November/December 2019 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE 67
“Ellie is a female Jack Reacher.”
The decrepit structure sat deep in the mangroves,
a few miles north of Everglades City, nestled in like an
old animal that had hidden away to curl up and die in
privacy.
He stepped inside. The lantern and the box of
matches sat on a short counter on the opposite end.
He started toward it and
tossed his keys through the
darkness, hearing them
clatter onto a small table in
the center of the room.
“Hello.”
Brett swiveled around
as a halting noise escaped
his throat; a malnourished
scream. He jumped back a
couple of feet and held his
hands out in front in a frenzied
effort to protect himself
from the unseen intruder.
He managed a weak “Wh-
Who are you?”
The voice was softer, belonging to a female, but fi rm
and confi dent. “I’ve been waiting for you to show for
the last eight hours.” Then, like a parent worried sick
over their teenager, she said, “Where have you been all
night?”
“How ... how’d you get here? Nobody knows about
this place.”
“That’s not important.”
“You police?”
“Brett, there is a pair of handcuffs on that table you
just tossed your keys on. Please put them on.”
He spoke into the darkness. “Handcuffs? What is
this? You arresting me? I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I won’t tell you twice.”
Brett didn’t like her tone. It carried a quiet authority.
He couldn’t see if she had a weapon pointed toward
him. If she had really been out here in this place all
night by herself, she possessed a level of guts he
thought impossible for a woman; most men too. Reluctantly,
he stepped over to the table and felt around.
His keys rattled as his hand slid over them, and then
his fi ngers touched the familiar cold steel of the handcuffs.
He grabbed them up and rattled them around.
“Okay. I got them.”
“Nice try. Put them on. Now.”
The author explains the importance of setting,
“The place and location should be a character of
its own, inviting people to stay and making it hard
for them to leave when they turn to the last page. I
love Pine Island. While many are somewhat familiar
with Sanibel, many have never discovered the rural,
coastal beauty that is Pine Island. I try and avoid
cliches wherever possible. No one enjoys a character
they feel like they’ve read in a hundred other
stories. I try and keep my bad guys complex and
my good guys loveable,
funny, and multi-faceted.”
Out in front of them, a
blue heron swooped down
and landed gracefully at
the edge of the marsh. Ellie
loved it out here. She felt
like she was on the edge
of the earth. Dusk was
beginning to set in, the sun
hovering over the horizon,
preparing to dissolve into
the ocean as it continued its
eternal dance with darkness.
Palmettos rustled against
the side of the house, and the sea grasses bent and
bowed in the marsh, obeying the wind.
Jack Hardin writes for a cause, “Human Traffi cking
is a serious problem. It’s the fastest-growing
organized crime activity in the United States and
includes both sex and forced labor traffi cing.”
He wants more people to get involved, “Most
Americans don’t realize that between 14,500 and
17,500 people are traffi cked into the U.S. each year.
Globally, it generates profi ts up to $32 billion every
year. When it comes to children getting pulled into
traffi cking, perpetrators are looking for vulnerable
children that they can easily control and manipulate.
Lonely children who don’t have a good relationship
with friends and family are prime targets.” He encourages
action, “Below is a link to Florida Abolitionist,
an organization based in Florida that works
tirelessly to fi ght human traffi cking in the U.S.
I would urge you to visit their site, become
informed, and perhaps donate or fi nd a way to get
involved.”
fl oridaabolitionist.org/the-problem/
The central confl ict brings the reader inside one
of many nightmare scenarios. Hardin’s prose is
sharp and poignant and true. This sequence pulls
us into a world we wish never existed. It shows us
the realities that victims face, forces us not to look
away, helps us understand the need for change, and
validates what Ellie O’Conner is fi ghting for...
Continued on pg. 93
I Love This Series.
I love Tyler and Ellie. She is
fantastic lead character. Pine
Island and its quirky residents are
addicting. The town comes to life.
You can practically smell and taste
the salt water, feel the humidity
and the ocean breeze. I’m so glad I
stumbled onto Jack Hardin’s series.
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