Chinooks are full of sounds...snow sliding off the roof, winds whistling through the tress, snow-melt dripping...
My young Katrina, protagonist in the BackTracker series was the beneficiary of a Christmas Day chinook in THE TRAZ. The melting temperatures lured the bikers off the compound and almost...almost resulted in Katrina's rescue from the clutches of the The Traz gang.
Here's an excerpt from THE TRAZ:
Katrina turned her face to the December sun and
closed her eyes against its light. The warmth of the day was not coming from
its rays, but traveled in on the Chinook whipping over the Rockies.
There had been a time when she would've wanted
a white Christmas. Today, the fact that the hills were brown didn't matter at
all. Christmas didn't matter. It was good she was out here away from all the
sparkle, music and memories. Good she was with a whole gang of people who hated
Christmas.
"What's the matter, woman?" Shrug's
voice came at her.
She turned to face him. "Nothin'."
"Thinkin' we should go for a Christmas
cruise on the Harley."
"Thought Gator said—"
"What Gator says don't matter anymore."
"Yeah? You think?"
"I know."
"Gator's going to let you do whatever you
want?"
"He's toast," Shrug whispered. "We
did it, woman. He's out. We're in."
"Head office said so?"
"They ain't any more happy about the
Quonset than I am."
"They didn't like that?"
"What they didn't like was the heat it got
us from the cops. And the lost deals. Just like I said would happen."
Katrina returned Shrug's grin. "Yeah, I'd
love to go for a cruise."
The gang wasn't off the compound for more than
ten minutes when Katrina rapped on Shrug's helmet. He turned his head and she
pointed to a stream of police cars trailing their biker convoy. Shrug just
nodded and kept riding. Not until the howl of sirens joined the flashers did he
pull to the shoulder and turn off the bike. One by one the bikers behind them
pulled over and cut their engines.
"This has to stop," Shrug muttered as
he yanked off his helmet. "Can't even go for a Christmas cruise anymore.
Damned Gator. Wouldn't listen, would he?"
Over a dozen heavily armed officers were
approaching the gang. "Holy shit! Why so many?" she asked nervously.
The chorus of groans that had swept down the line of bikers changed to sharp
words as the cops closed in. She pulled her visor over her face and sat taller.
A middle-aged officer strode past the others
and stopped abruptly a few metres from Shrug. He stared at Katrina. "What
the hell is this?"...
CHINOOKS...and THE TRAZ has been brought to you by FIREWALLS
"Packed with humanity, crafted with insight."
"Schuh has created a character worthy of being called a hero."
"A
tale of comfort and hope that we, too, can slay our own dragons."
"A gritty, fast paced thriller."
