” Zeke returned. “And your cell phone—”
“—is most certainly an emergency!” Crystal’s voice rose in obvious irritation. “And I’ll call you again and again and again until you do something about it. And again and again and again. I’m not kidding.”
“Tell her we’ll send someone out right away,” Piper said softly.
“Hang on, Crystal. Can you tell me what class you’re in? The room number? We’ll get someone over there immediately.”
“Old man Denby’s history class. But the phone is at my house, not here at school. Gotta go. Old man Denby’s coming back from the john.” Crystal disconnected.
“We’ll take it,” Piper told him. “Don’t ping Rockport. It’s their jurisdiction, but they’ll ignore it.”
Zeke dispatched a deputy. “Stop at the principal’s office for an escort to Mr. Denby’s history class,” he radioed. “Pick up a Crystal Bardimosi. B-A-R-D-I-M-O-S-I. On a charge of—” He looked at Piper.
“Disrupting Public Services.”
“Disrupting Public Services,” Zeke radioed. “She’s a habitual 9-1-1 caller for frivolous complaints.” He smiled at Piper. “Hope that’ll teach her. Can’t use 9-1-1 for stuff like that, could interrupt a real emergency.”
“After she’s brought in, I’ll call the parents,” Piper said.
“You really going to charge her? Lock her up?”
“Probably not, but I’ll scare her.” Piper shrugged. “We’ll see if Crystal’s attitude changes when we get her in here, and see if her parents can calm her down. I’m going to send some kind of message to the girl regarding the use of 9-1-1. Now, I gotta get back to the video.”
“If you need any—”
“I’ll holler.”
What had she missed from the video?
About the author: My home is filled with dogs and books. Lots of dogs and books. I wear worn out sandals to work every day. I’m a mystery writer living in a tiny Midwestern town that has a gas station, a Dollar General, and a marvelous pizza place with exceedingly slow service. I am always working on a new project or three. I have forty-some books published in the fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy and mystery genres. But I’m concentrating on mysteries now. In my spare time I dabble in roleplaying games and boardgames. And at every opportunity, I toss tennis balls to my cadre of dogs.
Find The Dead of Jerusalem Ridge here:
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My web page: www.jeanrabe.com
I am on Twitter at: @jeanerabe
My Amazon author page at: https://www.amazon.com/Jean-Rabe/e/B00J1QR5U2/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1
I have a newsletter filled with tidbits about weird news items, pics of my dogs, discussions of upcoming books, reviews of things I’m reading, and writing advice. You can subscribe here: http://jeanrabe.us14.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=89364515308e8b5e7ffdf6892&id=9404531a4b
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