Wednesday 26 May 2021

Your Midweek Update for 05/26/21

My baby is home, safe and sound. Relatively speaking.

I’m not going to beat around the bush – this rescue operation has been going on for way too long as it is. It was incredibly messy and quick – so much so, I’m not 100% sure on the details – but I know that the five minutes between breeching the front gate and walking out the side door with Casey in tow, resulted in her mother dying and my sister having to go on the run again.

I’m just so tired. We’ve been on the road since Sunday night and we didn’t get home until Tuesday afternoon and now I am just completely wired. I haven’t slept in a month and now that it’s all over, my body doesn’t know what to do. I can’t stop yawning but I’m also too restless to lie down. On top of that, I’m so worried for Casey. I’m always worried for Casey but I’ve only had her back for a few days and already, I’m so terrified of losing her again.

This last month has been a nightmare – though not much worse than any of the other horrible things that have happened to my family over the years.

I wonder if this was the last straw.

Will this be the thing that sends me over the edge? Have I already gone and just didn’t realize?

I just want to sleep. And I want to know ONE of my children is safe with me. But mostly, I need to sleep, I can barely keep my eyes open and yet I feel the need to go for a run.

Not at all a recipe for disaster.

As always, dear readers,

Stay Safe

Wednesday 19 May 2021

Your Midweek Update for 05/19/21

I know that my life reads like a work of fiction but it is very real. And though I seem to dodge a lot of consequences, I can’t escape them all. I have also prided myself on being the most dangerous person in any room – baring my sister who, at times, scares even me.

When I met Casey’s mother, I was terrified of her. She was violent and unpredictable and had no qualms about hurting her own daughter to get her way. We know how I feel about parents who betray their children.

I spent days on the phone between my husband and my sister, trying to find a way to bring Casey home to us. Involving authorities was out of the question – though the query was posed about how we would explain Casey’s return once we got her back. We’re burning that bridge when we get to it.

We realized some sort of heist would need to take place, or else we had to lure the woman away from the house so someone could extract Casey from where she was being held prisoner. The latter would be difficult on a good day, let alone one where the woman was holding a child hostage. Getting her to walk out of her house for more than the mail would be nearly impossible.

The thought did cross my mind that we were going to have to “Ocean’s Eleven” this thing – or… “Ocean’s Three”, actually – but like I said: our lives are not fictional. It was, however, accurate to say that the three of us discussed how to break into a highly secured home and take a child. Presumably in the middle of the night considering Pandemic-times means there are way more eyes watching during the day. It’s annoying, really. Used to be, I could stuff a body into my trunk in the middle of the day without anyone noticing.

Stupid nosey neighbours.

The trouble is: we’re now in an unknown city – they drove up over the weekend – with no allies, few resources, and only my vague memory of the layout of her house, to figure out how we’re going to make some sort of daring rescue without being arrested for trespassing.

It has been an exhausting few days. We hooked up some surveillance equipment near all outer doors to we could monitor her comings and goings. So far, there isn’t a distinct pattern but it’s only been a few days. We’re also keeping an eye on her neighbours to see if she’s close to anyone or if there are any areas of concern. So far, they seem to be the quiet, rich type of people, which could be an asset but it could also be a deterrent. Rich people love their privacy and they hate strangers, which could mean that they won’t care what’s going on next door unless it involves them personally, but if they notice three people they don’t know hanging around their property, they’re going to call the police.

A daylight robbery may actually be our best option – despite my fears about additional eyes on the street. We just don’t know enough about the house or the area to make an attempt. I hate the thought of her being in there with that woman, but I can stomach the thought of losing her completely even less.

Casey is strong. And maybe she’ll escape and murder her mother before we even have a chance to rescue her. And I hate waiting – especially when I know what’s going on in there. I don’t believe that woman will kill her daughter unless she deems it somehow necessary. If we can do this without letting her know that her life is in danger, Casey stands a better chance.

