#Excerpt - The Monarch Mission Files: Conspiracy #SF #Mystery #Romantic #TeaserTuesday

While searching for a missing girl on Mars, Mari and Trevor follow a tip which leads to an abandoned dome near the "Club Zone" and go to investigate...

Mari noticed a few old scaffolds from when they thought of renovating, and even a few three-tier store units against one of the wall, probably the old high ends shops, some of them liked looking down at the rest of the peasants. “Well, none of this seems like a bootlegger hiding place.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Nash said, pushing through to the middle of the dome, stepping over old shopping carts and display pieces. He didn’t say anything else until they circled the entire dome with their light-drones and paused near the opposite exit, which had no connecting tubetunnel.

A tremor moved through her pinky toe then her whole foot. Mari grabbed Nash’s arm as the vibrations grew stronger.

“Mar—” Nash froze. The entire dome and the ground beneath them shook. Mari gasped and pulled him away from the crumbling stacked shops lining the wall. When the floor shifted hard, Nash tackled her to the ground as the top floor tipped over. The ground quaked harder. Nash palmed the floor, shielding her from the falling debris. “Shit. We need to move.”

Another wall fell toward them.

Mari gasped.

Nash met her eyes.

She shoved her right hand straight up, almost clipping the side of his face, catching the wall before it slammed into his back. His eyes widened, the whole floor rippled and the rumbling quake began to slow.

Everything went still.

Dust from the wall she was holding sprinkled down.

Nash wasn’t staring at her anymore; he was focused on her arm, holding up a huge wall inches away from crushing them both. “Mari…”

Certain the quake stopped, Mari grunted and shoved the wall sideways while he watched, knowing she couldn’t keep the truth from him anymore.

“We should go back to the suite, get that drink, Nash.”

Coming this April!!