The Lindy Lewis Diaries: Merry Christmas everyone.

The Lindy Lewis Diaries: Merry Christmas everyone.

Merry Christmas everyone.

I wish to thank all of you readers who support my writing.  It has been a long time (2007) since my first endeaver brought forth Nightmares and Dreams, and since then, I have been fortunate to have been able to publish one a year.  After book six, (SILENCE), I sent Lindy Lewis on a vacation with her love Reed, and created a new novel with new characters, that originates in Birch Lake as well.
MOONBEAMS will be out in the fall of 2013 and I know you will all be anxious to read about Daisy O'Dell, a blonde, slim, independent manicurist.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Lyn Miller Lacoursiere

ps; I might add, MOONBEAMS TOO, is in the works!

Whats there to do? (Billy's favorite complaint growing up)

Writing is a wonderful adventure for me. And at my age and circumstance, I need to keep busy and have a focus. For me, its to go to my computer each and almost every morning to write. Usually I'm in the midst of a novel, but sometimes I just need to take a breath and write something different. Like letters, e-mails or a short story. Recently, after I had wrapped up a new novel to be out the fall of 2013, I thought I should spend a month on learning the mysteries, the "in and outs" of marketing using the internet, as all my six paperbacks are also e-books. And yes, I know it is the way of the future. Well, its still a mystery to me. As authors, we certainly support each others work, but we don't usually take or have the time to read too much of that work. To get to know these authors and hope they will want to get to know us, to then tell thier friends to look us up, seems an awful long road of "maybe's". But what is a better way to get our work out there? Hire a sales force? Sell out of the trunk of our car? Can't I just stay here in my safe cocoon and just write? Won't the avid readers out there find me? No? Comments please Thanks Lyn

Do you like an Epilogue? Here's one you might see sometime.

Epilogue Daisy realized she’d had all she could stand of this so called “quiet life” she thought she’d have when she had moved back to Birch Lake years before, and Jesse never did see her again. In the weeks that followed, the name Bjorn Olafson was found to belong to the second murderer, and his body was also flown back across the seas to Oslo, Norway, to be met by the FBI. After months of investigations his body was finally released to his family for burial. Realizing she could never relax in her home in Birch Lake again as she’d always be fearing the reappearance of the snakes, Daisy decided to contact a realtor friend and sell the house after it was redecorated, and also her manicuring business. During her stay in Minneapolis she found she loved the city life again and would look for a home in a western suburb. She called Ed and they agreed to meet from time to time in the city, and she also discussed her life change with Reed Conners. She had enough money to live comfortably regardless of the sales of her properties so she could make the change anytime. And if, that inheritance from Roma’s estate came through, maybe she’d do that special something she had always dreamed about. She smiled then as she raised the cup of coffee to her lips and sipped at its dark roast. The End

