Day 14 of Cheryl Kaye Tardif's VBT: An excerpt from THE RIVER, a terrifying thriller

[Cheryl Kaye Tardif]

Today's stop is at The Write Type ~ Multi-Author Musings, and I am sharing Chapter 1 of The River, an action-packed thriller that explores nanotechnology, painful youth serums and a deadly conspiracy, with the Nahanni River in Canada's rugged Northwest Territories as its isolated and mysterious backdrop.

One

She always leads with her heart,” a voice croaked.

Startled by the interruption, Del Hawthorne lifted her head and gasped, shocked.

What the―?

A man stood in the doorway to her classroom, panting for breath. He was in his late seventies and wore a grimy suede jacket over a once-pristine white dress shirt. The shirt was torn and stained with what looked suspiciously like dried blood. The man’s tailored black pants were ripped from the knees down.

He stumbled inside and slammed the door.

Del threw a warning look at Peter Cavanaugh, her young anthropology protégé. Rising slowly from her desk, she faced the old man.

“Can I help you, sir?”

His stringy gray hair covered part of his face and was in desperate need of a shampoo and cut. His mottled, creviced skin reminded her of weathered cedar bark. But it was the man’s glazed yet vaguely familiar eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

Did she know him? ...

To read the rest of Chapter 1, please go to The Write Type.