Day 35 of being a flea on the butt of Amazon, BNI Postmedia, and Intelcom. Still waiting on a refund!

I had hoped that this problem would have been resolved a long, long, long time ago, but here I am still waiting for Amazon and their contract delivery services to do the right thing and refund me the $613.47 for two lost packages.

In the meantime, Happy Halloween everyone. 

Cheers Lynda. Sparky sends his woofs!

Sparky's 1st Christmas with us - excerpt from A Surprise Gift

          Sparky in 'his' golf cart on Isla Mujeres Mexico.

Chapter 8

It’s Christmas!

“¡Feliz Navidad! said Driver.

“Merry Christmas everyone,” Servant said, and then she kissed Driver. “Happy Christmas, my love.”

Tucked into the king-sized bed, between our humans, Tommy sleepily opened one eye. Being the most senior animal in the family, he was allowed to sleep in their bed.

Chica stretched and yawned. She liked her cozy little nest on the nightstand beside Servant. She jumped onto the bed to say good morning.

I was curled up in my comfy bed on the floor beside Driver. It was a good place for me to sleep because I could keep an eye on both entrances; the bedroom door and the patio door. As the only dog in the house, it was my job to protect everyone.

Christmas Day. I had forgotten this was the day I had planned to hide outside in the bushes, in case the cats were going to play a trick on me. I quietly slithered towards the entrance, hoping I could zip past when someone opened the bedroom door.

Servant hopped out of bed and opened the patio door. “What a beautiful day, warm and sunny. Just look at that view!” she said, pointing towards the turquoise Caribbean Sea. “I’ll go get our coffees and be right back.”

“Sparky, where are you going?” Driver asked. “Come here little buddy,” he patted the bed.

I tucked my tail and slunk back towards Driver.

“¡Feliz Navidad Sparky!” Drivers said, as he scratched my ears and rubbed my tummy. “We have presents for everyone, including you.”

Presents? For me? I gazed hopefully at his kind face.

Servant returned with a tray holding two cups of coffee and a pile of goodies; some were for our humans and some were for us. She handed one cup of coffee to Driver, then distributed the treats to everyone.

“Okay, time for presents!” Driver said, pulling several objects out from their hiding place. Two were wide red sacks that were filled with colorfully wrapped items. Two were long and looked like over-sized socks, and another was shaped like a large red paw.

Servant held up the fuzzy red paw, “Sparky, it has your name on it!”

For me? Just for me! I carefully took it from her hand then set it on the floor. I grinned happily, as my tail swished back and forth. A present. A red fuzzy paw, with my name on it.

Tommy looked over the edge of the bed to see what I was doing, “Silly dog, open your gifts,” he said.

“I did. It’s a big red paw.”

“That’s just the container. The gifts are inside.” He reached into his sock and snagged a brightly decorated parcel with his claws. Then he pulled it out and ripped off the paper. “See, this is a bag of cat snacks, and there are more things inside.”

I stuck my nose deep inside the fluffy paw and pulled out a stuffed toy. Oh my, I’d never had a toy. It was beautiful, a black and white dog that looked like my younger brother. We hadn’t seen each other since we were puppies, and I hoped he was having a good Christmas too.

Chica said, “Look inside again, Sparky. I think you have another present.”

I put my nose inside again, and yes there was another toy, a silly yellow cat. This one didn’t have big sharp claws. Two toys!

I really like Christmas.

All books are available on Amazon as e-books or paperbacks. 

Grab your copy today!

Free today until August 18th, Tormenta Isla, e-book on Amazon

FREE TODAY UNTIL AUG 18TH/

With multiple hurricanes on the horizon, Jessica and Sparky will rush to solve a mysterious disappearance of a local man and the looming threat of hurricanes headed towards the peaceful Caribbean island of Isla Mujeres create havoc in the lives of Jessica and her rescue mutt, Sparky.

Book #3 of the exciting Isla Mujeres Mysteries. Grab your free e-book today!

 

Two entertaining cozy murder mystery series to choose from:

Isla Mujeres Mysteries - murder and mayhem, revenge and romance on a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea,

Or Death in the Vineyards, love, lust, and loot in the affluent wine country of the Okanagan Valley in Canada.

Follow this link to adventure! 

https://www.amazon.com/Lynda-L.-Lock/e/B00W1UL0Y2%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Things to do, scores to settle and people to kill.

