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The Hidden Truth of
Cytech's Randall Forty
by Vickie Kennedy
Hi, Everyone!
Thanks for stopping by to read about my story! I'm Dixie Freeman, Homicide Detective, transplanted in the year 2250, against my will, of course, but once I got here, there was no way I was going back! The author, Vickie Kennedy, did a great job of telling my story, and I couldn't have done a better job myself. Living in the future is terrific. You never have to buy groceries or cook. You have a food replicator that you stick a dish or glass in, and tell it what you want. It's awesome. I get to ride around in a real hovercraft or a miniature stealth plane, and I don't even have a pilot's license! How cool is that? Another cool thing is that now you can read all about the future where I live now! Just scroll on down (after you read the summary and excerpt of course!) and click the link. Then if you want a printed copy to save for your collection of great books, you can come back to order, and it'll be sent autographed personally to you. Read on to find out more of my exciting story!
Dixie
Summary:
Homicide Detective Dixie Freeman has been chosen by the Federal government for a secret time travel expedition. It is the government's contention that if the world is to survive the raging crime on the streets, she is their only hope of finding new ways to solve crimes. For this mission, the government needs someone tough and intelligent, the least likely to crack under pressure, someone who most likely would do their best to succeed, and someone who is alone in the word. Forced into a world as alien as the planet Jupiter, Dixie immediately finds herself face to face with the head of organized crime of that era. Moments later, she is aided by Commander Randal Forty, head of the New York Police Department. From that moment, the heat is on.
Dixie has ninety days in which to help Forty find and stop Xonn, the head of the organized crime mob. With nothing to go back to in her own world, she must also find a way to stay in a world where she finally finds love.
Forty wants Dixie in his world as much as she wants to stay with him. But he wonders if she can love him and believe that he is capable of loving her when she discovers his secret?
Find out more in this compelling story of action packed story about crime, and an almost impossible love.
Detective
Dixie Freeman looked at her superior officer and laughed.
“I think you’re in desperate need of a vacation!
When was the last time you had a psych exam?”
She laughed again. “I’ve
never heard of anything so ridiculous. You’ve
been watching too many science fiction movies.
This may be the beginning of the twenty-first century, but we’re not that
advanced! Time travel.”
The last words were said on a harsh puff of air, her head shaking
negatively.
Chief
of Police Dennis Hawthorn sat behind his desk, his hands clasped on top of the
blotter. There wasn’t even a hint
of amusement on his face.
That
bothered her. The laughter died in
her throat, and she sank into a chair. “You’re
serious, aren’t you? There is
such a thing as time travel?” Her
tone was incredulous.
“I
am, and there is. At least that’s
what the government is saying. At
first, I thought they were a bunch of loons.
After they dropped their little plan in my lap, and it concerned you, I
checked them out thoroughly. They
are who they say they are, and after an extensive, as well as intensive search,
they’ve selected you specifically.”
“Why?”
Her eyes narrowed as suspicion crept over her.
The fine hairs at the base of her neck bristled.
No one would go to that much trouble without a very good reason.
“There are millions of people they could have chosen.
Why didn’t one of their scientists want to do it?”
“Obviously,
they’ve researched your background and feel you’re the best person for the
job.”
She
cocked an eyebrow. “I still
don’t understand. Even if their
reasons are that I’m good at my job, there are higher-ranking officers
available, such as yourself. Everything
I know I learned from you. Why not
you?” When he remained silent,
his gaze averted, she slid to the edge of her chair.
“Out with it, Dennis. Why
me, and not someone like you?”
He
sighed heavily. “Because I have a
family.”
It
took a moment for the implication to sink in.
“And I don’t.”
He
knew she was hurt. She’d been
like family since her teenage years. He’d
taken an interest in her when he’d first seen her at the children’s group
home. She was only fifteen.
The
two girls on the porch had been the only witnesses. Dixie had been so traumatized, she hadn’t been able to
describe the assailants. But Jenny
had been a remarkable help in identifying the car and occupants.
When
he’d first seen Dixie, she hadn’t spoken a word in weeks. He’d decided to try. Somehow,
within only minutes, he’d broken through her barrier with gentle words, and
she’d started to cry. She
eventually told him what had happened. It was then he’d told her that police officers couldn’t
do their job without help from those who see the bad things that happen to
innocent people. Things changed
after that, and Dixie turned to him more and more, taking a real interest in
solving crimes. Now, at the age of
twenty-seven, she was the best detective on the force.
