SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR by L.A. Witt & Cari Z. ~ #BlogTour #Excerpt #Giveaway

 

 

About Suspicious Behavior

Detective Darren Corliss is hanging by a thread. In between recovering from a near-fatal wound and returning to work at a hostile precinct, he’s struggling to help care for his ailing brother. His partner and boyfriend, Detective Andreas Ruffner, wants to help, but doesn’t know how. And with his own family crises brewing, Andreas is spread almost as thin as Darren.

For cops, though, life takes a backseat to the job. When a stack of unsolved homicides drops into their laps, Andreas and Darren think they’re unrelated cold cases. But when a connection surfaces, they find themselves on the tail of a prolific serial killer who’s about to strike again.

Except they’ve got nothing. No leads. No suspects. Just a pile of circumstantial evidence and a whole lot of hunches. Time is running out to stop the next murder—and to pull themselves back from their breaking points.

Available now from Riptide Publishing. http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/suspicious-behavior

 

About the Bad Behavior Series

It’s “hell no” at first sight for newly partnered detectives Andreas Ruffner and Darren Corliss. Darren is too chipper, Andreas is too gruff, and that whole “IA wants me to prove you’re a dirty cop” thing really doesn’t get them off on the right foot.

It doesn’t matter if they like each other. They’re partners and that’s final. Though Andreas is easy on the eyes. And Darren is kind of cute. And . . . okay, maybe they can make this work.

They’d better, because as their cases get more horrifying—and more personal—they’ll have to trust each other with their lives, and with their hearts.

Check out Bad Behavior! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/series/bad-behavior

 

About Cari Z.

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

Connect with Cari at http://cari-z.net/  or via her blog, http://carizerotica.blogspot.com/

 

About L.A. Witt

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

L.A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

 

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Suspicious Behavior, one lucky winner will receive a $10 Riptide credit and their choice in an ebook from each of Cari and L.A.’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on August 26, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info

 

Excerpt

Chapter One

Darren

“This is such bullshit.”

I hadn’t known Andreas for very long all things considered, but I’d already gotten pretty good at interpreting his declarations. If he bothered to mention how he felt about something, then odds were good he was serious about it.

“Hey, at least we’re finally getting some cases,” I said as I eased out of Andreas’s car, careful not to scrape my back across the seat as I went. I’d only been formally cleared for desk duty a week ago, but it had been a week of being alternately bored and pissed off back at our station.

The aftershocks of that case, where Andreas and I had proved that not only was the former mayor of the city dirty, but that he’d employed a bunch of dirty cops as well, had brought years of police work into question. Police precincts were cleaning house, and the process was a messy one.

That had been our only active case. I’d thought, rather naively, that Andreas and I would have our hands full as soon as I was back at work. After all, we weren’t the dirty cops. In the eyes of a lot of our coworkers, though, we were worse than dirty: we were snitches. Nobody wanted to work with us, and nobody was sharing cases, even as the files piled up on their desks.

“We shouldn’t have to beg work from other precincts,” Andreas said as he locked the car and joined me. “Much less from this fucking place.”

Precinct Thirty-Two was headquartered in a red brick building three blocks from downtown. The brass handles on its doors gleamed in the sunlight. They were probably the only shiny brass left in the place; this precinct had been at the center of the mayor’s operation, and the number of officers going down here was higher than in any other location.

“I completely agree with you.” God, did I ever. I felt like I was about to be shoved right into a lion’s den, and I was no Daniel. “But if this is what it takes to get back to work, then we have to suck it up. We won’t be long.”

“We better not be.” His hands twitched like he wanted to punch someone, but when we headed up the stairs, his gait was as smooth and easy as I’d ever seen it. Better, actually—it looked like his new HIV meds were working out pretty well. Andreas hadn’t had a dizzy spell that I knew of for weeks. I, on the other hand, felt more than a little pathetic at the way my lung twinged as we approached the building.

“You okay?”

“Nah, I’m fine.”

You had to look carefully to see beneath the surface with Andreas, but I recognized the fresh tension around his mouth, and the way he opened the door before I even had a chance to reach for it. He scanned me with his bright-blue eyes, always watchful these days for a sign that I was worse off than I’d said I was.

“I really am,” I added, and he finally nodded.

“Try to stay like that.”

Andreas led the way into the station, and . . . whoa. It was like the temperature had just dropped ten degrees, and it wasn’t because the A/C was all that great. Two cops and the desk sergeant stared—no, glared—at us as we entered. Andreas waltzed up like he didn’t give a damn what they thought, and I followed his lead as best I could.

“We’re here to see Chief Singh.”

The desk sergeant looked between us, her lips pursing into a tight, wrinkled bud. “I don’t have you on the schedule.”

“Regardless, we’ve got a meeting with her.”

“She’s busy. You’re going to have to come back later.”

“Call her and check.”

“I don’t have to call and check to know she’s busy.”

“Do it anyway.” That particular growl was very motivational, and after a moment, the woman behind the desk sniffed and reached for her phone. Andreas kept his gaze on her while I looked around the entryway. The place was . . . odd. Strangely quiet for what should have been one of the busiest precincts in the whole city. The two cops who were in the room with us weren’t moving or talking, just standing there like scowling puppets without hands up their asses to make them move.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s Detectives . . .” The desk sergeant paused. “What are your names again?”

As if you don’t know. “Ruffner and Corliss,” I said when it became clear that Andreas wasn’t going to humor her.

“Oh right, right. The addict and the commissioner’s son.” She turned back to her phone, and I resisted the urge to grab it out of her hand and smash it against the faux-marble countertop. That rumor about Andreas was a vicious one perpetrated by Trent Newberry, the same detective who’d been so deep in the mayor’s pocket he’d been willing to kill to keep what he had. Andreas wasn’t a drug addict, but the damage to his reputation had been done. And while my stepdad had been the police commissioner for years, he was retired now, and I was sick of people insinuating that the only reason I was a detective at the perfectly reasonable age of twenty-eight was due to nepotism. It didn’t help that I looked young enough to be a college freshman, though.

The woman tossed the phone to the side. “Up two floors, first door on the right.”

Andreas didn’t even acknowledge her, just started for the stairs.

“Thanks for your help.” She gave me a dirty look and didn’t reply. I beamed a smile at her, then left her in a state of confusion behind the desk as I caught up with Andreas.

“You can’t charm everybody,” he said, waving for me to go ahead of him. I swear, he was still convinced I might fall down any second. All the more reason for me to be as unruffled as possible.

“I’ll never manage it if I don’t try.” One flight down, one to go. My lung and upper back ached a little, but I could handle it. “Needs more physical therapy,” my ass. “Besides, people won’t be angry forever.”

“Cops have long memories, Darren.”

“But short attention spans.” We reached the second landing, and I leaned against the bannister for a moment to make sure I could keep going without embarrassing myself. Andreas stood right behind me. I could feel the heat of his body, close enough to prop me up if I needed it.

It should have felt invasive. Not even close. I beat down the urge to lean back against him, and sighed. “Okay, I’m fine.”

“Good. Let me do the talking with Singh, okay? She’s new, so she hasn’t had a chance to peg me yet.”

“To what, peg you as someone who’ll challenge her authority?”

“Nah.” He smiled. “Peg me as an asshole.”

“That’s what I said,” I told him, but he was already moving. He turned down the hallway, knocked, and a second later entered the chief’s office. I followed right behind him.

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