TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

The Lemonade Stand has spent years bringing you the best the Twilight  fandom has to offer, and we are delighted to have the chance  to offer  you even MORE. We've enjoyed watching stories grow and develop from  first post through COMPLETE, and now we're excited to share  previews of  the stories that will  soon be your new addiction.

I was late to the party with falling in love with MercWard, but once I dove in, I was ALL IN. I read all four series back to back to back and fell hard, much like everyone that reads drotuno’s writing. She writes the perfect Edward in MercWard. He’s a strong alpha-male, loves his Bella an indefinite amount, he’s faithful & has a healthy appetite for loving up his wife, loves his family beyond measure, & he’s an all-American hero. What more could you want?! 

When I finished the 4 series of MercWard, I begged Deb to continue. She told me with good humor, “Get in line”, because most of her readers have begged for more from this amazing writer. Our wish has been granted and I am beyond excited to feature this Sneak Peek Saturday with drotuno!!

banner by Beffers87

Heaven & Earth

by drotuno

Summary: Gravity Investigations, busy as always, takes a protection detail that results in more than just a paycheck. Edward and Bella, separated by 70 floors of Twi Tech Tower, must fight to stop what could be an act of war. 5th in the Gravity Series. Canon Couples, AH. Rated M

~oOo~

Liar, liar pants on fire, that’s what I called myself as soon as I realized there could be, might be, maybe another Gravity story. I swore to myself there wouldn’t be another one, yet here we are. Number FIVE. I could blame a million things, but really, all it took was a couple of movies and Beffers87 playing around with a few manips and pictures, and I was suddenly making notes, working on an outline, and shaking my head at myself the whole time. And Bethany wanted to add “fifth and final, and this time she means it” to the banner, but it wouldn’t fit.

My worry was that adding another to this series would be too much, or it would lose something, because I’d left the crew in a good place in the last one. And honestly, I wasn’t even going to write this one unless the plot was good enough or could work into the original chemistry that the others had. In fact, I tucked the idea away for months, because I was working on two other stories at the time. However, like most plot bunnies, this particular one wouldn’t shut up. It sat in its tucked away file, pounding to be let out. And finally, in perfect Mercward attitude, I said, “Fuck it.”

Heaven & Earth picks up two years after Fire & Ice. It has been three years, technically, since I pressed complete on that one, but storyline wise, it’s been two years. For those trying to do the math, that makes Edward and Bella thirty-seven, Bethy ten, and Sammy six.

With a new story comes a new adventure…and new characters. In Fire & Ice, we lost a member of the crew, Kurt Varner, who moved away with Irina. We catch back up with the Gravity crew trying to fill that slot.

~oOo~

Once the door was closed to Bella’s office, Alec gestured to each of us. “Dean Carver, meet Edward and Bella Cullen. They own and operate Gravity Investigations.”

“Nice to meet you,” he greeted, shaking our hands.

He waited until Bella sat down before taking a chair across the desk. I resumed my position behind her, leaning against the filing cabinet. He was younger than me at thirty-two, but only by about five years. He wasn’t all that big of a guy, but it was obvious he kept in shape. I suppose he’d be considered a decent-looking man, but his eyes were sharp as hell. He was assessing us just as much as we were assessing him, which I could admire. With light-brown hair and fair skin, he had a youthful look, which would come in handy with some cases.

Alec had been leading the interviews all damn day, so he continued to do so here, but I noticed he was a little tougher with this guy than some of the others.

“I brought you in here today because I think you’d be a good addition to this crew, Dean. I’ve seen you work, and it’s similar to the way we do things. I know you’ve had some training. Tell us a bit about it,” Alec requested, sitting back in his chair.

Bella stayed quiet on this one, opting to listen as she flipped through his file.