A Joyous Mystery

As we were approaching the Christmas holiday again one year, I was tired and resented the interruption. Now I had to grapple for more energy and spend extra hours cleaning the corners of my house, cook, entertain and shop. Why do I do this, I mumbled. What a bothersome task! No, I decided this year I would just send money and be done with it. No cards, no gifts. Just a Christmas Eve dinner, thats all. What a commercial hype of my time. It felt wonderful not to trample from store to store, sweating in my winter coat, staring at lists with glazed eyeballs puzzling over new fangled toys, fashional new colors, vocalists I'd never heard of and videos that used to only suggest. What a relief, I thought to myself. A good decision! I saw other people race around breathlessly, taking time during their lunch and every possible evening and weekend to put together their stash of briberies. When someone would ask me if 'I had my shopping done yet,' I would say, 'I'm not buying anything this year.' And I would chuckle at their astonishment, at my audacity to break away from the tradition. Then I'd catch a raised eyebrow. Well! Days passed, colored lights abounded on houses and in windows. The atmosphere was charged with everyone's expectations of the approaching holidays. Me--I was doing my usual, relaxing and I must admit, feeling somewhat smug. Now Christmas Eve day was here and company due. I had to grocery shop and cook. I had planned a simple dinner with a pie for dessert. I rushed into the store and fought my way among the throngs of harried shoppers and found one of the last empty carts. I was still relaxed and taking my time. But before I knew it, my cart began to fill up. Darn, was it too late? I suddenly had this unexplained need to buy everything in sight. I found a turkey, a ham, buns, cookies, cider, candy, lefsa and the tradional potato sausage. My hands were flying, my short list forgotten. It's late! And it's much to late to do anything more now, I said as I checked my watch. But I had this irresistible need to give. I had to buy some gifts! I calculated the time left before the stores closed, and cussed that I didn't have a list. And I ran! The evening came much too fast. I was tired and the house needed dusting, the cupboards were messy again and the closets overflowed. Darn. Well. I started the oven, opened cans, peeled vegetables and found the good tablecloth and dusted the house with a dishtowel. And soon delicious aromas began to come from the kitchen as the windows steamed up. Grandma came early and complained of stomach gas. Friends and kids in their outfits of leather, in suits and jeans arrived. Short hair and long, carrying guitars and vedeos. As I stood in the middle of this confusion of coats, laughter and hugs, my head was in a whirl. My house was vibrating as I busied myself warming cider and browning buns and I listened to the merriment going on around me. The Christmas carols blared on the stero as I served cinnamon flavored drinks to the kids. Then I saw it. Then I remembered. I realized this is why we rush around, grasping at last bits of energy, overloading our charge accounts, and cleaning the far corners in our homes. I saw the warm, wonderful feeling of real love, amidst the laughter, cnd catching up of times, belonging and acceptance that we all seek and need on this special holiday. Later, my back hurt and legs ached as I put things back in order. But, almost too late, I found it had all been worth it, and the mystery of why we do it was solved, once again. -Lyn Miller Lacoursiere (Written sometime years ago)

A view of this world.

An acquiantance, a relative through marriage of one of my children died yesterday. He came to my book-signing last Sunday and we visited for a few minutes. I could see then that he didn't have too long left in this world. In his day he was a robust handsome man, married and father of seven sons. I have heard he wasn't always a kind man and also not an easy partner to live with either. In the end, I'm wondering- is all forgiven when we leave this place? Will there be a second time around in that new place and will our mistakes be erased and we'll get a chance to start anew?

The Lindy Lewis Diaries: An excerpt from Silence

The Lindy Lewis Diaries: An excerpt from Silence: "I see you dead!" And old woman declared when she appeared at Lindy's door in Hilton Head and insisted she had something very important to t...

An excerpt from Silence

"I see you dead!" And old woman declared when she appeared at Lindy's door in Hilton Head and insisted she had something very important to tell her. Lindy is wary of this woman's insistance, and totally exhausted from loss of sleep after being plagued by the same three men chasing her again in her nightmares. And after hearing what just might be her demise, she panics. Was this it? Had Mario's family finally won and they would kill her too? This is just one of situations Lindy Lewis will encounter and struggle with in Silence, and which just might keep you up late into the night. Stop in at the Art Center in Maple Grove, Sunday Oct. 28, 1-5 for my book-signing and have a glass of wine. My wonderful and talented son-in-law, guitarist Dan Thayer will delight us with his music, and maybe my son, Jeff Loven, known as the famed One Man Band, can be talked into a few tunes for us too. Hope to see you all, Lyn

Lyn Miller Lacoursiere

23 hours ago

Just a couple more weeks (Sunday Oct. 28) until my latest book called SILENCE will be available for you at my book-signing event at the Maple Grove Art Center in Maple Grove MN Everyone is welcome. Stop in and enjoy a glass of wine and some goodies.
Thanks

New things

Hello friends;

I've got an exciting few months coming up.  First of all on Sunday, October 28, from 1-5, I will be having a book-signing of my sixth book called SILENCE at the Art Center of Maple Grove, in Maple Grove, MN.  
After bringing you all up to date in book five (The Early Years) when Lindy Lewis and Reed Conners have met in college and began their relationship, I have started off again continuing with SILENCE (after book four, Suddenly Summer) This is a volume of adventure in  which Lindy Lewis searches for answers; in Mitzi's murder, continual deadly threats on her life and of course, where is that love?
Hope to see all of you there and we'll have wine and goodies to savor.

