Desert's Dawn
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
2:23 p.m., somewhere along Arizona highway 89, just west of Prescott, a familiar cherry red, Ford Mustang, roars down the deserted roadway. True to Joe, and her older brother''s prediction, the car''s speedometer registers in the triple digits.
“Oh, man…what a car!” Sheila elated. “120 mph and the pedal is only half way to the floor. God…I love you, Joe!” Adjusting the car''s radio to a clear station, she happens to notice a set of blue and red flashing lights in her rear view mirror. “Damn!” she curses, “Just what I need...a $300.00 speeding ticket. Still cursing herself for her lack of good judgment, she slows down and starts to pull over, when to her relief, the police car continues going on its way. After a few minutes, she notices the same police car parked along side the roadway, behind another police vehicle. Recognizing the officer, she decides to stop.
“Hey, Ken,” she greets, walking up to him, after stopping her own car behind the two squad cars.
“Sheila Danials,” the officer responds. “I thought that was you back there blowing the pavement off the highway! Don''t worry,” the officer grins, “If I arrested every teenager that ever sped down that highway...99% of Arizona''s population would be behind bars…including me!”
“What are you doing out here, Ken?” she asks.
The officer hesitates a moment. “We lost radio contact with this car,” he explains. “There were two officers assigned to it ... Karen Parker and Dean
Olson. No relation,” he clarifies. “We haven''t heard from them in three hours, since they last radioed in.”
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, impaling Ken in the back. Sheila is in shock to see a man walk up behind the downed officer, holding a smoking gun in one hand, and a near empty beer bottle in the other.
“Well, lookie what we got here,” the man drunkenly sneers, as he walks toward Sheila. “Come on...me and you are gonna have us a little fun, behind those bushes over there,” he motions with his gun, relaxing his aim to reach for her.
“Go to hell, you ugly bastard!” Sheila responds, using the opportunity to spin out of his reach and kick the gun out of his hand.
“You damned bitch...I''m gonna kick your Ass!” he swears. Awkwardly, he swings at her, only to have her counter the move and deliver three hard punches to his head. The man stumbles backwards, and then makes a dive for her.
Anticipating his move, Sheila easily avoids his attack, and knocks him out with a kick to the head.
Almost as quickly as the man is rendered unconscious, a barrage of gunfire erupts, just inches from her position. Without really thinking about it, Sheila hurls herself over the hood of the police car, taking cover on the other side of the vehicle.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” she swears, peering over the vehicle’s front fender for a moment to assess her situation, barely avoiding a barrage of bullets, ricocheting less than an inch away.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Fifteen years ago, the residents of a small Arizona town just north of the Mexican border began to be affected by the criminal acts of a small band of survivalists, encamped approximately 50 miles south of town.
Led by by a former U.S. Army officer, named Tom Roberts, dishonorably discharged, near the end of the Vietnam war, this band of survivalists, silently conducted criminal acts, such as drug running, extortion, and white slavery.
For years Roberts kept just ahead of the law in his dealings, until a beautiful district attorney by the name of Jennifer Danials manages to dig up the evidence that would finally put Roberts away. One week later, her dead body was discovered floating in a nearby river.
Now, ten years later, the woman''s seventeen- year old daughter, Sheila, leads a very extraordinary life. Raised alone, by her wheelchair-bound older brother, Andrew, since she was just seven, she has excelled from a distraught young girl to a black-belt in the martial arts and an almost genius academically.
Sheila Danials, her friends, and family know nothing of Roberts plans as they go about their everyday lives. But every day that brings Tom Roberts closer to his retirement...brings the Danials family closer to a showdown with him.
About the Author
I grew up and spent almost my entire life in
Being born the youngest of five children, I was the baby-brother to three older sisters. Although I looked up to and admired my father, a simple hard
working man, I had always admired my mother and older sisters, who in one way or the other kept their families going.
While in high school, I never even considered writing professionally. However, I did enjoy
writing short stories periodically; especially comedies. Like any kid, I read comics with the usual super heroes. I was always disappointed that the super heroines always seemed to take a back seat; mainly, it seemed they were there to add elegance and beauty to the page.
My desire in the seventies to the present day was to find a heroine that held center stage, like their male counterparts did on television and in the movies. I never did quite find what I was looking for, so I invented one of my own in Desert''s Dawn.