The SaddleBrooke Ranch Writing Guild is a group dedicated to improving our writing skills. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month in the La Vista room at the La Hacienda Club from 1 to 3 p.m. If you have any questions about the club, please contact Joy Hellard at [email protected].
Preview of Death By Stiletto
Brianna Wilson glanced back at the creepy silhouette of the enormous man dressed in a dark jogging suit, the oversized hood flapping as he gained traction and furiously picked up speed. Run, she told herself. Run as if your life depends on it. She looked straight ahead but didn’t notice until too late that the winding dirt path had suddenly turned to broken slabs of cement, rusty nails, and garbage as she neared the library. She tripped and fell to her knees, ripping through her knit gloves on both hands. Before her last months of pregnancy, Brianna had routinely finished exercising with a six-minute mile. In October everything changed as she’d pushed out an eight-pound baby an hour after her water broke. She was slower now, almost three months later, but she had every intention of outrunning this madman if for no other reason than her precious baby daughter Grace.
Brianna knew the Riley campus like the back of her hand, so could easily dart throughout the shrubbery surrounding the library. The ancient oak and maple trees which exhibited vibrant colors of red, orange, and yellow in the fall, were now naked, devoid of leaves. In the middle of winter, dirty piles of snow had been pushed up against massive tree trunks as grounds people cleared a path that afternoon. She cringed each time there was a sharp snap as she stepped on sticks from the trees strewn across the path. She swore as she turned her ankle trying to skip over several branches lying on the dirt trail. She fell to her knees, scraping both hands on the cement debris littered along the trail. She sprang back up, telling herself there wasn’t time to deal with the pain. She put her brain and heart into marathon mode and continued to run as if in a race.
Why not just blow a whistle, letting him know which direction I’m headed? If not for the fact the sky was turning dark, she would be a perfect target for the man running behind her, as she raced along in the bright pink jogging suit the girls at the office had gifted her. What is that smell? While maple trees bore amazing fragrances during some seasons, winter wasn’t one of them. Then she recognized it. It was her own fear, pure unadulterated fear gripping the surrounding air.
Claire Dillon is the author of several books, including Till We Kiss Again, sold on Amazon. Her newest book, which is previewed above, is Death By Stiletto and is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble as of March 25.