Dixie
had no relatives that he knew of. She’d
grown as close as a sister to her late partner, Whitty, the nickname for
Evangeline Whittington, only to lose her in a shoot-out last year when trying to
stop a bank holdup. Since then,
Dixie had preferred to work alone. She
resisted letting anyone getting close to her again, reasoning that her heart
couldn’t take it. Dixie now
worked in homicide, and excelled at it. Part
of what made her a great cop was the rapport she could immediately establish
with victims' families, though the tough, hard part of her didn't and wouldn't
recognize that she could still care.
He
snapped back to the present. “I
don’t want them to take you, but I don’t have a choice.
I have my orders. This comes
from someone I can’t defy.”
“Well,
I have a choice,” she remarked, her tone cool.
“It’s my decision to make, and I say no. Tell them to get an idiot for their trip to Never-Never Land.
Seems to me they don’t want someone with a lot of brains, and I don’t
consider myself stupid.”
“You
don’t have a choice, Dixie. And
they do want someone with brains, and coolness under fire.”
“Excuse
me?” Her eyes went wide with
shock as she jumped to her feet, focusing only on his first words.
“I don’t have a choice?”
He
shook his head. “Please, sit back
down and let me explain.”
This
should be good, she told herself, sinking back down in the chair.
She ran a hand through her shiny, chestnut-colored hair, and crossed her
shapely, jean-clad legs. She pushed
the rolled up sleeves of her blue cotton shirt up to her elbows, then crossed
her arms across her chest.
“All
right, I’m listening.”
Hawthorn
settled his big bulk farther back into his leather chair, his brown eyes meeting
her anger-sparked blue ones. “The
government is worried about the amount of street violence in the nation.
They seem to think we might not even have a future for this country, if
something isn’t done soon. Time
travel has been in an experimental stage for years, and now they feel it’s
been perfected. They’ve tested
and re-tested, with remarkable success every single time.
What they want you to do is go into the future for whatever number of
years they feel is necessary, and find out how crime is being managed, how they
clear up homicides. Sort of an
investigative-type mission for three months.
Whatever you learn, you’re to bring that knowledge back with you so we
can put it to use now. Hopefully,
to stop the craziness on the streets while there’s still time.”
She
thought hard for several seconds while a jumble of questions flowed through her
head. Finally, the ones that popped
through most clearly flowed from her mouth.
“How am I supposed to do that with no credentials that I belong there?
Who’s to say anyone would even give me the time of day?
How am I to get accepted there as an officer without credentials of that
time period? What if I go, and
nothing is there? What if the world
has destroyed itself, or if I die during transit?”
“I
don’t know the answers to any of that, Dix.
I’m sure they’d answer your questions.
Some of it’s a risk that has to be taken.”
“Like
hell!” She jumped to her feet,
grabbing her purse and jacket from the chair beside her. Her cheeks flamed as anger flared through her.
“I risk my life for this city every damn day I step out on the street.
I’m not risking it for some insane time travel experiment that might
not even work! I am in no hurry to
die, thank you!” She
marched toward the door.
“Dixie.”
The
warning note in his voice stopped her. With
her hand on the door handle, she looked over her shoulder at him.
“You’ve already assigned me, haven’t you?”
His
gaze met hers. “It’s not an
assignment from me. I told you
that. It’s not a choice. It’s an order. They’ll
make you go, simply because they can. It’s
a top priority, government mission. You have to go.”
“Like
hell I do! Tell them to kiss my
ass!” She marched out of
the office, slamming the door behind her with such force the glass rattled. She half expected to hear it shatter.
“The
nerve of him!” she muttered to herself as she headed toward the rear parking
area where she’d parked her car that morning.
She was as angry as she was hurt that Dennis would even go along with
such nonsense. She paid no
attention to the passing officers with handcuffed prisoners in tow as she made
her way toward the exit, until one made a remark to her.
She
stopped short, turned, and looked at the man in cuffs.
He looked scraggly, un-bathed, and stood there grinning at her as if he
were the answer to all her prayers. “What
did you say to me?” Her tone was
hard.
“I
said, ‘You’re a fine thang, and we can get it on later if you wanna come to
my cell for a conjugal visit.’ You
know you want some. I can see it in
that fine ass of yours, baby.”
The
next instant, her fist connected with his nose and blood spurted as he reeled
back.
An
officer grabbed her and pulled her back, but she glared at the oaf.
“Screw yourself, asshole.” She
jerked her arm free of a tight grasp, shook her stinging hand, and headed toward
the rear door, where her car was parked at the back lot of the precinct.
