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Divorced and disillusioned, Rae Charles found new purpose as a corporate undercover agent, which to her was as unbelievable as if she woke up one morning able to belt out a soul wrenching version of Take These Chains from My Heart. Rae was catapulted into a world of corporate intrigue that threatened her life and could shatter her heart. What began as a white collar crime investigation turned deadly as Rae found herself playing cat and mouse with an unknown adversary bent on destroying the medical device company that hired her. Corporate sabatoge was the name of the game and Rae had little time to discover who was intent on destroying their life-saving product lines and why.
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Where does mental illness begin? Where does it end? Does that searing mark of disgrace forever preclude the notion of falling in love? These questions and more are brought to the forefront against a backdrop of casinos in Reno, Nevada. During a sweltering August heatwave, This Stage of Life depicts the seduction of Jake Dimond by Elen Austin. Jake was aware the contradiction of a life lived midst the neon lights of a gambler’s paradise and his desire for absolute anonymity. Yet he earned his living between five p.m. and midnight pitted against the other professional gamblers, card room regulars, and Reno’s casino tourists. She appeared out of nowhere and gobsmacked him from the life he had so carefully orchestrated. Elen Austin had shown up in the Legacy card room some three weeks prior. She played cards as often as Jake, once or twice each day. She was not there to observe, she played and played well. It was by accident their paths crossed again after that initial meeting. She called out to him across the intersection of Virginia and Second Streets. And there it began. At least one time in the life of every man. At least one time in the life of every woman. Do you remember the totality of passion? Do you remember the ache embedded in the core of your being that could only be satiated by the one, and even then it was never enough. You could never get enough. God. To know that feeling again … Jake Dimond is sixty six. Elen Austin is fifty two. Engulfed in a passionate and uncertain affair, Jake, ever the gambler, believes the odds must surely be in his favor by now. At this stage of life, the stakes are high. |