I will be stepping out into the world of Holiday Boutiques again and this year along with the exciting new volume of SILENCE for sale, I will offer a signed, complete set of the Lindy Lewis Adventures for sale at a low, low price for gifting.  This is a wonderful and thoughtful gift for those special people on your list, and especially for those hard to buy for.
I will gift wrap, and mail them just to make it easy for you. You can charge it to pay-pal or a charge card through my web site. (E-mail me for directions).

ALSO, I will be at the Community Center in Maple Grove in Maple Grove MN, Saturday, Nov.10 from 9-4 for their Christmas Boutique.
And, St Vincent de Paul Church in Osseo, Saturday Dec.1, 9-4, and Sunday Dec.2, 9-12:00 for their Holiday Boutique.

And, I'm sure you all know that all six books (SILENCE any day now) are available in paperback as well as e-books for easy reading, at Amazon .com

Thanks
Lyn

Lyn Miller Lacoursiere
Author
8874 Cottonwood La. N.
Maple Grove MN 55369
763/424/8637
lindylewis1@msn.com
www.mystery-novels-lynmillerlacoursiere.com

Alone with Time (Writen in1994)

I sit here in my faded robe
my morning coffee at my side.
The shades are up, a day has dawned
and all my thoughts are on a ride.

Now I wonder where my time has gone
so fast at times, I ponder.
Can these days slow down for me, or
will they put me under.

What will give me comfort now
I question as I sit here.
Will the coldness in my heart
awaken soon. I hope. I fear.

That bouyant heart is worn and old.
My hair is full of wire.
My thighs are slim but look all wrong.
the only warmth is from the fire.

My loves have always been my life
my strength and courage, and my home.
Now I wonder if there's time, but
do I really want to roam?

The times I've loved have been and gone,
the lessons sometimes hurt.
My feelings have been ripped apart,
I lost, then tossed and turned.

Will I be content to rest
forever in this slump.
Or will I trample out to buy
the things I'll need to pump?

Will the lotions and the oils
revitalize and give me hope?
Will I emerge so revishing
or will I fail and mope.

Will I really need the lace,
the perfumes and the creams?
The magic of the "Wonder Bra"
to fullfill all my dreams.

Will I imerge again anew
or will I cry and whine.
Will I stay inside my house
or will I dance and dine?

Will I dare and venture
or is it time to sleep.
My books, my socks and washed out flannels
forever in my keep.

I ponder in my faded robe.
A new day, warm and bright.
My thoughts have circled, now plans abound
the road is now in sight.

No, I say, I just won't do it!
I'm learning now to live.
Alone with me, content with time
Myself the gift to give.

Lyn Miller Lacoursiere
1994

A page from Moonbeams ( to be published in 2013)

   Her tears ran uncontrolled down her face and she was too overwrought at this point to notice a face peek through a crack in the window shade. Or see it dart away. Suddenly the lamp in the bedroom went off, along with the rest of the lights in Ed's house.
   Daisy's tears turned to ice. She stiffened and then instinct sent her rolling over the bed and fall into the space next to the wall. She crunched down and hardly dared to breath. Seconds went by.
When she had landed on the floor behind the bed, her right hand had gotten twisted under her. She tried desperately now to untangle herself and get her gun out of her uniform pocket. Then finally having it in her hand she dared raise her head an inch over the pile of pillows. She saw nothing. A few minutes slipped by. She didn't dare let her attention drift off.  Then as she stared into the murky shadows the door opened, slowly, soundlessly.  Her breath caught in her throat as she steadied the gun with both hands.
   A dark figure crept into the room. And in that instant she saw it was the stranger who had come into her shop that afternoon and then mysteriously disappeared. Now his movements spelled killer to
her as he came toward the bed. She raised the .38 then and pumped shot after shot at the target and saw the figure slump and then felt movement when it landed on the bed.  Just inches from her.