The
cold January air smacked her in the face as she pushed open the door.
She shivered as she struggled into her jacket.
Hating the bite of the wind on her face, she hurried to her car.
The only thing positive she could find to associate with the remotest
possibility of time travel would be the chance to skip winter and go directly to
summer, she thought sarcastically as she set the car's heater to maximum.
Traffic
was heavy, neon lights blinked, and the sidewalks were filled with people.
Hookers stood on street corners, vagrants staggered toward alleyways, and
others that seemed to be common folk were coming or going.
In her line of work, she knew appearances were not always what they
seemed, yet tonight she gave them no attention whatsoever.
A
jumble of questions flitted through her mind, none of them associated with the
screwball she’d punched in the nose. What’s
come over Dennis? Why didn’t
someone come directly from the government agency that wanted this?
She hadn’t been given enough information to know if it was safe.
Dennis said it was a risk. Just
how much experimenting had these people done with time travel?
Was it real, or were they just playing around with it and wanted her to
be their guinea pig? Because she
had been chosen in the manner Dennis described, she was not interested.
She was certain Dennis didn’t know any more about it than she did.
He’d told her all he knew. Of
that she had no doubt. If nothing
else, he was open and honest. Still,
she needed facts, hard, cold evidence of this time travel crap.
Until she had it, they could stuff it.
Three
months in the unknown? They were
crazy.
Where would she end up, and just how far in time would they send her?
He’d said whatever was necessary.
What did that mean, exactly? Twenty
years? Thirty?
Fifty? That part
bothered her. She simply couldn’t
comprehend anything past tomorrow. She
lived like that, day to day. Nothing
planned past the moment. Things
changed too drastically in her line of work to plan too far ahead, and work was
all she had. And that was the only
way she wanted to travel through time; one day at a time.
“No,”
she murmured. “It’s not
possible. I don’t believe it.
They can’t do that.”
With
that firmly decided, she switched on the car stereo, slipped in her favorite
country compact disc, and focused her attention on her driving and the music.
By
the time she parked her car at the curb in front of her apartment building, it
had started raining. Hard, pelting
drops. She made a dash for the
front entrance; the rain feeling like ice chips as it hit her face.
Wiping her cheeks with the tips of her fingers, she stopped inside the
door, allowing the warmth to envelope her.
She hated coats. They felt too heavy and bulky, restricting and binding,
especially when driving, but on days like this, she certainly needed to force
herself into wearing one. Shivering
slightly, the coldness finally starting to leave her, she moved to the elevator,
punched in her security code, and waited for the lift to arrive.
By
the time she closed and locked the door to her apartment, she realized just how
much the things Dennis said disturbed her.
It was true that she was alone in the world. She felt it more at that instant than she could ever
remember. Her insides ached. She had no family, no close friends, no one that would ever
miss her. Now she wondered if
Dennis would.
When
she’d met Dennis during the investigation of her parents’ murder, he’d
seemed to take an interest in her. She
had been sure it was pity at first because she was alone, but after a while,
when he showed real interest in answering her questions about police work, she
looked toward him as a mentor.
Going
to the police academy became her entire focus.
Now, six years later, she was doing a top-notch job, having received
promotions and commendations faster than any other person on the force, simply
because she was totally dedicated to her job.
There was nothing else in her life.
No family. No man.
No children of her own. No
partner, not even a cat. She
didn’t even have a real place to call home; just a rented little furnished
space to eat and sleep that she’d never even bothered to fix up with personal
touches to identify it as her own.
With
a heavy sigh, she stripped off her clothes as she headed for the shower.
Dennis had certainly stirred up an ugly emotion.
Loneliness. Why hadn’t she
ever accepted a date? She’d been
asked often enough by some of her fellow officers.
She had to admit some of them were extremely nice looking men, too.
Why hadn’t she ever gone for a drink after getting off duty?
She’d always worked late instead, and then went home, dead on her feet
from exhaustion, to crawl into bed to get some sleep, just as she wanted to do
now.
“Diamond
Dixie” had been a name she’d heard a few of the men use when referring to
her. One of the female officers had
asked them what they meant by that, and they’d told her.
Dixie had overheard their explanation. They’d decided she was as hard
and cold as a diamond, but still nice to look at and want to possess. Their
meaning had stung. She’d never
considered herself beautiful or pretty, just average.
She certainly didn’t think of herself as hard and cold.
Apparently others did. Perhaps
because she was such a loner. The
thought crossed her mind that she should do something about that.
