This has been an excellent week overall. Lots of progress on the three books and the weather has been perfect - cool enough for leggings and t-shirt. As for the not-so-excellent: I don’t generally feel much when we lose celebrities, but I have felt the last two - Dolly Parton and Tim Curry. Dolly, because she was a genuinely good human being, and Tim because he lived large in my experiences with his work in Rocky Horror and my favorite, The Three Musketeers. He played a brilliant Richelieu.
The boys are doing well and living their best lives. Here’s one of Chess and Ace on the loveseat, keeping an eye on me while I work from the recliner.
Chess and Ace - August 2026
Here’s a snippet from Gone on Arrival
Eddie’s case was ready to go, but hers was in limbo. She was worried about her client, Cassandra Dunn. Cassie was the sole witness in a murder that would put Michael Duggan in prison. Duggan was the head of the Irish mob on the east coast and any crimes they’d tried to pin on him, from federal to local level, had always ended up with witnesses disappearing or dying before they could get to the stand.Cassie had been getting moved from safe house to safe house in order to keep her alive long enough to take the stand – and now the court date had been moved yet again. She had to check in with the protection detail handling Cassie and make sure they were ready to move her again, so she pulled out her phone.
“Anderson here,” the gravely voice answered her call.
“Hey, Joe. It’s Roisin. Are you guys ready to move Cassie again?”
“I heard the trial got delayed, but we’ve got a problem. The next location won’t be available for a week and nothing else is open. We’ve run out of options,” Joe replied.
Roisin sighed. “Let me see what I can come up with.”
“Make it fast. We’ve had a few drive-bys today,”
“Well, shit,” Roisin muttered. “Okay, I’ll have something by morning. Stay sharp, my friend.”
“Always, Rosie. We know our jobs. We’ll keep her safe.”
“Thanks, Joe.” Roisin ended the call and shoved the phone into her jacket pocket. Once back in her office, she pulled up the database and started to make calls.
After over an hour, she gave up. “Nothing,” she muttered and put the phone down.
Paperwork kept her focus for the next couple of hours and, as usual, Rosie lost track of time until her office phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Roisin Cadmel, your time is up,” the mechanical voice said. “You’ve interfered for the last time.”
The call disconnected and she stared at the receiver in her hand before she placed it back in the cradle. It wasn’t the first threat she’d received, but somehow this one chilled her to the bone. Even though the voice was mechanical, the emotion in it came through.
She sat there for a moment, then picked up her cell phone and called her brother. “Reid, it’s Rosie. I’ve got a problem.”
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