She caught tears at the edge of her eyes. Not wanting to, but unable to stop herself, she looked up to the second shelf above her workstation. A diamond sparkled at her. Her engagement ring. It was still where Brandt had left it. He had refused to take it back. He had said it was his final gift to her. She should have thrown it back at him, screamed at him, done something besides let him walk out that door. Now she couldn’t bring herself to move the damned thing. It sat there mocking her. Reminding her of the life that could have been, that could never be.
But she couldn’t dwell on the past. Or at least not the recent past. She still had the “smart” gene to prove. And somehow through the fifteen thousand debriefings she had survived, of course lying through her teeth at each one of them, Rebecca had kept this tiny, tiny shard of James’ bone hidden.
All the preparations had been made. All the calculations done. Today was the day she would drill into the bone and extract a minuet quantity of DNA from the bone marrow. Given the fragment’s extremely small size, she would have only one chance at this.
Rebecca needed her mind and hands focused. She needed to block out everything but this piece of bone and her micro-knife.
Taking a deep breath, Rebecca double checked her instruments, then looked through the microscope. She could see the tiny spicules of bone, interlaced before her. She knew within this tiny lattice, the DNA she needed lay hidden.
Closing her eyes, Rebecca steadied her nerves. Whether or not she was ready to have her theory proven correct or debunked, James’ bone was ready.
Slowing opening her eyes, she found a spot between two spicules that looked especially promising and moved the joystick into position. Ever so carefully, Rebecca moved the joystick forward, angling the micro-blade toward the position. She would have to coordinate the cut and the sterile vacuum to collect the material before it turned to dust.
She was ever so close to fulfilling her life’s work when the door burst open.
“Dr. Hottie Monroe! Are you ready for some Latin love?”
In her shock she not only drove the micro-blade through the entire section, but she broke the seventy-thousand-dollar tip off as well. “No!”
Months of preparation ruined. James’ bone destroyed.
Rebecca spun around, ready to lay waste to whoever had ignored her huge sign warning anyone not to enter, but found Lopez with his arms spread wide. Behind him a figure hung back in the doorway.
Their eyes met over Lopez, locked in some kind of painful flashback. God, had Vincent’s jaw gotten even squarer? Were his eyes more crystalline than before? And his biceps. How easily she could remember them holding her.
Even though Lopez was no slouch in that department, his fierce hug felt completely hollow.
“What, you don’t have any love from an old comrade-in-arms?” Lopez asked, feigning hurt. She simply punched him in the arm.
“You trashed my experiment, Ricky.”
“My bad,” the corporal said, but his grin told a different story.
Two other men had entered the laboratory. She didn’t know them nearly as well, but by Brandt’s constant complaining about them not living up to their predecessors she knew the shorter, darker-haired one was Talli and the redhead was Harvish.
All eyes were upon her. Well, upon her but then flickering back to Brandt. Clearly they had come on some military need, but that didn’t change the utter awkwardness that choked the room.
“Dr. Monroe,” a voice called from the other room. “Is there a problem?”
Rebecca willed the man to stay back, announcing, “Sam, everything’s fine!”
But the younger man, his face a riddle of reconstruction scars, came around the corner. His features were so distorted that it took a moment for Brandt to recognize who stood in front of him. Lopez was quicker on the draw.
“Davidson!” Rebecca rushed to get between them as Lopez whooped, “Dude! You are alive!”
But that might not last for long, as Brandt brought his gun to bear and aimed it at Davidson.
The red laser light glowed against her previous enemy’s, now assistant’s, forehead.
Brandt growled, “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
Havoc will be out in the fall of 2012. If you would like to read a vital short story that bridges Brandt and Rebecca’s adventures between 30 Pieces of Silver and Havoc, check out An Engagement to Remember in the anthology 8 Hearts Beat As One. And don’t worry, just because it is in a romance anthology, it has plenty of the patented McCray action to go around!
Click here to purchase or sample the anthology.
About The Author
I started out like most authors. I had a story in my head that would not shut up! LOL
I wrote the book, pitched it around agents/NY and received amazing feedback about how amazing 30 Pieces of Silver was, but (and a BIG but) no one thought they could sell the book. They thought people were tired of religious/historical thrillers.
From my reviewers and beta readers that people were really enjoying the story I told, so I decided to take it to the streets so to speak. I decided to indie publish and since that decision, I have sold over 20,000 copies of 30 Pieces of Silver.
I guess people did want more religious/historical thrillers after all!
So if you are looking to publish a book such as this or are a reader and want to find the cream of the indie crop, you really need to look up @indiebookIBC!
If you would like to connect with me, check out my Contact Info section or for a quick Tweet, you can find me under @craftycmc (for my personal account). And of course this book would not be in your hands if it were not for the unwavering efforts of the Indie Book Collective @indiebookIBC.
Copyright Information
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, places, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
30 Pieces of Silver
An Off Our Meds Project/published by arrangement with the author
FIRST EDITION
Copyright 2010 by Carolyn McCray
All rights reserved
Kindle Edition
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Any inquiries can be made to:
3524 South Star Lake Road
Auburn, WA 98001
Email
Acknowledgments
So many people contribute to any book that it is hard to list them all. However, I intend to try!
This book would never have come into existence without, of course, Jim. Ever cool. Ever there.
Ben, who faithfully edited the manuscript through its many, many, many incarnations.
Dee Dee, who has believed in me for so long it is almost impossible to remember a time without her. #andnothatsnotadissonyourage
Carrie, my editor, who knows of my love for sentence fragments and run-on sentences, yet who still patiently edits them to the point where they are readable!
Contact Information
Carolyn McCray can be found just about everywhere social media exists (and some that are just in her head).
Her personal social media links:
Email
Website
Twitter
Blog
Facebook
Goodreads
LinkedIn
Her writing advice, Writing Without the Drama, links:
Twitter
Blog
Her Indie Book Collective (where she and the rest of the Collective help teach authors how to use social media to market their books)
Website
Twitter
Blog
Facebook
GoodReads
Technical Publishing articles on DigitalBookWorld
.com
Poignant articles on Lifarre.com
Motivational article on Mome-O.com
Table of Contents
Book Cover
Main Menu
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Works By Carolyn McCray
Encrypted – Carolyn’s latest techno-thriller
Fated – A historical paranormal romance set in ancient Rome
Plain Jane – A Patterson-style Thriller with a Dash of Hannibal
HeartsBlood – A Paranormal Romance Thriller/Urban Fantasy
A Sneak Peek of the 30 Pieces of Silver sequel, Havoc
Contact Information
Copyright Information
Chapters:
Where it Began
Prologue
Chapter 1
Fellowship
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Providence
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Paths, Crossed
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Awakening
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
The Flock
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
The Path Ahead
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
The Thirteenth
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Prophecies
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
The Betrayal
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
The Sacrifice
Chapter 37
The Ending