Jesse’s sometimes-girlfriend, Kelly, has let her father, Old Buckles, use her house for a home plan for parole, and he’s been released from prison.
He’s an old biker who these days spends more time locked up than on the street, but for now he’s living in Kelly’s house and working a construction job at a bridge site. But he’s letting his biker buddies, the Predators, hang around Kelly’s place. She’s not particularly happy with that, especially since she has two small children and her ex is trying to demonstrate that she’s an unfit parent.
Jesse’s on parole himself, on a murder charge. The terms of his supervision include a restriction to keep away from other convicted felons. Since Old Buckles is also a convicted felon, that puts a real crimp in his fledgling relationship with Kelly.
When Kelly is attacked, Jesse is the first obvious suspect. First he needs to convince the authorities he is not the perpetrator, and even if he does that, he’ll have to convince the Predators he wasn’t involved, which might be much harder. Especially since Black Rose, one of the biker chicks, is busy telling everyone that Jesse slept with her.
EXCERPT:
Montgomery asked, “I said, when’d you see her last?”
“Thursday night at work.”
“Thursday night? I thought you worked the early morning hours.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right. Friday morning.”
“Like, this morning?”
“Yeah.” I’d caught a few hours of sleep, and it seemed a lot longer ago than that. It is easy to get all mixed up when they throw questions around like that. Of course, that was one of the main reasons they kept doing it. They’d twist the words against me and throw them back at me. I’d say something stupid and contradictory, giving them more ammunition.
“Haven’t seen her since you got off from work?”
“No, sir.”
“Why’s that?”
Why indeed? But I said, “Her dad just got out of prison. She let him use her place on his home plan. I’m on parole.”
“And?”
“I’m not supposed to associate with convicted felons. So I can’t go over to her place when he’s around.”
“Why don’t you have her over here at your place?”
I shrugged.
Belkins said, “Because it’s a rat hole and you don’t want her over here?”
He was right. It was a rat hole, but that wasn’t the main reason. “I only got the one room. She’s got two kids. Not a good place to bring them.”
He laughed. “First believable thing you’ve said in a long time.”
Montgomery took over again. “Where were you this afternoon, Jesse?”
“Washed my clothes at the Laundromat. Then I went to the library just before it closed, I for a few books. Went out a little later to get something to eat off the McDonald’s dollar menu. That’s where I’m coming from now.”
Belkins snorted. “The library? I thought you had to be able to read to go to the library.”
Montgomery chuckled. “I don’t think that’s entirely true, from some of the people I’ve seen hanging around in there. But Jesse’s not stupid. He can read.”
“So you haven’t seen Kelly all day?” Belkins asked.
“Not since we got off work.”
“So it wasn’t you beat the crap out of her?”
BUY LINK
After nearly twenty years in prison on a murder conviction, Jesse Damon has been released, a home detention monitor strapped to his ankle. Determined to make it and mindful of his parole restrictions, he struggles with life outside prison. He finds a basement apartment, a job on the overnight shift at a steel fabrication plant and a few people who treat him like anybody else. Especially Kelly, a woman who works in the shipping department. He seems to be making it. Until Mitch, forklift driver on the shift, is found murdered in the warehouse. The investigating detective doesn’t want to look any further than Jesse to close the case. He’s not fussy about the methods he uses to gather evidence. If Jesse isn’t going down for this, he will have to be the one to figure out who killed Mitch and why.
Jesse’s life is getting complicated fast, what with a group of religious fanatics in saffron robes opening a tabernacle in the abandoned pizza parlor over his apartment, problems at work, and Kelly’s custody battle with her ex. It’s a lot to deal with while he tries to find out who really killed Mrs. Coleman and get the cops off his back.
To read more about these books or purchase, please click on their titles below.
Steeled for Murder
Fostering Death
5 comments:
This sounds like a great story! Poor guy can't catch a break, huh? Best of luck with the new release.
I loved "Steeled for Murder." Jesse is such a sympathetic character and the mystery was great, too. These next two promise to be just as good.
Oh yeah. Gotta buy, gotta buy. Mind you, there's so much tension and angst in Ms. Rockwood's novels that I have to read them in one gulp. Can't stand to have Jesse's imminent arrest hanging over me.
Rockwood? Where did that come from? Sorry, my old biology teacher from the last century.
Thank you! My characters and situations seem so real to me, and I'm pleased that they come through to readers.
One of my minor "role models" for Jesse was shot to death by police on Christmas Day, which re-enforces the reality I try to portray in fiction.
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