Before I get to the meat of this post, I want to give a shout out to my friends at Murder by 4 for the recent award we received from Writer’s Digest. That gold badge looks mighty good you guys!

Now, on to the post.

There are a lot of characters in a book. Sometimes they play multiple roles. There are about five main ones in my caper mystery, entitled Deadly Array, coming out soon. The boyfriend, who is also the boss, is also the victim. In this excerpt you get to meet him.

The Boyfriend – excerpt

I shifted my feet a little, taking inventory. No welcoming smile, no jovial invitation to sit and chat, which we had done on a number of occasions. Today he wore that superior look on his face that I hated. The look that screamed position and authority.

“I take it you’re not going to make it for Friday date night?”

He scowled. “Probably not.”

That was enough. Better just get down to business and get the hell out of his office. If he wanted to be a grouch, he could do it alone. “Well, here I am. What did you need?”

“Thanks for being so prompt.” He stood, snagged his suit coat from the back of his chair, and shrugged it on. “You’re always there right when you’re called, aren’t you?” The detached way he spoke unnerved me.

“I try.”

“Yeah, you do. Which makes this stuff I am about to throw at you even harder.” He tugged on the sleeves.

My stomach knotted. “What’s up?”

“You’re fired.” He stapled me into place with his baby blues. “You can pick up your last check from Payroll.”

“Are you kidding? What did I do?” I stared at him, doing my best to sniff out the joke.

He sank back into his chair with a defeated air.”Sorry.”

This was no joke.

The ecru-colored carpet blurred as I tried to focus on something. My heart pounded so hard that I couldn’t hear anything else. “Did I forget a journal entry or mess up one of your spreadsheets? What?”

“Let’s don’t make a scene, okay? I’ll see to it that you get a good severance package. A little something to take the sting out of it. And a good reference.”

I gazed at the fake Ming vase on the side table. I wanted to rush over, grab it, and fling it at his head. “What did I do? Why are you firing me?”

He avoided making eye contact and patted his pockets, feeling for his car keys. “Call it downsizing.”

More excerpts to come! I hope you enjoyed this one about the boyfriend!