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

87,847 thoughts on “Scavenger Hunt!”

  5. A Bar NYC search gets more interesting when the atmosphere is clearly described.
    A quiet corner and a lively dance floor offer very different evenings.
    Bar NYC listings are more useful when they show the actual seating areas Bar NYC

  10. I blog frequently and I seriously thank you for
    your content. This article has really peaked my interest.
    I will book mark your blog and keep checking for new information about
    once a week. I opted in for your Feed too.

  11. Great post. I used to be checking continuously this blog and I am inspired!
    Extremely helpful info specially the last section :) I
    care for such information much. I was seeking this certain info for a long time.
    Thanks and good luck.

  16. https://jm-plan-cul-toulouse.fr/

    Simply wish to say your article is as amazing.
    The clarity to your put up is simply spectacular and that i
    can assume you’re an expert on this subject.
    Well along with your permission allow me to grasp your RSS
    feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post.
    Thanks a million and please keep up the rewarding work.

  21. Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the pictures on this blog loading?
    I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my
    end or if it’s the blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

  23. Šioje temoje ?domiausia tai, kad galutinis vertinimas gali gerokai
    pasikeisti priklausomai nuo pasirinkt? kriterij?.

    Jeigu d?mesys skiriamas tik vienai savybei, gali pasirodyti, kad pasirinkimas yra labai paprastas.

    Ta?iau ?traukus kain?, s?lygas, naudojimo patogum?, lankstum? ir galimus apribojimus, situacija dažnai tampa gerokai sud?tingesn?.

    D?l to man atrodo naudinga vertinti ne pavien? savyb?, o vis? j? derin?.
    Taip pat svarbu, kaip aiškiai pateikiama informacija.
    Kai pagrindines s?lygas galima lengvai rasti ir suprasti,
    žmogui daug papras?iau objektyviai palyginti kelias
    alternatyvas. Kitas dalykas, ? kur? verta atkreipti d?mes?, yra duomen? atnaujinimo laikas.
    Taisykl?s, kainos ar funkcijos gali keistis, tod?l prieš priimant svarbesn? sprendim?
    pravartu patikrinti naujausi? informacij?. Žinoma, objektyv?s
    duomenys yra tik viena palyginimo dalis. Ne mažiau svarb?s ir asmeniniai prioritetai.
    Vienas žmogus gali labiausiai vertinti mažesnes išlaidas, o kitam svarbiau bus paprastumas ar didesnis lankstumas.
    Tod?l b?t? naudinga pateikti kelet? praktini? situacij? su
    skirtingais prioritetais. Tokie pavyzdžiai
    pad?t? geriau suprasti, kurios savyb?s turi didžiausi? praktin? reikšm? konkre?iais atvejais ir kurios tampa
    svarbios tik esant specifiniams poreikiams.

  33. I do trust all the ideas you have presented to your post.
    They are really convincing and can definitely work. Still,
    the posts are very short for novices. Could you please prolong them a little from
    subsequent time? Thanks for the post.

  35. A Bar NYC search gets more interesting when the atmosphere is clearly described.
    A quiet corner and a lively dance floor offer very different evenings.
    Bar NYC listings are more useful when they show the actual seating areas Bar NYC

  38. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your content seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.

    I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with internet
    browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know.
    The design look great though! Hope you get the
    issue fixed soon. Many thanks

  39. Petang menjelang malam itu, gerimis membasahi kota. Raka berdiri di dekat jendela kafe, menunggu seseorang.
    Tak lama kemudian, sosok Nadia muncul dengan senyum
    hangat.

    “Maaf terlambat,” katanya sambil menarik kursi di dekat Raka.

    Raka hanya tersenyum. wangi tubuhnya yang samar membuat suasana terasa semakin intim.

    Mereka berbicara tentang hal-hal kecil yang selama ini
    mereka rindukan, sesekali tertawa ketika tatapan mereka bertemu.

    Ketika kafe mulai kosong, Nadia mengulurkan tangannya.
    Raka menyambutnya. Jari-jari mereka bertaut, sementara
    suara hujan menjadi iringan yang menenangkan.

    Mereka kemudian berjalan keluar bersama. Di bawah
    satu payung, bahu mereka sesekali bersentuhan. Nadia menatap Raka cukup lama.

    “Rasanya aku tidak ingin malam ini berakhir,” bisiknya.

    Raka tersenyum dan mendekat sedikit. Untuk beberapa detik,
    dunia seakan berhenti di antara mereka.

    Lalu Nadia tersenyum malu, dan mereka melanjutkan perjalanan berdampingan.

  43. My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.
    But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress
    on numerous websites for about a year and am worried about
    switching to another platform. I have heard fantastic things about blogengine.net.
    Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  46. Th?ough timed drills t?at really feel l?ke journeys, OMT develops examination endurance ?hile deepening love f?r the topic.

    ??t ready f?r success in upcoming examinations ?ith OMT Math Tuition’s exclusive curriculum, cre?ted
    to cultivate vital thinking ?nd self-confidence ?n every student.

    With mathematics integrated perfectly ?nto Singapore’s class settings t? benefit ?oth instructors ?nd trainees, committed math tuition amplifies t?ese gains by using customized support for sustained achievement.

    primary school math tuition ?s vital f?r PSLE preparation ?s it assists trainees
    master th? foundational principles ?ike portions and decimals, w?i?h are
    heavily checked ?n the examination.

    Customized math tuition ?n high school addresses private finding ?ut gaps in subjects l?ke calculus
    and data, preventing t??m fr?m preventing ?
    Level success.

    F?r those going after ?3 Mathematics, junior college
    tuition ?ffers advanced advice on ?esearch-level topics to excel ?n th?? tough expansion.

    W?at separates OMT is its exclusive program t?at matches
    MOE’? ?ith emphasis on honest ?roblem-solving ?n mathematical contexts.

    Selection oof method questions ?ia, preparing
    ?ou thorou?hly f?r any kind of math test and much b?tter scores.

    Math tuition supports ? development attitude, motivating Singapore students t? watch challenges ?s chances for examination quality.

    my h?mepage … math tuition singapore

  49. Great article! This is the kind of info that should be shared
    around the net. Shame on Google for now not positioning this put up higher!
    Come on over and discuss with my website .
    Thank you =)

  50. W?at i do not realize is in fact how you are no? not really a lot
    m?re ?ell-li?ed than you may be now. You are so intell??ent.
    You re??ize therefore significant?? in t?rms of
    this subject, mad? me unique vacation ideas for families my part believe it fr?m so many variou? angles.
    It? lik? men and women aren’t inte?e?ted until it’s something
    to do with Girl ?aga! Your individual stuffs nice.
    At a?l times c?re for it up!

Leave a Reply

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