Copyrighted photos and excerpt from Book #2 Isla Mujeres Mystery series:

Trouble Isla - Book #2

 

Chapter 1

The long, sleek sport-fishing boat powered slowly backwards into a berth at the Bally Hoo wharf on Isla Mujeres. Her white hull and varnished decks glistened in the bright overhead security lights. A lean figure dressed in khaki shorts, short-sleeved white shirt and deck shoes stepped onto the dock, wrapping the stern line around a bollard as the captain expertly settled the craft. The skipper cut the engines, removed the ignition key and stepped away from the controls.

The deckhand’s shaved, pale head gleamed under the overhead lights, and his short beard looked recent, as if he hadn’t shaved for a few days. Moving along the length of the boat, securing lines and placing heavy foam bumpers between the dock and the hull of the pricey yacht the man looked competent and comfortable around the water. It was a ruse, he didn’t know much at all about big yachts like this one but he was a quick study.

According to the first mate this baby was a classic, a beautifully maintained wooden yacht, custom-built on Harkers Island in North Carolina. Even a tiny scratch in the glossy finish would earn them an ear chewing from the boss.
The owners were due to fly in from Houston in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve on the island. Then they were scheduled for a few weeks of deep-sea fishing, eating and drinking before they returned to their home in Texas, leaving the captain and the two deckhands to bring their yacht back to its home berth at Seabrook Marina.

“It’s still damn early, but I’ll go ashore to see if anyone is available to process us through customs,” the captain said, gathering up his waterproof document folder and stepping over the transom. “If not, I’ll radio Cancun to tell them we’re here and will check in later in the morning.”

“Aye, aye Skipper,” the man said, offering a two-fingered sardonic salute to the back of the departing captain.

“Jeff, wait up. I’ll go with you and stretch my legs,” the short red-haired man said as he nimbly hopped onto the docks.  He turned to the man, “Frank, you okay to stay with her until we get back?”

The man, the one they knew as Frank, waved, “Sure, Andy take your time,” he said.  Remembering a humorous sign that he had seen in a bar on his previous visit to Isla Mujeres he mumbled, “And thank you very mucking futch for the ride.” 

It had been free transportation back to his hunting grounds.

It had been a busy three days for the man known as Frank. First, he had hitched a ride from Tampa to Houston with an accommodating long-haul truck driver. Parked behind a truckers’ gas station well away from the security cameras that were aimed at the fuel pumps, the body of the driver was now stinking up the cab of his rig. The driver’s death had been unavoidable as soon as he had agreed to give the hitchhiker a lift to Texas. The passenger’s clean-shaven image had been splashed across television news channels as one of the suspected fatalities in a fiery vehicle smash-up. Even with the beginning of a new beard and shaving off his dark hair he couldn’t risk leaving the driver alive. Most truckers were lonely gossips and this one had been very talkative. In no time at all, he would be telling his buddies he had dropped off that same man in Houston.


It had then taken him another full day to scour the numerous marinas for a captain who was leaving shortly, heading to Isla Mujeres for the sport fishing season. The third day was eaten up with the voyage to the island.

Inside the main salon, Frank checked the time. If he remembered correctly from his previous visit to the island he had seen the harbour masters office located a short walk south, close to the passenger ferry terminal.  He probably had thirty to forty minutes tops, but at this hour of the morning it wasn’t likely anyone would be available to do the paperwork, so the two men would probably be back in twenty minutes. Time to move.

He quickly walked to his berth and slipped on a dark nylon windbreaker, pulling a peaked cap down over his skull. Once the sun was up he planned to wear a pair of dark sunglasses to hide his bright blue eyes.

A few minutes spent searching the other sleeping areas netted him about a two hundred and fifty dollars in cash and a small Nikon camera that he might be able to pawn for a few bucks.  He was owed a portion of that for the sixteen hours he had already worked so he felt confident the men wouldn’t try to find him for such a small amount.

The captain, Jeff Crompton, had hired him on for cash wages to be paid at the end of the two weeks, but he had never asked for identification or a passport. He supposed Crompton didn’t really care if a deckhand was thrown in a Mexican jail for not having the proper paperwork. He could likely check around the gringo bars and hire another American, someone who wanted to work for a few weeks and have free transportation back to the States.

The blue-eyed man checked the time. Gotta go. Things to do, scores to settle and people to kill.

Available as an e-book on Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, or Nook. Paperback copies are available from Amazon. If you are on the island you can purchase a copy at  Jenny Penny Beach Boutique or Casa Sirena Hotel. 

Isla Mujeres Mysteries are the perfect beach-read for your next vacation.