BOOK TOUR
The two of them called it splitsville a couple months ago, but Mike? Take a $1.2 million bribe? No and no and no. No matter how much damning evidence the feds claim to have. When a mysterious burner phone shows up in her pocket, Karina has no doubt who dropped it there. Mike is deep undercover and so far off-grid, he needs help to figure out who’s framing him—and why.
Classic Karina, she jumps in with both feet, ignoring the dangers. The trouble with leaping before you look? You can land in a world of dirt. And when an old enemy starts playing hardball, you can end up six feet under it. ----- International bestselling and award-winning author Ellen Butler presents book five in the Karina Cardinal mystery series! Fans of Elizabeth Peters and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will adore this gripping mystery adventure.
Swindlers Revenge Excerpt
The knock, or I should say pounding, on my door
startled me out of the rainy Saturday morning HGTV home renovation coma I’d
slipped into. The clock read half past ten, and I realized I’d been watching
back-to-back shows for over three hours. I picked up my coffee to finish it,
but the half inch at the bottom of the mug had gone cold and skimmed over.
Bang! Bang!
Bang!
I clicked off the show. “I’m coming! Keep your pants
on!”
The knocking likely came from one of my fellow condo
neighbors. Winding my auburn hair into a bun and tightening the knot on my
chenille robe, I shuffled to the foyer.
“Who is it?” I asked, peeking through the peephole.
The man on the other side wore a long overcoat
opened to reveal a barrel chest in a dark suit, white shirt, and striped tie.
He had gray-brown hair and a bulbous nose. Not a neighbor.
“If you’re peddling your religion, you can move
along. I’m quite happy with my own beliefs. Thank you!” I hollered.
“FBI. Open the door, Ms. Cardinal. I have a warrant
to search the premises.” He held his badge in front of the peephole. It read
“Gerald Newcomb”.
Warrant? I turned off the security system, unlocked the
deadbolt and the floor bolt, and pulled it open. “May I see the warrant,
please?”
The agent, a little shorter than my five-foot-nine
height, invaded my personal space as he laid the piece of paper onto my open
palm. “We’re looking for Michael Finnegan.”
“Mike?” I glanced over the sheet. “Your information
is out-of-date. We broke up a few months ago, but feel free to search away.” I
pulled the door wide, and two other agents wearing Men’s Warehouse suits
followed Newcomb into my tiny foyer. The first guy was in his late twenties,
with freckles and reddish blond hair. I held out a hand to stop him. “Your ID,
please.”
“He’s with me,” Newcomb snapped.
My mouth flattened and I delivered him a side-eye.
“It wasn’t a request. Identification,
please.”
“Brandon Keller, IRS, fraud division.” The freckled
fellow held out his card.
The olive-skinned, black-haired man following Agent Keller
held up his badge as he entered, but he needn’t have. I recognized Amir from
the last time he’d been in my home more than a year ago. “What?” I mouthed. Ever so slightly,
Amir shook his head. Something slammed in my kitchen. Newcomb and Keller had already
begun their search of my two bedroom, two bath condo. Abandoning Amir, my
fluffy pink slippers and I shambled over to investigate.
My kitchen was U-shaped with an island in the
center. Newcomb opened and closed each cabinet, needlessly slamming them shut
with a bang. However, he had no such luck with the soft-close drawers that were
put in when I updated my fifty-year-old condo a few years ago.
“Wow, it’s ten thirty on a Saturday. Judge—let’s
see . . .” I scanned the paper in my hand. “Here it is—Judge
Robinson must really love you.”
The agent didn’t respond and started with the lower
cabinets along the back wall.
I leaned against the island and drawled, “Mike is
six foot tall and a solid 185 pounds. Do you really think he’s going to fit in
the cabinetry?”
“Please stand back, Ms. Cardinal, and let us do our
job,” Newcomb stated.
Crossing my arms, I moved aside to allow him to
check out the island cabinet behind me. “I’m telling you—you’re barking up the
wrong tree. We broke up over two months ago.” My volley didn’t receive a
response. “Agent Newcomb, what division of the FBI did you say you worked in?”
“White Collar,” Newcomb replied in a clipped tone as
he pulled open the cabinets beneath the sink.
White Collar? Hm, did I just fall down a
rabbit hole with Alice? Mike
worked in the Cybercrime division.
Newcomb opened the tiny microwave above my stove,
and I rolled my eyes.
