THE CLIFF BY CHRISTIE A.C. GUCKER

THE CLIFF BY CHRISTIE A.C. GUCKER


Can a childhood pact affect the lives of three adults?

Love and betrayal surrounds the lives of lifelong friends Lanie Rhodes, Grant Bennett, and Dane Voight. Years ago, they made a pact to remain together as friends forever. The boys also made another secret pact that same day—to never vie for Lanie’s love.

Grant and Lanie have secretly been pining for one another since they were children.

Now grown up, they finally admit their feelings for each other and what ensues is a twisted tale of deception as Dane does everything he can to stop them.

The story weaves around this uneven love triangle. What will happen to the pact? Will friendships be destroyed? Will lovers emerge?


Excerpt:

My phone beeped.  I just stared at it.  It was Samantha.

“Dane, Samantha is calling. I have to answer,” I said very nonchalantly.

“Fine.  Hurry back.”  Now he was getting annoyed with my blasé attitude.

“Hi Samantha.”

“Lanie, turn the news on, now!”

“Why?  What the hell could possibly…”

“Turn it on!”

I turned on the news channel to breaking news and almost threw up.  Plane crash, and it had departed from our airport, more details to come.

“Samantha!  I have to go.  I have to go call the airline.”

“What flight was he on?  They haven’t said what airline or flight yet.”

“I’ll call you back.  I switched lines.  “Dane, get over here now.  There’s been a plane crash.  I need all of Grant’s flight info.  Now.  Get over here now!”

“I was panicking.  I couldn’t breathe.  I knew it.  I’d known it all along.  It wasn’t the client that was bothering me.  It was the flight.  I never should have let him leave.

“Lanie, Grant left hours ago.  I’m sure it’s not his plane.”

“Dane, get your ass over here with everything you have.  Don’t question me.  Do it.”  I hung up the phone.  I unlocked the front door and headed to my office to check the Internet.

I started my computer and heard Dane coming running up the stairs.

“I have everything.  Go to Eclipse Airline’s website.”

I got to the site and immediately saw the alert on their home page.  My stomach knotted and I felt the color drain from my face.  I started to hyperventilate.

“It’s his airline.  It’s his.  Oh my God, Dane.  Oh my God.”

“Lanie, hold on.  They’re the major airline out of our airport.  There were lots of flights leaving today.  I’m going to read you his flight info.  Did they post a manifest yet?”

“No, just the flight number.”

“He was on flight 3” – Oh shit! Oh shit! I was starting to gag.  I was holding my breath.

“4” – No, no, this can’t be happening…

“7” –  I just stared at the screen.  I thought I had died.  My body went cold; I couldn’t move.  My heart shattered into a thousand pieces.  No sounds could escape my lips, because there was no air in my lungs.  My eyes started to burn and I couldn’t focus on the screen anymore.  I felt the room begin to spin.  Even the sounds in the room became jumbled and disjointed.

“1”  Dane was saying something.  My brain had stopped processing everything.  Did he just say one?




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About the Author:

Christie A.C. Gucker lives in NJ with her husband, two daughters, and a menagerie of pets. Being a mother is one of the greatest joys of her life. She has worked in the advertising industry for over 20 years as a degreed artist, but also works in the fine arts, especially stone sculpture  and snapping photographs. Christie is also a singer and musician, and can be found singing on a few CDs.

After the death of her father, Christie searched for something to fill her desire to make a mark in this world. Her love of the arts and creativity allowed her to search for a new medium, which she found with a pen instead of a brush. Being an avid reader her whole life, and with her family cheering her on, she decided to take her shot and began writing.

Christie is fascinated by the supernatural and sharks, and studies both avidly. You’ll be sure to find something spooky lurking somewhere in her stories. Her greatest joy is sitting on a beach with her family

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