This year, 2025, marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of my debut novel, Bloody Point. In celebration, each month we’ll feature the backstory of one of my twelve novels. Here’s the story of Battered Justice.
Sometimes characters are “sticky.” I finish a book, but I can’t stop thinking about them. Such was the way with Cassie and Jake. By the end of Bloody Point, Jake and Cass had survived several traumatic events, culminating in Jake’s dramatic rescue of Cass on a dark, stormy night on the Chesapeake Bay. This near-fatal incident had created a bond in the two FBI partners that was destined to continue.
And so it did. I had completed the sequel to Bloody Point in 2006. When my second traditional publisher decided to give up publishing all fiction and my career was once again stalled, I felt strongly that Bloody Point sequel was too good to stay in a drawer. In 2015, my husband and I decided to publish it ourselves.
Battered Justice picks up a couple of years after Bloody Point. Jake and Cass are both agents working at the Baltimore FBI office. Jake is struggling to balance his demanding job with his personal life. His divorce is final, and he’s the half-time parent of two kids. He and Cass are friends, and she’s dating a local detective. When another agent is shot, it’s all hands on deck. Clues lead to a local gang that may be bringing drugs into the area, but are there bigger players to identify?
Jake’s ex-wife has remarried. Her new husband is a powerful Maryland state senator. Jake is not happy with the way Chase treats his kids or Tam. He suspects Chase is abusing her. He’s also curious about the connection between the senator and a casino into which drugs seem to be flowing.
One night, Jake finds Tam brutally beaten in the foyer of her home. He calls 911 and tries to save her, but she dies. Her husband has a strong alibi. Jake is covered in Tam’s blood, and after an investigation, police charge Jake with her murder. Justice takes a beating as Jake goes on trial.
I think it would be incredibly scary to be charged with a crime you didn’t commit, yet I’m sure it happens all the time. That’s what I wanted to explore in Battered Justice. Ten years after its original publication, Battered Justice is still one of my favorite books.