Blurb
Richard Kerrigan is on
the verge of losing hope. Fired from his job for blowing the whistle on a
defect that would harm service members if used as designed, he is now
blacklisted in the Chicago area. A local Serbian mobster wants Richard and
won’t take no for an answer.
Garou Industries, the
loup garou privately owned company, has been searching for Richard to offer him
a position in the company as they value having someone with his integrity on
staff. Richard relocates to Manhattan to begin his new job and stays with
Julien Bellaire, his mentor, who is also Richard’s Mate.
Before they can settle
in, the Serbian mobster turns up dead and a corrupt cop who secretly works for
the Serbians comes to New York with trumped up charges to pin the murder on
Julio. With over eighty witnesses to Julio being on an airplane at the time of
the murder, the cop abandons trying to frame Richard and instead plots to
murder him. The loup garou request assistance from the Italian mob to protect
Richard which comes with some interesting consequences.
Series: Werewolves of Manhattan
Book: 7
Release Date: January 20, 2017
Publisher: MLR Press
Categories: Contemporary/Fantasy/ Paranormal /Shifter
Excerpt
Chicago
Switched Power Designs
Power Supply Group
Eighteen Months Ago
Richard Kerrigan stood
nervously in front of the director of his division’s desk for thirty minutes
shifting his weight from one foot to the other while Ronald Kitteridge spoke on
the phone and read an article in the Chicago Tribune, his desk littered with
empty paper coffee cups and piles of newspapers. He did not ask him to sit down
in one of the two black vinyl and chrome chairs in front of his desk.
Kitteridge largely ignored him.
Finally, Richard,
tired of being ignored, spoke up in a gruff voice. “Mr. Kitteridge, I’m sorry
to disturb you, but there is something wrong with the power supply for the new
Cougar II troop transport.”
“And how does this
concern you?” Kitteridge didn’t raise his eyes from his newspaper to meet Richard’s.
Richard, shaking but
determined, continued. “My original design contained components from Minster
because they are our preferred vendor.”
Kitteridge looked at
him over the top edge of the newspaper. “So…?”
“When we tested my
design, the Minster parts caused the power supply unit to overheat, and it
started a fire.” Kitteridge’s face grew hard. Richard felt his face mottle with
anger. He knew what he was up against. “I changed the components to ones
supplied by Charter because they had much higher heat tolerance specs and the
design held. But production is using the Minster component despite the fact
Charter was specified.”
“We use Minster parts
for most of our products. Why should this be any different?” Mr. Kitteridge
barked.
Richard was treading
on thin ice, but he was determined to do the right thing. He peered down at his
blurry reflection staring up at him from the highly polished floor. The floor
and the slick modern office contrasted directly with the unholy mess on
Kitteridge’s desk.
He tried again. “You
can’t risk a fire in one of those vehicles, sir. For this application, Minster
sells substandard parts. They don’t meet the specifications the government gave
us. We have to stop production.” Richard Kerrigan’s hands clenched and sweat beaded
on his brow and upper lip. Junior engineers didn’t go up against Kitteridge and
keep their jobs.
“The failure rate is a
little more than five percent which is perfectly acceptable.” Kitteridge took a
sip from the one cup that still held coffee. The director had a Keurig machine
in his office. Of course, he didn’t drink the sludge the junior engineers were
given. Kitteridge stuck another cup under the brewer, lifted the lid and put in
another packet.
Despite Kitteridge’s
annoyance Richard continued. “These parts go into a military vehicle. We have a
moral obligation to the troops to make sure that they get the best possible
equipment. They’re in enough danger as it is, they shouldn’t be at risk from
substandard parts. Five percent is five out of every hundred vehicles. That
can’t be acceptable.”
Richard clenched his
fists. Damn his red hair and light complexion. When he was angry, his face
turned beet red. How he wished he didn’t give his feelings away so easily. His
fingers tightened and released until his nails almost pierced his skin. He
grabbed the back of the chair and held on so tight his nails made half-moons in
the vinyl in his futile effort to keep his temper in check.
Kitteridge put down
his newspaper. “This decision is well above your pay grade, Kerrigan.” His tone
was frosty. He stared at Richard as if he were a bothersome mosquito.
But Richard didn’t
want to accept responsibility for substandard parts in his design that would
cause vehicle fires and possibly take the lives of the soldiers driving those
vehicles. Relentlessly, he pushed forward. “In this application, Mr.
Kitteridge, any chance of fire is unacceptable.”
“It’s a risk that
Switched Power Designs is willing to take. The parts from Minster saved the
company millions. That’s all I want to hear from you on this subject. Go back
out and do your job and leave the executive decisions to the people who are
paid to make them.” Kitteridge turned away from Richard, dismissing him. He
started to enter data into his computer.
Richard refused to
leave. He raised his voice. “Mr. Kitteridge, I don’t think you understand what
I’m telling you, people could die if we use the Minster parts.” He took a deep,
calming breath. “It would be dishonest. The military tested units with the
Charter parts.”
“Richard, you’re an
excellent engineer, but you get too involved in production. That isn’t your
responsibility. Let this go. If you don’t, things will go badly for you.”
Kitteridge sent him a threatening scowl.
I can’t let this go.
People could die. Richard left his office, but he persisted in his quest to do
right by the troops. This would cost him his job, but he wouldn’t be
responsible for one soldier losing his life because the company wanted to save
twenty-five dollars per component in an eighteen-thousand-dollar power supply.
He began by going over
Kitteridge’s head to the Vice President of Engineering where he got the same
answer. The president of Switched Power refused to give him an appointment.
After he exhausted all channels there, he finally called his congressman in
desperation. He was called to testify at closed-door hearings, and new tests
were performed on the power supply with the Minister parts. The part was deemed
unacceptable. As a result, production ceased, and all of the Cougar II vehicles
had to be retrofitted.
However, Richard was
out of a job. As a whistleblower, Switched Power Designs shouldn’t have been
able to fire him, but they accused him of insubordination and not being a team
player. He didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer to fight his termination.
They said he was fired with cause, and he received no letter of reference or
severance.
💫 Giveaway
An E-Copy of Wolf Whistle and Julio's Wolf
✨Meet the Author
AC Katt didn’t discover her muse until she was older. She loves to write and now writes constantly. She just moved from New Mexico back to New Jersey with her husband and her naughty cat Bandit, who lives up to his name.Where to find the author:
Blog: www.ackattsjournal.com
website: www.ackatt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ackatt
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AC-Katt/62628106022
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ackatt @ackatt
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ackatt/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2893673.A_C_Katt
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Congrats and best wishes on your latest release, AC.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for being part of the Wolf Whistle Release Blitz ❤️
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