A new story

This spring before I got sick and now this summer after hopefully shedding this bug that has had me in its clutches, I've been working on a new novel. This story has a completely new list of characters with a protaganist called Daisy ODell, who after years of marriage and raising two boys, has divorced her cheating husband and moved back to her home town of Birch Lake. You will grow to love this blonde bombshell as she struggles to untangle lifes heart breaks and wonderful gifts. This will be finished and releaed sometime in 2013
However this fall, I will be releasing another novel in the Lindy Lewis Adventures called SILENCE.
I'm wondering should she continue her flamboyant lifestyle or should she go to Birch Lake to revisit Reed Conners, her special friend, long-time lover and often times her hero? 

I am back, thank you God!

Someone once asked me if I would ever quit writing, and at the time I didn't have to think twice about an answer. As I had found that I really needed that timely routine of creativeness each day in some form for me to lead a healthy life.
It had been twenty some years since I first started writing, when Oprah advised us all to start journaling, when I rushed out to buy my supplies. I bought Pilot Pens and yellow legal tablets and sat down and began to write about my tears and fears. 
I had recently become a widow and my thoughts then were scrambled and full of negatives. But I struggled to sort those feelings of anguish as she advised. It took many tablets and pens, but over time I arrived at a point where I could identify my feelings and include those words of discovery in my writing. 
However, this early summer I had to give it up as I got sick. Really sick. As I lay, day after day, totally immobilized and totally dependent, losing all my dignity to this afflicson the one thing that gave me comfort at times was my imaginary stories. And, I wish now I could remember some of the plots and characters I created, although I did share a few with the kids and they did crack up. Of course, I was drugged sometimes which leads me to wonder if I am more creative if I'm in that state of limbo.

For now the days are long and still as I again write and wait, patiently for a complete recovery.

It goes on--

Hello my friends;  I'm sorry to say this health issue has still got me in it's grip, but I'm fighting like hell to "crawl out of the rabbit hole".
I've been in the hospital, a rehab center and am finally home after being gone for a month. I'm taking scads of pills, excersing and am fianlly feeling better.  Not great, but better.
My publisher has my book Silence and it will be out this fall as planned.
Regards

Hello my friends

Thank God, I'm back after dealing with an medical issue for a few weeks and am feeling wonderful. 
Having a number of "to do's" waiting ( Editing the formatted copy of The Early Years for an e-book and the final editing of The Silence at Birch, which will be ready for publication this fall.)  I think I have accomplished them now and can concentrate on going forward with my writing.
I am well into my next book called Moonbeams over my Shoulder, which will be out the next year of 2013.
I have left Lindy Lewis safe at last in Reed Conner's arms in the book Silence, and have created a new character named Daisy O'Dell who too, resides in Birch Lake. She owns a manicure business in town and is blond, in her fifties and drives a sports car. She is savy, single and rich.
Daisy has come back to live in Birch Lake, her home town, after residing in Minneapolis several decades for her marriage and to raise her family.
You will grow to love her as I have creating her, as she prepares for a visit from her best friend Roma.  There's murder, mystery and mayhem again for you that will keep you reading well into the night!
Regards
Lyn

A little rest

Sorry dear readers, I've had a bump in the road and haven't felt up to adding anything to my blog.  Please give me another week and I should be able to catch up.
Don't forget I'll have another new Lindy Lewis Adventure coming out this late fall called The Silence in Birch.
Thanks Lyn