“You know, Mike once told me that they found an
entire safe inside the dishwasher. Maybe I’ve stuffed him in there.” I pulled
it open and whipped out the racks. Dirty dishes rattled and clanked. Newcomb
jerked upright, putting a hand to his hip in an action I’d seen from Mike. Amir
hustled in from the other room.
“Nope, not in there. Don’t forget to check the
fridge. Oh, and there’s a washer and dryer in the pantry.” I pointed. “Maybe
he’s hiding in there.”
Newcomb was not amused. “Ms. Cardinal, I can arrest
you for interfering in an investigation, or you can go sit down and wait until
we’re finished,” he said in a menacing voice.
“Interfering? Why, darlin’, I’m just tryin’ to
help,” I explained in my sweetest southern debutant accent.
Amir cleared his throat and caught my eye. His
silent message was clear: “Don’t.”
“Okay, fine.” I threw up my hands. “I’ll leave you
to it. Let’s see what the tax man is up to.”
I discovered that Keller had moved from the living
room on to my bedroom, and he was searching my dresser drawers.
“Is fingering my lingerie part of the warrant, Mr.
Keller?”
His freckled face bloomed like the red tide.
“Then I suggest you get your mitts out of my panty
drawers and check places where an adult male might hide. Under the bed, closet,
bathroom. You get the picture,” I snapped.
He slammed the drawer shut.
“Leave my shoeboxes alone, too. He’s not hiding in
them, either!” I delivered the parting shot and strolled across the living room
and down the hall to my guest room, where I found Amir searching the walk-in
closet.
“Amir,” I whispered, “what the hell is going on? Is
Mike in trouble? What are you doing with White Collar? I thought you worked in
Cybercrime.”
Amir put a finger to his lips to shush me. “Ms.
Cardinal, I believe Agent Newcomb asked you to take a seat while we finish the
search,” he said in a normal tone. Then he took my hand and placed a tiny,
folded piece of paper in my palm.
Shoving the paper deep into my robe pocket, I
harrumphed, “Fine. I’ll go wait in the living room.” I stomped to the living
room, plopped down onto the sofa, and flicked the TV back on to the home
renovation show.
A few minutes later, Newcomb came into the living
room. I turned up the volume.
Keller also joined us in the living room. “The
bedroom is clean.”
“Did you check under the dining table?” I snarked,
then caught Newcomb staring at the sofa. “Oh, for the love of Pete!” I muted my
show, stood, and picked up the cushions one at a time. “He is not in my velvet couch. And if he did
dare to try and crawl in there, you
would be the least of his worries!”
Newcomb didn’t seem convinced and continued to
stare.
“What? Do you need to check behind the couch?” I
yanked the armrest and it moved about six inches.
Keller trotted over to give the backside a gander.
He pulled it out farther and shook his head. “Nothing back here.”
Shoving my favorite piece of furniture back in
place, I collapsed down and put my fluffy feet on the coffee table.
Newcomb pulled up the safety bar and unlocked the
slider.
I sighed as he spotted the door on the far-right
side of the deck. “You’ll need the key for the utility closet.”
“Please open the closet, Ms. Cardinal,” Newcomb
requested in a very nice way.
Amir joined us in the living room. “All clear in the
guest bedroom and bath.”
“Agent Amir, would you please retrieve my car keys
from the glass bowl by the front door?” I asked sweetly, copying Newcomb’s
tone.
When Amir returned, Newcomb indicated I should open
the door for them. Instead, I plucked out the key to the closet and held it
between two fingers. “I prefer to keep my distance from the creepy closet. Last
fall, a copperhead slithered in there while I was replacing the furnace filter.
I locked that sucker tight and haven’t been in since.” I wiggled the key. “It’s
all you.”
With interest, Newcomb took the key. All three men piled onto my tiny deck, standing tense and at the ready, as if waiting for Mike to jump out of the closet like a jack-in-the-box.
About Ellen
Thank you for being part of the book tour for "SWINDLER'S REVENGE" by Ellen Butler.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the excerpt and can't wait for the opportunity to read the book.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Hope you enjoy the Karina Cardinal Mystery. Visit my website www.ellenbutler.net for more on Karina's adventures!
DeleteThis is a new author to me. The book sounds interesting. Thanks for the article.
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DeleteHi LisaKsBookThoughts! Hope you enjoyed Karina's latest adventure!
ReplyDeleteAn intriguing synopsis and excerpt, this sounds like a great cozy mystery read. Thank you for sharing the book and author details
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