This title is # 2 on the Best Indie Books of 2019. All votes and nominations were counted. I am pleased to introduce new stories to readers, so please check out this book.
Cold Betrayal by AJ McCarthy
Synopsis:
Trapped in a wintry setting and followed by two men determined to kill her, Victoria Anderson searches for someone who doesn’t want to be found. She drove the length of the east coast in a quest to find Danny Wilcox, intending to convince him to return to Florida with her. The drug lord, the most wanted criminal in the Province of Quebec, has other plans.
Tori is nothing if not loyal. She unflaggingly defends Danny and refuses to believe he’d harm her, despite several attempts on her life. Others befriend her, even as they covertly advance their own agendas. Tori’s devotion in tested at every turn, not knowing who she can trust, or the consequences of her ultimate decision.
Cold Betrayal is a story about love, loyalty, and difficult choices, as Victoria struggles to survive in a beautiful and deadly setting against unexpected adversaries.
Excerpt:
Without having to touch it, she felt the lump swell on her forehead. She’d hit the steering wheel with such force the vibrations resonated down her spine. For a full minute, she stared dazedly at her hands gripping the wheel, until she lifted her gaze to see the hood of the car crumpled in front of her. She swore loudly.
Tori couldn’t believe it. Snowbanks looked so innocent from a distance. Now, she discovered the kind of havoc they could wreak on a vehicle. She thought she’d been careful, but careful or not, her lack of experience had been her undoing.
The realization sank in that she had to get moving. Tori optimistically put the car in reverse and tried to back out of her predicament, but it was soon obvious it wouldn’t happen. Her tires spun uselessly on the snow and ice; the car held firmly in the grip of the great white monster in front of her.
Tori mentally berated herself for naively travelling to Quebec in wintertime, unprepared for the climate. And she hadn’t even had the common sense to stay in the city where the road conditions were better. No, she’d ventured out into the countryside, onto a little-used crossroad that was hardly more than a wide path. Tiny patches of black asphalt peeked through the snow, and the snowbanks on each side of her towered several feet high, making the road resemble a long, white tunnel.
She couldn’t even call for help. Her mobile phone had suffered its demise this morning, crushed under the heel of a heavy boot. The boot in question belonged to a person with whom she had more important things to worry about besides the fact he had destroyed her phone.
There was nothing else to do. Tori had to continue her journey by foot. It was a matter of time before they found her, their knowledge of the area so much greater than hers.
Fumbling for the latch of her seat belt with shaking fingers, she noticed the blood on her jacket. Touching her forehead, she felt the warm stickiness.
“Great. Just what I need.”
Knowing it could be worse, she found a box of tissues in the console beside her and pressed several to the wound. She couldn’t allow a bump to the head to slow her down.
Tori glanced at her attire. It had been suitable for driving in a car with the heater set at its maximum, but it was sorely lacking for traipsing around in the great outdoors, particularly in this great outdoors. Her jacket was warm enough for a cool Florida evening in December, but it hadn’t taken her long to discover it wouldn’t withstand a frigid January day in Quebec. It fell as far as the top of her jeans-clad hips. Her footwear consisted of a pair of sneakers, and a thin pair of leather gloves provided the only protection she had for her hands.
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