#SampleSunday: AFTER THE BIG NOISE by Ed Lynskey

After the Big Noise is my newest title in my P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery Series which began my book writing career. Here are the opening paragraphs from Chapter 1 in my blog post for today.

CHAPTER ONE

“Get a load of this, Frank.” Gerald Peyton’s pause set off his pronouncement. “She is expecting to get a wedding ring.”

“That’s understandable,” I said, unsure how he could afford a ring on what our firm cleared. Diamond rings—more sold in December than in any other month of the year—went for a cool grand per karat. Weeks ago, I’d priced them—again—for my domestic situation. “What seems to be the problem?”

“That’s a big leap for me to make.”

“I expect you’ll make it with room to spare.”

He narrowed his jasper eyes at me, wondering if I was razzing him, and I was. “The next time I’m near a pawn shop, I’ll pop in and snap up a lady’s ring,” he said.

“Fair warning. Sharona will stalk out the front door and never look back if you give her a hand-me-down ring.”

A petite, fiery young lady, she was Gerald’s significant other. His enormous physique, in sharp contrast, took after one of the earthmovers his kid brother Chet operated on his jobsites.

“Say what?” asked Gerald.

Seated behind one of the two desks, I glanced at my cell phone in front of me. It never rang when I welcomed the intrusion. We’d cut the cord on the office landline phone to save money which always seemed in short supply. I had no choice but to lay it out for him.

“She is after a commitment spelled with a capital C.”

Hands shoved into his pockets, Gerald paced the office floor as I’d last seen done inside the Sumatran tiger enclosure at the National Zoo. He went from the snake and aloe houseplants (impossible to kill, according to Dreema) kept on the sunny office windowsill to the door and back again.

“Why can’t Sharona leave well enough alone?” he asked, stopping before me.

My shoulders hunched up, and I gave him the don’t-ask-me act.

“Damn it, Frank. You’re the ace private eye who reads people all the time. Finish giving me your take on this.”

“You hooked up—when was it?—back in the middle of ’03. Now finds us at the tail end of ’05, and I get the impression she’s of the mind after that long it’s time to take your relationship to the next level.” I paused to add my emphasis. “Or else.”

A recent nervous tic, Gerald ran his fingernails over his shaved MJ coif. “‘Or else,’ you say. Those words sound ominous.” Gerald let out a rumbling sigh. “Damn it, life was a lot simpler for us in Pelham.”

“Dream on, homeboy. That’s just the small town nostalgia in you talking. We kissed that scene goodbye forever.”

“I know, I know.”

“Look, you’ve still got a little time until Christmas Day. Why don’t you give it a little more time to get acclimated to her way of thinking?”

“That’s it.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ll get acclimated to it first. Then I’ll go shop for a wedding ring, say, in a couple of days. Or maybe next week is better, depending on how busy we get.”

I didn’t tip him off that Sharona had better be the one to select her ring. However, it was the thought that counted. She could always return it for something more appealing. And expensive.

“Beautiful,” I said. “Go see a reputable jeweler and not a fly-by-night pawnshop. Used or stolen goods are a turn off. She’ll yearn to slip the spanky new diamond wedding ring on her finger and flash it around to impress her friends and family.”

“A diamond wedding ring, you say?”

I studied his face. Was he putting me on? He looked earnest. “As any guy would expect, a diamond is what she’s after,” I said. “Did you hold out hope you’d get by for anything less?”

“The God’s honest truth is I haven’t thought that far ahead.” He canted his bristly eyebrows. “You’re making plenty of sense though.”

End of #SampleSunday, opening paragraphs to After the Big Noise, a P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery Series title.