“McSwain & Beck kick ass” says @Fyrinstructor04
“Their lives are in the hands of two 18 year-olds…”
Sydney Marie McSwain – a tomboy who yearned for a father.
Cody Beck – a wannabe filmmaker, wisenheimer and flirt.
Jaden White – the star who led the high school hockey team to two championships, and was now on the A-list for NHL scouts.
Sydney Marie McSwain loves her mom, Anna – a private investigator in the coastal city where they live – but they had a major issue between them. Anna refused to give Sydney the identity of her father. On the day of her high school graduation, they were battling it out, once again. An hour later, Sydney, Cody and Jaden were at the local café, and watched as Anna was gunned down.
Faced with immediate responsibility, Sydney and Cody agreed to take over the agency, only they changed the name to McSwain & Beck. At the same time, Sydney convinced Sutter Beach Detective, Ace Carter, to help her track down her father.
Then out of the blue, a model walked in and hired them to follow her step-brother. While Cody was busy editing a trailer to solicit new clients, Sydney settled into her lemon-yellow pickup to do surveillance, and wound up staking out a secret club called The Devil’s Door whose suspicious members wore the tattoo of a devil.
That same night, Sydney received a call from one of her mom’s former clients, but the client was gunned down at the location where they agreed to meet. The mysterious discovery of a DVD revealed the possibility that teenagers were being abducted, only nobody reported them missing.
On the hunt for the victims, McSwain & Beck were chased by men in ski masks, nearly gunned down by a members of a drug cartel called the outlaws, Sydney’s precious pickup was broken into; then the step-brother they were hired to follow, was found dead and Sydney was the number one suspect.
If things weren’t bad enough already, they had to figure out how to crash a red-carpet Mardi Gras bash being held on a private cruise ship, before it sailed off into the sunset, where they just might meet the devil, himself.
Now, the clock was ticking…
And time was running out…
How was she ever going to find her father, now?
Excerpts:
“THE MAN was out hunting for a new victim. He scoured the streets of Hollywood, California in search of the runaways that wouldn’t be missed. He noticed eighteen-year-old, Amber Cutter, the minute she stepped off the bus from Sweetwater, Tennessee. He didn’t know if she ran away from a troubled home, or if she was just another wannabe actress vying for a spot on a reality show, American Idol, or one of the many talent shows hoping for her fifteen minutes of fame? They all came to hang out near the Hollywood Walk of Fame hoping to get their big break.”
“THE NEXT several hours were a blur. I have no idea how I got home. I guess Jaden and Cody were responsible for that. I sat in a stunned stupor as uniformed officers and higher-ups within the Sutter Beach Police Department, dropped by the firehouse to offer their assistance. Detective Carter informed me they would take care of all the arrangements. A friend to law enforcement had been struck down, so they wanted me to know I didn’t have to worry about anything. My mind was in such a fog, all I could do was nod in agreement. I had no idea what to do, anyway.”
“I WALKED to the nearest Sutter Beach Bank ATM machine to deposit Summer’s check, and withdrew twenty bucks in cash. I can’t predict how long surveillance will last – look at me talking like I’ve been doing this for years – but a girl’s gotta eat. Twenty bucks could go a long way if you know how to conserve. Peanut-butter M’M’s have the necessary ingredients to keep me going through the day, so I stopped at the corner store for those, and a bottle of water. Hey, peanut butter is protein, and the chocolate will give me energy. I headed back to my pickup, hopped in and cranked the engine.”
“RIGHT ON cue, David Klein pulled into the alley behind The Devil’s Door, the minute he got off of work. The guys from the Hummer were still inside, and the amount of visitors to the club doubled within a couple of hours. That was interesting enough. But, I couldn’t help but be curious, when a silver-colored Camaro with dark-tinted windows pulled into the alley; then a few seconds later, a Sutter Beach police car pulled up behind it. Was something significant going on at the club other than a social gathering?”
“WE WAITED at least fifteen minutes before Howard Grant graced us with his presence, bellowing about having visitors at that time of night.”
“THE BUILDING where Tamara had been living was across the street from the park where Cody and I met for kickboxing. It was a well-kept white-stucco Spanish style, with terra-cotta tile roof and matching shutters. There were four one-bedroom units. I parked on the street out front, put the photos inside my backpack and stored it inside the trunk of the rambler. As I headed inside, I checked the names on the mailboxes. Tamara’s apartment was on the second floor to the right.”
“WHEN I got up the following morning, there was a text from Cody. 1) Need shit @ home, be back l8tr; 2) The Devil’s Door could be club for The Privileged Ones.
“The Devil’s Door, just what I was thinking,” I said to myself.”
““SYD, IT’S me.”
I squinted, trying to get a look at the figure closing in on me. “Cody, what the heck, you scared me to death.”
He was dressed in dark clothing with camouflage paint on his face and hands. He glanced at the baseball bat, and his chin lifted into a crooked grin. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“STANDING IN the lower corridor, I paused and listened to gauge where the voices of Diego, the Devil and the dark-haired temptress, were coming from. It was relatively quiet, except for the hum of the engine and the muffled voices that I discovered were coming from a private stateroom. I tip-toed over, and put my ear up to listen. There were five different voices. They were discussing plans for their new resort in Mexico, but I could only hear intermittent sentences.”
“WHEN I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. My shoulder was wrapped, and an IV protruded from my arm. I glanced around the room. Jaden’s huge frame was slumped uncomfortably in a chair in the far corner. Cody was glued to his laptop in another chair. They noticed I was awake.”
July 5, 2012 at 7:39 am
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