Though she's reluctant to use Jason's skills, Agent Driscole realizes that sometimes, It Takes a Thief to catch a murderer. ~ by Dellani Oakes

 

Jason Banes is a thief, he readily admits that, but he's quick to deny that he's also a murderer. Accused of multiple homicides, and theft, he agrees to help a multi-national task force find the real killer. When he's assigned to an FBI team for protection, he meets Agent Taylor Driscole. It's a race to find Orchid before she kills again. Though she's reluctant to use Jason's skills, Agent Driscole realizes that sometimes, It Takes a Thief to catch a murderer.

https://www.amazon.com/It-Takes-a-Thief/dp/B094W6CYRN/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Excerpt from It Takes a Thief

The man on the left looked puzzled, the man on the right and the driver chuckled. Driscole stared straight ahead. Jason shrugged. He wiggled around trying to get comfortable, but his companions took up most of the seat. He was more of a wiry build himself, but he had very broad shoulders. Feeling slightly claustrophobic, he wiggled some more.

Mr. Left gave him an evil eye. Mr. Right eased slightly toward the door, angling his shoulders so the each had a little more room.

"Thanks," Jason murmured, smiling a little.

The man said nothing, but nodded and a smile flickered for a second and was gone.

"May I ask where we're going?" Jason directed at the group.

No one said anything. Driscole shifted in her seat, ignoring him.

"Oi," Jason said rather more loudly. "I know I'm a criminal, but I think I've got a right to know if I'm going to be safe. Might I point out, that you need me—rather a lot?"

Driscole glared at him over her shoulder. Firming her lips, she inhaled slowly. "Look, Mr. Banes. I'm not here to be your friend. I'm here to protect you. The less you know about our destination the better."

"What? Am I going to yell out the windows and give it away? Who am I gonna tell, Special Agent in Charge Taylor Driscole? Eh? And while we're having this lively repartee, perhaps you could ask one of the kind gentlemen to undo the handcuffs? I assure you, I'm not inclined to go anywhere. Besides, they'd break me in two before I even got to a door or disabled the driver—not that I know how to do that in any case. I'm a thief, not an assassin."

Agent Driscole nodded to the man on Jason's right. He took a key out of his pocket and undid the cuffs, putting them back on his belt.

"Thanks, mate. Jason Banes, thief." He extended his hand.

Somewhat surprised, the man took it. His grip threatened to crush Jason's hand. Instead of giving in, he met the other man's bone crushing grasp with his own. He knew how to move his hand to make the bones and sinews grind together. He didn't quite do it, but Mr. Right got the idea and eased up.

"Greg Kisler," he replied politely.

"Pleased to meet you." Jason turned to the man on his left and went through the same process.

"Alex Graves. The driver is Tim Stuart. We've been assigned as your primary team. We'll be seeing a lot of one another."

"Really?"

"We'll be living with you—at least until the rest of the team members are assembled. Taylor's in charge."

"Is she?" Jason couldn't help being happy about that.

"Enough socializing," Taylor snapped. "He's our primary, not our best friend."

"Being polite, Taylor. We're going to be under the same roof. We might as well be friendly."

"I didn't come to this point in my career to be chummy with a petty criminal," she replied.

"Hardly petty, love," Jason corrected.

"I am not your love," she snarled.

"Expression only, I assure you. And I'm not asking to be your best chum. A little courteous conversation, maybe knock back the odd beer.... And I haven't been a petty criminal since I was sixteen." His feelings hurt, he sat back in the seat with his arms crossed petulantly.

Driscole stared straight ahead, eyes fixed on the road, her back ramrod straight. The men watched their environment, never taking their eyes off their surroundings. After they'd driven about half an hour, the neighborhood became increasingly upscale and familiar. Jason looked around him taking in the details. It was hard to see from the back seat, but he was sure he knew this area. When they slowed down, making a sharp left turn into a driveway, he grinned. The security gate stopped them, but the driver leaned out toward the monitor, taking down his dark glasses.

"Agent Timothy Stuart. Package has arrived."

Jason smiled happily, dark eyes glittering excitedly.

"By corky," he said with a chuckle.

"What?" Alex asked him.

"Home Sweet Home," he announced, holding out his hands toward the Spanish style three story mansion. "Gentlemen, Agent Driscole, welcome to Casa Blanca."

Three of them gave him a questioning look. Agent Driscole gave him what could only be described as a withering glare.

"You're kidding, right?" she said with a sniff of disdain.

"Seriously. This is my house. I call it Casa Blanca. Not because of the movie. You see, Banes means white and it's a Spanish style house, or casa.... Well, it seemed a good idea at the time."

"Cool house, JB," Kisler, the youngest of the men, said. "Got a pool?"

