Buried Alive: A J. Carter & Associates Novella Collection

By T. M. Carper

Collecting both AGAINST THE CLOCK and BLOWN AWAY together for the first time.

TICK. TOCK. TIME'S UP

It starts innocently enough. Then, Neil Pearson's world is turned upside down when his girlfriend is kidnapped by an old classmate with a vendetta. The clock is ticking on her life -- Lara Murphy's been buried alive. He's got less than two hours to decode the clues before she suffocates.

Waking up in a coffin wasn't part of her plan. But Lara's not your average damsel in distress. She's not about to lie around and wait to die, regardless of what her faceless captor thinks. There is a way out -- and she'll find it -- or die trying.

~

THE BLAST WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

When the offices explode, it's up to Lara Murphy to pick up the pieces. While her mother struggles for life in a hospital, she seeks Neil Pearson's help in determining who had motive and the opportunity to plant a bomb on the inside. All the evidence points to a long time foe -- her grandmother.

However, it's not that simple when further investigation reveals a long-hidden secret. One that someone is determined to kill for. One that will destroy Lara's faith in her own family and leave her own life hanging in the balance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T. M. Carper
• Release date: Jul 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370830923

T. M. Carper

I'm the author of several thrillers featuring the employees of J. Carter & Associates, a firm that specializes in everything outside the law. Among those at J. Carter are a profiler, a con artist, an ex-FBI agent, computer hackers, and accomplished killers. STEAL YOU AWAY is my first standalone romantic suspense novel. It loosely ties into the J. Carter & Associates series.

Book preview

That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you play along.

Play along? You’ve gotta be kidding me, Lara muttered.

Listen up and save your breath. You’ve got maybe… three hours tops before you run outta air. If you’re lucky, your boyfriend will find you before time runs out. If not…

Wait… what? Where’s Neil?

The strange man laughed. That doesn't matter. You should just save your strength. You’re not getting outta there. Enjoy what’s left of your life.

Static filled the small space.

Who are you? What do you want?

Buried Alive:

A J. Carter & Associates Novella Collection

T. M. Carper

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2017 by T. M. Carper

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Also Available

SOLE SURVIVOR: A J. Carter & Associates Novel

FATAL TARGET: A J. Carter & Associates Novel

STEAL YOU AWAY

BREAKING POINT: A J. Carter & Associates Novel

Table of Contents

AGAINST THE CLOCK

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

BLOWN AWAY

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About the Author

Against the Clock:

A J. Carter & Associates Novella

Chapter One

Saturday – 12:02am

It was a quiet, moonless night as he pulled the old Mercedes Benz around the circular driveway. The headlights turned off, leaving the two passengers in relative darkness.

Thanks for dinner… it was great to not have to cook for once, the woman in the passenger seat said, her light eyes sparkling even in the dim glow of the porch lights.

Anytime, Neil Pearson said, smiling at her. It was hard to believe that the skinny girl he used to play cops and robbers with as a child had blossomed into a brunette beauty. If he closed his eyes, he could still see his childhood best friend, not the woman she had become.

You have no idea how nice it was to have real adult company for once. You’re so lucky you have sisters.

C’mon, Kieran and Kaden aren’t that bad… they aren’t two anymore… he teased, knowing that her identical twin younger brothers, often collectively called the Ks, drove her crazy. Like him, they knew all the right buttons to push. He also encouraged them, having known her entire family since birth.

That's what happened when your fathers were best friends. While she wasn't exactly the girl next door, he didn't remember a time where he didn't know her. Where he wasn't at her house as much as his own. Where her father wasn't his honorary uncle and his father the same to her.

Even as children, there had been something between them—a magnetic attraction. Of course, he’d been the one to ruin their friendship as a teenager. Neil let his peers manipulate him into turning on her. It took years of silence from them both before maturity allowed them to repair their fractured friendship.

Now they sat in his car, in the dark, parked in front of a house he knew as well as his own.

I’m glad we did this, Lara Murphy said, tucking a lock of her curly hair behind her ear.

Me too. I missed this… I missed us.

It always was easy. Our relationship. It probably helped that our parents practically forced us together. Not that I blame them…

We did even each other out. Even when you beat the crap out of me.

She laughed. That was one time! You tried to pull me down a tree!

You broke my arm!

Are you ever gonna let that go? We were in middle school, Neil!

He smiled, brushing her cheek with his hand. I’ve forgiven you, a thousand times over. The question is… do you forgive me?

You’re talking about high school?

The two-year gap in their ages had been at its worst when Lara started high school. He was already established as a jock, thanks to his father’s insistence on being physically fit as a kid. A former FBI special agent turned weapons specialist, Marc Pearson wasn't about to let his only son be an overweight slob. In contrast, Lara had been shy and introverted thanks to her parents’ overprotective instincts and her own health. She also had to deal with the notoriety that her family and her name brought.

By high school, instead of protecting her as he’d done in the past, Neil ignored her and publicly mocked and humiliated her. Before long, she withdrew from him and found her own safe place far away from him.

Yeah, I was an ass back then.

I remember it well. And you were. Lara never had been one to mince words. She took after her father.

You had your own set of friends… your little riding team. Travis, Ashleigh, Sydney…

They weren’t you. You were always my best friend.

Silence settled over them both for a moment.

Neil shifted closer in the car. What about now?

She sighed, looking down at the floorboards instead of him. Now? I don’t know what we are. We’ve spent more time together these past two weeks than we have in the last six years.

That was my fault.

I didn’t stop you. I let it happen. I let us fall apart.

I don’t blame you. I started it. I’ll never forgive myself for how I treated you then.

She took his hand. I forgive you, Neil. We were both idiots.

We still are. His thumb stroked the back of her hand.

We’re both adults. And you came back. Silence filled the car again. Why did you come back?

Because I left behind the most important thing in my life. You.

Neil leaned forward, his head tilted down a bit. He kissed her, gently, on the lips. It was their first real kiss.

She held still, almost in shock.

Then, after a brief hesitation, she kissed him back.

He pulled her a bit closer, his hands in her loose shoulder-length hair. His fingers brushed the soft strands, glancing off the silk blouse she wore. She had simple, yet elegant tastes. She always had – an old soul, according to his mother.

They broke apart, breathless.

She spoke first. That was…

Please don’t say awkward.

"Pleasant. I was