Tuesday Special: Out of Time

CATHI STOLER

www.cathistoler.com

It was supposed to be a simple and quick assignment for Marina DiPietro and Nick Donahue regarding Marina’s client, Adnan Haddad—protect his fabulous race horse from human predators who threaten the stallion with death if millions aren’t paid in “protection money.” Just post a few guards around the horse then catch the predators in the act, right?

Not so fast! Turns out, the threat against the horse is just a ruse to get into Haddad’s science lab and steal his latest invention. Now Nick must stop the perpetrators, ISIS, from getting their hands on the ultimate weapon of war—a tool of unimaginable terror, a cloaking device, that could tear the world apart.

Then events spiral out of control. Haddad’s niece is kidnapped, Marina is kidnapped, and Nick becomes enmeshed in a web of betrayal and deceit. ISIS is determined to have the cloaking device, and Nick has to use all the cunning, skill, and subterfuge he’s acquired as a gambler to discover the ‘tell’ that will help him turn the predators into prey.

And, there’s no time to lose.

Excerpt:

Just ask Marina.

If you want to know how I wound up tethered like a sacrificial goat to a flimsy spire swaying in the wind on top of the world’s tallest building, maybe she can explain it.

Probably tell you I had a special knack for getting into trouble. And, she’d be right.

From where I stood, the Arabian Gulf looked like a giant swimming pool. The water shimmered in a sensuous ripple. Its surface blue and sparkling tinged with golden light from the afternoon sun beating down from above. A sight that normally would have drawn a wow if I hadn’t believed it would be one of my last.

A half-mile below people scurried in and out of streets and buildings like the streams of black-bodied ants they resembled. Not one of them poked a nose into the air and noticed the man far above struggling against his bonds. Had the citizens of Dubai become so used to the Burj Khalifa in their midst, they didn’t even glance at it anymore? Seemed so. The people who put me here hadn’t even bothered to gag me. I could scream all I wanted and not a soul would hear.

The Salafi thought I was their insurance, like a Blackjack player protecting his bet, while hedging that the dealer has twenty-one. They already had what they wanted. At least I thought so.

Believe me, I was scared. Being trussed up and hung above the city were just the beginning. They were waiting to make sure the other player hadn’t pulled a switch. Either way, I was sure they’d kill me. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell them I thought he had, that what would happen if he had given in would be unthinkable.

The sun had almost dropped below the horizon, the water turning cool and steely, the wind picking up and creating ripples along its surface. After hours under a blazing sun, a night up here when the desert turned frigid was going to be even more brutal. Shivers ran up my spine just imagining it. I tucked my chin toward my chest and tried to conjure up warm thoughts. It wasn’t working. All that came to mind was Marina, her green eyes wide with surprise, then anger, as that big black Glock pushed into her. Watching as they led me away, dumped me in the car, and drove off. My anger had been the equal of hers, my mind reeling with thoughts of what they might be doing to her. Was it possible she’d escaped and made it back to Adnan’s villa? Or was she still in their clutches, desperate in some blistering desert wadi? The fear came later when they put me up here.

This was actually Marina’s case. I’d just come along to keep her company, to be a sounding board when she needed one. Then, before I knew it, I was smack in the middle of things. So, if you want to know how this happened, I’m not sure either one of us could tell you. I just hoped we’d live long enough to try.

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Cathi Stoler is an award-winning author. Her new series, featuring Blackjack player, Nick Donahue, includes the just released OUT OF TIME, a mystery/thriller. The prequel, NICK OF TIME, will be released in 2020. Cathi Stoler's Urban Thriller Murder On The Rocks series includes, BAR NONE, with The Corner Lounge bar owner, Jude Dillane. The next two books in the series LAST CALL and STRAIGHT UP will be published next year. She is a three-time finalist & winner of the Derringer for Best Short Story, “The Kaluki Kings of Queens”. Cathi is a board member of Sisters in Crime NY, and a member of Mystery Writers of America & International Thriller Writers.

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