by Anne Hagan
Relic
The Morelville Mysteries – Book 1
Anne Hagan
To my wife, my partner in love and mayhem
PUBLISHED BY:
Jug Run Press, USA
Copyright © 2014
https://annehaganauthor.wordpress.com/
All rights reserved: No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed or given away in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without prior written consent of the author or the publisher except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages for review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Chapter 1 - Dana
Chapter 2 – Dana in Deep Doo Doo
Chapter 3 – They Meet Again
Chapter 4 - Mel
Chapter 5 – Mel and Dana Meet a 3rd Time
Chapter 6 – Dana
Chapter 7 – Mel
Chapter 8 - Dana
Chapter 9 – Motocross & Madness
Chapter 10 – Dana’s Dilemma
Chapter 11 – Mel & Mayhem
Chapter 12 – Cases Collide
Chapter 13 – Stalkers and Smugglers, Oh My!
Chapter 14 – A Meeting of the Minds
Chapter 15 – Relic
Chapter 16 – Mel: Death Defying
Chapter 17 – Waterlogged
Chapter 18 – Dana: Attorneys and Gangbangers
Chapter 19 – A Plan Forms
Chapter 20 – Finding Relic
Chapter 21 – Ops
Chapter 22 – Dana’s Game
Chapter 23 – Teamwork
Chapter 24 – Two to Tango
Chapter 25 – Down to Business
Chapter 26 – Thwarted
Chapter 27 – Regroup
Chapter 28 - Reset
Chapter 29 – Crawl, Walk, Run
Chapter 30 - Rodeo
Chapter 31 – Denouement
Busy Bees | The Morelville Mysteries – Book 2
Chapter 1 – Prologue
Chapter 2 – Is it Murder?
Chapter 3 – Taking Liberties
Chapter 4 – Inquest
Chapter 5 – Dana
Chapter 6 – The Truth...Maybe
Chapter 7 – Tap Dancing
Chapter 8 – The Hive
Chapter 9 - Homecoming
Chapter 10 – Double Trouble
Chapter 11 – County Mountie
Chapter 12 – Home on the Range
Chapter 13 – TGIF...or Not
Chapter 14 – Eye of the Survivor
Chapter 15 – Family Fun Day
Chapter 16 – Back to the Grind
Chapter 17 – Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Chapter 18 – Twofer
Chapter 19 – Pants Down
Chapter 20 – Comparing Notes
Chapter 21 – Sticks
Chapter 22 – Bzzzz
Chapter 23 – A Brilliant Idea
Chapter 24 – Swirling Vortex
Chapter 25 – Just a Friend
Chapter 26 – Confessions
Chapter 27 – Jonesing
Chapter 28 – Home Locked Home
Chapter 29 – Kelly Did or Kelly Didn’t
Chapter 30 – Beans
Chapter 31 – Soft Evidence
Chapter 32 – Big Sandy
Chapter 33 – Coon Ridge
Chapter 34 – Denouement
Dana’s Dilemma | The Morelville Mysteries – Book 3
Prologue
Chapter 1 – Manic Monday
Chapter 2 – Putnam Hill Park
Chapter 3 – Settling Up
Chapter 4 – Money, Money, Money
Chapter 5 - The City Club
Chapter 6 – Feed Store and More
Chapter 7 – An Ex Comes a Calling
Chapter 8 – Meet Up
Chapter 9 – Trouble
Chapter 10 – PI Dana?
Chapter 11 – Ex Pest
Chapter 12 – We Have a Floater...
Chapter 13 - Evidence
Chapter 14 – Breaking Amish
Chapter 15 – Witnesses
Chapter 16 – Crane is a Drain
Chapter 17 – Blow Back
Chapter 18 – Lions and Tigers and Lawyers...
