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JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
a book bubble about
Expect Trouble
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author Insight
Light Bulb Time for Trey
She'd grown up, lost weight, and enlisted into the WAVES. No wonder he didn't recognize his newly assigned aide.
Book Excerpt
Expect Trouble
Trey watched as the ambulance workers helped the nurse position his lieutenant on the back seat of the sedan. They donated pillows and blankets to make her comfortable. He understood the ambulance staff would stay at the NAMU facility until the “all clear” was given that no more explosive devices were found by the bomb squad men checking the other buildings.Nurse Evans handed in the thermos of hot, sugared tea. “Sip this, sweetie. It’ll help keep you awake.”Trey climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car on its clanking way. Irregular clumps of frozen snow pulled at the car’s steering. As he wrestled with the wheel, he developed an appreciation for the physical challenges his driver tackled on the trip to Warminster.Trey searched for a way to start the conversation the nurse demanded. He decided the nagging thought was a good place to start.“I have a nagging feeling we’ve met before. Have we?”In the rearview mirror, he saw her briefly close her eyes and wondered if she were having trouble with a headache because of the blast. Over the noise of the chains, she said, “I’m Gwendolyn Smyth’s cousin.”A mental connection kicked in. Awkward. He should’ve recognized her.“Little Olivia?” He saw her scrunch up her nose and wondered what that was all about. “The little girl who used to hang around the gate cottage at Gwen’s place?” A smart, sweet, awkward and extremely shy girl.“The very one. I go by Livvy now.”No wonder he didn’t remember her. She seemed years younger than he in high school. A year was like a decade to a teenager. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you.”“It was quite a while ago.”“You should’ve said something.”“I didn’t want to presume on past friendships between our families.”Silence reigned until Trey remembered the nurse’s admonition to keep her talking. “What have you been doing since high school?”To his surprise, she went into detail about her high school commercial courses and her business studies at Sarah Lawrence College. By the end of it, she’d given him the details he needed to determine which tasks he could safely delegate.
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