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PROLOGUE
On a balmy April evening, Miami Homicide Detective Blake Cutter strolled out the front entrance of the Wyndham Hotel and Convention Center in South Beach, clutching his wife Jennie’s hand and wearing a wide grin. Less than an hour earlier, he’d stood on stage in front of over 500 of Miami’s law enforcement community, where he accepted Miami’s Police Officer of the Year award at the department’s annual awards banquet.
Blake and Jennie had planned to cap off the night with a drive through scenic Bal Harbor Village and a stopover at their favorite romantic nightspot, Café Pastis, a French bistro located on the south side of town. The trendy hotspot was known for serving the best grilled-chateaubriand in town. And after sitting through a three-hour awards speech-impaired banquet, they had never felt more famished.
As they reached the parking lot, they embraced each other and glanced up at the starlit cloudless sky. It was a near perfect evening. As they gazed in each other eyes, all seemed right in the world.
Jennie was looking as sensual as Blake had ever seen her. The full red hair, upswept in a tight bun, was glistening in the moonlight. She was wearing a flowing Chiffon gown, accessorized by a Sea Foam shawl draped over her shapely shoulders, a stunning lariat necklace around her neck and a pair of diamond studded ankle strap shoes on her feet. In a word, she was riveting from head to toe.
Thanks to Jennie’s persuasiveness, Blake was looking equally dapper in a rented black-and-white penguin tux she’d rented, complemented by a crisp pinstripe button-down shirt, gold monogrammed cufflinks and patent leather oxfords. With a passionate kiss, Blake led her to the passenger door of his remodeled ’55 Ford Fairlane where she tossed several newspapers off the seat, slipped inside and stretched her long, shapely legs.
“Thanks for sitting through his tonight.” He offered as he kissed her on the cheek.
Grinning she replied, “It was worth it to finally get you into a tux.”
As he made his way to the driver’s side and was about to get in, Jennie hollered to him, “Blake, I left my purse.”
“Oh leave it, honey,” he replied. “Somebody from housekeeping will get it. I’ll pick it up in the morning.”
“Are you kidding, Blake?” she complained. “I wait until the morning and somebody would’ve lifted everything in it.”
“Wait a minute, pumpkin. I’ll get it,” he sighed heavily. “I don’t want you getting caught by one of those gabbing friends of yours.”
“You’re such a smartass, Blake,” she chuckled.
“Don’t thank me. You’ll get a bill.”
“Shut up and just get the purse,” she replied, pinching him in the buttocks as he marched back towards the hotel entrance door with a marked hop in his step. Seconds later, when he reached the entrance, he yelled back to her, “Honey, I’ve got to speak to the chief for a moment about something. How about you pull the car around and I’ll meet you at the door?”
“Now look who’s talking about gabbing,” she replied. After speaking briefly to a fellow detective who was exiting from the building, he glanced back towards her a final time before proceeding inside in the direction of the main ballroom which was adjacent to the front reception desk. Hoping to save himself from a long walk back to the ballroom, he detoured over to the reception desk to check if one of the ballroom workers had already recovered the purse. When he was a few steps from the counter, an ear-piercing blast rang out. Nearly everyone in the lobby instantly hit the floor. Blake’s froze as his heart felt like it dropped to his stomach.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?” shouted the desk clerk, craning his neck over the front desk.
Instantly, Blake spun around and sprinted towards the revolving door. Stumbling as he pushed his way through, he instinctively peered out in the direction of the parking lot. “Oh my God!” he yelled, as a giant fireball lit up the parking lot. Below the rising plume of smoke was the Fairlane, enveloped by a blazing inferno. Worst of all, he couldn’t see Jennie. Sidestepping several paralyzed onlookers in his path, he sprinted up to the vehicle and jerked at the driver’s side door handle. He frantically peered inside, but he couldn’t see anything but the thick billowing smoke. There was no sign of Jennie. “JENNIE!” he screamed in desperation as he tugged at the door handle in an attempt to pry it open, oblivious to the fact that the scorching metal was charring the skin on his palms.
“Somebody help me! My wife’s in there!” he bellowed out, while angling his face away from the searing heat. At that moment, two off-duty police officers, who just happened to be passing by, rushed up and joined Blake in a futile effort to dislodge the doors from the frame of the car. But the intense heat had already melted the metal to the frame. Blake’s adrenaline was overriding any sense of fear or caution. Writhing in pain from the burns, he pulled his jacket sleeve over his right hand and resumed his attempt to dislodge the door.
“Get away from there!” shouted another man rushing up to the scene from across the street. But Cutter’s didn’t listen. Then, as one of the three men noticed a flame shooting up Cutter’s coat sleeve, he attempted to jerk Cutter’s arm away from the flame.
