Saturday Sample and Weekend Writing Warriors
Blurb:
First Lady Kills President Lovinggood"
December 5, 2018
Thirty years later, Hank Lovinggood embarks on a quest to prove his mother's innocence and punish the killers who took his family from him. Together Hank and lovely physicist Dr. Kathryn Sinclair confront an implacable, twisted, and merciless enemy who'll do whatever it takes to hide the truth forever.
Last Week's Excerpt:
It didn’t take as long for his mother’s coffin to be removed. The two coffins looked identical, which surprised him. I thought they would be different.
Seeing this coffin brought goose bumps to Hank’s arms. If the history books had it right, he would soon come face to face with the woman whose vicious act had caused them to be in this awful place on this nice, sunshiny morning.
If she hadn’t murdered his father, they’d be like any other normal family, planning a menu for Thanksgiving, putting up their Christmas tree, and doing their holiday shopping. They might even be happy.
Bert Wheeler approached them, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. “That’s it, gentlemen. Are you planning to follow the hearse to the mortuary?”
Hank nodded. “Yes, we are.”
“We thought you would. Fall in behind the hearse when we go past your car.”
They made their way back to the Jaguar, which no longer seemed quite so wonderful to Hank, and waited. Several Humvees filled with gun-carrying soldiers went past before the hearse drove by. Uniformed men on motorcycles escorted the hearse, which to Hank’s surprise flew American flags.
His eyes filled with tears of pride, anger, and wonder. As God is my witness, I’ll never understand how she could have done it!
Today's Excerpt: Hank and the Senator arrive at the Sinclair Mortuary to view the remains of Hank's mother and father. I've skipped some to get to this point.
Both he and his grandfather jumped to their feet when Sinclair opened the door. “We’re ready for you now, gentlemen. If you’ll follow me, please, I’ll take you to them.”
Hank had to force himself to move because he couldn’t feel his feet against the floor. And damn but it was hot in here! He was sweating bullets, and his insides felt shaky.
Sinclair paused before a closed door guarded by two marines. “I’m sure you’ll want some privacy, so I’ll be waiting here if you need me.”
Dizziness washed over Hank when Sinclair opened the door for them. The coffins sat side by side against the far wall. The lids were open so Hank saw that both coffins contained bodies, although from this distance he couldn’t have identified them. The blood roared so loudly in his ears that his entire head hummed. Another few steps and at long last he’d finally come face to face with the fallen hero of a thousand stories, the stuff of legends, the man who wrote on the pages of history, his father.
Senator Lovinggood reached the coffins first. He took one look at Richard and started to cry. Tears coursed down his face, but he didn’t take the time to wipe them away. “Richard,” he choked out and then fell silent.
That's a powerful excerpt! How terrible for him to be facing this.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad. I feel so bad for the Senator!
ReplyDeleteSuch strong emotions! But, I can also feel the tension building.
ReplyDeletePowerful snippet indeed but I feel as if there are a lot of secrets waiting to be unveiled here. Which is a good thing to keep the readers hooked!
ReplyDeleteEmotionally charged scene. I wonder what they will discover in those coffins? Great snippet! Tweeted.
ReplyDeleteOof, I don't know if I could do what Hank is doing. He's very brave. This is wonderfully written.
ReplyDeleteWhew! I felt like I was there with them the scene was so tightly and tensely described. Well done!
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