Annmarie H. Pearson

Ruby Carmichael, a skinny thirteen-year-old, finds her stepfather leaning over her mother's deceased body. Protruding from Eleanor's chest was a pair of scissors plunged deep in her chest. Eleanor had been Jack Parade's ex-wife for more than five years. ... Jack turned and stared at Ruby, who was standing at the kitchen entrance. Ruby stared in disbelief. Her stepdad was leaning over her mother, and her mother was dead on the floor. Eleanor's face was white with fear, and her eyes were bulging out. Jack reached around Eleanor's body to check for a pulse. She was dead. She died after the one scream that was heard by Ruby, Jack, the two men that ran through the laundry room to the rear exit, and the two men who climbed through Eleanor's bedroom window. Ruby was numb with fear. ... ... "Ruby, what are you doing here?" ... ... "Dad, you were touching the scissors in Mom's chest. I saw you. Why?"... Jack Parade marries Maria Louisa Garcia-Stewart and becomes the stepfather of her twin eleven-year-old boys. Ruby instantly becomes a sister, daughter, granddaughter and niece. This is all overwhelming to a young, private girl who suffers with emotional problems, as well as, being eccentric with bouts of depression. She is considered a suspect in her mother's murder. Ruby's life is in danger along with her new family. Ruby has a secret that even Ruby doesn't know about. Her biological father, Lester Carmichael, who was just released from prison after a ten year sentence, wants Ruby. He wants her dead or alive. Eleanor's boyfriend, Boris also wants Ruby, but he wants Ruby alive.

Alexandria Tillie Bush, a 21-year-old college student, returns home for a family visit. Her grandfather, Len Hudson, who was a prospector for gold in the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico in his younger years bequeaths an adventure for Alex to find his buried treasure in the rugged Gila Wilderness. What Len Hudson didn't realize when he offered his granddaughter the adventure was that her life and everyone who accompanied her would end up in a deadly quest.Dick Bush, Alex's father, Effram, Alex's boyfriend, and three sorority sisters and their boyfriends accompany Alex into the rugged mountain ranges of the Gila Wilderness. Someone else also followed Alex's consortium into the Gila Wilderness. Someone who made it his vengeful quest to sabotage Alex's entourage as they all traveled on horseback with pack mules into the Rocky Mountains. One of her sorority sisters broke her left leg in a sinister incident; Effram, her boyfriend, was strangely stung by several scorpions and could only travel in a travois; and two other sorority friends were horrendously mutilated as they all tried to help Alex recover her grandfathers' buried treasure.Who followed Alexandria and her consortium into the Gila Wilderness? How will they return to the Bush equestrian ranch while on horseback dragging a travois carrying a life-impending patient, and another sorority sister riding with a broken leg in a tourniquet, all while a mysterious and homicidal outsider continuously tries to disrupt Alexandria's quest?

Alexandria Tillie Bush, a twenty-one-year-old college student, went home to visit her parents in Glenwood, New Mexico, on her summer break. During her visit, her grandfather, Len Hudson, once a prospector for gold in the Mogollon Mountains, bequeathed an adventure for Alex to find his buried treasure in the rugged Gila Wilderness. What Len Hudson didnt realize when he asked his granddaughter to venture into the wilderness was that her life, and everyone who accompanied her, would end up in a dangerous and deadly quest.Alex asked three of her sorority sisters, along with their boyfriends, to accompany her on retrieving her grandfathers buried gold. Someone was sabotaging her entourage as they traveled on horseback with pack mules into the rocky mountains. Alexs boyfriend was in a coma from an unusual accident. One of her sorority sisters broke her left leg in a sinister incident, and two of her friends were horrendously mutilated as they tried to help Alex redeem her grandfathers hidden buried treasure.Who followed Alexandria and her consortium into the Gila Wilderness? And why was he tormenting them? How would they return to the Bush equestrian ranch while on horseback and dragging a travois carrying a coma patient?