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    Wrong Place, Wrong Time
    Wrong Place, Wrong Time
    Wrong Place, Wrong Time
    Ebook138 pages1 hour

    Wrong Place, Wrong Time

    By Shirley J. Miller

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    About this ebook

    Maxine Hart is a fiction novelist based in Chicago. She often travels to various countries to verify background location information for her various books. This time, her travels take her to Istanbul, Turkey - bringing along her Chicago Homicide Detective friend, Jack Turner.

    But unfortunately – despite being noted as a very popular tourist location – when Maxine gets there, she finds the country is at war with ISIL in Syria which just so happens to border turkey. Between ISIL, the PKK (Kurdish terrorist group for northern Iraq), the Turkish Mafia, and FETO (Fetullah Terrorist Organization) there is little chance that Maxine won’t somehow get targeted.

    While shopping at the Grand Bazaar tourist attraction in Istanbul, a Mafia thug slips a black pouch of diamonds into her purse in an effort to avoid being caught by the Turkish police who arrived just as the Mafia was about to trade the diamonds for drugs from a notorious Iranian Drug Lord. Clueless to the event, CCTV cameras catch the action on tape and the next day Maxine is arrested, and her hotel room and purse searched. The police find the diamonds and assume she is guilty of theft.

    Maxine spends a few uncomfortable weeks in a Turkish prison while the American Embassy and her CIA friend Riley Perkins– called in to help by Jack - try to clear her name. Riley naturally finds himself surrounded by all the various terrorist attacks and an over suspicious Turkish government as he tries to clear Maxine’s name.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherShirley J. Miller
    Release dateOct 13, 2019
    ISBN9780463949061
    Wrong Place, Wrong Time
    Author

    Shirley J. Miller

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~About Shirley J MillerAs a child, aptitude tests always suggested that Shirley Miller should go into writing. In actuality, she spent her career years in advertising and marketing for Fortune 500 companies, where most of her writing revolved around describing product attributes and persuading sales.She always dreamed of writing fiction books but never had the time. Upon early retirement, she decided to follow her dreams. You will love her simple and direct style while maintaining the mystique and action among characters from start to finish.Her work is mostly fiction, so be sure you check out The Chicago Series and the Maxine Hart Series. Ring of Deception is a book Shirley and her sister Betty dreamed up - while hiking, no less - follow-ups being considered.Shirley has also written how-to books on some of her favorite hobbies. Be sure to check out Beginning Golf for Ladies, Golf Tips Up & Over - For Intermediate Players, Freelance Writing, Owning a Silky Terrier which resulted from her love for the breed. Having owned eight Silky Terriers over her lifetime, she even hired a special dog trainer to come to her home twice a week to teach her how to train the dogs.Though she never wrote about it, she wants to Thank You for reading her books and following her writing adventures. Without you, none of this would be possible, So Thank You very much. And keep on reading. Find some of her other books on Amazon or Smashwords by checking the links below.Any reviews will certainly be appreciated. It always helps to understand more of what readers want to see, so she can speak more directly to you. To follow Shirley Miller, and be the first to learn of new releases, please check the ‘Follow Me’ Button on Amazon. For a full list of all her current works, check out these links:https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LastFlightOut1

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      Book preview

      Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Shirley J. Miller

      Chapter 1

      May in Chicago. Spring at last. The snow was gone, the tree buds were popping through and the spring flowers had begun to shoot up. Finally! – After what seemed like an extremely long winter to Maxine. She was already out with the dogs walking along Lake Michigan, the 55 degrees feeling like summer after the grueling cold she’d just lived through. Once again, her thoughts wandered to Los Angeles and how nice it would be to have nice weather all year round. One of her friends had sent her a picture of Santa Claus on the beach in December under clear blue skies. She was so tempted.

      Things had become serious between Maxine and her CIA companion, Riley Perkins. But there was a reason secret agents’ identities were always kept secret. With their lives in constant danger, they could not afford to have wives and families to be used as targets against them. She knew if she stuck with Riley, she’d be single the rest of her life. And after one failed marriage at nineteen, she had never thought that she would ever marry again anyway. Too many complications.

      She was happy, contemplating this peaceful spring day, when a cat crossed her path. The dogs pulled away and went happily barking after it. Time to get real she realized as she looked after them. Not even her handy dog whistle was going to work with such tempting prey to chase. The cat suddenly disappeared among the rocks - and as if awestruck, the dogs stopped short and looked around. Seeing her glaring at them, they ran happily back to her for a reward.

      Maxine gave them both a biscuit as she talked to them. And I suppose you think you saved me from a wild lion? she laughed despite being slightly annoyed at their behavior. It was too nice a day to be angry. Or so she thought.

