{"id":2477,"date":"2022-10-01T22:42:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T22:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/?p=2477"},"modified":"2022-10-01T22:42:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T22:42:16","slug":"playing-at-murder-is-available-for-pre-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/playing-at-murder-is-available-for-pre-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing at Murder is Available for Pre-order"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can pre-order it here: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0BFJS9FK9<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sneak Peek:<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday<\/em><\/p>\n

Armies of super-heroes stood guard to the left of me, while lions, tigers, and bears gathered on the right. They all watched with silent concern as I zigged around an arsenal of armaments fueled by hydrogen dioxide and various mixtures of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. I faced my goal, Dougal the Dragon, head-on and stalked toward him. In my arms I cradled the all-important emergency medical supplies for his injured representative at this gathering. Heaven help us all if he couldn\u2019t be saved.<\/p>\n

Ding dong. That was a bit of wild fantasy, but I enjoyed letting my imagination loose on this mission. The touch of whimsy provided some diversion from the noise and chaos of setting up the Games and Playthings Exhibition at the Washington D.C. Commerce and Market Center. G&P, which was due to start the next day, was one of the largest trade shows for toys and games in the industry, and it brought the usual supply of problems and conflicts inherent in large events.<\/p>\n

I tried to avoid being on the show floor as much as possible on set-up days. The constant banging of hammers, clanging of metal on metal, buzzing of electric screwdrivers, squeaking of dolly and cartwheels, warning chirps of the forklifts, and people shouting always induced a headache if I had to spend much time there. Not to mention having to pick my way around the pallets, crates, and boxes stacked everywhere and dodging those squeaking dollies and chirping forklifts.<\/p>\n

I still ended up spending more time on the floor than I would\u2019ve liked. Territorial disputes and arguments over arrangements broke out with sadly human regularity, and a large part of my job involved keeping the peace. Trying to, anyway.<\/p>\n

This assignment was different. I let go of the fantasy illusion as I got to the Donneywell Enterprises booth, identified myself, and explained my mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeather McNeil,\u201d I said to the person behind the only table set up in the booth space. \u201cAssistant to the director of the Market Center. I was told you needed a sewing kit to repair one of your displays.\u201d I set the box down on the table where a young woman with long brown hair scraped back from her face and tied in a messy braid at the back looked up from collating and stapling pages.<\/p>\n

She stared at me with a blank expression, glanced down at my badge, but said nothing. Her expression went from vacant to wary.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I speak to the person in charge of the booth?\u201d I asked when the silence stretched out too long.<\/p>\n

A voice spoke from the back. \u201cThat would be me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A woman in her late forties or early fifties stepped out from behind a pyramid of boxes at least a foot taller than she was. My first, none-too-kind impression of her was \u201covercooked.\u201d Her blonde hair had the straw-like texture resulting from too much chemical treatment for too long a time, and the spray-tanned skin of her face had been lifted once too often already. Tight jeans and a fashionably shoulder-slit top showed off a slim figure that seemed to vibrate with contained energy. Good bones under the tight skin and lively green eyes made her attractive.<\/p>\n

\u201cLorene Donneywell,\u201d she said, holding out a hand. \u201cI heard you say you were with the Market Center staff.\u201d She had a strong New York accent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the assistant to the director,\u201d I repeated. \u201cI handle a lot of trouble-shooting issues for her. I\u2019ve brought the sewing supplies you requested.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat. How long do you think it will take you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTake me? To do what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFix the tear in Dougal.\u201d She pointed to the eight-foot-tall display dragon I\u2019d used to identify their booth. The creature, which must\u2019ve been as long as it was tall, occupied nearly a third of their allotted double space. Along the side of his back, a seam had opened and leaked stuffing. Bits of cotton fluff clung to the green, plush fabric.<\/p>\n

I hesitated, taken aback. \u201cYou requested a sewing kit, not a seamstress. I\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t know the first thing about sewing. Not even sure how the thread gets through the needle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lorene rolled her eyes. \u201cWhy did they send you, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you asked for sewing equipment in a hurry. We got it as quickly as we could. We assumed you had someone on your staff who knew how to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s penciled-in eyebrows rose. \u201cWe all know what happens when you assume things.\u201d<\/p>\n

I kept my smile in place, despite the irritation roiling inside. I had so much experience keeping my emotions under control, I could maintain a pleasant fa\u00e7ade with barely a thought. \u201cMisunderstandings happen when people aren\u2019t specific about what they need. Give me a minute and I\u2019ll see if I can find someone to come and make the repairs.\u201d I pulled out my phone but before I could press the button to turn it on, the girl I\u2019d first met piped up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

We both turned toward her, but Lorene spoke first. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say something sooner?\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl frowned at both of us. \u201cNo one asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

I turned to hide my grin since Lorene didn\u2019t seem to appreciate the irony.<\/p>\n

You can pre-order it here: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0BFJS9FK9<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can pre-order it here: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0BFJS9FK9   Sneak Peek: Chapter 1 Tuesday Armies of super-heroes stood guard to the left of me, while lions, tigers, and bears gathered on the right. They all watched with silent concern as I zigged …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,256,18],"tags":[259],"class_list":["post-2477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-market-center-mysteries","category-mysteries","tag-playing-at-murder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2479,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477\/revisions\/2479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}