Alone With My Thoughts

The birds are just beginning to sing another announcement of a sunrise, and I can feel the excitement in their chirping.
But here in the coolness as the night ends, loneliness haunts me.
I remember.
And I wonder fearfully, can I start again? Will the smile on my face be real?
I knew love and it was good. Now the pain is here. My body is tired. The lines on my face have deepened overnight, and a little more of the flame has gone out of my eyes.
But you know, as the first tinges of color flow heavenward, I can feel a small flutter in my heart.  Maybe it's a seed of hope...a tiny word, so fragile, but so strong.
My chilled body feels warmer and stronger as a rainbow of colors heighten, and my expectations, suddenly, become aware and sensing.
My early morning thoughts are interrupted by a breathless show of spendor. And, now for just a moment I think I can see a message written in its center.
In God's subtle way, maybe he is telling me, just as natures songs and beauty are everlasting, my hope can be too.
Now the world is hushed, and the silence is warm.
Faces are turned in awe.
It's sunrise.                                                                               Lyn Milller Lacoursiere

Wings and Time

As I look out at the peaceful, serene mountain tops and the black, green forests, your white gingerbread houses with red tile roofs, and the vast blue ocean that flows endlessly into the horizon, I feel as though I have lived here at some earlier time. I am in Norway and even though this country is new and foreign to my eyes, there is a familarity about it. The old world charm of the family visits and the long daylight hours are new to me, but, again it is like some place I've been before. 
I feel a peace in my heart today too, as I sit here in my cousin's home out on a deck near the ocean and have my morning coffee. 
As I look out at the water, and watch the seagull, your majestic mascot, it soars high and then low, up to the top of the universe and down again to the mirrored blue coolness of the water, and I wonder if our Lord, in his graceful way, created the birds for us to learn from.
I wonder if you who live in these quaint houses perched on the cliffs hugging the shoreline, see the same picture as I do, as I watch this beautiful creation silently glide in and out of my view.  This small body of mystery that only  touches down occasionly, and then arches its back and raises it's head to begin, again, another accendsion into the beyond.
This country, my heritage and my roots, does feel strange to me in some ways, and although I share its traditions, our cultures have become so different. But in our hearts we must all have the same feelings, the same hurts and joys, and the same lonliness and pain. 
You too, must have days when you get up at dawn and say pleadingly, "God, help me today, I can't do it anymore." 
Our worlds are miles apart, but our inner struggles must be the same.
Do you sometimes look at this mighty bird gliding smoothly by and wish, to be like it? And then only stop when you are ready, when the surface is firm and sure for your feet to rest on, leaving a flowing memory that is light and carefree. And the soft fluffy covering that protects your heart and soul will always be sheltered by the clouds and the winds of flying high.
Do you sometimes have the same daydreams as I?
Today, I dream to be like a seagull and gleefully feel the breeze of life touch my feathers as I sail down to earth, and then just as swiftly lift my feet and eagerly begin another gently climb into the shifting currants of life and it's splendors.
Or maybe, you already know the secret and that's why you have that burning gleam in your eyes and the radiant glow on your face, as you shade your vision and lovingly look out at the sea.
Soon I too, will learn to fly.
                                                                                                       -Lyn Miller Lacoursiere

Its about my tale.

Occasionally I venture out of my safe haven of books and scattered papers and tell my story. Its a daunting task for me but something I'm told that has to be done as my role as a writer. I'm not a speaker I whisper and mumble to myself!  As I review my notes, and I always need to shop for a new outfit so I feel better, too soon the appointed date suddenly appears and its time. Lord, its scary, but then as I stand there, (looking good I might add) as I tell my story of learning the art and the wondrous elation of finishing a book its worth all the sweat and tears I've shed.  Here's my talk--

            You know, as a writer you have to take time out, get dressed up and go out and market your books.  Until I’d finished my third book, I just hid my work in the closet and closed the door.  I am just happy sitting at my computer in my old robe with a cup of coffee.  

