Illusive Storm: Illusive Storm, #1

By Lily Campbell

A storm, a group of strangers, a murder, and one question—who's next?

 

Forced into a motel to shelter from a storm, the group couldn't be more different; a family on the brink of collapse, a man with a dark secret, a bankrupt private investigator with a gambling problem, a priest searching for his brother, a couple of friends, the counter clerks… none of them seem capable of murder. But with a body on the floor and suspicions mounting, it's time to figure out who the killer is before someone else winds up dead. 

 

Is the heavily tattooed and pierced up man the killer? He's clearly hiding something. 

 

Everyone turns to the P.I. for answers. With the cell towers down, her best advice is for everyone to stay in their rooms until the storm is over and they can call in help. So when hormones take over and a tryst leads two of them to make out in the lobby, the pair is stunned to see familiar faces on T.V. Apparently they also have armed criminals in their midst…

 

When the storm passes, it will all be much clearer — or crazier.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lily Campbell
• Release date: Aug 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393680079

Book preview

1

Laurie stepped out the passenger seat of the bright red 2011 Honda Odyssey and slammed the door hard.

That piece of trash. She fumed, climbing the stairs back into the apartment. He’s never serious about anything. I don’t know how I could have expected more.

Laurie met her sixteen-year-old daughter, Riana, rolling a pair of luggage boxes down the stairs. She passed her without a word. Riana stopped.

What’s the matter, Mom? she asked.

Laurie kept moving.

Hey, where’s Dad? Riana called out.

Your father’s not answering his phone, Laurie replied before disappearing into the house.

Riana spread her eyes wide, making a ‘whatever’ gesture.

It’s useless, she said under her breath as she completed the voyage from the house to the minivan’s trunk. She lifted the bags with difficulty and dropped them haphazardly into the trunk, mirroring her current state of mind. Riana had been the first to object when her parents had come up with the idea of a family trip. She couldn’t believe that she was foregoing the weekend hanging out at Augusta’s just because of some silly outing.

If they’re so intent on making the trip, she thought as she walked back into the house, they should put it into motion themselves.

She walked into the living room and closed the door behind her.

Mom! she called, tilting her face upstairs where her parents’ bedroom was situated. Are we going to leave our things out in the open like that?

Her question was met with silence, and the annoying game sounds coming from her younger brother’s tablet. He sat on one of the couches, his head bent over the tablet.

Didn’t you just come from there? Albert Jr. asked, moving his hands in rhythm to the game he was playing.

Keep your face and mouth in your own business, Albert, she chided.

With a huff, she stormed up the stairs and into her bedroom.

She knew that whenever her father showed up, which was already way beyond the time they’d agreed they’d leave, he and her mother were going to have a blazing row. It had become an inevitable part of their lives. The family trip was pitched to proffer a lasting solution to their fractured bonds. So far, it looked like a plan that had failed even before setting into motion.

Riana collapsed onto her bed, and sighed.

I sincerely look forward to this trip, she sneered.

She didn’t need any facial expressions. The sarcasm was more than evident in her voice.

Albert Sr. passed the requisite fare over to the driver, then stepped out of the taxi. He looked towards the driveway and made a slight grimace. The minivan, with its open trunk, signaled that he was in deep doo-doo. He walked up to the door, pressed his lips together, then went in.

Albert Jr. only spared him a glance from his gaming.

Welcome, Dad, he greeted.

Yeah, Albert replied, Where’s your mother?

Up in her room.

And your things?

In the car already.

Albert opened his mouth to say something else, but junior Albert must have had a cue on the next question he was going to ask.

Riana’s things are in the car, he supplied. Mom’s too. You’re the only one left.

Okay, Albert said. "You should go and call your sister. I should be up and down with my things in no time.

Albert Jr. stood up from the couch and began to dawdle. He was totally hooked by the game he was playing.

Kids, Albert thought, and moved towards the stairs. If his wife was in their bedroom, they had big fish to fry.

Riana heard her parents’ bedroom door close before she heard the first of the yelling. It was her mother first, but somewhere along the line her father joined in. She rolled her eyes and tried to focus on the pictures she was scrolling through on her phone. The constant uproar didn’t make it easy. It was times like this that Riana wished she’d been born in some other family--perhaps, one like Augusta’s--or that her room wasn’t so close to her parents’.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Dropping her phone, Riana rose up to her elbows and said: Come in.

Albert Jr. poked his head in.

What’s the problem, Albert? she asked.

Dad said you should get to the car.

Okay. Riana responded nonchalantly, and went back to her phone.

She noticed, after a few moments, that Albert was still at the door.

Albert, she sighed. What’s the problem?

Dad said to come down now.

I heard you the first time, Riana retorted. You can leave.

Albert still stared.

Go, Riana demanded, with more intensity this time.

Albert turned, and closed the door behind him.

Ugh, Riana groaned, falling back into bed. God, I hate this place, she said like she was addressing someone.

She stood up from the bed and walked outside. At the corridor, she could hear snippets of what her parents were saying.

I had something to finish up at work. It was really important, her father said.

That’s the problem with you. Not knowing when your family needs you more. Your job seems to be what gets the best of you, her mother fired back.

Riana rolled her eyes and moved downstairs.

It didn’t take long for Albert and Laurie to join the children at the minivan. The air around them, and the look on their faces, told that they’d left their argument abruptly without an amicable resolution. It was just like stepping out of a car while it was still