Make a better effort to be friendly, to socialize with some of her fellow
officers. Perhaps that’s why she
didn’t have a man in her life. She’d
never made an effort to give anyone a chance.
The idea of going man-hunting was appalling. She’d already had to play the part of a hooker for an
undercover job once, and it had made her sick to her stomach. Still, she did what she had to do, and it had worked to catch
a serial killer. She’d probably
die a virgin!
The
sting of the shower invigorated her as she bathed, then she stood for a little
longer to let the water cascade over her, washing away the weariness of the day
until she finally relaxed. She’d
been working non-stop on the stabbing death of a sixteen-year-old boy who’d
been found in an area he never should have been in.
He’d been an honor student, an all-star athlete on the school
basketball team, had never been in trouble, had good friends, and had always
come home on time. Until two nights
ago. The only thing she had to go
on for now was the fact that the kid’s shoes had been taken, and today she
discovered he had not died where he’d been found.
She knew that happened a lot. Kids
killed over a pair of name-brand shoes or designer jeans, even a T-shirt, then
dumped in an alley. The hardest
part of her job involved facing the parents.
That was the only time she could not turn off her emotions as a cop.
In this case, she'd had so little to go on.
No one had seen nor heard anything, of course; the customary responses
from people in areas like that. No
weapon. No clues.
Nothing. Still, she refused
to give up.
Wrapped
in a towel, she moved from the bathroom to the bedroom, where she slipped into a
bright banana-colored silk night shirt, the hem just above her knees, pulled on
a pair of cotton panties, then started to towel dry her hair in front of her
dresser mirror. She caught a
glimpse of movement in the mirror and spun around to face three men in black
ninja garb, and a man in a business suit. The
three men were completely covered, identical in every way, even in build, no
part of them visible, giving an eerie cloned effect, and she would have laughed
had it not been for the man in the suit. She
wondered why he had not bothered to cover himself or hide the possibility of her
identifying him.
“Miss
Freeman,” he said flatly, with a nod of his head.
Her
heart pounded. How did he know her
name? He’d said “Miss” as
well. She studied his face.
Salt and pepper hair, short cropped like a cop’s, clean-shaven,
piercing brown eyes. She’d guess
him to be about five-foot-eleven and would weigh about one hundred seventy
pounds. Possibly in his early to
mid-fifties. If not for the three
grunts with him, she'd suspect him of being a federal agent.
There was just something about feds.
Her analytical, observant, detective’s mind took it all in within
seconds.
“Who
are you, and how did you get in here?” she demanded, automatically slipping
into a defense stance. “This is a
security building.”
“My
name is not important, Detective,” he answered, causing her eyes to narrow at
him. “My boys are good.”
He indicated the three ninja-clad men with a nod of his head in their
direction.
She
gave them a swift glance, moving her eyes only a fraction, then settled her gaze
again on the suited man. “What do
you want?”
“Your
services.”
“Dial
9-1-1,” she snapped. “Get
out.”
His
lips twitched with amusement. “I’m
afraid that’s not possible. You
see, we are going to take you with us. Any
way we have to. As long as you’re
alive, that is.”
Realization
dawned on her, causing her eyes to narrow even more. “I thought I smelled fed.
Do you all wear the same aftershave or something?
And if you think you’re going to zap me into Never-Never Land, you’re
out of your frigging mind.” At that moment, she half expected to see three turtles and a
big rat come charging out of the closet to rescue her.
“Very
good,” he acknowledged. “They
said you were smart, and very good in martial arts.”
She
almost grinned, but kept it to a slight twitch of her lips and a cock of one
eyebrow. He was afraid she’d kick
his butt, so he’d brought back up! Dennis
had said they’d checked her out thoroughly.
If the man in the suit didn’t look so serious, she’d have laughed.
Three ninja fighters to bring back one little woman?
She’d have to find out what they’d put in her record to warrant such
an action as this. After all, she
was only five-foot-five and weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds!
She
noticed the man in the suit didn’t move a muscle, except his lips to speak to
her. He stood with his feet
slightly spread apart, his hands clasped together in front of him, looking far
too confident and arrogant for her liking.
“I
believe I sent you a message concerning that,” she snapped, not liking the
feeling of intimidation that threatened to creep over her.
It
was then that his mouth spread into a slow smile.
“Yes. I received it loud
and clear.” His eyes roved over
her, deliberately slowly from her face, settled for a moment on her braless,
full breasts that were visible beneath the thin material of her shirt, then
traveled down to her bare feet. When
his gaze moved back up and settled on her face once again, he told her,
“I’d be very happy to comply with your wishes.
