Wildfire: Evacuation
My friend, Scott Bury, has been working on a "Wine Country Mystery," and it's available for pre-order now on Amazon (for Kindle e-readers) and Smashwords (for Kobo, Nook and other e-readers).. Here's an excerpt:
Tara stuffed her laptop into her
duffel bag and grabbed a couple of other personal items. As she followed Greg
and Alex to the winery, she hit her parents’ speed-dial on her phone.
Her phone issued a strange tone. She
glanced at the screen. Damn—cell
service is out.
The big Ford F-150 pickup stood
outside the winery. Roberto looked up as he put a cardboard box into the back,
while the other two winery employees, Mark and Amy, each carried something
else.
Alan was on the landline’s cordless
handset, pacing between the winery and the gate to the vineyard, Charlie
following. “Just get them here,” Tara heard him say. “We’ll all leave together.
We’re not leaving anyone behind.” He shoved the phone back in his pocket as he
strode to the garage.
A minute later he drove a smaller
Toyota pickup truck out, stopping in front of the winery. “The wait and kitchen
staff can go with Veronica—Miguel, Antonio, Tara, Greg ... and Alex.”
“Wait a minute, Alan,” Roberto
interrupted. “Will they all fit in her SUV?”
“Okay, whoever doesn’t can go with you
and the winery staff. The pickers will go with Rosa, and I’ll take whoever’s
left.” As if on cue, a big old flatbed truck with wooden railings around the
bed pulled up, emerged from the smoke roiling in the vineyard. “There’s Rosa
and the picking crew.”
The truck halted behind Alan’s Toyota.
The pickers, men and women that Tara had seen once or twice over the past week,
sat in the beds, looking grim but not frightened.
Two winery staff who were carrying
items out to the trucks. “Never mind any more stuff,” Alan growled at Mark and
Amy, who were headed back to the winery. “Just people.”
“I have 21 people, including you, me
and Veronica,” Roberto said.
“There are still two of my people to
come,” said Rosa, stepping out of her truck. “Gabriela and Toby. They were
heading to the south end of the vineyard, last I saw them.”
“I’ll pick them up,” said Alan. “Every
vehicle have an FRS radio? Tune to channel 7-12.” Roberto adjusted dials on his
hand-held radio, and Rosa held hers up to indicate she was ready.
Veronica’s red SUV pulled into the
lot. Alan strode to it and opened the back door. “Shoes? Really?”
“Just two pairs. Along with the
laptop, the backup hard drive and the photo albums. Irreplaceable stuff.”
Alan sighed. “You’re right. Fine, you
take Charlie.” He pointed at the SUV and bent toward his dog. “Go with
Veronica, he said.”
Charlie sat on his haunches, tail
swishing on the dirt. He sneezed. “No, get into Veronica’s car,” Alan insisted.
Charlie yipped and rolled onto his
back.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Alan
groaned. He took Charlie by the collar and pulled him to the SUV. “All right, I
think that’s everything. You guys get moving. Head to Monte Rio on the Russian
River.”
“I turned on the water in the
irrigation system,” said Mark, one of the winery employees. He was short and
stout with thick black hair and a neat beard. “There’s not much pressure, and
it’s just coming in a trickle, but it should help a little.”
“That’s fine, Mark. Thanks,” Alan
answered, coughing as he got back into his small truck.
“One last sweep,” said Roberto. “Greg,
check the mansion. Mark, the garage. I’ll look in the winery.”
Three men ran in three different
directions. Mark returned first. “No one in the garage.” He coughed.
Is that snow
falling? Impossible. Wait—it’s ash.
Wildfire
Wildfires
swept across California wine country in 2017, destroying thousands of homes and
businesses, and killing dozens of people. Law school grad and single mother
Tara Rezeck finds herself in the middle of the catastrophe. When she returns to
her job at the most award-winning vineyard in Sonoma County, she finds her
employer’s body in the ashes.
The
question that challenges her brains and her legal training is: was it an accident?
Or was his body burned to hide evidence of murder?
Now
available for pre-order on Amazon (for Kindle
e-readers) and Smashwords (for Kobo,
Nook and other e-readers).
About the author
After a
30-year career as a journalist and editor, Scott Bury turned to writing fiction
with a children’s story, Sam, the Strawb Part, and a story that bridged the
genres of paranormal occult fiction and espionage thriller: Dark Clouds. Since
then, he has published 12 novels and novellas without regard to staying in any
one genre.
In
2012, he published his first novel, the historical magic realism bestseller The Bones of the Earth. His next book, One Shade of Red, was a satire of a
bestseller with a similar title.
From
2014 to 2017, he published the Eastern Front Trilogy, the true story of a
Canadian drafted into the Soviet Red Army in 1941, and how he survived the
Second World War: Army of Worn Soles,
Under the Nazi Heel and Walking Out of War.
Scott
was invited to write for three Kindle Worlds, where authors base novellas on
the fictional worlds of bestselling series. For Toby Neal’s Lei Crime Kindle
World, he wrote Torn Roots, Palm Trees
& Snowflakes, Dead Man Lying and Echoes.
For
Russell Blake’s Jet Kindle World, he contributed Jet: Stealth, featuring the explosive duo of Van and LeBrun.
And for
Emily Kimelman’s Sydney Rye Kindle World, he brought Van and LeBrun back for The Wife Line and The Three-Way.
Now, he
is beginning a new mystery series with Wildfire,
featuring the smart and passionate Tara Rezeck. Wildfire is currently available
for pre-order on Amazon (for Kindle
e-readers) and Smashwords (for Kobo,
Nook and other e-readers).