Scavenger Hunt!

To celebrate the upcoming release of Deadlock(June 25th!), my publisher has arranged a Scavenger Hunt! Follow the links at the end of each stop and collect clues along the way! At the end of the Scavenger Hunt, enter your clues to be entered to win the grand prize: a Nespresso Espresso maker and coffee goodies to keep your all-night hacking (or reading) sessions going strong. You might find a few bonus giveaways in hidden links throughout the Scavenger Hunt, too, including print copies of Deadlock!

To get you started, here is the first chapter of Deadlock! I’m so excited for you to meet Lindsey and Jace.

Chapter 1:

I’m going to kill my sister.

Lindsey Morris gritted her teeth into a smile for the photo her jolly Aunt Martha snapped, the silent threat in her head becoming more of an inevitable truth with each passing moment. God knows, it wasn’t unlike her twin sister Lena to flake out on her, but their parents’ fortieth anniversary party was something the two of them had been planning for months. All for Lena to leave Lindsey holding the bag. Again.

Relieved from picture duty at last, she left her parents and hustled in her towering heels across the banquet hall to check on the champagne, dodging cousins and uncles and aunts. She hadn’t seen some of them in years. If a certain sister hadn’t left her running this entire show, she might have had time to stop and catch up with each of them.

All of it had come together nicely, though. Her parents were beaming in front of a life-size poster of one of their wedding pictures, forty years having done nothing to dim their happiness and love for each other. Lindsey snapped a picture of her own before slipping out the door into an echoing hallway to dial Lena. As expected, her sister’s voicemail greeting chirped in her ear.

“Hello?” A long pause ensued, during which Lindsey’s blood pressure spiked. “Gotcha! Sorry, you don’t get to talk to me right now. If you want to talk to me later, better make it good.”

Lindsey waited for the tone. “I don’t want to talk to you. I want to strangle you. Dammit, Lena, where are you?”

Hours passed before she could get away to the blissful solitude of her apartment, where she hoped a glass of wine and a Simpsons marathon might make her feel a little better. But even Bart and Homer’s animated antics weren’t enough. Her anger had burned away to sad ashes, and she couldn’t get her parents’ disappointed faces out of her mind. It would serve Lena right if none of them ever spoke to her again, as drastic as it sounded, but something about Lena made one eager to trust her and believe her when she made the promises she never kept. And the anger Lindsey felt when that inevitably happened could just as easily be turned on herself for enabling her twin, for never enforcing any consequences when Lena flaked out.

But how many times had she tried? How many times had it worked?

Then her glass was empty, and she poured another, sitting alone on her couch and staring at the way the light from the TV played hypnotically through the crimson depths as she swirled the liquid in her glass. Everything she was doing to make herself feel better was having the opposite effect. The fact she had no one to vent her frustrations to made it worse. Bad-mouthing her sister to their parents wasn’t an option, especially today—they were probably on the plane for their anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas.

Lucky them.

“I need a vacation, too,” Lindsey told her wineglass. It was the only one there to listen. Then, sighing, she set it down on her coffee table and picked up her phone, shooting ramrod straight when she saw that she had somehow missed a text from Lena twenty minutes ago. She’d probably been in the kitchen scavenging.

Sorry. Ran into some trouble. Give Mom and Dad my love. I need a favor. Go to this address and ask him for help. Please. It will all become clear.

An address followed, which Lindsey’s eyes scanned without seeing. Her brain had shorted out on the word “favor.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” she asked her phone, gripping it with a force that threatened to shatter it.

Lena in trouble was nothing new. Ever since high school, on through college, and even after, she’d been getting herself or someone else into shit she couldn’t always talk her way out of. Thinking Lindsey would simply forget about tonight and rush in to help her was simply par for the course, but Jesus, it had to stop sometime, didn’t it?

One thing was for sure. No way was she going to that address, wherever it was. To some strange place to ask someone she didn’t know for—what, even? Who was she supposed to be looking for? She wasn’t about to let Lena make her look like an idiot on top of everything.

No one else could get her off her warm cocoon on the couch to face the biting cold. She didn’t know what she might find at her sister’s apartment; she didn’t care, but she was going all the same. Lena probably wouldn’t be there, but maybe it wouldn’t be too difficult to nose around and find out where she was. Then she would go find her, even if she had to hop on a plane to do it.

There were some things she desperately needed to say to Lena’s face, and it was well past time.

She rushed through her apartment, throwing on a coat and shoving her feet into boots, her pulse pounding in her ears. No one else on earth could push her buttons like this. Lindsey hadn’t trusted Lena since college, her twin’s antics during that particular time of their lives having been the final straw.

Yes, she was her sister. Yes, Lindsey still loved her as such. Gossip sessions, shopping trips, friendship…those areas had always come easily. But real trust?That ship had sailed years ago, when Lena had pulled what was probably her cruelest stunt of all—at least that Lindsey knew of. The skeletons that could lurk hidden in Lena’s closet were enough to give her cold chills. The two of them had the same face, and Lena probably had enough enemies that Lindsey should look over her own shoulder when she walked down the street.

In the back of the Uber she called because wine and rage and driving didn’t mix, she white-knuckled her purse straps all the way to her sister’s apartment, going over everything she wanted to say in her mind in case Lena was there. Confrontation ordinarily tied her tongue up in knots, and no doubt it would this time.

