Return to Ocracoke

By T.L. Peters

At the insistence of his boss and close friend, Arthur "Skip" Jade, hard-bitten corporate lawyer Tom Sanders reluctantly returns to Ocracoke Island, the scene of his humiliation years before at the hands of two beautiful and savage women. Once there, he hopes to enjoy a few relaxing and restful days with his perky girlfriend Megan. But instead he soon finds himself entangled in a murderous scheme that even his cynical legal mind can barely comprehend. Will Tom keep his wits long enough to survive? And what is perhaps more interesting, will he even want to?

This is a sequel to Peters' popular story, "An Ocracoke Affair," although it can just as easily be read as a stand-alone novel.

"Peters has outdone himself in this bizarre tale of passion, murder and greed. The plot twists in this amazingly well crafted short novel keep the reader guessing and the pages turning to a climax that is utterly jaw dropping. Great Read!!" Theodora K.

"There's no question that Peters is a master wordsmith." Gerry B's Book Reviews

"T.L. Peters' way of writing is wonderful." Kyanara

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.L. Peters
• Release date: Feb 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465946539

T.L. Peters

"There's no question that Peters is a master wordsmith." Gerry B's Book Reviews About the author: T.L. Peters is an ex-lawyer who enjoys playing the violin and giving his dog long walks in the woods. In between, he writes novels.

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Return to Ocracoke

By T.L. Peters

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012, T.L. Peters

License Notes

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

To read more about the author and his other books, go to http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/tlpeters.

At the insistence of his boss and close friend, Arthur Skip Jade, hard-bitten corporate lawyer Tom Sanders reluctantly returns to Ocracoke Island, the scene of his humiliation years before at the hands of two beautiful and savage women. Once there, he hopes to enjoy a few relaxing and restful days with his perky girlfriend Megan. But instead he soon finds himself entangled in a murderous scheme that even his cynical legal mind can barely comprehend. Will Tom keep his wits long enough to survive? And what is perhaps more interesting, will he even want to?

This is a sequel to Peters’ popular story, "An Ocracoke Affair," although it can just as easily be read as a stand-alone novel.

There’s no question that Peters is a master wordsmith. Gerry B’s Book Reviews

Chapter 1

It was all Skip's idea. Arthur Skip Jade, a judge's son, Harvard Law, fast track junior partner in one of Buffalo's better firms, my closest peer in age, though unfortunately far above me in both appearance and talent, had decided it might be cool to take a little jaunt down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Ocracoke Island to be precise, for a few days of fun and sun. After all, Skip had announced breezily in the murky confines of Conference Room 2B, deep within the august bowels of Bale and Bly, we'd been busting our butts lately.

As usual, Skip was right. Three weekends and three merger deals to close, and at least fifteen all-nighters sprinkled in. The paperwork, no surprise there, had been mountainous, and, like always, the senior partners had demanded perfection—every t crossed, every i dotted, and then some. I was beat. Skip was exhausted. We both needed a break. But the Outer Banks, especially Ocracoke Island, held no charm for me. It was the last place on earth I wanted to go.

The memories of my trip there two summers before were still painfully fresh. And the scars, too. I continued to sport a dull red abrasion on my left thigh where the chesty blond, who went by the unlikely name Gladys Corbett, had kicked me to near distraction at least a dozen times. My nose was a little cockeyed from all the right jabs she had leveled at my tender white-collar face. And what about my rather pudgy lower back, which had borne a painful bruising from all the times she had casually flipped me over her sleek and gorgeous shoulders onto the hard dunes of Ocracoke?

My spine still ached in the mornings when I squirmed out of bed. That didn't even count all the agony the tall slender brunette, Olga Heimweh, had dished out to my fragile physique with her lethal fists and forearms. I didn't want any more of Ocracoke or the Outer Banks, and I told Skip so. But Skip was persistent.

C'mon, Tom, don't be a wet rag. We can take the girls along. Megan would love it, and I know Madison needs some R and R. What about it? Thursday through Tuesday, a nice long weekend. The weather's supposed to be perfect, a sunny eighty five degrees with a nice southwesterly breeze. Maybe we can even rent a boat and do some fishing. It'll be great.

I peered skeptically at his dark thick hair, gleaming with a moist black radiance under the dull phosphorescent lights, his slightly unshaven chin and lower cheeks, just enough facial hair to make him look hip but not scruffy, his noble aquiline nose, his shining blue eyes, his winning smile. Skip had it all, especially his dazzling six feet two inches of sleek and perfectly proportioned athletic muscularity, dazzling enough anyway to make the ladies swoon, and that was even before they found out he was everybody's choice to be Bale and Bly's next managing partner. Bale and Bly, as with most law firms in this hectic and fast changing economy, liked its leaders young and full of energy, and Skip fit the bill to perfection.

Skip Jade, in other words, was a hard guy to turn down, especially for me, a plodding corporate type who had all the personality of a lumpy sack of potatoes. But I was a deft scrivener and a crafty technician, and Skip liked me, or at least he had no qualms in delegating to my ponderous hands all the drudgery of preparing and reviewing lengthy legal documents, while he spent his time charming both clients and senior partners alike with his keen wit and glib knowledge of the law. I knew I was getting the short end of the stick. But, on the bright side, when Skip moved up the ladder, so would I.

I shook my head weakly as the distant but still grating image of the two nubile Amazons joyously kicking the snot out of me raced through my mind.

I think I'll take a pass this time. Maybe next year.

But Skip would not be denied. He could have cajoled pretty much anyone at the firm to go along with him, but for some reason he wanted me. Maybe it was the public relations challenge of enduring such an awkward friend that intrigued him, or perhaps my omnipresent visage of homeliness aligned so closely with his handsome face appealed to his vanity, a sort of benign elitism he found a worthy complement to his many other virtues. Whatever it was, Skip wanted my company on this trip, and he was bound and determined to coax me to his point of view. If coaxing didn't work, he would resort to bullying, but Skip seldom had to bully me. I was far too cooperative for that.

I know you had a bad time there once, Tom, but those nasty women are long gone by now. Don't let some sadistic pair of kooks spoil your fun. We can talk about it at dinner tonight. Megan is coming, right?

I nodded grudgingly. I knew I'd never be able to withstand Skip's powers of persuasion over some long and sumptuous dinner enhanced by a nice bottle of expensive Chardonnay, and especially not with my friend Megan there. Megan liked Skip, almost as much as she liked me.

Of course, Skip was no threat to my rather modest amorous ambitions, and certainly no rival for Megan's tender affections. Skip had so many women on a string, it was ridiculous. And now he was giddily contemplating the prospect of bringing a new girl along, this mysterious Madison creature. Skip claimed, with remarkable simplicity, that she was really something. I wasn't sure how she could top the lingerie model he'd been dating for the past three months, until he suddenly tired of her slow wit and what he regarded as her lack of cultural hipness, but Skip was always full of surprises.

Megan is looking forward to it, I murmured gamely.

Great to see you're coming around, Skip chortled, tapping my shoulders with manly precision and gusto. "You certainly are a recalcitrant fellow at times, but I guess anyone who labors so willingly in the