Highway
Thirteen to Manhattan
The
Six Train to Wisconsin Series
Book
Two
Kourtney
Heintz
Genre:
Paranormal and Suspense
Publisher:
Aurea Blue Press
Date
of Publication: 11/1/2016
ISBN:
978-0989132688
ASIN:
TBA
Number
of pages: 420
Word
Count: 94,000
Cover
Artist: Creative Paramita
Book
Description:
His
secrets almost killed her. Her secrets may destroy them both.
Kai
is recovering from a near-death experience when she realizes
something isn’t right. Her body is healing, but her mind no longer
feels quite like her own. Her telepathic powers are changing, too.
She can’t trust herself. The darkness growing inside of her pushes
her to use her telepathy as a weapon.
Oliver
clings to the hope that he can save their marriage, even though he
was the one who put her life in jeopardy. As his wife slips further
and further away from him, he becomes increasingly obsessed with
bringing the man who ruined his life to justice.
The
sequel to The Six Train to Wisconsin is a genre-defying tale of love
and consequences. Once again, award-winning author Kourtney Heintz
seamlessly weaves suspense and paranormal intrigue into a real-world
setting, creating characters rich in emotional and psychological
complexity.
CHAPTER
1
Kai
Like
most daughters, I loved my parents, but right now, I wanted them
anywhere but here. Hospitals are always hard, but my parents managed
to make it harder. My head was already pounding from all the thoughts
and emotions coming at me. Not just from the patients and their
families and the doctors and the nurses, but also from my mother and
father. Instead of shielding their thoughts and trying to make it
better for me, they let their emotions crash into me.
My
mind wasn’t strong enough for all this. Neither was my body. Tubes
eviscerated my right hand. A giant bruise blossomed beside the newest
IV line. A cast wrapped around my left wrist. My broken pinky finger
had been set and taped to my ring finger. The back of my head was
held together with stitches. Beneath the blanket, my body was covered
in bruises.
I
didn’t feel any physical pain because of the medications the
doctors pumped into me. They said I needed it to recover, but it made
my body feel like it wasn’t mine. And the steady drip of opiates
didn’t just steal my physical pain; it left me unable to form the
psychic shield I needed to protect myself from the misery swirling
around me.
Mom
sat in the chair closest to my bed. She wore one of her flowing
peasant blouses and faded jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a messy
bun, and light brown strands slipped loose to hang around her face.
The corners of her hazel eyes were pinched with worry.
Her
hand hovered over my arm, unsure where to touch me—if she should
touch me. Finally, she laid her hand gently on my thigh. “You just
need to rest here for a few more days.”
She
was wrong. I needed to get out of here. Away from all these thoughts
as soon as possible. “I want to go home.”
Mom
shook her head. “You need to let the doctors help you.” Like they
did last time.
Her
thoughts slammed into my brain. She thought hospitalization was the
solution to everything.
“Please.
Look at what’s happened to you. You can’t go home until you’re
better,” she said. I can’t lose you. I won’t let that happen.
I
didn’t know how to reassure her. Yes, I’d almost died, but being
here was hurting me more than it was healing me. I swallowed all the
words I wanted to say and hoped for Caleb to come back soon. My
brother would know how to talk to Mom, how to make her understand.
The
doctor came in to check on me and Mom’s agonizing fear rose up.
Don’t let her have brain damage.
Dad
patted Mom’s shoulder. He looked like an older, surfer version of
Caleb. Both were tall and muscular with curly blond hair. Dad’s
hair was a darker blond streaked with platinum from decades in the
sun and salt water. His eyes were greener than Caleb’s, but like
Caleb’s, they were rimmed with purple bruises. When Dad smiled, sun
lines radiated from his eyes and cut across his cheeks. But I hadn’t
seen them since he’d arrived at my bedside. Instead, waves of
exhaustion rolled off him and rippled over me, right before I heard
his thoughts. I can’t go through this again, watching you slip
away.
My
younger sister Naomi lounged in the chair in the corner as far from
me as she could get. She had Mom’s light brown hair and thin frame
and Dad’s green eyes and height. She looked nothing like me and
only distantly related to Caleb. Her long legs looped over the
armrest as she flipped through a magazine. Thanks for ruining
Christmas break. I’d rather be anywhere but here.
I
felt the same way.
At
least Oliver was gone for the moment. Mom had convinced him to go
home, take a shower, maybe even sleep. I couldn’t bear his guilt;
it was so thick it choked me.
Oliver.
My husband. God. I’d never loved and hated someone so much at the
same time. I still couldn’t believe he’d called my parents. He
knew how bad they were at handling me. How could he have thought that
having my family here would be good for me?
Bitterness
frosted my thoughts. I was in a hospital, bruised and battered. I’d
almost died. That’s what Caleb had said. He was the only one
willing to tell me the truth. Oliver had said it was bad, but he
wouldn’t say how bad. He couldn’t bear to admit what happened to
me.
About
the Author:
Kourtney
Heintz writes award-winning cross genre fiction that melds
paranormal, suspense, and literary into an unforgettable love story.
For her characters, love is a journey never a destination. Her debut
novel, The Six Train to Wisconsin, has been on the Amazon Bestseller
lists for Psychic Mysteries and Paranormal and Urban Fantasy.
Kourtney
resides in Connecticut with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, and three
quirky golden retrievers. Years of working on Wall Street provided
the perfect backdrop for her imagination to run amuck at night,
imagining a world where out-of-control telepathy and buried secrets
collide. As K.C. Tansley, she writes bestselling YA time travel
murder mysteries.
She
has been featured in the Republican American, on WTNH’s CT Style,
and Everything Internet on the radio. She has a B.S. in Business
Administration from Georgetown University with a double major in
finance and international business and a minor in Chinese. She
received a Master of Pacific International Affairs from the
University of California, San Diego.
You
can find out more about Kourtney and her books at:
http://kourtneyheintz.com
Thank you for sharing my cover reveal today! :)
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