Twice Told Thomas by Haggerty P.D

Author:Haggerty, P.D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

Read on for a preview of the first chapter of my upcoming novel:

The Cat Who Came in From the Cold

CHAPTER 1

Meagan Robichaud gratefully closed the large, circular, hobbit-styled outer mudroom door behind her, shutting out the rain and wind still howling around her house and rattling the few outwards-facing windows. An occasional crack of thunder made the walls rattle as well. She leaned her umbrella against the hall tree, making sure the tip was safely inside the rimmed rubber mat, set the only slightly warm bags of take-out food, which she’d attempted to shield under her raincoat, on the hall tree’s bench, and slowly unbuttoned her rain jacket with fingers still numbed by the icy rain.

It was bad enough having to drive in such weather in the first place but, and she could only sigh in self-inflicted dismay, once she’d gotten safely into the garage, she’d had to go back out into the storm to check the chicken coop, generator shed, and solar batteries before seeking the warm, dry, safety of the house. A trek made all the worse by the knowledge she’d have to go out again, this time with a weather-proof container, to collect the small deposit of eggs her loyal feathered flock had provided.

Absolutely nothing about this day has made any sense at all as far as she could see.

It had been a long day down in Bangor, attending another boring business meeting that had, once again, come within a hair's-breadth of convincing her to terminate her contract, regardless of the penalty clause. Why they insisted on face-to-face meetings was a complete mystery to her. Why she insisted on dressing up for them was equally mysterious, but unfortunately could not be blamed on them, not that it stopped her from trying.

What had started as a worthy cause was fast devolving into a quagmire that only existed for the sake of existing, offering incompetent bureaucrats validation for their paychecks, and as a transparent ploy for staving off the inevitable audit for another month. Keeping the internet services running for the residents of the Sunshine Retirement Villages of Maine now seemed to have been totally dropped from the list of objectives, written or otherwise.

By trade, Meagan was an Information Technologies Security Consultant. It looked snazzy on her business cards, but what it really entailed was hours in front of a computer screen, keeping people out of places they had no business being, and tracking them down for law enforcement’s attention when they occasionally managed to do it anyway. Fortunately, that could all be done from the peaceful sanctity of her home, allowing her to totally avoid humanity, except for groceries, doctor’s visits, and business meetings. The latter being what had forced her unwilling participation on a day nobody should have been out.

Today’s meeting, filled with face-saving and finger-pointing, had been called due to an automated report somebody had inexplicably decided to read. Yes, there had been a minor breach. No, it has not been the fault of her security team.

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