Nocturnal Lives Series

Some things can never be forgotten, no matter how hard you try.   Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Santos knows that bitter lesson all too well. The day she died changed her life and her perception of the world forever. It doesn't matter that everyone, even her doctors, believe a miracle occurred when she awoke in the hospital morgue. Mac knows better. It hadn't been a miracle, at least not a holy one. As far as she's concerned, that's the day the dogs of Hell came for her.   Investigating one of the most horrendous murders in recent Dallas history, Mac also has to break in a new partner and deal with nosy reporters who follow her every move and who publish confidential details of the investigation without a qualm.   Complicating matters even more, Mac learns the truth about her family and herself, a truth that forces her to deal with the monster within, as well as those on the outside. But none of this matters as much as discovering the identity of the murderer before he can kill again.

Lt. Mackenzie Santos of the Dallas Police Department discovers there are worse things than finding out you come from a long line of shapeshifters. At least that's what she keeps telling herself. It's not that she resents discovering she can turn into a jaguar. Nor is it really the fact that no one warned her of the possibility. Although, come to think of it, her mother does have a lot of explaining to do when—and if—Mac ever talks to her again. No, the real problem is how to keep the existence of shapeshifters hidden from the public, especially when just one piece of forensic evidence in the hands of the wrong technician could lead to their discovery.   Add in blackmail, a long overdue talk with her grandmother about their heritage and an attack on her mother and Mac's life is about to get a lot more complicated. What she wouldn't give for a run-of-the-mill murder to investigate. THAT would be a nice change of pace.

Lt. Mackenzie Santos swears she will never take another vacation again as long as she lives. The moment she steps off the plane, federal agents take her into custody. Then she finds out her partner, Sgt. Patricia Collins, as well as several others are missing. Some of the missing have connections to law enforcement. All are connected to Mac through one important and very secret fact — they are all shapechangers. Has someone finally discovered that shapeshifters aren't merely the creations of myths and bad Hollywood movies or is there something else, something more insidious at work?   Mac finds herself in a race against time not only to save her partner and the others but to discover who is behind their disappearances. To top it off, she finds herself dealing with Internal Affairs, dirty cops, the Feds, and a conspiracy within the shapeshifter community that could not only bring their existence to light but cause a civil war between shifters.

Lt. Mackenzie Santos has seen just about everything in more than ten years as a cop. The last few months have certainly shown her more than she'd ever expected. She's learned that real monsters don't always hide under the bed or in the closet. They walk the streets and can exist in the best of families. When she's called out to a crime scene and has to face the possibility that there are even more monsters walking the Earth than she knew, she finds herself longing for the days before she started turning furry with the full moon. Note: This is a re-issue of Nocturnal Haunts. It was originally published by Naked Reader Press and contains new material.

All she wanted was a simple murder case, one uncomplicated by shapeshifters or interfering IAB investigators. What she got instead was much, much more.   Now three cops are dead and Lt. Mackenzie Santos' world will never be the same. It is up to her to find the killers and bring them to justice. But what justice? That of cops and attorneys and criminal courts or that of the shapeshifters where there would be no public trial and a quick delivery of punishment, whatever that might be?   As she walks that fine line, Mac walks another tightrope as well. Shapeshifter politics are new to her and, as she has learned, more complicated than anything she ever encountered as a cop. One misstep can lead to not only her death but the deaths of those she cares for. Like it or not, she has no choice because she has learned there are other things just as inevitable as death and taxes. Eventually, the world will learn that shapeshifters aren't just things of legend and bad Hollywood movies. If that happens before they are ready, Mac and those like her will learn the hard way what happens when humanity learns monsters are real and living next door.

The one thing Lt. Mackenzie Santos has always been able to count on was the law. But that was before she started turning furry. Now she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy to keep the truth from the public-at-large. She knows they aren't ready to learn that monsters are real and might live next door.   If that isn't enough, trouble is brewing among the shapeshifters. A power struggle brews, one that has already come close to costing some of Mac's closest friends their lives. Now Mac is in the middle of what could quickly turn into a civil war, one that would be disastrous for all of them.   What she wouldn't give to have a simple murder case to investigate and a life that didn't include people who wanted nothing more than to add her death to the many they were already responsible for.

As a cop, Lt. Mackenzie Santos knows every shift might be her last. That was driven home two years ago when Samuel Wilcox came much too close to killing her. She still has nightmares where she wakes in the morgue. But that was nothing compared to learning she comes from one of the oldest and most powerful shapeshifter bloodlines. Until the night she "died", she always believed shapeshifters and werewolves were the thing of bad Hollywood movies.   Now she knows differently. Monsters really do walk among us. Some are human. Some are shifter. And one wants her dead.   Worse, so much worse, that person also wants to reveal the existence of shapeshifters to the humans. He—or she—doesn't care about the consequences. Somehow Mac must discover who her enemy is and stop them before it is too late. But can Mac do that and stay alive?