W.S. Long

Jake Chandler is a struggling small-town Florida lawyer, and his life is falling apart. His ex-wife makes seeing his daughter difficult, his boyfriend Noah may be cheating on him, and his money woes are growing. Jake hopes that a new murder defense case will help with his money woes, but his ex-wife Elena is the prosecutor. It’s bad enough she has to fight with him over custody of their daughter. Now she wants nothing more than to beat him in the courtroom, too.<br><br>And then people around him start dying.<br><br>First, an ex-lover gets his brains blown out while he and Jake have coffee. The danger comes even closer. Then Jake meets handsome FBI agent Xavier, who is investigating the crimes surrounding him. Can Jake trust this new man in his life? Is Xavier who he says he is? Or does his involvement put Jake and those he loves in even more danger?

Love and Murder

Gary moved his legs to the side to allow me to walk in. Elena did the same. I focused my eyes on the empty chair but as I made my way, I saw a familiar face next to the empty chair on the other side of Elena.


Noah followed me when I walked out after the show. Only Elena braved going to the stage to meet Chel, fighting the swarm of people exiting. I stood by the table of finger sandwiches, cheese, crackers, and punch so the throng wouldn’t crush me.


Noah stopped inches from me. His brow furrowed. “Were you ever going to call me?”


“Who’s lying now?” His gaze firm. “You acted like I had the plague and didn’t acknowledge me other than to say a weak hello.”


“Not here, Noah,” I whispered. I looked down to avert his stare. “I don’t want to get into an argument.”


Before he could say anything, I heard Chelsea.


“Daddy!” She ran towards us. Noah casually stepped aside so she could jump in my arms.


Chapter 23