Enjoy this excerpt for the long weekend, from
Torn Roots
Hawaiian Storm Mystery #1
Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.
Rowan paused her tirade to let the members behind her take up a chant. “Maui shores for Maui! We don’t want offshore cash. Maui shores for Maui! We don’t need offshore land grabbers.”
A good crowd had gathered. In addition to the stymied construction crew, there were cops, a few locals, the corporate owners, of course, and media. Local TV, newspapers, radio station. Good work, Rowan, she thought.
Her eyes scanned back and forth, and then she spotted someone who made her heart stop for a second. What the hell was Sam Boyko doing at her protest? But there he was: long and lanky, curly dark hair, wide shoulders… “Crap,” she muttered. Sam was the last person she wanted to think about today.
A siren wailed once and two police SUVs drove onto the site, lights flashing as they threaded their way between the cars and construction vehicles. Four uniformed officers, two men and two women, climbed out. Excellent, Rowan thought. This will ensure we get into the press.
One cop stepped between Rowan and the onlookers. “This is an unlicensed, illegal protest,” he announced. “I’ll give you all two minutes to clear off this property, and then I’ll arrest anyone who’s on this construction site without authorization.”
An Asian man in a grey suit stepped up to Rowan, offering a business card. “Ms. Fields, Enterprise Shore LLC understands your group’s concern. I assure you, we have done a thorough environmental assessment, and our construction plans and methods will have the least possible impact on the fragile ecosystems of the shoreline as well as the forest.” He spoke flawless, carefully enunciated English.
Rowan swept the business card out of the man’s hand and threw it on the ground, her hair swirling around her shoulders the way she had hoped it would. “I’ve read all of Enterprise Shore’s propaganda. None of us has time for your corporation’s lies, and neither does the environment.”
Then the Construction Manager, that creep, Tyler Lopes, stepped forward and picked the business card up off the ground. “Come on, Rowan, nobody’s hurting the environment here. Take Mr. Liu’s card. We’ll give you all the grand tour of the marina, the housing project, everything.” When Rowan did not take the card, he stepped closer. Rowan wanted to hit him, but she held herself still in front of the TV cameras. She couldn’t believe her eyes when Tyler slipped the card into her shirt pocket, fingers almost brushing her breast.
“I told you to stay away from me, Lopes,” she growled.
A woman emerged from the crowd of construction workers. Short and unnaturally thin, with long, frizzy black hair tied into a messy ponytail, she swung up and slapped Rowan hard across the face. “You stay away from my man,” she screamed. Rowan’s eyes widened in shock. She stepped back, mouth open. It took her a few seconds to say “Who the hell are you?” But by that point, the uniformed cops moved in.
Torn Roots
Hawaiian Storm Myster #1
Vanessa Storm thought her first week on the job as an FBI Special Agent in beautiful Hawaii would be about settling in. But she’s immediately sent to Hana on Maui’s rain-soaked shore to find a kidnapped woman.
Throw in arson, strident environmentalists bent on stirring up strife between local rights activists and foreign property developers, a chill local police lieutenant, a taciturn geologist, and top it all off with a rogue, unpredictable Homeland Security agent.
The case becomes a labyrinth twisting through the jungles on Maui’s volcano. Vanessa knows this case will explode into an international incident and lives will be lost if she doesn’t find answers fast.
“Torn Roots is wonderfully rich with plot and setting, but it was Mr. Bury’s command of the story’s pacing that impressed me most.”—Eden Baylee, author of Stranger at Sunset
“I made the mistake of picking up this book and could not stop reading.”—Frederick Lee Brooke, author of Doing Max Vinyl
“Made me feel like I was there in person!”—Sue Devers
“I have never been to Hawaii but reading the detailed descriptions of its beauty in this book has made me feel like I’ve actually been there.”—Joy A. Lorton
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