Even as I type this, I understand how ridiculous it all seems. I’ve thought about just walking up to her front door and stabbing her in the gut. Who knows: maybe I’ll lose my patience and do that anyways. But the quieter we are, the safer we all will be. Because it’s not just about getting Casey out of that nightmare, it’s protecting myself and my whole family. Getting all of us home safely.

If we have to do it the hard way, then we’ll do it the hard way.

As always, dear readers,

Stay Safe

Wednesday 12 May 2021

Your Midweek Update for 05/12/21

I found her. Of all the places I thought I would find her – of all the ways I thought she’d been taken – this never crossed my mind.

I found her mother. Or, my sister did. She’s very good at this – it’s a shame she could never turn it into something practical – my mother’s words, not mine. She never understood why my sister was the way she was. She never tried to understand her. For fuck’s sake, she reported her to the police. What kind of a mother does that? Mothers are supposed to protect their children. They’re supposed to understand their children’s needs and nurture them.

I suppose that’s why I never had children. I’ve lost all three of the ones I was meant to care for. Some people are just not meant to change diapers. I am one of them. My sister is the other, but only one of us figured it out before it was too late.

Nevertheless, she found Casey’s mother, so I made the two-day drive to meet her. She looked nothing like her photo. It was her, obviously. But the last time photos I had of her she was a broken woman just out of the hospital who had lost everything in her life. The woman I met carried herself like she had everything she could ever want.

A nice house, a nice lawn, a nice neighbourhood that was too rich to bother getting to know one another. She looked incredibly well put-together (a dress and heels and nails that could probably slice a man’s throat – which… props), but I recognized her eyes immediately. They were crazy and maniacal and intelligent beyond measure. Those were my eyes. Those were Casey’s eyes.

As we sat in her living room, drinking tea and staring each other down, I realized that we’d met before. Or, we’d almost met. I’d seen her photograph before.

She was the woman who had blackmailed Heather into finding me. All those month ago, the elusive woman I had to put in the back of my mind for my own sanity, was now sitting across from me, sipping tea with her pinky up. All this time, she hadn’t been looking for me. She’d been looking for Casey.

And it seems she found her.

Then, she told me a story. About growing up and seeing the world differently than other people. About being different and having no qualms about hurting others to get her way. She told me about manipulating her husband into thinking that he loved her so that she could start a family. About wanting nothing more than to continue her legacy with her daughter.

She talked about the night Casey slit her throat – even showed me the scar. How the spell on her husband had been broken when he fell in love with another woman, and he was going to take Casey away from her. How “her little girl” had overheard their argument and slit her daddy’s throat to keep them together. What she hadn’t counted on was Casey trying to kill her mother as well. “I had never been so proud.” She told me.

When she awoke in the hospital and heard the horrible news, she knew she had to find her daughter but it was too late. She has spent the last eight years looking for her daughter so that they could be together again.

And then she gave me a tour of the house. She showed me the guest bedrooms, the master bathroom (which had a gorgeous jacuzzi tub), the two dining rooms, the gardens. She showed me the basement above the cellar where there was a room set up. It had all the comforts of home, except for the lock and bars on the windows. And lying on the bed, tied up with nylon rope, was Casey.

She was so thin. And her eyes were big and red. And she looked angry. Scared and angry. She’d never looked more beautiful.

I said I found her. I didn’t say I’d brought her home.

Her mother wants to keep her. Wants to train her to be like her. I couldn’t allow it.

I remember going to Casey, going to untie her, and then there was a pain in my neck. And I then woke up in my car outside of my hotel. I went back to the house but I couldn’t get passed the front gate. She only let me through as a courtesy so I’d know my daughter was alive.

My daughter. Not hers. Not after this. And if Casey wants to kill her mother, she has my blessing.

