Saturday Spotlight: VB Tenery & Dead Ringer

Good Morning Friends!

It is my pleasure to bring to you a brand new PBG author, VB Tenery, with her debut PBG title, Dead Ringer!

V. B. Tenery lives in East Texas with her family and a St. Bernard named Bella. When not writing she enjoys reading, hiking, and floating down lazy rivers in the Hill Country. Before leaving to write full time, she had a rewarding career as Director of Service for a national wholesale optical company. 
Website: http://vbtenery.com 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/teneryherrin 
FB Author Page: www.facebook.com/vbtenery 
Blog: www.agatharemembered.blogspot.com 

In an instant, Mercy Hamilton finds her well-planned life shattered.

Bermuda airport facial recognition software has identified her as missing runway star, Traci Wallace. Despite Mercy’s protests, Traci’s husband, ex-CIA agent Thomas Wallace, is convinced Mercy is the mother of their ill six-year-old son. With only his son’s welfare in mind, he abducts Mercy and takes her to a private island to care for the boy.

But Mercy soon discovers there are men much more dangerous than a father desperate to save his son. Her doppelganger has made deadly enemies—a relentless team of killers who want her dead. When Thomas is lured into a covert mission to rescue a CIA asset and uncover a government mole, Mercy is left isolated and alone—and Thomas finds himself stranded on foreign soil with a compromised mission and a wounded agent. Fighting against a rogue nation’s timetable for launching a nuclear strike, he has to escape alive to rescue Mercy and his son before assassins finish the job they started.

Excerpt:
Hamilton, Bermuda
Friday, May 5

Mercy Lawrence wouldn’t have noticed the large man standing by the silver Mercedes, except for the way he was dressed. Unlike the tourists on the sidewalk, he wore a light gray business suit and tie. Sunglasses hid the upper portion of his face, and the grim set of his mouth detracted from his otherwise handsome appearance. He stood beside the car’s open back door, arms crossed as if waiting for someone.

Not wanting to stare, she tore her gaze away. In jeans, T-shirt, and sandals, she blended easily into the vacationers along the boulevard. She’d spent the last five months in this wonderful country, recuperating from a head injury. Most of her memory remained intact after the accident, but dark recesses still refused to reveal their mystery.

But tomorrow, like a good soldier, she would return to Houston and report to her new job at Sabine Oil, the fulfillment of a goal she’d worked towards for the past six years.

The city’s main drag ran four lanes wide with a palm-tree-lined median, the sea on one side, shops and hotels on the other. A soft wind filled the air with the scent of sea kelp and brine, mixed with a light floral fragrance from the purple bougainvilleas hanging on the walls along the walkway. Seagulls swept low over the water, looking for lunch out past the rolling surf.

She shook her hair loose from the confines of its ponytail clip and turned her face to the balmy sunshine—mainlining vitamin D. Her path took her within four feet of the parked car.

The man moved onto the sidewalk and grabbed her arm. “Having fun, are we?” He spoke with a slight Scottish burr, the strange question more an accusation than a greeting.

She tried to jerk her arm away. “Let go of my arm.”

His grip tightened. “I’ll just bet you’ve been living it up.” His voice was harsh, his jaw tight.

No one intervened. Casual observers would think she knew him.

One hand locked on her arm, he shoved her into the backseat, slid in beside her, and slammed the door. His movements were so quick, so smooth, she had no time to struggle, no time to scream or put up a fight.
She swallowed the lump in her throat choking off oxygen. Women disappeared all too often on foreign soil, never seen or heard from again. “Who are you? What do you think you’re doing? Let me out. Now!”

He ignored her protests and leaned forward in the seat. “Airport, Fergus.”

Blood pounded a persistent rhythm in her ears. He couldn’t be police. They had to tell you the charges before making an arrest. Besides, she’d done nothing wrong.

Her heart skipped a beat. She wanted to run but it was too late for that. Pivoting towards him, she drew back her arm and aimed the heel of her hand for an upward thrust under his nose. The move from a seated position lacked the needed momentum. He blocked the blow, slamming her back against the seat with a forearm of steel across her chest. “You dropped off the map six months ago. To do what, find yourself?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She squeezed her eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening. “This is kidnapping. My name is Mercy Lawrence and people are expecting me back at my bungalow.” She struggled against the vise-like grip, slapping at his hand.

“Stop it, and cut the crap, Traci, or I’ll slap you back. Taking a wife, a mother, home to the son she abandoned is not kidnapping. Besides, you’re not a kid.”

Wow, wow, wow! Sounds like a great suspenseful read! Dead Ringer released yesterday and is available now in Ebook & Print!

Hope you enjoy this spotlight. Check back next week for another Tuesday Treasure, Thursday Thoughts and of course Saturday Spotlight!

Until then....take care & God Bless!
PamT