Getting off to a poor start

First, my apologies for repeating this post, but several regular readers told me they missed it last Saturday when I managed to set the scheduler for PM rather than AM. I hope you enjoy, or perhaps, enjoy it again. Thanks!

How bad a first impression can a new employee make? Pretty bad if you're Marcie Carmody. In my newest WIP, titled RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK, I am indeed revisiting the scene and characters from my earlier six-book series. Here's a snippet to suggest how bad things can get for Marcie:

The policeman made notes and mumbled, “Happened before, huh?” Behind him Marcie watched as the other officers led the handcuffed suspect outside and helped him into the back seat of a patrol car. He was eagerly protesting, but they were taking no chances. She couldn’t help noticing how tall he was. Tall and impressively built. He looked clean-cut and Marcie could easily see why he might be good at this sort of white collar crime. “Miss Carmody? Ma’am?”

Marcie snapped her attention back to the officer who had apparently just asked her another question. “I said, do you have any photo identification?”

“Oh yes.” She reached into her purse for her wallet. “Driver’s license okay?” She was pleased she had already received her updated Arizona license. The one from California might not have leant the same believability factor under the circumstances.

“Yes, ma’am.” The officer made another note. “Looks good. Thank you, Miss Carmody. We’ll call you if we need you.”

“Thank you, sir, and thank all the other officers who responded as well.”

“I’m sure Mr. Redhorse will be pleased with the way you’re looking out for his interests.”

“I certainly hope so.” Marcie watched as the third officer got into his car and pulled out. She wondered if she should call Logan and let him know what had just happened. Maybe the officers take care of that? She was still pondering the right thing to do when her cell phone whinnied. It was the ringtone she had designated for Logan Redhorse. She answered immediately.

“Hi, Logan. I guess the police called you, huh?”

“They certainly did. Listen, Marcie: I’m going to send you a photograph of Ryan Fields, my new associate we talked about? After you’ve seen it, I’d like you to go down to the police station and please get our new colleague out of jail.”

“You mean… Oh no. Oh Logan, I’m so sorry! I didn’t think he’d be here yet and when I saw someone going through your files, I thought—”

“He was going through his files, trying to get moved into the office. Wait just a second… There, I’m sending the picture. Is this the man you saw?”

Marcie looked. She’d been fifty or sixty yards away and the man she saw was wearing a hood, at least until the officers escorted him outside. Still, she had no doubt she was looking at a picture of her new boss. “Oh. Oh Logan. I can’t tell you how sorry I am—”

“Save the apologies for Ryan. He’s feeling a bit … miffed just now.”

Susan Aylworth has written eight published novels, all now available as e-books. Her ninth book, ZUCCHINI PIE: GRANNY'S RECIPE FOR LIFE, is coming out from Covenant Communications in June. If she is lucky and the stars align correctly, RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK will be her twelfth published novel. Reach her at susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or follow @SusanAylworth. She also loves "likes" and friends on her Facebook page:  FB.com/susan.aylworth.author.