Chapter 19 – Escape
Chapter 20 – The Past Revisited
Chapter 21 – Bright Lights
Chapter 22 – Indictments
Chapter 23 – Aggie
Chapter 24 – Mel
Chapter 25 – On the Move
Chapter 26 – Secrets
Chapter 27 – Troutman is a Douche
Chapter 28 – Losing Hannah
Chapter 29 – Ransom
Chapter 30 – Collared
Chapter 31 – Catching a Kidnapper
Chapter 32 – Denouement
Hitched & Tied | The Morelville Mysteries – Book 4
Prologue
Chapter 1 – Yes
Chapter 2 – Falling
Chapter 3 – Cue it Up
Chapter 4 – It’s all About the Fair
Chapter 5 - Carnival of Animals
Chapter 6 – Heat Wave
Chapter 7 – Sharks
Chapter 8 – When Pigs Fly
Chapter 9 – Show Time
Chapter 10 – Claim Check
Chapter 11 – Sold!
Chapter 12 – Free Day...or Not
Chapter 13 – Last Ride
Chapter 14 – Just Another Fun Day
Chapter 15 – Sterling Moon
Chapter 16 – Sayonara
Chapter 17 – The Best Laid Plans
Chapter 18 – Feeling Low
Chapter 19 – Huntress
Chapter 20 – Stakeout
Chapter 21 – Place your Bets
Chapter 22 – Gossip
Chapter 23 – Meet the Rossi’s
Chapter 24 – Back to Business
Chapter 25 – The Setup
Chapter 26 – The Sting
Chapter 27 – Hitched
Chapter 28 – Tied
Epilogue
Viva Mama Rossi! | The Morelville Mysteries – Book 5
Chapter 1 – The Morning After
Chapter 2 – The Smokies
Chapter 3 – Gone
Chapter 4 – Cabin Fever
Chapter 5 - Lost
Chapter 6 – Bullets and Casings
Chapter 7 – Found
Chapter 8 – MYOB
Chapter 9 – Coffee Klatch
Chapter 10 – Lifted
Chapter 11 – PI Moms
Chapter 12 – Positive ID
Chapter 13 – The Sordid Side
Chapter 14 – On the Road
Chapter 15 – Manicures and Truth
Chapter 16 – Home Sweet Home?
Chapter 17 – Report!
Chapter 18 – Bereaved?
Chapter 19 – Family Fun Day
Chapter 20 – Boo Boo
Chapter 21 – Trash or Treasure
Chapter 22 – Ah Ha Moments
Chapter 23 – A Haunting We Will Go
Chapter 24 – Seized
Chapter 25 – Denouement
A Crane Christmas | The Morelville Mysteries – Book 6
Chapter 1 – Newbie
Chapter 2 – The Ropes
Chapter 3 – Robbed!
Chapter 4 – ‘Napped!
>
Chapter 5 – Stop, Thief
Chapter 6 – Prized Pooch
Chapter 7 – Hoity-Toity
Chapter 8 - Disaster
Chapter 9 – Stakeout!
Chapter 10 – Family Time
Chapter 11 – Second Impressions
Chapter 12 – And Again...
Chapter 13 – What’s Up?
Chapter 14 – Boo to You
Chapter 15 – Done ‘Fer
Chapter 16 – Hannah in the House
Chapter 17 – Two and Two
Chapter 18 – Making a Case
Chapter 19 – Go Time
Chapter 20 – Boo?
Chapter 21 – Joy
Chapter 22 – Bar Bash
Chapter 23 – Re-Boo-t
Chapter 24 – Merry Christmas Epilogue
Mad for Mel | The Morelville Mysteries – Book 7
Chapter 1 – One Week | Warren Brietland
Chapter 2 – Dreaming | Dana
Chapter 3 – Breaking Loose | Mel
Chapter 4 – Warfare | Mel
Chapter 5 – Regroup | Victor Voll - Chief
Chapter 6 – Replay | Mel
Victor Voll – Chief
Chapter 7 – Do Over | Mel
Dana
Chapter 8 – Meddling Mothers
Chapter 9 – On Assignment | Dana
Chapter 10 – Tripped Up | Mel
Chapter 11 – Nabbed | Dana
Chloe
Chapter 12 – Interrogation | Mel
Mel
Chapter 13 – Try, Try... | Dana
Chapter 14 – Boar’s Head | Mel
Chapter 15 – Tailed | Dana
Chapter 16 – SRT | Janet Mason
Mel
Chapter 17 – Freaky Friday | Mel
Dana
Chapter 18 – The Big Day | Mel
Chapter 19 – Report | Dana
Chapter 20 – Come Together | Mel
Mel
Chapter 21 – Anointed | Victor Voll
Mel
Chapter 22 – Date Night | Dana
Mel
Dana
Epilogue | Mel
Hannah’s Hope | A Morelville Mystery Thriller
Anne Hagan
Chapter 1 – Lady with a Baby | Mel
Chapter 2 – The Whole Story?
