Hold for Release

Table of ContentsTitle PageCopyrightDedication12345678910111213141516171819202122EpilogueA Devotional MomentThank you…You Can Help!God Can Help!Free eBook Offer Hold for Release Heidi Glick This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. Hold for ReleaseCOPYRIGHT 2023 by Heidi Glick All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Pelican Ventures, LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. eBook editions are licensed for your personal enjoyment only. eBooks may not be re-sold, copied or given to other people. If you would like to share an eBook edition, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Contact Information: [email protected] All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version(R), NIV(R), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James translation, public domain. Scripture quotations marked DR are taken from the Douay Rheims translation, public domain.Scripture texts marked NAB are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition Copyright 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Cover Art by Nicola Martinez White Rose Publishing, a division of Pelican Ventures, LLCwww.pelicanbookgroup.com PO Box 1738 *Aztec, NM * 87410White Rose Publishing Circle and Rosebud logo is a trademark of Pelican Ventures, LLCPublishing HistoryFirst Harbourlight Edition, 2023Paperback Edition ISBN 978-1-5223-0415-9Electronic Edition ISBN 978-1-5223-0414-2Published in the United States of America Dedication I would like to dedicate this book to my mother, Elizabeth Mountz. When I was a child, my mom taught me to go back and revise my work and to do my best. I'd like to thank her for her love and support. I'd also like to thank God; my husband (John Glick); Pelican Book Group; my BSF group; my ACFW Scribes critique partners; my beta readers (Laura Spelliscy and Jeffrey Reynolds); my sensitivity reader (Jessy Alvarado); the Cops and Writers forum on Facebook; fellow author and retired nurse, Marcy Dyer, and retired nurse, Melissa Gauvin; and fellow author, historian, and retired police officer, Wesley Harris. All mistakes are my own. 1“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” Hebrews 12:15, KJVA scream escaped Carlotta Hartman’s lips as the overhead light revealed its hidden secret. Red everywhere. So much blood. Chills swept down Carlotta’s spine as she inched closer to the lifeless creature lying nearby on the animal shelter floor. The worn, green linoleum provided a stark contrast to the surrounding crimson liquid. She swiped at the trickle on her face. She hadn’t even realized tears were running down her cheeks. The poor dog.After locking the front door behind her, Carlotta crept along the dim-lit hall, rounded the corner, and entered the supply room at the end of the hallway. She clasped a hand over her mouth. Six dead dogs. All lying in their own blood. Were there others? Horrible things happened in the Queen City—or in those romantic suspense novels she kept at her day job on the shelves at the Hyde Park Branch of the Cincinnati Public Library—but never to her. Sure, awful things happened. Her husband, Jake, even reported on them. They just never happened to the two of them. Carlotta wiped sweat beads off her neck and then crouched to inspect each corpse. Throats all slit. At least they’d died quick. She wiped a hand across her face, as tears poured down. Dogs barked in the distance. She jumped up, crouched in a defensive stance, and scanned the room for a potential weapon. A bright orange cell phone lay on the floor of the adjoining area. Not any device—Ed’s. Her stomach churned. Scissors glinted on the nearest counter. She snatched them and turned the blades outward. Smoke assaulted her nostrils, and she followed the scent. A flick of the switch and light illuminated Ed Gorman’s darkened office. A fire raged in the metal trashcan. “Ed?” After locking the door to his office, Carlotta inched closer. A blue t-shirt and khaki shorts adorned the lifeless form on the floor behind the desk, a wrinkled issue of the local newspaper atop his chest. She set it aside and then sneaked closer to verify the body as Ed’s. He lay still. Burnt papers, a half-burnt flag with a peace sign on it, and a shattered dove figurine were heaped in a metal wastebasket two feet from the body. Why had someone done this, and how had they gotten in? It was like some dark tale told by Uncle Ramon to amuse her and her siblings. Only this wasn’t meant to entertain. Discarding the scissors, Carlotta searched for her boss’s pulse. Nonexistent. She leaned closer. No knife wounds on his body. “Ed, are you OK?” Using clammy hands, she shook him. Her heart was slowing into heavy beats that made her sluggish. Terror gripped her insides. But she needed to help him. It took every ounce of will to shake him again. No response. Bending down near his mouth, she listened for breaths and counted. Ten. Eight. Four. One. No gasping, no breathing at all.Carlotta dialed 9-1-1.“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”“Um. I’m at the animal shelter on Madison Road. And someone…” Carlotta choked back a sob. “Some lowlife hurt the volunteer coordinator and killed several dogs. I locked the front door of the animal shelter.”“Is there anyone else there with you?”“Just the coordinator. He’s unresponsive. I’m starting CPR.”Carlotta put her phone on speaker and set it on