           

            It’s been about nineteen years since I started writing.  Prior to that, I had just written checks, grocery lists and an occasional greeting card.  I had been watching Oprah one day and she was talking about journaling and how benefiual this was for your health, and how it put order in your life.

            Now, I had been a widow for several years, and for the world I put on a good front, but I was still dealing with the silence in my life at home. She said go out and buy a tablet of any kind and a pen and start writing. And so I did: I bought yellow legal tablets and Pilot pens and wrote;   I wrote about my sadness, my grief, my loneliness, and ESPECIALLY my anger for being left in this situation.  I had been so happy and now I had to fend for myself.

           

            I wrote and rewrote, and over time I had a tall stack of tablets.  I wrote about all my feelings as I sat at my kitchen table.  I did this for several years, and it was in the days that I smoked, so the room was usually blue with smoke.  

            ----But you know, I LEARNED something very important about myself, I learned to identify my feelings and describe them and put them into words. 

           

            Over time I started writing poetry.  I found I liked the rhyming of words and the cadence.  I still remember a few lines from my first endeavor, and it’s so little and cute.  It went like this; Love is a whisper so close to my heart, a feeling so true to my soul.  That’s all I can remember, but over time I HAD accumulated quite a full book of my work.      

           

            One day, I saw an ad in the Star and Tribune that asked for writers to join a class at the Hennepin Vo-Tech.  Well, I finally got up my nerve to join.  That first time, I walked in on shaking knees and met Maureen LaJoy, the lovely teacher.  And holding my papers in sweaty hands, I read my poetry to her, and she loved it!

           

            Well, I went home on cloud 9.  And from then on in our writing classes, she would give me the ENCOURAGEMENT I needed to continue.  For a time then, I wrote my poetry and thought about trying to get into the greeting card business. Then I tried my hand at writing short stories, and there was one that I just couldn’t find a good ending for, and my writing class bugged me to keep on writing and turn it into book. 

           

            A book, I said, are you nuts?  Write hundreds of pages?  I can’t do that! But you know I thought I’d just add another chapter.  Well,  I just went on and on.

            You know to start a book, you need something to start off with, that will make YOUR READER WANT to turn that all important FIRST page.

           

            As I said, I was a widow and one day as I was mowing the lawn, I saw a post from the ranch style fence in the back yard was lying down on the ground.  I stopped the motor and stood it up, but the darn thing just fell down again. Then as I bent down to the ground TO PICK IT UP again, I saw them, hundreds of big black carpenter ants EVERYWHERE! I was stunned with horror. When I found them dining on the garage wall and the foundation of the house, I called the exterminator. When he saw the huge invasion he said jokingly, “LADY YOU BETTER BURN THEM!”

That was the scene I used to start my first book AND OF COURSE I EMBELLISHED.

            Read the first page of Nightmares and Dreams

            I finished that first book and called it NIGHTMARES AND DREAMS and put it away in the closet, and continued and finished another called Tomorrow’s Rain and put that one away, AND finished the third called Sunsets.

            I DECIDED THEN it was time to dust of the manuscripts that I had hidden in the closet. BUT, I did this with hesitation, because now ---

I was opening up my heart and soul to the readers out there and GIVING THEM PERMISSION to judge me. It was scary.

            BUT IT WAS ALSO MY AHA MOMENT—When I saw that first book with my name on the cover, I really did feel for the first time—I WAS A REAL WRITER!!

           

            I build my characters around people I’ve met, people I know, and of course I embellish. In creating the Lindy Lewis character, I used bits and pieces of my thoughts, my actions, fantasies and a nightmare or two.  Over time she has grown, and I’ve given gave her a lot of pizazz for color and permission to roam the world, endowed her with intelligence and of course, EMBELLISHED. 

           

            Lindy is a brunette by birth, but sometimes a blonde, and sometimes a redhead.  She has been known to completely change her looks if she is starting over in her life. (A change in appearance is like a good cry, she believes.)  She thinks of herself as worldly and always dresses with class.