“I was born here in Washington, played high school baseball until I discovered martial arts,” he started, and I could see this guy wasn’t loud or gruff. He was a bit like Jasper, soft-spoken and observant as fuck. “I joined the Marines right out of school. I did two tours, and I was stationed in Afghanistan, Japan, and South Korea. I was a part of an elite team. It didn’t have a name until about two years ago – Raiders. Navy has their SEALs, Army has their Green Berets, Marines classify themselves as elite to begin with, but they needed a recon team. That was us.”

“You’ve seen some ugly shit,” I pointed out, glancing over Bella’s shoulder at his file again.

“Ah, yeah, definitely, but so have you guys. Chopper pilot in Afghanistan. You’ve seen action, too.”

Alec grinned, nodding that Dean had done his own homework, and Bella tilted her head at the guy, finally speaking up.

“You trained to be a Seattle cop. Why didn’t you continue?” she asked him.

“I wasn’t a good fit, Mrs. Cullen.”

“Bella, please,” she said, sitting back in her chair.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, and she grinned at my soft chuckle. “Ma’am” wasn’t a word she liked all that much, but she was used to being surrounded by military-minded men who couldn’t or wouldn’t answer her any other way. “I’m not built to issue speeding tickets or separate marital/domestic disputes. I’m not black and white enough for that. I tend to think a lot in gray areas.”

~oOo~

As always, research is paramount when starting a new case, but it’s not easy keeping up with this crew, even for someone as qualified as Dean Carver, but Edward gives him the rundown on how things work around there in Chapter 2.

~oOo~

“My suggestion is to run as deep a background check as you can on everyone Jin-Sang has traveling with him. You’re looking for any connection to North Korea – anyone who escaped, still has family on that side, and even if they were born there. You’ll want to know. They have a tendency to sneak…well, spies, for a lack of a better word, over into the South and even through China. They use family to threaten or coerce people into giving up information. That civil war will never end.”

I glanced over at Dean, who shrugged, adding, “Better safe than sorry.”

“No, you’re good, man. It’s what we do around here. Everyone in this room, and some not here, bring some hefty shit to the table,” I told him, pointing to Alec. “Alec, here, specializes in black ops, silent entry, and ground attacks. Emmett…our in-house weapons specialist and bomb expert. Jasper over there…sniper.” I placed a hand on my chest. “Chopper pilot, black ops.” Grinning a little, I shifted to the ladies. “Now, here’s where shit gets interesting. Alice over there – certified genius, member of Mensa, carries an eidetic memory, and the best hacker on the goddamn planet. Don’t trade stock on Wall Street. She hacked that shit at twelve years old. Two-point-three million dollars disappeared into the wind. Poof!”

I leaned back in my chair with a smile at Dean’s shock. “Pixie! Where’s the money?”

“What money?” she called back with a laugh.

“No fucking trace,” I muttered, pointing to Makenna, who smirked my way. “Makenna – also extremely good with computers and technology – has a unique talent of being able to remember and draw to photo-like quality any face…of anyone.”

Dean’s eyes drifted to my wife, Mickey, and Rose.

I barked a laugh. “They’re beautiful. They’re deadly. All three. Mickey can open any door, lock, safe, or car without even breaking a sweat, but she’s deadly with weapons and stealth. Bella – trained FBI, martial arts, and a fucking phenomenal shot. Best aim I’ve ever fucking seen, and that’s not because she’s my wife. That’s the truth. Ask anyone. Rose keeps us on the straight and narrow, keeps us from running over each other and from killing one another.”

Dean chuckled, giving a respective nod my way. “Definitely more than a PI job.”

“You have no fucking idea.”

~oOo~

Heaven & Earth will start posting on Sunday, and it will most likely continue as a once-a-week update, simply due to my work and real life schedule. It’ll post on fanfiction.net, my blog, and FictionPad.com. And thank you to The Lemonade Stand for always welcoming Mercward back with open arms.

Until Sunday… Mooches, Deb ;)

~oOo~

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for more MercWard! Be sure and put drotuno on alert and get ready for the excitement of what drotuno will do next!

♥ Nic