Mirror Image
Michele Pariza Wacek
Publication date: May 27th 2016
Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller, Suspense
Which would be worse, knowing that your dead sister has come back to life and is now a serial killer or that someone else is the killer….and that person is you?
Six months after Linda’s sister Elizabeth killed herself, Linda has finally gotten her life back to some semblance of normalcy. Until a killer appears who is stalking men … a killer who resembles Elizabeth … a killer who seems somehow familiar to Linda.
And, to make matters worse, Steve, her old high school crush and now a detective, is assigned to this case. He’s asking Linda all sorts of questions, questions Linda couldn’t possibly have an answer to.
There’s no reason for him to be investigating Linda. She couldn’t possibly have anything to do with this.
Could she?
—
EXCERPT:
He blinked. Where the hell did that come from?
Joe took another look at the girl who accompanied him to his apartment.
The harsh lights of the hallway made her look more pale and tired than
she had appeared in the bar, but she smiled at him nonetheless, and he
felt reassured. He grinned back, realizing it likely looked more like a
lopsided, drunken leer than a smile. He lightly pressed his hand on her
back, bumping into her slightly, alcohol blurring his brain.
“Your eyes are gray,” he said, his voice slurred.
The girl looked at him, surprised. “What color should they be?”
Joe laughed, thick and hoarse. “Silver. I thought they were
silver.”
“Oh,” the girl smiled at him. “That happens a lot. Reflections.”
Yeah, reflections, that was it. Her eyes were such a pure gray —
no hint of green, brown or blue. The color seemed to reflect more light
than other gray combinations, making them appear silver.
Joe stumbled, banging his knee into the wall. He felt nothing, his
legs heavy and numb. She laughed slightly, putting an arm around his waist
to help him walk, her purse bouncing off his leg.
He nuzzled her hair, her neck. She smelled of sweat, beer,
cigarettes and perfume — very strongly of perfume. In fact, he realized
her perfume all but obliterated those other scents. He usually didn’t
like it when women used so much, but at this point it made no
difference.
“Why won’t you tell me your name?” he asked again.
For an answer, she turned her face toward him and gently bit his
lip. He felt a sting and tasted blood, which excited him even more. Rough.
He’d never had it that way before. He could feel himself getting hard.
Everything about the woman was different. First off, he hadn’t had
to convince her, cajole her, like all the other women. “Of course, I really
like you. Of course, this is special for me. I’ve never met a woman like
you before. I don’t normally do this either.” The gray-eyed woman seemed
to want it as much as he did, and she needed no promises or lines. They
both knew exactly what tonight represented — a good fuck and nothing
more. When he picked her up in the bar, she seemed a dream come true.
They reached his door. He fell heavily against the frame while
fishing for his keys. She tightened her grip, steadying and surprising
him. When he had first looked at her, under the lights in that little
white dress, he had thought her delicate. Insubstantial. But now, he
knew he had been incorrect. There was clearly more to her than he
originally thought.
Joe struggled briefly with the key. The keyhole kept eluding his
drunken, trembling hands, but he was finally able to slide the key in. He
unlocked the door with a click.
“Gee,” she said. “I hope you don’t have that much trouble
tonight.”
Moving toward her, he answered by kissing her on the mouth. She
tasted sour — of beer and something else, something he couldn’t identify.
As her tongue slid into his mouth, he quit trying to figure it out.
The door creaked open when they leaned against it, and they quite
literally fell into his apartment.
She got to her feet first, pushing his clumsy hands from her body.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
she asked.
“Down the hall — first door to your left,” he said, fighting to
get up. The room whirled and dipped beneath him. Alcohol churned unpleasantly
in his stomach. He couldn’t be sick. Not now. Slowly he hoisted himself to his
feet, hanging on to the doorpost, blinking his eyes to focus.
“I guess I’m drunker than I thought,” he said out loud, pulling the
door shut and locking it. Then he remembered the joint he had smoked before
hitting the bars, and figured that probably had something to do with it, too.
He didn’t usually smoke pot, but tonight he had allowed his roommate to talk
him into it.
Joe took a couple of deep breaths, still hanging onto the door.
The room settled, ceasing to spin. He let go of the door, stumbling across the
living room and into the hallway.
He saw his bedroom door open, the light on. She was sitting on the
bed, her coat off. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said. “I decided to make myself
at home.”
Joe shook his head, shed his coat and crossed the room to sit on the
bed next to her. The little white dress clung to her large breasts. He leaned
over to kiss her, his hand creeping onto her lap. She let him, but barely
responded. He stopped and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes were that weird color again. Silver. He couldn’t keep her
face in focus. Her features kept blurring, melting together into one indistinguishable
mess. Had he totally misread her after all?
Author Bio:
When Michele was 3 years old, she taught herself to read because she wanted to write stories so badly.
As you can imagine, writing has been a driving passion throughout her life. She became a professional copywriter (which is writing promotional materials for businesses), which led to her founding a copywriting and marketing company that serves clients all over the world.
Along with being a copywriter, she also writes novels (in fact, she just published her first novel, a psychological thriller/suspense/mystery called "The Stolen Twin" and her second novel "Mirror Image'" is set to be published in May 2016) plus, she is also the author of the "Love-Based Copy" books, which are a part of the "Love-Based Business" series and cover both business and personal development.
She holds a double major in English and Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently she lives in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona with her husband Paul and her border collie Nick and southern squirrel hunter Cassie.
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