Today is character guest post day! We have Diamond of TG Wolff's new book, WIDOW'S RUN, with us today. Welcome, Diamond!
Hello everyone, my name is Diamond. It’s the only name you
need to know. No, my mother didn’t name me Diamond. What she calls me is none
of your business. What I call her is part of a defamation suit I’m vigorously
defending.
I was given the name Diamond by one of my CIA trainers, a
gem of a man his mother called Enrique Torres. We were on this volcano, working
to snag a nasty nest of weapons dealers. I was tucked away in relative safety,
being the rookie. My job was to watch and report. It started out normal.
Have you every noticed how the most messed up days start out
completely normal? No warning, no literary foreshadowing. Wouldn’t it be
helpful if you woke up and, say, the sky was orange. Then you’d be like ‘oh no,
it’s going to be one of those days.’ And you could prepare.
I was not prepared. The conversation between the lead agent,
a man I only knew as Rogue, and the head weapon nasty got hot. The barrels of
weapons swung up. Rogue’s hands were in the air. His #2 guy was pulled from
around the vehicle, forced to his knees. Rogue was talking fast. I relayed the
events to the team, but even as I called them in, I knew they were too far
away.
I needed a distraction. I looked around me. I bypassed the
weapons stash for the high-tech case carrying a compound I liked to call boom
boom clay. The steep side of the volcano was armored in fissured rock
looking for an excuse to go avalanche. I worked quickly, planting the explosive
at points that, to my eye, appeared to be the weak links. I set the detonators,
keeping my ears tuned to the drama below me.
The shouting escalated.
Birds took flight, almost as though they knew the violence
about to unfold.
I ran now. I didn’t care about being spotted. Actually, I
wanted to be, if it would turn them away from Rogue. A voice rose above the
others. The order clear, even if I didn’t understand the language.
I triggered the detonators, sprinting like the devil was on
my heels. “Get clear. Get clear,” I ordered my listening audience.
“Listen, Rookie, you don’t give the orders. I do,” Enrique
Torres snapped back.
The explosions sounded. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Silence followed. One. Two. Three. Or, it would have been
silent if Torres wasn’t in my ear. “What the hell did you do? Get down here.
Now.”
His order was countermanded by the volcano. The ground
beneath my feet shook. My feet slid out from under me as my footholds fell
away. Faster, faster, faster I pushed until across the crumbling landscape
until rock solidly held my weight.
I looked to the clearing where men scrambled like rats
desperate to leave a ship. Where Rogue had stood, a body laid wearing the
enemy’s colors. The truck Rogue arrived in was gunning for the narrow mountain
pass. Someone jumped for the vehicle, only to have his body thrown unnaturally
back.
I noticed the shouting, now. It had changed in tone and
timbre. Ugly, authoritative, nasty language had turned to panic, desperation.
Earthquake. Eruption. Avalanche. Three forces of nature capable of annihilating
man. The weapon nasties knew it. The diesel fueled engines were their only
chance.
“Rogue is first out of the gate,” I told Torres. “The weapon
nasties are following. They are freaked out.”
“You brought a mountain down on them. I’d be freaked out,
too. Stay put until I come get you. You move, your butt is behind a desk for
the rest of your natural life.”
As threats went, it was doozy.
The weapons nasties were intercepted their government’s
elite military. They spoke quickly, their voices higher now, nearly begging.
Hands behind their back, they still tried to run down the mountain, shouting
the volcano was erupting. I laughed until I cried. “Not so tough without your
rocket launcher.”
Small rocks tumbled nearby. My hand on my weapon, I turned.
It was Enrique Torres, wearing a very serious expression. I laughed harder.
He squatted next to me, examining the small cuts I’d gotten
in my escape. He shook his head when I couldn’t stop chuckling. “You are one hard
woman. Gorgeous, but hard.” He pulled me to my feet. “Come on, Diamond. You’re
on clean up.”
That’s the story behind my name. I was Diamond for the rest
of my tenure with the CIA. I put it aside when I married. Suburban life and a
day job didn’t require a cover. That changed in a day. My husband went to a
conference in Rome. I was to fly
out the next day to join him for a little vacation. Instead, I went to claim
his body.
Somebody knows what happened that night. Somebody saw the
hands that pushed him in front of that car. Somebody understands the reason
behind it all.
The police say it was an accident, case closed. I buried my
husband, buried a part of myself, maybe the best part. What’s left is Diamond
and I’m just getting started. Murder is filthy business. Good thing I play
dirty.
Inside the book
Title: WIDOW’S RUN
Author: TG Wolff
Publisher: Down & Out Books
Pages: 236
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Author: TG Wolff
Publisher: Down & Out Books
Pages: 236
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Enter Diamond. One name for a woman with one purpose. Resurrecting her CIA cover, she follows the shaky video down the rabbit hole. Her widow’s run unearths a plethora of suspects: the small-time crook, the mule-loving rancher, the lady in waiting, the Russian bookseller, the soon-to-be priest. Following the stink greed leaves in its wake reveals big lies and ugly truths. Murder is filthy business. Good thing Diamond likes playing dirty.
“TG Wolff’s novel is for crime-fiction fans who like it action-packed and hard-edged. Written with feisty panache, it introduces Diamond, one of the most aggressive, ill-tempered, and wholly irresistible heroines to ever swagger across the page.” –David Housewright, Edgar Award-winning author of Dead Man’s Mistress
Amazon → https://amzn.to/2NgYhGg
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