“You’ve gotta get away from this!” the man exclaimed. “If anybody’s in there, they’re gone.”
Blake ignored him as he continued to jerk on the door handle then slamming his fist against the window in frustration. At that moment, a valet, who’d been standing at the front entrance the entire evening, raced up and leapt towards Blake grabbing him in a bear hug and managed to pull him away from the door.
Though two other men moved to hold him back, Blake pushed himself free, bolted between them and leapt again towards the car’s door handle. The three men quickly enlisted the help of another onrushing man. Together, they gang tackled him to the ground. Gasping for air, one of the men uttered sympathetically, “Give it up, man! It’s no use!”
Pinned to the ground, Cutter continued to scream out, “No! Let me go.”
At that moment, one of the men noticed through the smoke, a spark zipping its way back towards the Fairlane’s gas tank. “GET BACK!” he yelled out. “The car’s going to blow!”
It took all four of the athletically built men to wrestle Cutter away from the Fairlane. But he continued to struggle to break loose of their clutches, screaming hysterically. Then, as several more onlookers began racing up to within a safe distance of the flame, there came a second explosion, lighting up the area with a giant fireball. The vehicle’s fuel tank quickly exploded propelling metal and debris in every direction. The force of the blast catapulted Blake and the four men nearly twenty feet into the air. They landed on the ground dazed and disoriented.
With screams of horror ringing out in the background, Detective Blake Cutter struggled to his feet but then fell to the ground. Seconds later, as he lay on the ground disoriented, he squinted up and noticed several concerned faces staring at him. For a moment, he overheard other nearby voices discussing the probability that the explosion came from an improvised explosive device, remotely detonated by someone hiding nearby. Though barely conscious, he was coherent enough to mentally surmise that the directional device was likely aimed in the direction of the driver’s side door, anticipating an impact when he returned to his car. A thought zipped through his mind that perhaps the assailant detonating the device had stationed himself too far from the car to visibly distinguish Blake Cutter from his wife Jennie. But as he succumbed to the fact that his beautiful wife had just been victimized by a terrorist style attack intended for him, a deep sense of guilt encircled his mind as he instantly became dizzy and totally disoriented. He found himself unable to lift himself off the ground.
Suddenly, his ears picked up the screaming noise of police cars and a fire truck siren. But then, as he felt a hand touch his jacket in an effort to lift him off the ground, he passed out.
Past the Line is as exciting and suspenseful as those from James Patterson, Nora Roberts and John Sandford. Milligan has created a series that will leave you thirsting for more.
Glenda Bixler
IP Book Reviewers
Drama and tension take over this book right from the start as readers are sucked into a wild ride around DevilIsland. A well planned piece of fiction.
Heather Froeschel
BookReview.com
I have found Past The Line to be as entertaining as any book I have read. It captures your attention from page one and manages to keep it there until the very end. I especially like the way it started with the plot of the book or at least what you thought was the main plot, and then went into detail on how everything transpired. The preface even lays the groundwork for upcoming books. I have either read or listened to many books by Tom Clancy, Faye Kellerman and Patricia Cornwell and many others and this book is just as well written and entertaining and I have already recommended to many of my friends who like to read.
Tim Leonhart, BookMasters Inc.
Ashland, Ohio
Do hope to get your next book…as Past The Line was riveting, suspenseful and totally filled with the most exciting life like drama. Most of my leisure reading is restricted to leadership and other forums of self-improvement books, so it take tremendous effort on my part to read beyond these segments of literature. However, your book was like watching a movie. At certain points, the impact of the story actually transformed me from a reader to a participant. It seemed so real that is the one time I experienced a written story coming alive off the pages. Thrilling and sometimes scary as I forgot I was reading a book.
Colonel Mary C. Clark
Wuerzburg, Germany
I started reading your book and I couldn’t close it. I read your book for eight consecutive hours while in flight. From the beginning, it grabbed me by the throat and it wouldn’t let go. It is brilliantly written and should be on the best seller list. If I was a book critic, I would rate it five stars plus. I must admit that I am not one who reads many books, but I will be looking for your next one.
Terry Patton
Heidelberg, Germany
I have read it and found it intriguing; at some points, I hated to put it down. You are certainly on your way to the best seller list if you writing as such. Keep me posted on Mr. Cutter’s next story. Thanks for a fine story and yes, it was a surprising ending.
Alfred C. Meyers
Mainz Kastel, Germany
I wanted to take a moment and thank you for this wonderful book. Since I bought it, I have yet to put it down. The book is riveting to say the least. Well written and an extreme attention getter. Please email me with updates of your upcoming novels.
New Fan, Samantha Hager
Ramstein, Germany
I really like the reverse chronological maze the book takes you through. The descriptive word usage is excellent. I was able to visualize almost every detail of each scene.
James Pollard
Heidelberg, Germany
