Sneaking in a Snippet

Hey All!  I thought I'd drop a little surprise on y'all this morning.  Here's a first taste of Natural Causes...

Natural Causes

Chapter One

Dennis Haggarty gazed at the clock on his office wall, ticking the seconds until he could go home to his wife.  He still couldn’t wrap his brain around the words ‘his wife’ or the fact that she was leaving him so soon.  In a few short hours, she’d be on a plane headed east to visit a dear friend he’d never met.  Then again, there were a lot of people in Jillian’s life he’d never met. 

He didn’t have anyone left for her to meet.  His sister was dead. His mother and her husband would never speak to him again. As for his former partner, Pat had already adopted the new Mrs. Haggarty like the daughter he never had. 

Dennis didn’t care enough about anyone else to want them to meet his new bride.

The minute hand clicked to quarter after the hour of four.  If he could make it another forty-five minutes without another shitstorm blowing across his desk, he’d be home free.  The newest chief of police in the mountain town of Last Ditch, Colorado could avoid the mundane calls that came in nightly.  He wouldn’t be bothered until morning—not unless something drastic happened or the phone rang while he was still at the office.

No sooner did Dennis finish his thought than the black plastic bastard shrilled.  He waited for Norma to answer, but then he remembered his office manager had taken off early.  Something about a bridal shower or a baby shower or needing a new shower curtain.  Frankly, he couldn’t remember. 

Picking up the phone, he blurted out the standard greeting.  “Last Chance P.D. This is Chief Haggarty.  How can I help you?”

Just a taste and it's not totally edited yet, but I hope you enjoyed it.  I expect to have this ready to publish in a couple of months, depending on editor availability and my own gumption.