March 18th, 2007

“The Find” with author Marilyn Jax

Marilyn’s Web Site and Book Order Information

http://www.marilynjax.com/index.html

About Marilyn Jax

A veteran senior government enforcement investigator for close to two decades, and a retired Certified Fraud Examiner, the author lives in Minnesota, Florida and the Caribbean and enjoys spending time in Montana.

About The Find

Crack investigator Claire Caswell had seen a lot of snaky dealings behind the scenes of environmental clean-up projects, but she never expected to find a murder victim at the bottom of a suspicious dig site. When a mysterious ancient relic surfaces and her investigation turns up an unexpected relative and Nazi connections, she finds herself torn between mysteries in both the present and the past.

Working side by side with her love interest—Gaston Lombard, a lead Miami-Dade State Attorney—to solve the seemingly impossible homicide, tensions build and teeter.

Someone does not want Claire Caswell on the case, but why?

Spanning three continents and seven decades, The Find, with its vivid settings and haunting characters, weaves a chilling tale of murder, greed, and suspense that will seize your imagination and take it for an unforgettable ride.

The Find Prologue

Thursday afternoon
Miami Shores, Florida

UNRELENTING MIAMI HEAT raged. Workers doused with sweat performed duties mechanically, counting the minutes until break time.

"Shut the backhoe down! Now! Stop the digging!"

The persistent clamor of the apparatus drowned out the pleas of the on-site consultant, so the equipment operator continued to lower the bucket into the ground and hoist up more backfill, oblivious to the urgent situation that had developed.

Sprinting to the opposite side of the hole, the consultant frantically waved his arms in the air, continuing to holler. "Shut it off! Shut it off!" His flailing arms finally caught the attention of the driver, who, within seconds, pulled the bucket from the ground and brought the machinery to a screeching halt.

"What the hell's going on?" the driver called out, hostility raging in his growling voice, nostrils flaring wildly. "I've got a job to finish today."

"We've got a problem," the consultant said. "A big problem. There will be no more digging here today." Looking into the hole, he grabbed his cell phone and rapidly punched in a number. "Miami-Dade Police Department. I've got an emergency."

The operator jumped from his cab and walked to the edge of the opening to peer in. That's when he saw it, and his eyes and mouth opened wide. With his left hand, he removed his hard hat and tossed it to the ground, as he dropped to one knee. To ward away evil and fear, with his right hand, he touched his forehead, his breastbone, his left shoulder, and then his right shoulder, eyes glued to the unearthing.

Like an invisible net, an eerie silence fell upon the assemblage as one by one the other workers made their way to the cavity and caught sight of the find.