Shiloh

Thank you for reading Shiloh, Book #7 in the Texas Boudreau Brotherhood series. I hope you enjoyed Shiloh and Renee’s story. I loved writing their book. Even though Shiloh proved to be a handful, Renee proved to be woman enough to tame him.

Want to find out more about Shiloh Spring’s district attorney Chance Boudreau and the excitement and adventure he’s about to plunge headfirst into? Will he find discover there’s more to Tina Nelson than meets the eye? Why can’t he stop thinking about the perky brunette? Keep reading for an excerpt from his book, Chance, Book #8 in the Texas Boudreau Brotherhood. Available at all major e-book and print book stores.

Chance laid his briefcase on the desk and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. He hated mornings like this. Most of the cases he prosecuted in Shiloh Springs weren’t major crimes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done anything more intense than burglary with the use of a firearm when a couple of stupid teens decided to rob Jimbo’s Grocery. The evidence had been cut and dried, to the point he was surprised the guys wanted to go through with the case and not plead out. Guess everybody wants their day in court, and they’d ended up being found guilty and got a much harsher sentence than if they had simply pled and took the deal.

Which should have happened this morning. The case was cut and dry, without a shadow of a doubt Marshall Goodman was guilty of assault. Marshall had a list of priors a mile long, a repeat offender who’d been out on probation when he beat the stuffing out of his ex-girlfriend’s new fella. Eyewitnesses came forward, and there was even video footage from multiple bystanders. He’d worked out a plea deal with defense council, hammering out every little detail, and headed into court this morning, expecting to be in and out in under an hour. Instead, he’d been blindsided when the defendant decided to toss the deal out the window, opting for a jury trial. Idiot.

The rest of the afternoon had been arranging for the court date, then moving around another case he’d been working on, shoving it off onto the assistant district attorney. It wasn’t like they had a ton of court cases every day. Usually, two days a week, he’d have to show up either in front of the bench or behind the scenes in the judge’s chambers dealing with the small stuff. Shiloh Springs wasn’t exactly a hotbed for criminal activity. The most excitement they’d had in a long time had been when the high school had been locked down with a hostage situation. That case was pending before the county court, and he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into a nice, juicy gun running, multiple counts of kidnapping, and a variety of other charges. For once, he’d get to hone his skills on a meaty offense.

Shrugging off his jacket, he folded it and laid it across the back of a chair and loosened his tie. Time to get comfortable, since he didn’t have to go back to court this afternoon. Opening his briefcase, he pulled out his laptop and moved around to sit at his desk. He had converted an entire bedroom in his place to a home office, and that’s usually where he spent his evenings, buried in work and research. Today, his attention wasn’t on work though. Well, not in the traditional sense.

Clicking on the mouse, he opened the e-mail from Destiny, his friendly neighborhood hacker. He’d hired her off the books, because looking into Tina’s background wasn’t for any professional case he was prosecuting. No, this was personal. He’d read through the e-mail at least a dozen times already, and studied the attached photos, yet he found himself coming back again and again, searching for clues. Nuances and kernels of truth were contained within the dossier; he just had to weed them out one by one. Destiny had done her usual excellent job of digging out information others would have overlooked, or never found in the first place. She was just that good.

Clicking on the first photo, a pretty, smiling brunette popped up on screen. Head thrown back, she was laughing at something her companion said, her eyes shining with life. His chest tightened at the sight of her vivacious, infectious smile. She’d wormed her way into his head, haunted his thoughts from the moment he’d met her. Their first meeting had been eventful, to say the least. Darned woman tried to brain him with the hotel ice bucket.

Tina Nelson. The woman he’d been tasked with babysitting in Portland, and later brought into his parents’ home here in Shiloh Springs. In a pinch, she’d watched out and protected his sister when she’d been hiding from the people hunting her. Taken a beating when their hired mercenary wanted information on how to find Renee. She’d refused to tell him where Renee was, even though it meant she’d endured physical pain. Admiration for the spunky brunette warred with the facts on the page. The ones that troubled him, making him wonder if she could be trusted.

Clicking on another picture, he studied the man seated beside Tina. He carried himself with an air of somebody who came from a privileged background. The picture had obviously been taken at a business dinner or event of some kind. The sandy-haired man sported a tux, complete with cummerbund, but Chance could tear his eyes away from Tina. Her dark hair had been longer then, falling in waves past her shoulders. The royal blue gown hugged her curves in all the right places, displaying a lush body any woman would envy. Though she smiled at the camera, her eyes told the truest picture. They were haunted, filled with anguish clearly visible to anybody looking beneath the saccharine smile. Her arm was entwined with the taller male’s, his fingers resting atop hers in a possessive move.

Chance blew out a deep breath. Maybe he was trying to see something into the picture that wasn’t there. While he had made a career of being able to read people, from their facial expressions to their mannerisms, Tina remained an enigma.

Moving the mouse to the next picture, he clicked it, and expanded it onto his screen. Here she was again with the man from the previous photo, but there was a world of difference between the two pictures. In this one, she appeared beaten down, her vivacious spirit extinguished. Shoulders slumped, she appeared withdrawn, as if trying to appear smaller, not wanting to draw anyone’s eyes to her.

Checking the metadata between the two photos, he noted they’d been taken about three months apart. Such a short period of time, yet the differences were night and day. What happened to the woman he’d spent the last few weeks with?

The final picture showed a woman almost unrecognizable. The long hair she’d worn was cut into a modern edgy style, buzzed on the left side close to the scalp and colored a platinum blonde, so white it almost appeared to have no color. The quirky grin he’d come to know since her days at the Big House was the most recognizable thing about her. He knew women liked to do makeovers, update their looks with new hairstyles, new makeup and clothes, but this? It almost appeared like she was trying to reinvent herself.