Asbury High Series, Book 7
Young Adult Cozy Mystery
Date to be Published: 07-02-2023
Publisher: Purple Milk Publishing
Entering their Senior year, the gang believes they left the rough seas behind on their summer cruise. Yet while they were away, seemingly random graffiti spread throughout Asbury. After a talented, young woman goes missing, Maddie, Cornelious, Carly and Pilot wonder if there could be a connection—since the graffiti suddenly stops. Things take a turn for the worse when her body is found a few weeks later, viciously murdered.
Most believe the murderer to be an outsider, until cryptic journal entries and close friends of the young woman point to someone in town. Things only get messier when the local bully (and Pitbulls gang leader) approaches the four sleuths, announcing one of his Pitbulls has gone missing as well. Could his missing Pitbull simply be the murderer on the run?
The deeper they investigate, the foggier everything seems. When Jeremiah Gibbz is arrested for murder, Cornelious is torn between trusting his father or accepting the mounting evidence.
In addition to Jeremiah’s legal troubles, he begins planning a presidential campaign and brings a hopeful future running mate to town…with his family. Among the new family, is beautiful and sly high school Senior, Chelsea Jaminucco—who (with Jeremiah’s blessing) is intent on making Cornelious her own.
Through everything, the gang celebrates their senior year with friends and each other. As scholarships and college loom closer than ever, the foursome find it difficult to focus on the case.
When typical high school problems and slippery interferences crowd the gang’s life, can they find the truth behind Asbury’s gruesome murder? Can they stick together, or will this case be the one that pulls them apart for good?
EXCERPT:
Maddie groaned as her cell phone
alarm blared exactly a half hour before curfew began.
“A few more minutes?”
Maddie smirked and hit snooze, as
she leaned back into her boyfriend and continued kissing him. Essentially
laying on top of Cornelious in his bed, the two teens had trouble studying for
their upcoming tests once they realized they were finally alone.
Pulling Maddie closer, so that he
felt her heartbeat thudding against his chest, he considered asking her to
spend the night. Yet, he knew her parents weren’t comfortable with that setup
anymore, and didn’t want to do anything to disappoint his favorite family.
Digging his hands through her thick
hair, he felt a thrill as her fingers brushed across his abdomen.
Bringing his own hands down to her
waist, he played with the hem of her shirt, when she sat up abruptly. For a
second he thought maybe he had gone too far, but the slight cock of her head
and the fact her face had metamorphosized into a mask of pure concentration,
brought him to attention as well.
“What is it?”
“I thought—no, I think I hear
sirens.”
Sitting up, so that she was
straddling his lap with his hands on her waist keeping her firmly in place, the
two teens turned their ears towards his bay window.
Sure enough, the sound of police
sirens was making their way ever closer to the Gibbz house. Then, as suddenly
as they had heard the sirens, they cut out. Before either teen could question
what they heard, a stern pounding on the front door alerted everyone that the Asbury
PD had arrived.
“Maybe it’s good old Chip arresting
me for breaking curfew?” Maddie joked, standing up.
“This can’t be good. Can it?” His
eyes searched Maddie, but found no answer he wanted.
“Maybe…let’s just go downstairs,”
she decided, holding out her hand for him to take.
Grateful to have something solid to
hold onto as he descended the stairs, Cornelious’ stomach flipped as he heard
Chip explain the murder charges they were alleging against his father.
Jeremiah, although outraged, knew
how to react in these situations. An unmoving, steel-eyed statue took the place
of Jeremiah Gibbz. He held his hands behind his back, ready for the cold slap
of handcuffs to bite into his wrists.
Catching Cornelious and Maddie’s
eyes, Chip shook his head and held out his hand.
“That’s
alright sir, you don’t seem to be fighting us on this. We’ll just lead you into
the back of the patrol car.”
“No!” shrieked Nancy, breaking out
of her temporary paralysis. “You can’t take him! He hasn’t done anything wrong!
This is an outrage!”
Tears flowed from his mother’s eyes,
and Cornelious watched Officers Tennett and Swanson pull her off of her
husband.
“Nancy…Nan, it’s fine, look at me.
Call Carow. I’ll be home tomorrow.”
Unable to speak, and feeling frozen
to the spot on the stairs, Cornelious watched his father follow the Asbury PD
out the door and away from their home.
Seeing
his mother sink to her knees, he felt quick movement by his side. In a leap,
Maddie bounded down the stairs and was kneeling by Nancy’s side.
Spurred to action, Cornelious found
his mother’s hands and helped her to her feet. After calmly depositing her in
her own bed, Maddie closed the door and pulled out her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m telling
my mom I’m spending the night, and why—so she doesn’t give me the “babies
before college ruins your life lecture” again—plus, I can’t break curfew now,
can I?”
Cornelious felt a surge of relief,
as it dawned on him that spending the night alone in his huge house, worrying
about both of his parents, would’ve been an endless sort of torture.
“Thank you,” he mouthed, as Maddie
spoke rapidly her phone.
Not really knowing when Jeremiah was
to be released, since he’d clearly make any bail set, Cornelious and Maddie
opted to ‘camp out’ in the den, watching bad independent movies and gorging
themselves on junk food.