      Hey lady, dogs are supposed to be on a leash, the teenager taunted her. You scared off my cat!

      Well maybe your cat should have been on a leash, Maxine almost growled back at the boy. As you can see my dogs are, she said as she looked down at the two Silkies dragging the leashes behind them.

      Whatever, the young man glared at her as he went on his way. What an old bitch!

      And good morning to you, too, Maxine yelled at the boy as he ran after his cat. Kids. So rude these days. Angry, but determined, she was not going to let this brat ruin her otherwise perfect day.

      The top of the morning to you, too, a voiced sounded behind her. She turned and saw Harry Black as he walked along holding his son’s hand. Still giving the world a piece of your mind, I see.

      Harry Black – as I live and breathe. It’s been ages since I’ve seen you.

      Alex, this is my friend Maxine Hart, Harry looked down at the boy beside him. Remember her?

      Not likely, Maxine smiled at them. He was only a year old when I saw him last. What have you been up to? Are you and Jack still the most daring drug detectives in town?

      Not anymore, Harry volunteered. We’ve both moved to the North Side homicide division. Believe it or not, it actually seemed safer there! Jack’s a free man again. I guess Cheryl got tired of the 24-hour police shifts. And if you were about to ask about Sharon, here she comes – with the ice cream cone she promised Alex.

      Maxine turned and saw Sharon walking towards them with three cones in hand. Hey Sharon, so good to see you again. My God, Alex has gotten so big! How old is he now?

      I’m four, Alex looked up at her, speaking for himself. Almost five. Maxine and Sharon laughed at the same time.

      And as you can see, he already has a mind of his own, Sharon teased. How have you been Maxine?

      I just walked into her as she was chewing out some poor teenage boy, Harry laughed.

      Very funny, Maxine quipped. The little twit was giving me grief because my dogs chased his cat. I never was a cat person and I seem to like teenagers less and less. Does that mean I’m getting old? she laughed.

      Aren’t we all? Sharon laughed back. It’s really good to see you again. But we’ve got to run. We’ve got a pre-school interview for Alex this morning. They grow up so fast. They said their good-byes and all parted ways.

      Maxine looked down at the dogs as she thought about heading back home to get started on her work. Bob Olson, her publisher, was getting anxious again about her upcoming publishing deadline. And I thought freelancing would give me so much more freedom, she thought to herself as she headed on back to her own townhome.

      ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

      Chapter 2

      When Maxine got back to her townhouse, she couldn’t help by stare out the window at the beautiful Lake Michigan with the sun beaming down on it. There were even a few boats out on the water already! It really was too nice a day to stay inside. So, she packed up her laptop and headed to the rooftop pool deciding she could think better in the fresh air.

      She grabbed a lounge chair and began to unpack her computer getting ready to start writing. Sitting up in the lounge chair, she opened her laptop and began to relax as she stared at the high-rise buildings along the North Shore skyline. She had just started typing when she heard all the noise and commotion. There were a few men arguing over at the far side of the pool when a fight broke out and things got rough. Seconds later, she saw the men fighting against the far edge of the roof top when all of a sudden one of them was pushed over the side. The fall was just eight floors down, but it was enough to kill him. It wasn’t long before a big crowd had gathered around the man on the sidewalk and the police had appeared at the rooftop pool.

      Most of the rooftop pools along the North Side were 30 to 50 stories high. She could not help but to imagine what damage a fall from that height would have caused. But she didn’t have much time to think about it as the police had already arrived and began to question everyone at the pool. She couldn’t tell them much. She had seen the man go over the side and the other two men looking on in shock. But it all happened so fast, she could not identify the men’s faces. All she saw was their backs as they ran toward the stairs – whether it was to escape or to help their friend, she had no way of knowing.

      Whatever the argument had been about, the aftermath action had been enough to put a damper on her writing mood. She closed her laptop and began to gather her belongings and head back down to her own unit.

      Not so fast, lady, she heard a voice from behind her. Turning back, she was shocked to see her friend Jack Turner.

      My God. Running into both you and Harry on the same day, after all this time. It’s like a sign or something! Maxine exclaimed.

      Jack laughed. "I wonder if we’ll ever run into each other under normal’ circumstances, he offered. The minute I heard the radio call with this address, I had a feeling I’d run into you. And by God, here you are – but there are no drugs on the scene. Now that’s unusual."

      Very funny! So, what’s going on here? Maxine asked smiling back at him.

      I think that’s what you’re supposed to tell me, Jack was amused.

      Maxine repeated what she had told the original police officer on the scene. Then she added, "Believe it or not, I ran into Harry this morning on my dog walk. He told me you’d moved on to

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