Chapter 3 – Plans? | Mel
Chapter 4 - Assistance | Dana
Hannah
Chapter 5 - Gone
Dana
Mel
Chapter 6 - Shunned | Mel
Chapter 7 - Goner | Mel
Chapter 8 - Torn | Dana
Mel
Chapter 9 – Kin
Dana
Chapter 10 – Nap Time
Mel
Chapter 11 - Canvass | Mel
Chapter 12 – Stunned | Dana
Mel
Dana
Chapter 13 – Amiss | Mel
Chapter 14 – Witness
Chapter 15 – A Fight | Hannah
Chapter 16 – A Find | Dana
Chapter 17 - Victorian
Chapter 18 - Sketch | Mel
Chapter 19 - Conniving | Dana
Chapter 20 – Nabbed | Mel
Chapter 21 – Snooping | Dana
Chapter 22 – Co-inky-dink
Chapter 23 – Bereaved? | Mel
Chapter 24 - Dilemma
Chapter 25 – More Questions
Chapter 26 - Confession | Dana
Chapter 27 – A Word with Mama | Dana
Chapter 28 – A Slight Deception
Chapter 29 – A Sighting | Mel
Chapter 30 – Now What?
Chapter 31 – Baby? | Mel
Chapter 32 – Young International | Dana
Chapter 33 – Loose Ends | Dana
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Chapter 1 - Dana
I had a little more than three weeks to gather the Intel I needed to stop a major shipment of counterfeit goods from entering the country and being distributed unfettered. Everything my crew and I had done so far to solve the case had turned up a big, fat zero.
I sat with my back against the far wall at 'The Shanty', a hole in the wall pizza joint in the sleepy village of Morelville, Ohio near the Blue Rock State Forest. A TV blared up high in the opposite corner – some ‘true crime’ show. A couple of tables away, an Amish man stared intently at the screen while he sat and ate a sub.
“So, do you have any idea who the new boss is?” I asked the lean and dusty hired farmhand across the table from me.
Brice Buhler signaled the waitress for a refill. His dirty John Deere cap shaded his eyes. He looked bedraggled and tired. Wordlessly, he shook his head.
I was wearing worn Levi’s and a heavy work shirt too. I had my light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. I was trying for a look that would let me blend in a bit with the locals. Strangers stood out in little towns like this one in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills. Strangers in dark business suits and button down shirts usually looked too ‘Government Issue’ and, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, were likely to be shot, no questions asked.
The cutesy blond waitress came over to refill Buhler’s cola. She eyeballed me up and down and smiled but I didn’t flirt back. Out here, that might get me shot too.
When she left, I picked up where I left off. “It’s really rough, I know. The economy stinks and now even hands are getting laid off. Just what the hell are you supposed to do? Where do you go now?”
“Nobody knows anything and everybody’s lookin’.” Brice drained the glass again and set it down. “I can barely put food on the table for me and my girl, I’m telling you. It’s too cool and wet to plant yet and it’s too early for calving too.”
I dug my wallet out and slid him a couple of twenties. “I feel your pain. I know what you’re going through.”
Brice quietly tucked the cash away. He looked around nervously but the Amish man was still staring at the screen, paying us no mind. Whispering, he said, “I’m not a snitch, ya know?”