"Indoors. And a hot tub, gymnasium, sweet home theatre. Just finished putting it in."

"And you paid for all of this by stealing things from other people?" Driscole was disgusted.

"Actually, love, this is built with investment money that I made by removing rather expensive objects d'art from unsuspecting, disreputable people who thoroughly deserved to be robbed."

If you want a good, steamy read, "A Night In Daytona Beach" is a good buy and a good read ~ One Night in Daytona Beach: #17 in Tirgearr Publishing's City Nights Series by Dellani Oakes

 

He hadn't seen her in 10 years, but there she was, dressed in black leather, straddling the Harley. Draven Wick is back home, on a break from filming his vampire themed TV show, when he spots Jamie Humphrey at a Bike Week raffle. The love of his teen life, Draven never thought he'd see her again. Rekindling their romance after 10 years is the easy part. Unfortunately, Draven has been blamed for the death of a notorious bike gang leader. Staying ahead of the police, and the biker gang bent on revenge, takes Jamie and Draven to the brink of disaster.

Who writes a strip tease scene with Marilyn Manson playing in the background? Author Dellani Oakes that’s who! This is by far my favorite book she’s written yet! . . . the story is thrilling with bikers, sex and witty dialog that most romance/erotic books lack. IMHO. If you want a good, steamy read, "A Night In Daytona Beach" is a good buy and a good read. ~ Christina

• • •

"Full Throttle" engine pounding mystery & Sexual Encounters of the Best Kind!
One Night in Daytona Beach is a whirlwind adventure of skimpy, black leather clad Biker Chicks and badass Gangs enjoying Biker Week in the famous Florida locale. Author Dellani Oakes’ novel will take you into the underground world of motorcycle gangs and hot, raw sex. This story is “Full Throttle” engine pounding mystery and sexual encounters! ~ Sleepless in San Carlos

• • •

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written, steamy, fast paced novel! Having been in Daytona Beach during the approach of Bike Week, it was fun to read a story set there; full of motorcycles and nasty bike gangs, intertwined with the romantic reunion of two former lovers! Ms. Oakes is a talented author with a gift for description and dialogue, and I look forward to reading more of her stories!! ~ Sherrill S. Cannon

Release Blitz for “Blazing Hearts” by Paul Nosach

Synopsis:

Dr. Sebastian Masters has lost his job from Eastbridge hospital, due to insubordination. But now he has come across the perfect woman, Dawn Turlo, who would give him another opportunity - another job offer and his own building with staff. The only catch is marriage.

But the problem lies deeper with Sebastian. He doesn't know how to love someone, and turns to his long-time friend, Jaysen Stripe for help.

Meanwhile, Adam Ludsgarden, Sebastian's nephew, has sunk deeper into depression due to the loss of his best friend Curtis Brown. Adam has secluded himself in his room and only comes out when necessary, and where Sebastian fails to try with him, Jaysen finds the proper words to sooth his pain.

But as Dawn starts to show her true colors and the way she feels, everything starts to spiral downward under the same roof. Can Sebastian hold everything together? Can he keep the peace? Can he keep his feelings in check after everything that had happened before with Jaysen? The suspicions grow intense, and finally Dawn Turlo is exposed to the truth. What Sebastian and Jaysen find out is astonishing.

Excerpt:

By the time the Pastor reached the room where Sebastian and Dawn were sitting, he knocked on the door. He saw before him: a man in mourning, and a woman who could have turned any other man to stone with a simple gaze. But they were together and that’s what mattered, at least in the Pastor’s eyes.

“It’s a tragic thing that happened to you both,” the Pastor stated. “But Adam is with God now.”

“What do you know what a tragic thing is?” Dawn whipped her head at stare straight into the man’s soul.

It bored into him. He felt it, too. It was that kind of stare which would bring death to anyone who crossed her path.

“And what about this God you speak of?”

“Dawn, do not speak of God like that,” Sebastian said, his eyes still puffy and red from crying.

“Well,” she said, turning to face Sebastian, “I don’t believe in God.”

“Do not talk about God that way,” Sebastian warned her. “He gave you life and there is a little life living inside you,” he was referring to the unborn baby.

The Pastor was appalled as Dawn got to her feet and crossed his path, meeting him eye-to-eye. She left the two men in the room, retreating to Sebastian’s room, which was hers also.

Sebastian apologized for his wife’s behaviour; for her short temper and disbelief.

“That is your wife?” the Pastor was surprised. But it also explained her pregnancy. “I noticed she’s expecting! Congratulations,” he sat where Dawn had been. “Do you know what if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I do not want to know,” Sebastian told him, still brooding over the loss of Adam.