She had to have her words straight in her head or they would slip right out. But niggling in the back of her mind was the fact that their parents would never get over an irreparable rift between them, no matter the cause. It was enough for her to rein in on a few of the epithets she wished to hurl at Lena’s perpetually smug face. But not many.

If Lena was off having a grand adventure with plans to show up next week thinking all was well—she added the epithets back in.

Long ago, Lena had given Lindsey a key to her apartment so she could water her plants while she was away. The plants had died anyway—Lena didn’t even take care of them herself after she got home from wherever she’d been. But Lindsey had hung on to the key, and it had come in handy more than once. She stalked directly to her sister’s door, lifted her fist to beat on it, thought better of it—she might not even answer—and fit the key into the lock.

The sight that greeted her as she flipped the nearby light switch caused her heart to stutter and her breath to catch, momentarily choking her.

Her sister’s apartment was trashed.

Scavenger Hunt: Where are Lindsey’s parents going for their anniversary trip?

Next stop, Melynda Price

Deadlock releases June 25th! You can pick it up in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold. Add it on Goodreads!

 

 

 

Published by Cherrie Lynn

53,671 thoughts on “Scavenger Hunt!”

  2. Wow, amazing weblog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
    you make running a blog glance easy. The full glance of your web site is fantastic,
    as smartly as the content material!

  7. By celebrating l?ttle victories underway monitoring, OMT supports ? pozitive relationship ?ith mathematics, motivating pupils f?r exam quality.

    Experience flexible knowing anytime, ?nywhere throu?? OMT’s thoeough online e-learning platform, including limitless access t? video lessons and interactive quizzes.

    ?n Singapore’? rigorous education ?ystem, wh?re mathematics i? compulsory and t?kes in ?r?und 1600 hou?? of curriculum time in primary ?nd secondary schools,
    math tuition ?ecomes vital t? help trainees build a strong structure f?r lifelong
    success.

    Tuition stresses heuristic analytical ?pproaches, im?ortant
    f?r ta?ing on PSLE’s tough ?ord problem? that nee? numerous steps.

    Recognizing ?nd correcting ?articular weak point?,
    lik? in likelihood or coordinate geometry, m?kes secondary tuition essential f?r O Level
    quality.

    ?ia regular mock exams and comprehensive comments, tuition aids junior
    university student recognize ?nd remedy weak point?
    befo?e the real A Levels.

    Uniquely, OMT complements t?e MOE curriculum with a custom-mad?
    program featuring analysis assessments t?
    customize web content to ev?ry student’s toughness.

    With 24/7 accessibility t? video clip lessons, ?ou can catch
    up on ha?d topics anytime leh, helping yo? rack up m?ch ?etter ?n examinations ?ithout tension.

    Math tuition constructs ? strong portfolio of abilities, boosting Singapore pupils’ resumes f?r scholarships based
    ?pon exam outcomes.

    ?lso visit my webpage – math tuition singapore – Hazel,

  10. Xin chào, Bay Clubs ?ang là sân ch?i
    uy tín v?i t?c ?? ?n ??nh. N?i dung phong phú, khuy?n mãi h?p d?n. Tôi ?ang ch?i ok, ai ?ang tìm thì nên th?
    nhé! Link chính th?c:bayclub

  14. OMT’s interactive tests gamify knowing, m?king mathematics addictive f?r Singapore trainees ?nd
    motivating t?em to press f?r outstanding test grades.

    Join ?ur sma?l-group on-site classes ?n Singapore f?r personalized
    guidance in a nurturing environment t?at builds strong fundamental mathematics abilities.

    ??e holistic Singapore Math approach, ?hich develops
    multilayered analytical capabilities, highlights ?hy math tuition ?s important for mastering t?e
    curriculum and ?etting ready f?r future professions.

    Tuition ?n primary math ?s key for PSLE preparation, ?s it ?resents
    advanced techniques f?r handling non-routine issues t?at stump m?ny candidates.

    Connecting mathematics concepts t? real-wo?ld circumstances ?ia tuition strengthens understanding, m?king ? Level application-based questions
    m?re approachable.

    Dealing wit? private knowing styles, math tuition m?kes certain junior college pupils understand subjects ?t their o?n speed f?r A Level success.

    What makes OMT remarkable i? it? exclusive curriculum t?at aligns with MOE while introducing aesthetic ?elp lik? bar moeling ?n ingenious w?ys for primary
    learners.

    OMT’s on th? internet tuition conserves cash ?n transportation lah, enabling ?v?n more emphasis ?n studies and enhanced math outcomes.

    ?ith developing MOE standards, math tuition keeps Singapore trainees upgraded ?n curriculum modifications f?r exam readiness.

    ?ook int? my site; good secondary math tuition

  23. You’re so interesting! I don’t believe I have read anything like that before.

    So wonderful to find another person with genuine thoughts on this
    subject matter. Seriously.. many thanks for starting this up.
    This site is something that is needed on the internet, someone with some originality!

  47. Unquestionably consider that that you said. Your favourite justification appeared to be at the net the simplest factor
    to understand of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while
    people consider worries that they plainly don’t understand about.

    You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest as smartly as defined out the whole thing without
    having side effect , other folks can take a signal.
    Will likely be back to get more. Thank you

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *