Grayce
Walters Series
By: Jacki Delecki
Grayce
Walters, animal acupuncturist, harbors a secret. She hides her intuitive gifts
from the world until she becomes embroiled in arson on Seattle’s waterfront.
As a key
crime witness, Grayce must convince the attractive, logical, by-the-numbers
fire investigator, Ewan Davis, that the fire she witnessed is part of a larger
criminal conspiracy. Grayce embarks upon a mission to gather proof of the
dangerous threat. She enlists the help of her cross-dressing best friend,
her street-wise assistant, and Davis’ poodle, to conduct her own investigation.
As her
feelings for Davis shift between white hot passion and cold fear, Grayce must
risk exposing her secrets to save Davis’ life. Davis must accept things, he can
neither see, nor understand to solve the mystery and finally find the love he
has stopped believing in.
With nudges
from the protective poodle, Grayce and Davis confront shocking betrayal and
international crime on the rain soaked streets of Seattle.
Excerpt
Grayce sat
upright, uncomfortable on the cold metal chair in the fire investigator’s
waiting room. The chair creaked each time she shifted her weight.
Today was
about facts and only facts.
Lieutenant
Davis had been clear on the phone. “I’ll take your statement. Nothing to worry
about. Just routine.”
Routine.
There was nothing routine about last night’s explosion, and plenty for Grayce
to worry about. She came to the lieutenant’s office because she didn’t want
last night’s violence to disrupt her animal patients. She refused to allow that
stress into her healing space.
“Ma’am? Lieutenant Davis will see you now,
third door on the right.”
With the
help of three inches from her Jimmy Choos, a birthday present from her best
friend, Grayce pulled herself up to a full five feet three.
Why was she
worried? She was doing a public service, acting as a witness who had seen a
suspect on the wharf, just before the blaze. Her certainty that this man had
assaulted Baxter and started the shed fire wouldn’t be mentioned.
She walked
down a long white corridor. There was nothing creative about this workplace,
although located above an eminent art gallery in Pioneer Square. The energy in
the building was contained and functional, just like the lieutenant. From his
efficient manner on the phone, she suspected that Lieutenant Davis would have
no tolerance for her intuition. Though, who was she kidding, few people would.
Her ability to read and heal energy states was hard to explain.
The historic building smelled of years of
rain and mold. With each step on the uneven floor, her pantyhose began to slip
and sag. She resisted the urge to pull on the damn things—they’d likely be
puddled at her knees and feet by the time she got to the lieutenant’s office.
She hadn’t worn tights since last year. She hated dressing up. She felt
constricted, contained, and crabby.
A mass of
black fur, nails clicking, bounded toward her. Shocked to see a dog running
free in the fire station, she didn’t notice a gap in the floorboards. Her heel
wedged into a crack. The black lab tried to stop, but unable to get traction on
the wood floor, slid straight into Grayce’s legs. Grayce teetered then tumbled
backward. She looked up into a pair of warm dark eyes. Doggie breath wafted
across her face.
“Henny!” A
loud voice reverberated in the narrow hallway.
“Oh, you’re
in trouble now.” Grayce rubbed the dog’s head, smiling into the soft eyes; then
she tried to stand.
The dog
placed one of her enormous paws on Grayce’s shoulder and began to lick her
face.
“My God,
get off,” a man shouted as he strode toward them. From her position on the
floor, he looked to be at least seven feet tall. His white shirt pulled tautly
across his broad chest and muscular arms, he was a man capable of carrying
victims out of a burning building.
Grayce
locked stares with the man who towered over her. His face was all angles and
planes, like a model out of one of those edgy photo shoots in Nordstrom’s
catalogue. An electrifying shiver coursed through her. This man exuded the same
controlled power as Samba, the Bengal tiger she had treated at the zoo.
“Henny!”
Both Henny
and Grayce stiffened.
He pulled
the dog by her collar. “I’m sorry. She never disobeys.”
“I seem to
have that effect on dogs.” Grayce smiled and straightened her skirt that had
hiked up to mid-thigh. She couldn’t help noticing how his eyes trailed over her
legs.
“I
apologize, ma’am. I’m Lieutenant Ewan Davis, the Fire Investigator you spoke
with on the phone. And now you’ve met Henny, usually a well-behaved part of our
crew and our accelerant dog.”
He grasped
Grayce’s hand to help her up. His giant hand enveloped hers, sending an
elemental surge through to her toes. His heat radiated in her palm while she
brushed off her skirt.
“It wasn’t
Henny. She’s great. It was my darn heels.”
Lieutenant
Davis’s gaze dropped to her shoes, then moved back up her legs.
Grayce felt
fully exposed as if he saw her as a woman, not a witness. It wasn’t just her
Jimmy Choos knocking her off balance.
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Author Info
Descended
from a long line of storytellers, Jacki spins adventures filled with mystery,
healing and romance.
Jacki’s
love affair with the arts began at a young age and inspired her to train as a
jazz singer and dancer. She has performed many acting roles with Seattle Opera
Company and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Jacki has
set An Inner Fire in Seattle, her long-time home. The city’s unique and
colorful locations are a backdrop for her romantic mystery.
Although
writing now fills much of her day, she continues to volunteer for Seattle’s
Ballet and Opera Companies and leads children’s tours of Pike Street Market.
Her volunteer work with Seattle’s homeless shelters influenced one of her main
characters in An Inner Fire.
Jacki’s two
Golden Labs, Gus and Talley, are her constant companions. Their years of
devotion and intuition inspired her to write dogs as main characters alongside
her strong heroines.
A geek at heart,
Jacki loves superhero movies-- a hero’s battle against insurmountable odds. But
her heroines don’t have to wear a unitard to fight injustice and battle for the
underdog.
Author Links
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