Stories and Shorts

Some of my favorite pieces of writing never make it into a book, so I’ve collected them here. Some are full-length stories or novellas; others are snippets and scenes.  Some are mysteries, and others are simply slices of Tai and Trey’s life. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

And if you’d like to read the books and stories in narrative order (not necessarily the order I wrote them in, but according to the progression of the events in the series) you can find that list HERE.

♥ ♥ ♥

Creature Comforts

It was a simple bet, one Trey knew he couldn’t lose. After all, Tai had other things on her mind, criminal things; surely she wouldn’t devote that much energy into discovering one embarrassing secret from his past.

He should have known better.

“Creature Comforts” is an epilogue to Necessary Ends, the sixth book in the Tai Randolph & Trey Seaver series. Many of the events mentioned offhand throughout will be familiar only to those who have read that particular work. But it’s also a prologue of sorts, with Tai sorting out her feelings about a decision that she’s barely spoken into reality. As such, it sets the stage for the next book in their adventures, which I am hard at work upon.

In the meantime, please enjoy an idyll at Cumberland Island’s Greyfield Inn, where wild horses freely roam, salt breezes scent the air . . . and a devious criminal plot is underway.

Liquor, Larceny, and the Ordinal Classification of Courtship Rituals

After a week of murder and mayhem, Tai is eager to enjoy an actual, honest-to-goodness, sit-down dinner date with the new man in her life, ex-SWAT cop Trey. Their very first date, in her estimation.

Trey disagrees—surely by this point in their relationship they’ve already had a date—but before Tai can summon a rebuttal, she realizes that something’s going down in their quietly upscale surroundings, something nefarious, and she and Trey are right in the thick of it.

Can they discover the bad guys before the bad guys discover them? And most importantly, can they manage to have a romantic evening that doesn’t involve bloodshed or gunplay?

And to All a Good Night

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town, not a creature was stirring . . . except Tai Randolph.

Not that documenting a decidedly unusual robbery was on her holiday to-do list. But as an apprentice PI, she has to take the assignments that come her way, even if it means disappointing Trey, her partner in both romance and crime-solving, who had other plans.

As she and Trey begin to piece together the clues, an unlikely suspect emerges, as well as an unexpected crime. Someone has been very naughty, it seems, and Tai has to set things right. But can she do it while there’s still Christmas Eve to celebrate?

Lockdown Blues

Tai Randolph doesn’t like to be stuck inside. Not even with Trey, who can be distracting in close quarters. And especially not with spring beckoning just outside the window.

But when a simple favor turns into something more mysterious—and more challenging—Tai realizes that crime doesn’t stop during a quarantine . . . and neither does her penchant for sleuthing.

Author’s Note: Spring of 2020 was one of the most difficult seasons in my memory—isolating, frustrating, and heartbreaking.

What is a fictional story in the face of all this real conflict? A moment of refuge? Maybe. A way to think about hard truths in safety, get our minds and hearts straight with that truth before we wade into the wide and chaotic world? Perhaps. I hope it is also a reminder that we are all connected in ways deep and strange and surprising. All connected. All of us. All.

"Lockdown Blues” is something of a locked room mystery in reverse—instead of the crime taking place in a locked room, the solving of the crime happens within four walls, with Tai and Trey stuck in his apartment on the 35th floor.

The story exists out of narrative order, much like the spring of 2020. Consider it a sideways flashback.

Small Favors

It was a simple off-the-books assignment, a favor really—discover who is threatening erotic novelist Midnight LaRue, preferably before her keynote speech at the Romance Writers of the USA convention. It should have been an open and shut case for corporate security agent Trey Seaver . . . but then the pirate with the parrot tattoo showed up. And the media-hungry protesters. And the throngs of overly enthusiastic fans eager to get their hands on the closest cover model. It's enough to discombobulate even the most disciplined ex-SWAT security professional, especially one who bears a striking resemblance to the hero of Ms. LaRue's lascivious bestseller, Crimson Sin.

Luckily for Trey, he has Tai Randolph, his partner in both romance and crime solving, to share the investigation. Many many people have reason to hate Ms. LaRue, but Tai suspects that the key to solving this mystery lies between the covers of Crimson Sin . . . or perhaps between other, more scandalous, covers. It's a tangled tale of secrets and swindles, deception and seduction, double Windsor knots and bright red handcuffs. Because unless Tai and Trey can sleuth out a determined stalker, it could be "The End" for both of them.

Not Even Past

A lush Victorian B&B, chilled champagne for two, and a top-of-the-line metal detector—Tai Randolph is ready for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, Trey Seaver, her sexy if somewhat challenging boyfriend, is not cooperating.

Trey rightly suspects that Tai's got more than romance on her mind, and he's determined to uncover her agenda before setting one foot in the bedroom. Tai has one night to convince him that hearts and flowers and sleuthing really do mix, even in a deserted inn filled with history and stories and maybe even lost Confederate gold.

"Not Even Past" sets the stage for the fifth book in the series, Reckoning and Ruin.

Zero to Sixty

As a mystery writer, I do horrible things to my characters. I toss corpses in their path, ruin their romantic assignations, and generally complicate their best laid plans with murder and mayhem. Tai takes it in stride, but Trey becomes downright offended if the pleasures in his world do not outweigh the pains.

Enter the Ferrari F430.

As literary bribes go, it's top notch. A black-on-black coupe, Trey's F430 has a V8 engine like a pack of racehorses, with a throaty growl that aficionados describe as libidinous. Driving one is a sensual delight—the vibration of the engine, the way the leather seat molds to your body, the heat waves from the engine shimmering up behind you. It's powerful, sensual, elegant, just like Trey himself, but unlike Trey, it was off-limits to Tai's eager clutches. She took this development in stride. She knew that as symbols went, the Ferrari was a powerful one. In Trey's mind, it represented control and discipline. Behind its wheel, the world made sense to him. It took him over a year to finally trust Tai enough to hand over the keys, but at the end of Reckoning and Ruin, he mustered the courage to relinquish the driver's seat to her . . .

And this is the story of what happened.