I think it’d be rather nice to kiss your ass.
Among other things. Anything
to get you to cooperate. We’re in
an appropriate place.” He shifted
his eyes to the bed and back at her. “I
can have my boys wait in the living room for an hour or so.”
Her
face flamed scarlet. She’d had
other men make snide remarks to her before, but none had ever embarrassed her to
such an extent. She knew it was the
unaccustomed vulnerability of her home being invaded, coupled with her thinly
clad body, which was at the root of her embarrassment; the knowledge didn’t
help the way she felt.
“I’m
not going,” she snapped, desperately trying to tamp down her rising temper.
Anger would do her no good here, but would only interfere with the cool
detachment she needed to think clearly and fight her best.
She already knew she was not going to get out of this one without one
hell of a fight.
He
sighed heavily and dropped his head. Without
looking at her, he told her, “I
was hoping this wouldn’t have to get ugly.
You can come along with me quietly, or we can get really nasty.
You’re far too pretty to go around making people get nasty.”
She
refused to be baited. “I...am...not...going.”
She pronounced each word with great emphasis through clenched teeth.
His
head lifted. “You haven’t even
heard what’s needed from you. It’s
very important that you do this. You
know what the streets are like. We
need your help.”
“Why
me?” She stood her ground.
“Because
you’re good.”
“Bullshit!”
she retorted sharply. “You want
me because I’m alone. No one
would ask questions if I didn’t show up one day.
It’d be easy enough to cover up. Just
say I got transferred, and that would be the end of it.
Well, I care about me, even if no one else does!
I’m not going!”
He
looked at his watch. “I’m
sorry, Detective. I was hoping
you’d be more reasonable. I’m
running out of time.” He
gave a brief lift of his head as he glanced at the three ninjas, and before she
could even move, they were across the room.
She didn’t have a great deal of room in which to move, having the bed
only a couple of feet away. She
gave the closest ninja a swift kick in the chin, which sent him back into the
man in the business suit, catching him off guard for a few seconds.
Before the other two could grab her, she jumped on to the bed, used it as
a springboard, and gave a lunge for the door.
They
tackled her in the living room, slamming her to the carpeted floor with a thud
that knocked the wind from her. The
three ninjas straddled her; one across her chest, pinning her arms down with his
knees, another across her pelvis, and the third straddled her legs.
She was completely immobile. She
heaved in as much breath as she could.
“Get
off me, you bastards,” she gritted.
The
man in the suit kneeled beside her head. “I
told you we could get nasty.”
“You
don’t know what nasty is, but you will. I
don’t get mad, I get even.”
“I’ll
remember that.”
He
lifted his hand, and that was when she saw the hypodermic needle, filled to
about a third with some kind of clear liquid.
“You’d
better hope you kill me, you son of a bitch, because if I ever get up, I’m
definitely going to kill you.”
“Such
a nasty mouth from such a pretty lady. When
you get back, I’ll take you out to dinner to make this up to you, and show you
what a nice guy I really am.”
“Go
to Hell.” She struggled to
free her arms, hoping for at least one good slap on his arrogant face, but her
struggles were futile.
“Nighty-night,
sweetheart.”
A
moment later, with his hand grasping her hair in a firm grip to hold her head
still, the needle stung her neck. The
sedative administered, the ninjas relaxed, even though the drug hadn’t yet
taken effect. Dixie took advantage
of their mistake.
She
craned her neck up, knowing she would pay later for the strain she put on those
muscles, but not caring at the moment. She
sank her teeth as hard as she could into the thigh of the ninja across her
chest. He yelped and jerked away,
falling off her and taking the ninja across her middle with him.
Freed
of the restraining weight of the first two ninjas, Dixie sat up suddenly,
punching the third in the throat with one fist as she backhanded the suit across
the face with the other fist. The
suit fell back and the ninja collapsed atop the other two, just as they were
disentangling themselves from one another.
The ninjas were little better than clowns in scary costumes; their only
advantage lay in outnumbering her. Dixie
would have laughed if she could have afforded the time, but she could already
feel the drug taking effect. He’d
hit a direct vein.
She
began breathing hard as she struggled to her feet, pumping more oxygen to her
brain in an attempt to offset the darkness starting to impinge on her senses, at
least until she could get away.
She
heard a step behind her and whirled, but her punches were blocked.
The suit grabbed her upper arms, blocking further blows with his
forearms, and shoved her back against a wall.
He moved in close, his nose almost touching hers.
A small trickle of blood crept from the corner of his mouth.
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