           

            Reed Conners, the antagonist, is a blend of personalities A former lover from college, now works as a special investigator for the same insurance company she is insured with. Reed enters the picture to take a look at her claim and their story begins.  He dresses in pressed jeans, Italian knit sweaters and western boots and only drinks top shelf.

           

            My books take place in the present day, when my two leading characters are both in their late forties. 

            I would like to read a couple of pages from the fourth in the series called SUDDENLY SUMMER.  

           

            My newest release THE EARLY YEARS goes back in time to Lindy and Reed’s first meeting and

LinkedIn Interview

Hello Friends, please follow this link to an interview posted on LinkedIt by Shelagh Watkins.

https://shelaghwatkins.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/lyn-miller-lacoursiere/

Immobilized in Fear.

It seemed as if hours went by as Lindy sat on the beach afraid to move, when suddenly her mind stumbled back to a childhood memory.
You always need to have an escape plan in mind to find your way back in case you get lost, she remembered learning from her brothers when they played in the woods as kids.
But what good was that now? She didn't have a plan! But she couldn't just sit and wait, it might take hours, maybe all night for this monstrous curtain of fog to clear.
Gathering her wits about her, she forced herself to think rationally. Now if she followed the trail of shells back again along the beach, wouldn't she end up where she started from? She walked forward a few steps then panicked, was she headed in the right direction?
Don't panic, calm down, she whispered. She checked her watch and saw it had been an hour since she'd left her room. Think, she whispered again, now if I walk for an hour, I should end up back at the condo, or, if I'm going the wrong way, well, I'll figure something out then.
Her heart thumped and her breathing came out in short gasps as she walked along, feeling as if any mimutes she'd step through the wall of white. She checked her watch and ten minutes had gone by, then thirty, forty and soon an hour.
She stopped and listened now. Had she gone too far? Or had she just gone an hour in the wrong direction after all?
Totally exhausted and frightened, she sank down on the sand. She'd just stay here and maybe someone would find her. She couldn't go any farther and was just about to give up in desperation when she heard a car honking. A dog barked, and voices suddenly echoed through the billowing gray. Then a breeze blew in from across the water and the darn fog cleared and the boardwalk came into view. Crying hystericaly, Lindy ran the last few steps to her condo and collapsed in her room. She put on a robe and went out on the balcony to sit in the sun to get warm, and she began to relax. But suddenly, her life seemed terribly alien to her.
She was so alone, Mitzi and Mario were forgotten, and she missed her home! The way it used to be when her husband had been alive and the two of them were happily renovating that house. She lay in a chaise lounge, her thoughts far away.
What the hell was she doing here anyway!

On the Hilton Head beach.....

As the new day dawned, Lindy stood on the balcony of her condo in Hilton Head and watched the sun come up over the ocean. For a few seconds the world was cast in pink. Tiny clouds formed a network of while lace in front of the glow, then a long v-shaped parade of pelicans gllided by and gently tipped the white capped waves.
 She dressed  in new white shorts and halter, grabbed her sunglasses and hurried out to the beach for a walk. The sun warmed her bare shoulders and the soft sand cushioned her feet. The tide had been in leaving behind a line of seashells where it had crested, and then receded. She looked awestruck at the vast expanse of blue water and wondered what foreign country it reached to.  Probably Morocco, she thought. She walked on, the shells crunching under her feet, lost in the beauty of her surroundings and feeling the marvelous freedom. And caught up in the magnificence, she didn't notice the fog that had begun to roll in. She was several miles out when the sun suddenly dimmed and the curtain of gray caught up with her. In a matter of minutes it had enclosed around her. She stopped and watched in horror as it swept past her spiraling over the beach, then stood still as it smothered her in dampness.
Everything disappeared; the sky, the beach and the water. Then she realized the landmarks were gone as well. The silence was only broken by the crashing waves as the Atlantic Ocean seemed to be closing in.
Should she scream?  Would anyone hear her?
Her clothes hung wet and her hair in wispy strands. When she looked down she could see her shoes, but when she extended her arm out her fingers disappeared in the heavy mist. She dropped down to her knees in the sand, boxed in on all sides by the heavy drape. Her breath caught in her throat as she huddled on the beach, her hands splayed over the seashell. It seemed as if hours went by as Lindy sat immobilized in fear, afraid to move, lost and alone in a foreign world.