But now, I am in my hotel room, chatting with my sister and my husband, trying to find a way to free my daughter. This woman is dangerous. She has spent nearly a decade hunting and hiding in plain sight and she is just crazy enough, that I can’t predict what she’ll do.

Casey looked so scared. And I feel helpless. For the first time, I don’t feel like I’m the scariest person in the room. I looked into her eyes and I saw myself if I’d lost everything. I’ve come very close in my life, but I’ve never lost everything.

I think I’m about to face my worst nightmare.

As always, dear readers,

Stay Safe 

Wednesday 5 May 2021

Your Midweek Update for 05/05/21

Don’t tell James but I’m starting to lose hope.

I’m scared and I’m tired and I feel like I’ve looked under every rock but there’s still no news. The gas station security camera was a bust and my sister has turned up no other leads. It’s like she’s vanished off the face of the earth.

I know how to make people disappear. Me and James and my sister, we are experts at making people disappear. No one is better than us. So how did they do it? How did they get her out without any of us being able to figure it out?

You know that voice in your head that tells you to do stupid things like jump out of a moving car, or stab your neighbour with an ice pick? You can call it the ‘Id’, or ‘Intrusive Thoughts’. Poe calls it the ‘Imp of the Perverse’.

That voice is telling me that Casey had a hand in this.

She has spent so much time with us, learning how to do what we do. And she’s good. I’ve said it: she could be better than me one day. If she wanted to get away from us, or go into hiding, she could do it.

But, if I let myself think that she did this intentionally and I’m wrong, I leave her in danger. If I keep looking and she doesn’t want to be found, I will lose my mind looking for the rest of my life.

So I will keep looking.

The problem is: I don’t know where to look next. Or I do. But I’ve been avoiding it for a month because there is no happy ending to be found there.

I have to find Casey’s mother. I think she’ll be a lot easier to find. Given how much work I got done on my own, having my sister and my husband supporting me will be more than sufficient. Either Casey went off to kill her, or her mother took her for some reason, there is no easy ending to this.

I didn’t think of it at first because I was so focused on some stranger who could overpower a trained killer. And then I was avoiding imagining that Casey could hurt our family like this. When the through crossed my mind, I avoided it, too.

The only way a reunion between mother and daughter ends is with one of them dead. As relieved as I was when Casey told me she didn’t want to go back to her mother, I never wanted her to kill her. As much as I fantasize about killing my mother, I wouldn’t ever.

There are some lines that can never be crossed.

If she’s gone where I think she’s gone…

I’m scared.

As always, dear readers,

Stay Safe

Saturday 1 May 2021

Release Day for Edenhart's Rivalry by J.N. Tomczak

I am so excited that EDENHART'S RIVALRY by J.N. Tomczak is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for some a $10 Amazon GC & a signed poster of the book cover courtesy of J.N. & Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.

About The Book:

Title: EDENHART'S RIVALRY (Kingdom of the Faeries #1)

Author: J.N. Tomczak

Pub. Date: May 1, 2021

Publisher: J.N. Tomczak

Pages: 388

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon

Read for FREE With Kindle Unlimited!

AN ANCIENT CURSE. A KINGDOM IN PERIL. ONE FAERIE TO SAVE THEM ALL…

Darkness is spreading across the kingdoms—and one faerie stands between destruction and survival. Aurora’s peaceful existence is shattered by an unexpected tragedy that leaves her as the last surviving heir to the throne. But her reign is threatened before it can even begin.

Her court swells with spies and traitors. There are growing tales of a mysterious blight. Strange riders abroad are hunting for something—or someone.

On the day of her coronation, she and her loyal friend, Percy, the newly appointed Flight Captain, discover an ancient prophecy sealed away and guarded in a secret chamber beneath the castle. There they uncover a sinister plot that will spiral her people into a war they cannot win on their own. Her courage and wit will be her greatest weapons if she hopes to succeed where others have failed. She must ask herself just how far is she willing to go to save her kingdom and at what costs?