Beaten, shot, car bombed. Why? Love, of course!! Mystery Romance by Mike Faricy

Dev Haskell - Private Investigator Series

 Case 1: Russian Roulette

by Mike Faricy

Beaten, shot, car bombed, and as if things couldn't get any worse, used as a human shield!

Dev Haskell, Private Investigator, just woke up next to his client without the foggiest notion she's signed him up with the Russian mob. 

Why is Dev going through all this?
Love, of course. Well, at least that's what he's telling himself and their 'special' relationship quickly places him at odds with the FBI task force investigating human trafficking. On the hunt for answers, Dev finds himself with a foot on both sides of the law.

Excerpt

Sitting at The Spot I decided it might be time for a little Come-to-Jesus chat with my client, Kerri Mathias. I didn’t necessarily mind looking into things that were on the far side of the law, but it would be nice to know what I was getting into before I got into it. I didn’t like surprises in my business.

“Let me talk to Kerri, please.” I added the please as an afterthought.

“She’s busy right now. Perhaps I could share a few items of interest that might allow you to broaden your horizon…” she said, a couple of telltale hisses in her pronunciation.

“Da’nita?” I guessed.

“Who this? Wilson, is that you?”

“No, actually it’s me, Dev?”

“Dev? Oh, Devil, how you been, baby?”

“Thanks for your concern. I’m doing just fine.”

“Look, I’ll have Kerri call you back. Unless, like I said, you might want to broaden your horizon, you know.”

“Sweet of you, Da’nita, but I need to get hold of Kerri. If you can just have her call me that would be fine.”

“You sure? I could show you things that…”

“No doubt you could. I appreciate your effort. But I just need to talk with Kerri. Okay?”

“All right, if you say so. I’ll give her the message. She’s got your number?”

“Yeah, she does. At least I think she does. You got a pen? Let me give you my number just in case.”

I gave Da’nita my number, then hung up, and tapped my fingers on the bar wondering what next. I didn’t have to wait long. My phone rang before I had another sip of beer. As always I attempted to read the incoming number and as always, failed. I was going to have to get a pair of cheaters.

“Haskell Investigations.”

It was Kerri. I thought I could smell her perfume through the phone.

“How are you, Dev? Have you found Nikki?”

“Amazingly no, I haven’t. At least not yet. But I’ve come up with a lot of questions. Can we get together and go over some things?”

“What kind of things?”

I wasn’t going to get into anything with Kerri while I was in The Spot bar. And I certainly wasn’t going to get into anything with her over the phone. I like to watch people when they lie to me.

“Just some general background info that might speed things up. Can we get together tonight?”

“I wish we could but I have, ahhh, an appointment that will probably be late.”

I didn’t need any detail on the appointment.

“How about breakfast tomorrow?” I asked. I thought I detected the slightest pause.

“Yes, I guess that would work.”

“You just tell me where and when,” I said, trying to hide my surprise.

“You know Bon Vie?” she asked.

It took me a moment, but I did. It was almost within sight of my front porch and didn’t have a bar, which may have explained my pause. Other than McDonalds, I don’t frequent many food establishments without a bar.

“Yeah, sure, perfect. What time?”

“Noon would be best,” she said.

“Noon?”

“Yes, twelve o’clock, noon. Does that work for you, Dev?”

“It does, I’ll see you there.”

I hung up and phoned Aaron to check on what he had found out on Kerri’s car. I ended up leaving a message.

A few beers later I thought about dinner and then after dinner. Fortified by the beer I placed a couple of calls and ended up leaving messages at both numbers. I wasn’t exactly feeling like Mr. Popular.

I woke up sometime after three the following morning. Bourbon and a book will do that to me. I’d been sleeping in my favorite reading chair, which was great for reading and not the best for sleeping. My body felt like a bent piece of plumbing pipe and I stretched and groaned on the way to bed. My joints sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies; snap, crackle, and pop.

I stumbled out of the bathroom sometime after nine in the morning and noticed the message light blinking on my phone. The first voicemail was from Pam, one of my attempted post-dinner dates from the night before.

“Hi. Look, Dev, thanks for the invite, but I really wish you wouldn’t call me… umm… ever again. I’m very happy with my life now that you’re not in it, and I would prefer that I never, ever hear from you. Hope everything is going okay. Bye.”

I pushed the delete button and made a mental note not to offer Pam the opportunity to enjoy an evening of my witty comments followed by mad, passionate debauchery. Which was screwier, Pam’s message or my calling her in the first place?

Next message.

“Hey dipshit, you there? Call me I think I got something that might interest you. Grab that photo you showed me too, will you?”

It was Aaron. I called him back, left a message in response to his, then padded into the kitchen and made some coffee. He phoned back a minute or two later, just as I was pouring my first cup.

“Haskell Investigations.”

“Christ, you sound barely awake. You keeping banker’s hours over there? How soon can you meet me?”