I nodded toward him. “You have to eat. I’m not going to ask you for anything that would get you in any kind of bind. I just need something to prove to my boss that I’m on this.” I leaned back and tried to appear casual.
Brice looked around nervously again. Leaning toward my retreat and speaking almost without moving his lips, he admitted, “I’ll brew a little batch of ‘shine from time to time, when the weather breaks.”
“On your own, or do you pay someone protection?”
“Nope. It’s just me these days. I bootleg it myself too.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
I didn’t completely believe him about doing it all on his own but the information wasn’t really helpful to me anyway and pushing him for more would get me exactly nowhere.
Maintaining Brice as a Customs informant had been a long slog that I hadn’t relished. At least ATF wasn't onto him yet for the ‘shine. I'd had about enough of those guys stepping on my toes.
I nodded my thanks to him, got up from the table and paid the tab at the counter.
I stepped outside into a sunny late March day in Ohio. I regretted wearing the heavy work shirt but the weather was just so unpredictable this time of year anywhere in the Midwest. I headed up the main road, a state route actually, but I got sidetracked when I spotted an ATM sign in the window of the local everything and more store. I stepped in and drew out the $100.00 maximum the machine would let me have.
Drinks at the Shanty and my little advance to Brice had cleaned me out of ready cash. The service wasn't paying to grease informants these days. The money had come out of my own pocket.
Wanting to get the lay of the land, I walked further along, nodding at a couple of locals as I went. Pickup trucks, the occasional car and a few Amish buggies passed by along the road. The bug
gies tended to stop near the store or the post office but most of the other traffic went right on through the tiny village.
I ambled into the only gas station in town and grabbed a sweet tea out of the cooler. That ought to help me blend in just a little, I thought to myself.
As I turned toward the counter to pay for my drink, I all but smacked right into the most stunning butch woman I had ever laid eyes on. She took my breath away. My brain went into overdrive. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Then, my ex flashed into my mind. I shuddered and tried to shake both thoughts away. This trip was all business and neither line of thinking was welcome.
The object of my attention reached out a hand to steady me. Taking hold of my elbow, she grinned and said, “Hey there. Easy does it.” She had a nice smile but, though she wasn't young, I noticed no smile lines. Smiling obviously wasn't an asset she used often.
I shook my head again, mumbled my thanks and strode to the counter. I handed the cashier a twenty and waited for my change. She picked up one of those counterfeit detection pens and attempted to mark the bill. Her line turned black. She pushed the bill back toward me.
“I'm sorry. I can't take this. It's no good. What else 'ya got?”
“I got that bill out of the ATM in the store not three minutes ago. If it's fake, then they're passing them.” The Customs Agent in me was slipping out, unbidden, as my anger level ratcheted up.
The cashier leaned right and eyed someone behind me.
The butch beauty stepped to the counter and asked, “Is everything okay Kris?”
Her voice was strong and low and smooth like butter. I hadn't noticed before. I didn't turn. I just bristled and dug in my pocket for another twenty. I handed it over. The cashier marked it too and then made change.
As I turned from the counter, I felt a hand on my elbow again. I looked up into those deep brown eyes asking the obvious question with my own. Not realizing I spoke out loud, I said, “What the hell?”
“We need to talk about where you really got that bill.”
Now quite angry, I asked, “And just who are you?”
Smiling again, the woman that was fast moving from dream to nightmare in my mind took out a badge.
“I'm Mel Crane, the county Sheriff.”
Crap! Just what I don't need! I looked her up and down more carefully this time. Tall for a woman at over six feet and broad shouldered, she was quite a specimen. Her jet black hair was cut short but with plenty on top for a good spike or to run your fingers through, if you were so inclined. I wasn’t, just now. That’s what I told myself, anyway. She was in khaki pants and a plaid shirt – the butch uniform anywhere else in the world but in this middle of nowhere, backwater. She absolutely exuded sex appeal.
“I'm in a hurry. I really need to get moving.”
“I'll make it quick.” She smiled yet again. My legs became jelly.