The
Duty Bound Duet - DUTY OF CARE - THE CARETAKERS
by
Sydney Jamesson
GENRE:
Mystery/Suspense (Psychological)
DUTY
OF CARE:
BLURB:
On
her death bed Emily Derbyshire’s mother made her promise to take
good care of her little sister. Keeping her promise, twelve-year-old
Emily did exactly that and became five-year-old Rita’s benefactor
and bodyguard.
After
eighteen years of sisterly devotion Emily receives some shocking
news! Rita has committed suicide. When disturbing details start to
surface, Emily puts her highflying career on hold to seek out those
responsible. She hires an American private investigator Robert
Blackmoor; a motorbike riding, no-frills, computer hacker who will
use any means necessary to unearth the truth.
Not
surprisingly, Robert uncovers secrets from Emily’s troubled
childhood and chips away at the glossy veneer of deceit which masks
the truth behind, not only Rita’s life, but Emily’s imperfect
life too.
Together
they assemble the pieces of a sinister puzzle, revealing a cruel and
corrupt world of exploitation and murder: a Dark Web into which Rita
has become entangled.
As
dark forces encircling Emily tighten their grip, and with everything
to lose, she must make a life and death decision that she may live to
regret.
THE
CARETAKERS:
BLURB:
Emily
Parsons is a product of a difficult childhood: self-reliant, fiercely
protective and willing to do whatever it takes to safeguard the
wellbeing of those in her care. She has even slayed a monster, or two
… or three in the name of poetic justice, and yet she is haunted by
the image of a beautiful blond girl.
Sixteen-year-old
Louise Travis has been abducted.
Louise’
fate rested in Emily’s hands, but she let her slip through her
fingers like gold dust, only to be swept away by a malevolent band of
brothers.
By
once again enlisting the help of computer hacker, Robert Blackmoor,
Emily must find Louise before she is lost forever in a Dark Web of
heinous crimes, cruelty and corruption. The clock is ticking, and
Emily’s investigation is drawing the wrong kind of attention, but
she will not back down. She is duty bound to protect those she loves.
With
skeletons from her past being unearthed, who can she turn to, and who
can she trust with her own sinister secrets?
Excerpt:
For
the next two days Emily stayed at Rita’s bed side. She read to her
during the day and prayed for her at night, making God all kinds of
promises if he just let her live.
After
a forty-eight hour vigil, Emily woke to the sound of a little voice.
“Where am I, Em?”
Emily
raised her weary head to see two bright blue eyes; eyes she feared
she might never get to gaze upon again. She yawned and stretched away
the stiffness in her arms and legs. “You’re in hospital.”
“Why?
Did I fall over?” Rita wiggled her toes.
Emily
reached for her hand and shook her head. “No. You had a cough.”
Rita
forced a cough. “I don’t have a cough now, just a tickle.”
“That’s
good. I’m glad you feel better.” Emily’s eyes watered and she
smiled.
Rita
followed the line of the intravenous drip attached by a cannula into
her hand. “I’ve got a tube in my hand.”
“It’s
to make you better. It’s got medicine in it. Don’t touch.”
Rita
removed her fingers from the cannula. “Is it dinner time?” she
asked noticing the darkening sky outside.
Emily
shook her head. “I don’t know what time it is. I’ll go and find
out.” She poured Rita a glass of water. “Sip this slowly and I’ll
go find you something to eat. What do you feel like?”
Rita
thought hard. “A big cake with sprinkles.”
“Little
Miss Sprinkles really is back,” Emily announced tearfully. Given
half a chance, she would have begged, borrowed or stolen such a cake
for her sister. Having her back was cause for celebration. “I’ll
see what I can do.”
“Em?”
Rita called. “Guess what?”
Emily
turned to face her. “What?”
“I
saw Mummy last night.” Rita smiled innocently and pushed back her
hair from her face.
Emily
took an unsteady step back in Rita’s direction. Maintaining an even
tone, she asked, “You did? What did she look like?” She slid onto
the side of the bed.
“She
looked like Mummy. She had a pretty white dress and no shoes!”
Emily
wanted to laugh at the startled intonation. “No shoes?”
Rita
nodded. “She talked to me and said, ‘Don’t be scared, I’m
with you.’”
The
muscles in Emily’s throat tightened. “That was nice of her.”
“But
I wasn’t scared. I’m never scared.” Emily stood to leave.
“Because I have you. You always take care of me, Em.” She blew
Emily a kiss the way she used to when she barely had a vocabulary of
twenty words.
Emily
pretended to catch it and blew one back. “I always try to, Reet,
but maybe Mum was saying not to be scared of being in hospital…”
Rita
appeared stunned. “I’m not scared of being in hospital.” She
patted the sheets. “These feel nice and I’m not cold.”
Those
innocuous remarks almost brought Emily to her knees—two stark
reminders of what their lives had become; a series a bitterly cold
nights with them wrapped in blankets, coats and starched sheets. She
caught a tear before it fell from her eye and sniffed. “You’ll be
all right then while I go and fetch some food?”
Rita
nodded. “Love you, Em.”
“Love
you too, Sprinkles. I won’t be long.”
To
the sounds of a girlish chuckle, Emily closed the door quietly behind
her and leaned against it. She bowed her head and cried for the
mother they had lost and for the sister she had come so close to
losing. Drawing on her twelve years of experience, she dried her eyes
on a shredded tissue, brushed out some of the creases on her T-shirt,
and approached the nurses’ counter with a hopeful smile.
Sydney
Jamesson is a USA Today bestselling author by night and an English
teacher by day. She is nocturnal by nature and loves nothing more
than staying up late, listening to music and being inspired to write.
She has always written creatively; in her home is one enormous
wastepaper basket full of discarded phrases, opening lines and pieces
of dialogue that have hit her like lightning in the middle of the
night. Her USA Today bestselling trilogy, THE STORY OF US sold
worldwide, and she has been thrilled to continue Ayden Stone's and
Beth Parker's epic love story in The Story of Us Series: Into the
Blue, featuring Blue Genes, Blue Hearts and Blue Moon.
More
recently, Sydney has focused on psychological suspense. THE DARKEST
CORNERS was her first venture into the new genre: a complex love
story filled with lots of angst, emotional scenes and edge of your
seat suspense as a single father and a troubled young woman confront
their deepest, darkest fears together. The twists come think and fast
and the ending is unforgettable!
In
her latest novels, DUTY OF CARE and THE CARETAKERS - THE DUTY BOUND
DUET -readers explore the seedier side of the Dark Web; witness
abduction, human trafficking, and a devoted sister’s willingness to
do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care.
It’s a real page turner, filled with incidents which are
heart-breaking and heart-stopping in equal measure!
Author
platforms:
DUTY
OF CARE:
THE
CARETAKERS
Giveaway:
$50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.
6 comments:
Great excerpt, thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for taking part in THE DUTY BOUND DUET book tour. Regards, Sydney Jamesson
I enjoyed reading the excerpt, sounds like a couple of great books and I can't wait to read them, thanks for sharing them with me!
This sounds like a very good book.
sounds like a fun one
I loved the excerpt. I've now put the book on my reading list. Thanks!
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