I'm happy to announce that 'Under Siege on the Rockin' A' is finally published. You can find it on Amazon.com. You probably don't recognize the title, it's the story about Soni's ranch set in Texas.

It's very late Thursday night. McKenzie and Logan have known each other 9 days.


Ending of Previous Post:


When Logan returned, McKenzie asked, "Why would he sit there and stare at naked women pole dancing for three hours? That's strange. I think I need to speak with some of the ladies who work there. There has to be more going on."

"It does seem a little strange to sit there for three hours and do nothing. When you plan on going back?"

"I'm thinking tomorrow, maybe around five or six, before they get busy. What do you think?"

"Probably a good idea. I'm going with you."

McKenzie stood. "I never thought you wouldn't. I'm just wondering if Bill, Mitch and the gang will be going too." She paused. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

"See you in the morning."


TODAY'S POST:

ST. LOUIS CHAPTER 22 PART 2

McKenzie woke up and glanced at her alarm clock. "It's only three-twenty." She rolled over, sat up, and scanned around the room. Why's the light on downstairs? Maybe Logan forgot to turn it off. She laid back down. That's impossible. He wouldn't forget anything. He probably checked and rechecked all the doors and lights three or four times. I wonder what's wrong. She got out of bed and started toward the stairs. "Whoa!" She went back to her dresser, grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms, and put them on. I won't make that mistake twice.

At the bottom of the stairs, she searched the area. Where's Logan? She finally called, "Logan?"

"I'm in here. Why are you up?"

McKenzie walked into the den and saw him sitting and studying the bulletin board. "I woke up and saw the light on. Don't you ever sleep?"

"Not really. I'm one of those people who can get by with three or four hours of sleep. Once in a while I sleep a full night." He glanced at her clothes. "Thank you for making the correction. I appreciate it."

"Not a problem. I didn't realize how short the T-shirt was until you mentioned it."

"I understand. When you reached up to hug Mitch, I caught myself wishing it would rise only a quarter inch higher. I turned away."

"I appreciate that." McKenzie walked over and patted his arm. "You're one of the good guys." His eyes met hers, and he grinned. She asked, "Have you solved our problem?"

He chuckled. "The only thing I'm sure of is Mr. Whitmore's case has nothing to do with this one."

Laughing, McKenzie said, "I agree. I think Mr. Whitmore has a whole set of different problems." She pointed to Donny's name. "We've always assumed the father to Megan's possible baby is Parks, what if it's Donny? Does that change anything?"

"I can't imagine my sister..."

"You can't imagine her dating him. We already know she did." McKenzie watched Logan take a drink of a light brown liquid. "What's that?"

Logan held it out to her. "It's iced tea. Want to test it?" After she shook her head no, he said, "Bill filled me in on your grandfather. He also mentioned how your high school best friend died. I promise never to drink around you. I understand why it makes you uncomfortable."

"Bill talks too much." She hesitated. "But thank you. I appreciate it."

Silence.

After a while, McKenzie pointed to Megan's name. "I have an idea. What if your sister was innocently at a bar dancing and having fun? Parks was there and noticed many different men vying for her attention. He observed her over a period of time and maybe even planted some weed on her."

"Where you going with this?"

She took his hand. "Be patient. Okay, he caught her with weed so pretended to arrest her. She became upset because she knew it could cost her the teaching position, so he agreed to make the charges go away if she became an informant." She paused. "Now, he points her to the men his drug team have had under surveillance. She befriends them and gets enough information on them for him to arrest them and their dealer."

"Why?

"To make his arrest and conviction numbers look good or maybe he's dealing and wants to be the only dealer in this area. Maybe he protects them from arrest and has them pay protection money." After a brief moment, she continued, "Now, maybe Megan gets a little uncomfortable doing this. Maybe her conscience starts bothering her, so Parks sweet talks her, takes her to nice restaurants and they basically become lovers."

"He uses her."

"Yep, so she'll continue to do his dirty work. Fast forward to the time period she was murdered. Maybe somehow Donny found out about it and approached Parks. Or maybe Donny refused to pay up. Anyway, Parks killed him. Then Megan worried about being pregnant told Parks and he killed her. Or something like that. Maybe Megan witnessed Parks kill Donny. Anyway, this theory could work."

"It makes sense. How do we prove it?"

"That's the hard part. I have no idea. Maybe we need to figure out who does Parks' dirty work. I'm sure he doesn't. Also maybe we need to look into Park's financial situation." She yawned and stretched.

"You need to get back to bed." Logan grinned. "Or are you cuddling beside me on the couch and falling asleep again?"

"I don't cuddle beside you. I sit beside you. There's a difference."

"I'm sure there is but I just don't see it in this case," he teased."

McKenzie turned sharply. "I'm going to bed."

Logan laughed as he tapped his right arm. "Good night. If you struggle sleeping, my arm's available."

"Whatever!"





Characters:

McKenzie 'Mac' Morgan a 27 year old private investigator
Major Logan Nelson 34 years old and an active duty soldier
Arlo McKenzie's black and tan dachshund
Megan Nelson Logan's younger sister - murdered
The Lou local name for St. Louis
Simon Knight and Sheila Logan's former Army buddy and a Lab technician. Sheila's his wife.
Fan name for the St. Louis Cardinals - a major league
baseball team.
Yadi What Cardinal fans call Tadier Molina - Cardinal's all-star catcher.
Edger McKenzie's black and tan rottweiler
George Whitney A former boyfriend of Megan, early suspect in her murger.
John Benson Man who murdered McKenzie's parents
Bill Abbot A D.A and McKenzie's God-Father; he was a high-
school friend of McKenzie's father. Joanie is his wife.
Jose Lopez his wife is Lucy Chicago Police Department undercover police
department.
Kate Hartford Megan Nelson's friend they taught middle school
together.
Donny Carlton A man Megan Nelson dated.
Mitch Gardner St. Louis Police Department detective who has
partnered with McKenzie's dad.
Ivan Smart A bad guy
Peter and Nancy Nelson Logan's parents
Sidney Parks works for the St. Louis Police Detective with the drug unit.
Mack and Helen Morgan McKenzie's parents - both deceased
Gus Piper McKenzie's abusive grandfather - deceased
Austin Bryant an old boyfriend - McKenzie broke up with him because he's a jerk.
Joshua Davis so far a nobody, but is a neighbor to Donny Carlton
Mark Young an acquaintance of McKenzie, a state trooper, and will become important much later in the novel