He started explaining to the man beside him what he already told Dawn: about his nightmares and how they haunted him – how they would stick in his mind, and that they were all about his loved ones. His dead loved ones.

As much as the Pastor tried to console Sebastian, it was not much use. As much as the Pastor tried to focus on Adam being in a better place than where they are, Sebastian dismissed the sympathy and thought that Dawn had been right. What if his wife was right? Is my wife right? Would God influence Adam to take his own life? It was an awful thing to think of, but there was no escaping it.

“May God hold him in his hands,” Sebastian suddenly broke his silence, standing and taking the Pastor’s hand.

The Pastor was shocked to hear such a thing from someone who he was consoling. He saw a shine in Sebastian’s face. Something that was unusual. Sebastian’s eyes looked as blue as an ocean in a brochure, and his blonde hair held thin golden streams. So thin, that they could have been spun by any woman. God has blessed you, the Pastor thought. But that couldn’t be true. He had never seen such a sight before. And the only other time someone had looked as such, was after sexual intercourse: a beaming glow of pure light.

“Let’s join Jaysen downstairs,” Sebastian said his voice void of all sorrow.

His tone was neither one of anger or of happiness. But his facial expression – The Pastor rose to his feet, letting his hand fall into Sebastian’s – if it was indeed Sebastian at all. Could this creature standing before him be God? After what he mentioned of God being all around us, it was a possibility that the Pastor couldn’t dismiss. They walked out into the hall, then down the stairs, still holding hands as if they had been best friends for the longest of time.

Sebastian and the Pastor gracefully took the stairs that they did not need to look down once. They didn’t falter once. When Jaysen looked up and saw both men descend the staircase, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. For one thing, he had never seen Sebastian in such a state. Usually he enjoyed his privacy, but the look on his face was unlike any Jaysen had seen. To Jaysen; Sebastian seemed to look mesmerized – his blue eyes unblinking. He wanted to say something, address Sebastian, but the Pastor shook his head, gesturing that he keep his mouth closed, for he couldn’t explain it, either.

Suddenly, Sebastian opened his mouth to speak when they reached Jaysen at the island, and said, “You are both my children, and I love you both. Dawn is my child also, but she sinned: a great sin and she will pay when the time is right.”

Both the Pastor and Jaysen couldn’t believe their ears, or their eyes. It was Sebastian’s body they saw, but the voice which came from his mouth, was that of tranquility. One thing Jaysen hadn’t heard from Sebastian in a very long time. But it wasn’t Jaysen so much as the Pastor who wanted to ask questions. After all, a man of God would jump at this chance, but his voice failed him.

“Please, drink from the cup of my body.”

Jaysen had several cups already. In ignorance, Jaysen held up the glass to Sebastian – or what appeared to be Sebastian – and said, “Cheers!”

The Pastor, standing just to the right of Sebastian, dropped his jaw in surprise. Now he knew that Jaysen didn’t believe in God, but now that God – in essence? In spirit! – was standing under the same roof...No, the Pastor was just having wishful thinking.

Knowing what was going to come, and sensing the Pastor’s anxiousness, Sebastian turned to look at him, smiled and suddenly, out of nowhere, the facial expression had changed. Sebastian’s body had collapsed to the floor, and dropping his glass, Jaysen rushed to his friend’s side.

“Help me,” he told the Pastor, but that wasn’t needed; for as soon as the words were spoken, Sebastian regained consciousness.

“¿Qué?” Sebastian asked, receiving help from the two other men.

“What do you remember?” Jaysen asked, seeming to be the obvious question that he would get after having a seizure. It was obvious that Sebastian was himself, since he was speaking Spanish again.

“I do not know,” Sebastian said wearily, shaking his head, as if to clear stars before his eyes. “What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter,” the Pastor said, looking Jaysen in the eye, giving the impression that he should keep his mouth shut.

Jaysen knew what the other man was thinking. He didn’t need to be told, as they helped Sebastian to the sofa. Jaysen offered him some water, but Sebastian declined and told them that he felt slightly energized, which made the other men helping him feel bewildered. He falls to the floor, yet feels rejuvenated? This was a queer revelation, which either the Pastor or Jaysen could understand. Was it theirs to comprehend? The Pastor had excused himself, thinking that he over-stayed his welcome.

VISIT PAUL’S AMAZON PAGE FOR HIS OTHER BOOKS

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About the Author

I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Ever since Junior high school, I have been writing (staying up at odd hours of the night). Only recently have I thought of music to push me. Every book I've written has a soundtrack, which are carefully selected songs (from popular artists to the mundane). I always start writing and give myself a deadline of four months to complete a novel. But as we all know, personal deadlines don't always pan out in our favour.

My ideal night for writing:

1) A hot cup of tea.

2) A crisp, rainy evening.

3) The best music

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