Title: Daemon Waters: A Letty Valdez Mystery
Author: C.J. Shane
Genre: Mystery-romance
Book Blurb:
Tucson private detective and Army veteran Letty Valdez finds the Iraq War has come home to haunt her when she is hired to investigate the murder of an environmentalist, ferret out a cheating husband, and find two missing U.S. Army veterans. She discovers a sinister web of interconnected crimes, including a car bombing and two long-distance sniper assassinations. What about that special veteran, the one with the lop-sided grin that her dog Teddy found up in a tree? Can Letty keep Dan safe from an assassin’s bullet? Daemon Waters is a stand-alone story in the Letter Valdez series with suspense, intrigue, and a touch of romance.
Excerpt:
“So, Letty, are you going to let me take care of you now?”
Letty looked at Dan sharply. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, Letty. You can’t fool me. You’re hurt. Something happened, and now you’re hurt.” His voice had changed. He wasn’t Dan anymore. He had become Doctor Ennis.
Letty sighed. “So obvious, huh?”
“You’re limping, and you’re favoring your back or shoulder. I can’t tell which. What happened?”
“A car bomb.”
“A car bomb? Good grief.”
“I got thrown back against the pavement. There’s a bruise on the hip and an abrasion and bruise on the back just below the shoulder. The abrasion was caused by scraping bare skin against the pavement.” Her voice had changed, too. She had become an Army medic again describing a soldier’s wounds. Some other soldier. Not her.
“Other than you, did anyone get hurt?”
“Yeah, the guy getting into the car got incinerated.”
He frowned. “Is this part of your job as an investigator?”
Letty nodded.
Dan sighed and shook his head.
“I’m going to take care of you now.” He went into the bathroom. She could hear him washing his hands.
“No, Dan, I’ll be okay.”
“Letty.”
“You shouldn’t have to work all the time. This is your day off.”
“Sit down!” Dan led her to one of the dining room chairs against the wall and pushed her down. He sat in the chair nearest her. He took her hands in his. “Do I interfere with your work as a private investigator?”
“No,” she said weakly.
“Then don’t interfere with my medical work. Doctoring is what I do. It’s my life’s work, my duty, my right action, my spiritual path. Get it?”
He sounded annoyed. Letty couldn’t ever remember Dan being even slightly annoyed.
“I don’t know what that means, but if you say so.”
“I say so. You have a bruise on your hip. Is there an abrasion there, too?”
“No, just a bad bruise.”
“Sure it’s just a bruise? Do you need an x-ray to see if the bone is fractured? Maybe a hairline fracture?”
“No, the pain isn’t that bad.”
“Okay, so take off your blouse so I can have a look.”
Letty froze. She stared into space, and then she scrunched up her shoulders.
Dan sighed. “You are so full of contradictions. You are a martial arts expert who carries a gun in your back pocket, beats up on the bad guys, solves mysteries and brings justice to the world. You are also a very sweet and shy woman who doesn’t want to take off her blouse in front of a man. Am I right?”
Letty shook her head yes timidly.
“You know, you don’t have anything I haven’t already seen.”
Letty grimaced.
Dan sighed impatiently. “Wait a minute.”
He left the room and went into the nearby living room. He returned with an afghan in his hand.
“I’m going to turn my back now. You take off your blouse and slip your bra strap down off that shoulder. Cover your front with the afghan. When you are ready, let me know.”
It only took her a minute to do as he said.
“Ready,” she said.
Dan came to stand behind her. He reached above Letty’s head to turn on a light. He removed the bandage that she had put on herself. He took a good look at the abrasion on her back.
“Hmmm…” he said.
Letty waited patiently.
“Hmmm…”
“What?”
“This wound needs to be cleaned. Did you clean it?”
“As best I could. I stood in the shower.”
She heard him click his tongue. ‘Not acceptable’ was the clear message.
He left her and came back with his medical bag.
“Turn your head away. I’m going to spray this with a topical anesthetic. Hold your breath for a few seconds.” She did as he said.
“You know you can get a bad infection if you don’t clean wounds properly. You could get Clostridium perfringens bacteria from the dirt.”
“That sounds lovely.”
“Smart ass. “I’m going to put a heavy towel here and irrigate the wound now.”
Letty waited patiently. Somehow it felt good to have Dan caring for her.
“What’s this?”
She could feel him moving her braid again. He touched her other shoulder. There was a scar there just above her scapula.
“That’s a scar.”
“I see that. What caused the wound?”
“A bullet.”
“A bullet? You were shot?”
“Yes, in Iraq.”
“Ah. What happened?” He was sitting in front of her again.
“An IED went off. I went running forward toward the soldiers in the blown-up vehicle. I saw this shadow passing in front of me. I looked up and there was an insurgent on the roof of the nearest building. He was pointing his gun at me. He pulled the trigger. I think he meant to shoot me in the head or throat. He wanted to kill me. But the bullet went all the way through my shoulder. Front to back.”
“They did a good job of treating you. The scar is not easy to see. So you have a Purple Heart, Letty Valdez.”
“Yes.”
“Does your family know?”
“I don’t know. I never mentioned it.”
He shook his head. “Where is this Purple Heart?”
“In a box in my drawer.”
“What else is in the drawer? A big pile of medals that you’ve never mentioned to anyone?”
“No, just my underwear.”
Dan chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“Well, you don’t really expect a Purple Heart to be surrounded by lady’s panties.”
Letty shrugged.
“I went out on a couple of ambulance runs, and they shot at me, too. They missed,” Dan said.
“They shot at you?”
“Yes, can you believe that? And I’m such a nice guy.”
She looked up at him. He was grinning. Of course.
Dan securely taped the bandage to her back.
“Okay. Finished.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small bottle of pills.
“Take all of them. Follow the directions.”
“Okay.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, Dr. Ennis. I promise.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
On sale for $1.99 for a very limited time!
Barnes & Noble Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/daemon-waters-c-j-shane/1132826915?ean=2940163662029&st=AFF&2sid=Draft2Digital_7968444_NA&sourceId=AFFDraft2Digital
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
Readers say:
~Letty, a six-foot Private Investigator, is a blend of Native American and Mexican. She was an Iraq Vet medic, with a strong character, and ghosts from her service to deal with. She has an inquisitive desire for truth and justice.
~I find Letty to be one of the most genuinely likeable characters in contemporary mystery fiction...Virtually no one turns out to be exactly who you think they are in this fast-paced tale, however. By the time readers turn the last page, I predict they (as do I) will look forward impatiently to the next Letty Valdez Mystery.
Giveaway –
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Open Internationally.
Runs May 22 – May 28, 2024.
Winner will be drawn on May 29, 2024.
Author Biography:
C.J. Shane is a writer and visual artist in Arizona. She likes to garden, walk dogs, and listen to jazz. You can see more of Shane’s artwork and read about her books at cjshane.com. Sign up for her newsletter there, too.
Social Media Links:
TwitterX: https://twitter.com/CJShaneArtBooks