I am very excited about sharing this new excerpt from Reflection by Kim Cresswell with you today.
Reflection
Kim Cresswell
Series: Whitney Steel
Print Length: 336 pages
Published: May 18, 2014
Florida investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, has lived in the shadow of her legendary father long enough. To prove herself she needs to find the “Big” story.She found it.
Now it may kill her.
After Whitney receives a lead pointing to the world’s first cloned human, now a small child, she vows to unravel the truth.
However, sifting through the facts proves to have dangerous results, including death threats and murder.
When Whitney is nearly killed, but is saved by undercover FBI Special Agent, Blake Neely, he refuses to let her get in the way of his own objective—at least not right away.
Caught in a lethal game between a billionaire obsessed with genetic perfection, his hit man’s thirst for retribution, and a Colombian drug lord fresh out of prison determined to make Blake pay for his twin brother’s death over a decade ago…
Can they save an innocent child before it’s too late?
Faced with tough choices, with deadly consequences for many—Whitney soon realizes that sometimes a story becomes more than just a story.
The second the elevator doors opened, Nathan Shaw greeted Whitney.
“You’re late, Miss Steel.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shaw.” She followed the man dressed in a casual gray shirt and black dress pants into a huge office.
Behind her, metal doors slid shut like a tomb.
“I was held up with your—”
“Have a seat.”
Photographs Whitney had seen of the billionaire did not do him justice. He looked even stranger in person, with receding salt and pepper hair clipped short around his ears, a longer than usual neck and an odd-shaped, beefy face.
She took a seat across from him and realized he was gawking at her breasts. From the background information she’d discovered, Nathan enjoyed shocking others with unconventional behavior. Well, not this gal.
“Thank you for seeing me.”
“My pleasure. Of course, I took the liberty and did my own research on you, Miss Steel. You’re top in your field. Pretty impressive for a woman, and a young woman at that. Why are you here today?”
Realizing her legs were shaking, she crossed them. Besides, now Nathan was trying to get a peek up her skirt. What a creep.
“A follow up—because of ShawBioGen’s research and development activities into products to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.” She tugged open her purse, found her tape recorder and carefully placed it between them on the most ornate Chippendale coffee table she’d ever seen. At least the man had excellent taste when it came to furniture. He sure didn’t have much taste in anything else.
He stared at her with wide saucer-shaped eyes. “Miss Steel, you really are quite cute and you do intrigue me, but what you just mentioned is old news.” His eyes narrowed. “Why are you really here?”
Her breath caught in her throat and for a second she was speechless.
“Get to the point. I’m a busy man.”
“Very well.” She pressed play on the tape recorder and prayed he hadn’t noticed her fingers shaking.
“In the political realm recently, there has been a lot of debate over the moral issues of cloning humans. Since your company has, in the past, cloned dogs, cows and other creatures, would you consider cloning humans?”
Nathan stood and slipped his hands in his pants pockets.
“Yes, of course, if it were legal. My focus is on reproductive cloning to allow infertile couples, unable to reproduce via other means, to have a genetically related child.”
“There have been some rumors circulating, so I must ask, is your company cloning humans?”
He showed no reaction to the question, instead sauntered across the plush carpet and stopped behind her. So close, in fact, she felt his warm, moist breath down the back of her neck. Gross. She wanted to pounce out of the chair and drop kick him. It took every ounce of willpower not to.
“For a veteran reporter and a woman who has a brain in her head, I’m surprised you’d yield to such gossip.” He moved around the chair and stood in front of her.
Don’t let him get to you. This is what he does. Gets in your personal space, hoping to scare you off.
“So for the record, these are simply rumors?”
He gave her a withering stare, and then burst into high pitched nasal laughter. “First off, I’m sure you are aware that cloning humans in this country is illegal. Second, if it were legal, I’d be sharing that incredible technology with countries around the world. Can you imagine what a person could do with that type of technology?”
Yes she could, and had already seen the outcome on videotape. A helpless young child trapped in a horrid environment. Determined not to fall apart, Whitney gritted her teeth.
When he bent down and looked at her, for a split second, she swore she saw the devil in his stormy black eyes.
“Do you believe I’m cloning humans, Miss Steel?”
A cold-to-the-bone chill drifted through her body. “Of course not, Mr. Shaw. But as a reporter it is my duty to investigate such rumors.”
“I understand.” He settled in the chair across from her. “I’m sorry to say, our time is up. You’ll be supplied with a press kit on the way out.”
Managing the weakest fake smile she could muster, Whitney pressed the stop button and tossed the tape recorder in her purse. At that moment, the tomb-like doors slid open. She’d hit a chord with Nathan. Her punishment: being sent home like a child.
“I do hope you have a very safe trip back to Oregon, Miss Steel.”
About The Author
Kim Cresswell resides in Ontario, Canada. Trained as a legal assistant, Kim has been a story-teller all her life but took many detours including; working in legal and adult education before returning to her first love, writing.
Her debut romantic suspense, REFLECTION, has won numerous awards:
Her action-packed thrillers have been highly praised by reviewers and readers. As one reviewer said, "Buckle up, Hang on tight!"
- InD'tale Magazine 2014 Rone Award Finalist (Suspense/Thriller)
- UP Authors Fiction Challenge Winner (2013)
- Silicon Valley's Romance Writers of America (RWA) "Gotcha!" Romantic Suspense Winner (2004)
- Honourable Mention in Calgary's (RWA) The Writer's Voice Contest (2006).
- LETHAL JOURNEY was a finalist in From the Heart Romance Writers (FTHRW) Golden Gate Contest (2003)
Kim recently entered the true crime writing arena. Real Life Evil - A True Crime Quickie (two short stories) was published in January 2014. You can read her latest true crime stories in Serial Killer Quarterly, a new quarterly e-magazine published by Grinning Man Press.
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