Short of the Book Bianca runs to help someone calling for help in an alleyway. A guy comes running over to help, and they talk while waiting for the rescue. His name is Troy. Bianca's house is broken into that same night. The lead detective moves her into his house to keep her safe, and they fall in love. Troy ends up being Stone's brother Justin. He is undercover in an organization run by Alex. Alex likes Bianca and has stalked her for years. Justin kidnaps Bianca and Stone while they are away for a wedding in the south. They escape and return home. While at home, Bianca is in the barn while Stone has security cameras installed. She returns to the house to find it empty, and when she watches the camera footage, it shows Justin kidnapping Stone again. She calls her brother Andrew for help. She has an earpiece in so Andrew could track her and listen. She calls Justin and tells him to come and get her. He convinces her to act like his girlfriend, and hopefully, it would get Alex off her back. They go to Alex's, and it doesn't work, so they pull out guns on Alex while waiting for the police, whom Andrew called. Alex tells her Stone is in the garage in the second cell. She gets to the cell, and there is a limp body curled up in the back corner. Stone doesn't respond to her. Finally, Justin suggests asking Alex where the keys are after they couldn't find them anywhere. When they go upstairs, everyone is gone--the SWAT team, Alex and his goons, the desks. Not even a piece of paper is left. Justin goes outside to see where they went, and he never returns. Bianca goes back down to the cell, and it is empty. All the lights go off, she had no cell service, the ear piece stops working, and the elevator isn't working. She is stuck there until Andrew comes to the rescue. He used a power pack he had to get the elevator to work to get her out. He was outside and put tracers on all the police vehicles in case they had to trace where they went. Justin was arrested as well--no one believed he was a cop undercover. Andrew and Bianca go back to Stone's house and set up computers to start tracking everyone. They call in reinforcements, and that is where the book ends.

Mercedes Cajada, born in Mozambique to a Portuguese cattle rancher and politician, married at nineteen and moved to South Africa to further her education. Her graduation year coincided with the independence of Mozambique, and she stayed in South Africa at the advice of her father. Many years later, an American company offered her a job in the United States. She moved to America in search of a better life and a brighter future for her child. Ms. Cajada is the mother of an intelligent child who also happens to be disabled. For Ms. Cajada’s daughter, the most simple task can become a lifetime achievement and a very fulfilling experience! A narrative of true facts, The American Dream? is an expression of the author’s feelings and her interpretation of life. Along the road, numerous people have crossed her path — some in a negative manner, others enriching her days. Every single person has left a strong imprint on the author’s journey. Although fictitious names have been used, this is a true story about life, people, and laws, and the struggles of trying to stay ahead in a competitive, self-centered society. The American Dream? chronicles Ms. Cajada’s search for equal rights and her attempt to belong.

A dangerous element discovered by Bianca Goddard’s father falls into the wrong hands . . . leading to a chain of multiple murders. Spring 1544: Now that she is with child, Bianca is more determined than ever to distance herself from her unstable father. Desperate to win back the favor of King Henry VIII, disgraced alchemist Albern Goddard plans to reveal a powerful new element he's discovered—one with deadly potential. But when the substance is stolen, he is panicked and expects his daughter to help. Soon after, a woman's body is found behind the Dim Dragon Inn, an eerie green vapor rising from her breathless mouth. To her grave concern, Bianca has reason to suspect her own mother may be involved in the theft and the murder. As her husband John is conscripted into King Henry's army to subdue Scottish resistance, Bianca must navigate a twisted and treacherous path among alchemists, apothecaries, chandlers, and scoundrels—to find out who among them is willing to kill to possess the element known as lapis mortem, the stone of death . . . Praise for Death at St. Vedast “Full of period details, Lawrence’s latest series outing captures Tudor London in all its colorful splendor. A solid choice for devotees of Karen Harper’s Elizabethan mysteries.” —Library Journal

Harried Denver businesswoman, Jesse Harless, has had enough of the long hours and stress of her non-advancing job. Even her best friend and their forays into the glittering nightlife of the city cannot pull her out of this funk. A chance meeting with an old friend propels her into the mysteries of the Native American culture, where she is given an odd, yet special gift--an eight-week-old wolf pup she calls Shadow. Despite her friends' misgivings, Jesse gives up everything and moves to Montana where she hopes to give her wolf the freedom and life he deserves. Jesse enlists a company of new friends, including an angry young Native American and an ex-LA cop, who learn to love and do their best to protect Jesse, Shadow and his orphaned, misfit pack. Through her union with this cast of characters, Jesse is able to bond with the Ancients' reverence for Mother Earth and all the Creator's children, which leads to her own freedom as well.