Resumo de Under A Desert Sky

Nicole Lewis is a first-rate police detective who works for the Palm Springs? Police Department with her partner, Robert ?Buddy? Ochoa. Independent and persistent, she is assigned to a homicide case at the Desert Sky Hotel and Resort, where she investigates the brutal murder of a 19-year-old Hispanic housekeeper named Elena Gonzalez. The finger instantly points to Elena?s jealous and possessive boyfriend, Enrique Diaz, but the case proves not to be that simple. Elena had been posing for photographs in a lurid magazine and Nicole?s Captain reports that the Desert Sun is currently having financial difficulties due to the discovery of massive sums of money being embezzled from the resort. The independent Nicole has long since given up on finding a man who will accept her job and love her for what she is. She has no idea this case will lead her to the man who will become her true love. Nicole and her partner Bud, along with the other members of her task force, Nancy Williams and Lee Gianotti, quickly pinpoint the possible suspects. Is it the blond Budget Director, Scott Adams, who is reputed to be a lady?s man and has access to all the Resort?s accounts and clearly indicates a strong interest in Nicole? Or perhaps it is the overworked Richard Greaves, who was passed over for a promotion and still remains the Budget Manager after years of hard work. And then there?s the handsome new Resort Director, Justin Zachary, whose quiet serious manner is berated by his staff who miss their previous director, the friendly Robert Severns. It is Justin, the less flamboyant, ebony haired executive Nicole feels drawn too, but she cautiously guards her heart against a man who very well might be Elena?s murderer and seems so full of secrets. The owner of the resort, B. W. Weston, demands a quick solution to the horrible crime as well as an answer to the embezzlement question that hovers over the hotel chain. Richard Greaves, the Budget Manager, calls the Palm Springs Station, indicating he knows who Elena?s murderer is, but before he has a chance to reveal what he knows, falls victim to an apparent suicide. His suicide note begs someone for forgiveness and suggests the existence of something called the Lindsey File. Before Nicole has a chance to unravel all the clues to Elena?s murder, an injured Justin Zachary lands literary upon her doorstep, and going totally against her training and department policy, she flees from the desert community of Palm Springs to the mountain sanctuary of Idyllwild to protect a man she has clearly become attracted to. It is there, as she nurses back to health the wounded man, Nicole discovers the ?Lindsey File? really exists and that Justin had managed to secure the disk before he was shot. Nicole becomes convinced Justin is innocent of Elena?s murder and that Richard Greaves? death was no suicide, and as Justin?s health improves decides to stash the young executive in the ?safe? apartment of Jesse Burns, a mentally handicapped young man who is an avid Elvis fan. Nicole begins to sort through the mystery that is the ?Lindsey File? with her partner Bud. Meanwhile, a kidnapper follows Nicole to Jesse?s flat located on the grounds of the local bowling alley and later abducts Justin and Jesse. Racing against time, and uncertain whether Jesse and her beloved Justin are dead or alive, Nicole discovers that Elena was indeed seeing another man before she was murdered, but that he was, surprising enough, none of the original suspects, but actually the previous director, Robert Severns. The ex-director was using the girl?s after-hours access to the accounting department?s computers to embezzle millions of dollars from the Desert Sun Resort, using bogus expenses added to the Lindsey contractor?s accounts. Nicole confronts Severns at Judith Chamberlain?s condominium in Palm Desert. A violent confrontation ensues, in which Bob Severns is killed and Nicole is seriously injured, much to the horror of her watching lover, Justin, who Severns is determined to kill because he knows too much about Elena and the embezzlement. He shoots at a strategically placed gasoline and takes the hysterical Judith Chamberlain hostage. Nicole and Justin barely escape the blazing flat and realize that Severns will kill his hostage if not After the murderer; Robert Severns is killed as he tries to escape, Nicole wants to continue a relationship with Justin Zachary, but he is appalled at the violence and everyday risk factor that make up Nicole?s life. He demands, after she is wounded in the final confrontation, that she quit the department and live on his salary to remain ?safe.? Nicole cannot and will not accept his demands, determining that her career choice is her own to make and although she deeply loves him, cannot be untrue to herself and the career she has grown to love. Justin learns to accept her ?call of duty? and the pair reconcile. This excellent mystery intrigue is made all the better by its vivid scenery depicting the Palm Springs. A recommended read!

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