Never Play Fair by Leah Cupps
Publication date: September 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Mystery,
Can Sydney find her FBI boyfriend in time, or will this gamble be here last?
Instagram Influencer Sydney Evans has seen and lived her share of photo-worthy experiences, but now, she’s found herself entangled in a situation she never saw coming.
After her FBI agent boyfriend, Alex, disappears while working a case involving a notorious Latin gangster, Vincent Estavez, the Department of Defense is forced to change tactics. Determined to bring down Estavez and the illegal online casino crime ring he’s been running by any means necessary, the FBI orchestrates an operation to infiltrate the gangster’s stronghold.
But Sydney only has one motivation for her own investigation: find Alex before he becomes collateral damage.
Desperate to locate her boyfriend in time, she flies to Costa Rica and is forced to seek help from an unlikely ally: her criminal ex-husband, Jack. He may be the last person she wants to see, but she’ll do whatever it takes to find Alex alive.
But Sydney isn’t the only one with a motivation against Vincent Estavez.
Never Play Fair is a fast-paced standalone thriller. If you like real-world issues, lavish socialite parties, and electrifying twists and turns, then you’ll love Leah Cupps’ provocative cozy mystery.
NEVER PLAY FAIR is the second book in the Sydney Evans Mystery Series and can be read as a standalone.
EXCERPT: Why am I still alive?
The
question had been tumbling through Ethan Evans’ mind for months. He stared at
the concrete brick wall in front of him, which was the color of stained teeth.
Nothing was bright in this place, and little of it was clean. He had been left
alone, sitting in a small room, waiting for his transport out of ADX Florence,
a maximum-security prison in the Rockies.
Pale
gray light dropped in from a small window near the ceiling, highlighting the
specks of dust that hung in the stale air. The chill of the room bit through
his thin clothing.
Under
normal circumstances, he would fetch himself a jacket, but he didn’t have the
freedom these days. The thought made him nervously wriggle his wrists inside
the cold, steel cuffs.
Although
his clothes were ill-fitted on his six-foot-two frame. But, he didn’t miss the
abrasive fabric of the orange jumpsuit he’d been wearing earlier that day. It
was one of the many discomforts of prison, less painful than others, though it
branded him as one of the lost souls who needed redemption. Today, he had been
given a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt from his old life. Even they
didn’t feel as comfortable as they once had. At this point, Ethan was used to
being uncomfortable, yet he had found a fortitude within himself he didn’t know
he had. He was a survivor.
Surviving
the mind-numbing routine of imprisonment had given Ethan plenty of time to
ruminate over his feelings; the main one had been anger. It had been three
months since he had been placed in a high-security facility to face the
consequences of his decisions in Jamaica. Months to think about how his brother
had betrayed him.
He
had also felt fear. Fear that left him drenched in sweat every night, not
knowing if he’d live to see the dawn of another day. When the cell block grew
quiet, he still heard sounds and movement. And he would wonder.
Is today the day? The day he will send someone to kill
me?
He
knew Vincente Estavez would never let him live after learning Ethan had worked
with the FBI. Estavez was still a free man, but the upcoming trial could change
that rather quickly. From what little Inspector Sam O’Connell had shared with
him during their interviews, the FBI had been working tirelessly to put an
airtight case together to bring Estavez down.
Then
again, nothing was nothing was guaranteed. Ethan was acutely aware of that
little issue.
AUTHOR BIO:
Leah’s novels are fast-paced mysteries that will keep you up at night as you can’t wait to see what happens in the next chapter.
Leah lives in Indiana with her husband, three young children and three dogs. When she isn’t losing sleep writing her next novel or scaling her next business, she enjoys reading, golfing working out and spending time with her family.
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