“I’m just finishing up a meeting,” I said.

“Yeah, right. Look, get dressed and meet me at the morgue in thirty minutes. I got something for you.”

“The morgue? That doesn’t sound good.”

“Don’t forget to bring that photo with you. See you there,” Aaron said and hung up.

I poured my coffee into a travel mug, sipped as I got dressed, topped the travel mug off and headed out the door.

Russian Roulette buying link

Newest release in the series--- 

 

Case 6: Last Shot

Private Investigator Dev Haskell decides the best thing he can do is turn down Desi Quinn's request for help. He's not the guy to get involved in a long term investigation that's guaranteed to cost Desi a small fortune and offers little promise of a result. That's before events take a turn for the worse.

Now Dev has a debt to pay but how can low-rent-loser Pauley Kopff be teamed up with squeaky-clean Citizen of the Year, Gaston Driscoll? Not to mention an exotic dancer named Brandi, a born again Swindle Lawless and a Detective Norris Manning adding to the chaos. Dev lets go only to grab a bigger piece, but every time he thinks he's found the answer more questions arise.

Between the humor and sex, Dev gets deadly serious, after all, it is his Last Shot.




Mike's Faricy's  Amazon author page
http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Faricy/e/B004DBU1QA/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1382903285&sr=1-2-ent

Holiday Heroes Anthology

Start the Dev Haskell with this great Holiday Box Set Deal!!!

Celebrate the season by escaping with a hero. Here is a collection of four novels - each with a different type of hero: A Pirate, A Private Investigator, A Soldier and A Cowboy. Sit down by the fire, drink a hot cup of cocoa and enjoy...


Holiday Heroes buying link

Book 1: Quintspinner: A Pirate's Quest by Dianne Greenlay
A secret and unauthorized trip through the chaos of a 1717 London marketplace takes a bizarre twist for 16 year old Tess. Unexpectedly witnessing the murder of a renowned Seer, Tess becomes the keeper of the old woman's legendary spinner ring and its supposed power of prophecy. Returning home, Tess bears the brunt of her father's rage when he is informed of her disobedient excursion. An ensuing altercation with her father leads Tess to the discovery of a family secret that stuns her. Even so, she never imagines that she will soon find herself forcibly betrothed to the murderer and trapped on a ship bound for the pirate-infested waters of the West Indies. With increasing dread, she realizes a growing attraction that she has for a handsome sailor puts both their lives at risk. Moreover, she quickly discovers that her ruthless fiance covets her only for her ring and its power, and will stop at nothing to obtain it for himself. The stakes for survival become unbearably high when she is thrust into the hands of a marauding band of pirates, and she must make an agonizing and life-threatening choice for herself. A tale of pirates and treasure, love and betrayal, all bound together by a dash of ancient magic.

Book 2: Russian Roulette by Mike Faricy
Beaten, shot, car bombed, and as if things couldn't get any worse, used as a human shield!
Dev Haskell, Private Investigator, just woke up next to his client without the foggiest notion she's signed him up with the Russian mob.
Why is Dev going through all this? Love, of course. Well, at least that's what he's telling himself and their 'special' relationship quickly places him at odds with the FBI task force investigating human trafficking. On the hunt for answers,Dev finds himself with a foot on both sides of the law.

Book 3: My Name is Hardly by Martin Crosbie
A beautiful girl is missing, and may or may not want to be found, a soldier on his last and most dangerous mission, and a vow made to a dying friend. Northern Ireland, in 1996, is one of the most dangerous places in the world. The government called it a state of unrest, the people who lived through it called it the time of "The Troubles". Gerald "Hardly" McDougall is a forgotten man. He's abused, bullied, and left behind. The only escape left is to join the British Army. At first, he's a reluctant soldier. Everything changes when tensions in Northern Ireland escalate and the Army need a man with a particular set of characteristics. Hardly's re-assigned and sent into the heart of the troubles, living in the same houses as the IRA soldiers he's fighting against.
MY NAME IS HARDLY takes the reader on a twenty year journey through Hardly's life--from the beginning, when he leaves Scotland and joins the Army, to the tragic final days when he embarks on a search to find the only woman who can answer his questions.

Book 4: Cowboy Heat - Sweeter Version by Sable Hunter
Aron McCoy has sworn off women, he has been burnt once and doesn't intend to fall back into the matrimonial trap again. When Libby Fontaine arrives at Aron's Tebow Ranch, she is determined to cram a lifetime of living into a few short months. The doctor has told her she can't count on her remission from leukemia being a permanent one. Their attraction to one another is instantaneous and overwhelming. But when Aron finds out that Libby is innocent - he backs off. He has nothing to offer a girl who deserves white lace and promises. Then Aron catches Libby skinny-dipping in his stock tank and hears her cry out his name in pleasure - and the heat is on.