Indelible, Laurie Buchanan [the kiss of deception read online txt] 📗

the other, Carol Stapleton, an elderly penitent, steps into the confession booth. She’s crying because she knows she has to tell the priest the hateful thoughts she’s entertained about her neighbor. She sits down, closes her eyes, and tries to compose herself as she waits for the priest’s usual greeting.

After tucking the tissue in her sleeve, her now-empty hand fingers the string of pearls at her neck. After a few minutes tick by in silence, she retrieves the tissue and blows her nose. Clearing her throat, she says, “Father MacCullough?”

When he doesn’t answer, she wipes her lenses with the hem of her cotton dress and puts her glasses on. That’s when she notices the splintered wood. What on earth?

She presses her wrinkled face to the small ornate screen in the partition that divides them. Red oozes down the wall where the priest should be seated. Her nose wrinkles at the faint coppery smell. Her forehead furrows. Is that blood?

Heart pounding, she pushes her ashen face forward a little more to look down. It’s hard to see, but it seems like Father MacCullough’s crumpled on the floor. Carol crosses herself.

Calling his name again, she steps out of her side of the booth and opens his.

Panic rips her chest, clawing to climb out of her mouth when she sees the bloodied, hole-pocked vestments. The door on the priest’s side of the confessional had been blocking the pool of blood Father MacCullough is laying face down in. Now unblocked, it slowly spreads, inching toward the tip of Carol’s black orthopedic shoe.

A primal scream pierces the sanctuary.

I hope you enjoyed reading Indelible and the sneak peak of Iconoclast.

If you did, please consider leaving a review for Indelible on Amazon, Goodreads, or BookBub.

A review can be as short as one sentence and your opinion goes a long way in helping others decide if a book is for them.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, thank you for choosing to read Indelible, book one in the Sean McPherson series. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please tell everyone!

To be the first to hear about Iconoclast, book two in the series, please subscribe to my quarterly newsletter at www.lauriebuchanan.com, where you’re always welcome to stop by and say hello.

To my publisher, Brooke Warner, and editorial manager, Lauren Wise, at SparkPress, thank you for trusting in my vision for Sean McPherson and for allowing me to turn my dream into reality yet again. I’m proud to be listed among your authors.

Thank you to Vickie Gooch, a detective in the Major Crimes Unit of the Idaho State Police. I now know more about sex crimes, the production and sale of drugs, violent offenders, “suicide by cop,” probable cause affidavits, ViCAP (the FBI’s violent offender program), human trafficking, Touch DNA, cold case homicides, and serial killers than I ever dreamed of.

Thank you to Rylene Nowlin, DNA specialist at the Idaho State Police Crime Lab, for sharing with me your knowledge about processing rape kits and cyanoacrylate fuming to develop latent fingerprints.

Thank you to Dr. Glen Groben, forensic pathologist, for the fascinating discussion about forensic pathology, the early changes of death, gunshot wounds, blunt force trauma, and sharp force injury.

Any inaccuracies in law enforcement or medical processes and procedures are my own.

In particular, I want to thank Christine DeSmet, author and tour de force for all things literary. Indelible would be a lesser book without your insights, mentorship, encouragement, and unfailing support—gifts beyond measure. Thank you for making me a stronger writer.

Thank you to my sister, Julie, who listened to multiple early drafts, and shared her best ideas and opinions. You know my characters at least as well as I do and are always willing to help me dig deeper to get the plot unstuck. My stories are better because of you.

Thank you to Willa, my four-legged companion, who is the real-life inspiration for Hemingway.

Last but not least, thank you to my husband, Len, for helping me negotiate the minefield of modern technology and for making me laugh, especially when I’m ready to scream bloody murder! Which, if you think about it, fits hand-in-glove (no fingerprints) when writing a suspense/thriller series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

photo © Len Buchanan

Across between Dr. Dolittle, Nanny McPhee, and a type-A Buddhist, Laurie Buchanan is an active listener, observer of details, payer of attention, reader and writer of books, kindness enthusiast, and red licorice aficionado.

Her books have won nine awards, including the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Gold Winner and the International Book Award Gold Winner.

She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest, where she enjoys long walks, bicycling, camping, and photography—because sometimes the best word choice is a picture.

To learn more, please visit Laurie’s website at

www.lauriebuchanan.com.

ABOUT SPARKPRESS

SparkPress is an independent, hybrid imprint focused on merging the best of the traditional publishing model with new and innovative strategies. We deliver high-quality, entertaining, and engaging content that enhances readers’ lives. We are proud to bring to market a list of New York Times best-selling, award-winning, and debut authors who represent a wide array of genres, as well as our established, industry-wide reputation for creative, results-driven success in working with authors. SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint, is a division of SparkPoint Studio LLC.

Learn more at GoSparkPress.com

SELECTED TITLES FROM SPARKPRESS

SparkPress is an independent boutique publisher delivering high-quality, entertaining, and engaging content that enhances readers’ lives, with a special focus on female-driven work. www.gosparkpress.com

Watermark: The Broken Bell Series, $16.95, 978-1-68463-036-3. When Angel Ferente—a teen with a dysfunctional home life who has been struggling to care for her sisters even as she pursues her goal of attending college on a swimming scholarship—doesn’t come home after a party on New Year’s Eve, her teammates, her coach’s church, and her family search the city for her. The result changes their lives forever.

So Close: A Novel, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. $17, 978-1-940716-76-3. A story about a girl from the trailer parks of Florida and the two powerful men who shape