It was that first meeting!

Lindy and Mitzi lifted their margaritas to their lips and held their cigarettes arched smartly in their hands showing off beautifully manicured nails as they watched the two men approaching.  Their eyes met with school girl glee, reminiscent of their years together in college.
"Mi Amore," one said in a heavily accented voice as they hovered at the girls table.  "My brother and I would like to join you."
Lindy turned her brown eyes to him and lowered her glass.
"Well, I don't know---, What do you think Mitzi?"
Mitzi looked worried.
"You're just not adventuresome! We've got time for one drink," Lindy scolded Mitzi, taken by their foreign charm.
The two men were handsome; their dark feataures accentuated by their white linen trousers and bright silk shirts. Their bare feet were encased in Gucci loafers. One of them reached a hand out to Lindy and said, "My name is Mario D'Agustino and this is my brother Andre. We've been admiring your beauty. Our hearts are beating rapidly!"
Oh brother, Lindy thought as she took his hand, then had a minute to check out their gold watches and bracelets gleaming in the sunlight.
A waitress stopped by and Mario said, "We would like a bottle of Dom Perignon please!"
"Lindy," Mitzi started to protest, and Lindy kicked her under the table.
"Join us," She invited, then after taking seats, she asked, "Where are you guys from?"  She smiled demurely, always curious about people. She'd been accused of being just plain nosey from time to time.  But now she swung her sandaled foot out to display her bare leg.  Her long skirt was unbuttoned to just above her knees.  Maybe a little too high, she thought now as she glanced down.
She looked up as Mario said, "We're from Florida but originally from Europe." He brought a cigarette to his sensuous lips and snapped a slim gold lighter. "Have you ladies been here before?"
"Sure, many times," Lindy lied easily and smiled. "What brings you two here?"
"We're here to buy and sell," Andre said now.  He had been letting Mario do the talking and now he sat up and poured the chanpagne that the waitress had set down on their table.  "We need to celebrate, Senoritas!"
"Okay," Lindy said, "but what are we celebrating?"
"Something we've been working on for months!"  And everyone clinked their glasses together and began to sip the expensive wine.

Nightmares and Dreams Chapter 26

"Manny, you got some time to spare?" Reed Conners asked as he paced around Betty's kitchen using her telephone.
"Yeah buddy, what's up?"
"Remember John Thomas? The paper says he got loose while being transferred.  He's headed this way!"
"No shit! Coming this way?"
"Christ," Reed exhaled, "I thought we had him put away for good.  I'm coming down!"
He hung up the phone and took one last look around Betty's home. This was the second time he had been downtown that day. First to see Manny and the chief, then to attend court in the afternoon to indict the guy who had put a bullet in his shoulder, drug dealer Rocky Huot.  He wondered again where Mitzi Grover had disappeared to.  She'd been smart to turn that sleaze Huot in and get away.
Reed cussed at the heavy trafic as the setting sun hit him in his eyes. Don't these fools ever get to where they're going and stay put? He remembered the quiet roads in the north.
Manny was at his desk, dressed in his usual faded jeans and tee shirt when he got to the Dallas Police station.  He pulled out a chair and turned it backwards, then sat and rested his arms over the top.
"Manny, how hard is it to trail someone traveling on a credit card?" 
"Not hard at all. Why?"
Thomas is following me, to get to Lindy!"
"What makes you think that?"
Reed leaned his chin on his hands and was silent for a minute. "Its a gut feeling I have.  He was obcessed with getting the million dollar insurance money she collected, but he failed.  Now the asshole has broken out of prison and he wants revenge!"