Just as they nodded off, the front
door flew open and multiple voices plowed into the relative silence, speaking a
million miles a minute.
Jumping up from their lounging
position on the couch, Cornelious and Maddie realized they went unnoticed.
Carow and two of his lackeys succinctly directed Jeremiah that “under no
circumstances was he to leave the house,” and that of course, his personal cell
was always open and available.
As quickly as the whirlwind of
attorneys had entered 2234 Red Oak, they evaporated.
Heading into the den with a dazed
look on his face, Jeremiah walked slowly to the back bar and opened up an
expensive-looking old bottle.
Maddie nudged Cornelious off the
couch, and the two stood facing the impenetrable Mayor/Governor.
“Um dad, a bit early for scotch eh?”
“Early?... I feel as if this is the
longest day of my life.”
The silence stretched on as the
six-foot-five, usually immaculately-groomed man, slumped into the bar stool,
shoulders slouched.
“Wow, I don’t ever think I’ve seen
you slouch,” Maddie commented.
“Not today, Ms. Petrozza, I’m…” he
trailed off, swirling the amber-gold liquid in his crystalline glass.
“Dad…what is it? We know you’re
innocent, what do they have on you?”
“Have?” he muttered, as if wondering
the same himself.
“Sir, I think he means…we can and
will help. Come on, you have to know our track record by now,” Maddie stepped
forward slightly.
“You two should probably head
upstairs,” Jeremiah stated, not caring either way.
“Dad, we can help.”
“Cornelious, this isn’t a game…it’s
not a matter of who killed who with a club in the library, son.”
“I know, but—”
“Please, just let me be.”
“No. Look at you Mr. Gibbz. You’re
acting like a…like a…well, not like the unstoppable, confident, arrogant, often
rude and sometimes downright spiteful—”
“Is there a point?” Cornelious
whispered cutting in.
Maddie took a breath, “The thing is,
we’re good at solving things. Carly, Pilot, Cornelious and I. It’s sort of our
thing. But if you’d rather be a baby who drinks away his troubles and lets the
world do what it wants…well, you’re not the Jeremiah Gibbz we’ve all come to
know and…not exactly love… really, fear I guess.”
Facing the two teens, he searched
their honest faces.
After a
moment of intense scrutiny, and internal debate, he tossed back his glass and
exclaimed, “Ahh, screw it. You’re right. I know how much you and the other two
have done for this town…I’m not blind…after the past twelve hours spent wasting
my time, maybe you and your little Hardy Boys could be of assistance.”
Cornelious and Maddie nodded at each
other, pleased at Jeremiah’s sudden change.
“Apparently,” he began, standing up
and straightening his tie and suddenly realizing how disheveled his appearance
had become, “I’m having an affair—or was having an affair with Francesca Cutro,
and her friend Chaz found out, ans I killed them both…or rather had them
killed.”
Pausing
only to chuckle, he continued, “Why? You may be wondering…well, the affair is
anyone’s guess. But why anyone would cheat on a smoking hot—and er, um
intelligent and caring woman like your mom, is beyond me. However, they say we
met on the campaign trail, seeing as she made my flyers and drew up Gibbz Grant
construction designs, it is feasible we knew each other—that much I’ll allow.
“Thus, we began our illicit love
affair. Though when I’d have time to conduct an affair is, once again, beyond
me. Nevertheless, they have found notes, from her personal journal, that she
was indeed sleeping with an older man aka me—yet, the name of the older man is
never revealed, never so much as initialed or crossed out. Seems to me she was
careful about hiding it, which is why the police think it must’ve been a public
figure, someone of high caliber, someone who didn’t want it known.”
Holding up his hand to silence their
questions, he nodded and spoke, “Alas, we are not yet done. Apparently,
Francesca had, hidden in her room, your mother’s necklace. The one I
specifically had made in Prague, years and years ago. I honestly can’t explain
how it came into her possession, and that’s the one piece of actual evidence
they seem to have. So you see, I am in hot water—to put it delicately.”
Not knowing how to respond, and
taking a second to let all of the information sink in, Cornelious sat down and
sorted through everything.
“Jeremiah…we got this,” Maddie
placed her arm on his lean shoulder, while reflecting that this might be the
first time she had actually touched Cornelious’ father—and only a bit surprised
that neither seemed repulsed.
About the Author
For as long as she could remember, Kelly Brady Channick loved making up stories, and leaving her listeners/readers on the edge of their seats.
Perhaps that’s why she always managed to talk herself out of trouble...
After graduating from Ocean City High School in NJ, Kelly accepted a basketball scholarship to Holy Family University, in Philadelphia. As a lifelong athlete, Kelly understands the importance of teamwork and overcoming adversity, something she hopes translates into her books.
Before writing page-turners, she taught first, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade — like a dessert menu, she simply had to test them all out. But her favorite job is the one she’s now doing full time: writing. Kelly loves to craft whodunit mysteries, leading readers through various twists and turns filled with red-herrings, hidden clues, and more peculiar characters than a reality show.
Kelly lives in South Jersey with her handsome husband, handful of energetic kids, two cookie-stealing dogs, and an awfully smart cat.
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