Working on The Final Deception today. For those of you who requested more about the relationship between Quay Thompson and his partner Samantha Atwood, it’s coming along nicely. Here’s an excerpt from early on in The Final Deception:

So they both had had their issues. When Quay Thompson and Sam Atwood had been placed together as partners, they had thrown themselves into their work and in that, they found a common ground.
It had been a while before she’d seen the softer side of Quay. The blue-eyed twinkle hadn’t appeared very often until late last fall, after the arrests related to the Cameron BioTech murders. Slowly, Quay had begun to relax and joke more frequently. She’d begun to relax, too.
She smiled to herself as she thought about his ‘habit’. Chewing bubble gum had been a source of constant friendly bantering between them. Sometimes, just to prove a point, he’d blow huge, pink bubbles and pop them. Of course, the bubbles would appear at the most inopportune times.The snapping crack of the bubble followed by a lopsided smirk totally disarmed her. Glancing toward her for a reaction, he’d break into a huge, happy grin. “You’re impressed with my unique talent, aren’t you?” he’d ask. She’d look at him and shake her head, but couldn’t help smiling to herself.
After he’d witnessed Sam’s kidnapping near the end of the Cameron BioTech/SPARTA case, Quay had shared with Sam his fear of losing her, too, like he’d lost his wife. He had grieved for his wife intensely, and had no intention of going through that again. He told her that he thought he was at a point where he could move on with his life, but he needed to be sure Sam was never in that kind of danger again.
Sam knew the case had not been totally closed. There was still Sunni Hyun. That small woman held an enormous key to the entire Cameron BioTech case and the murders connected to it. The call Quay had just received was bringing it all back. Sam and Quay had assumed Sunni was the brains behind the whole scheme. Sunni Hyun had eluded arrest, and they thought she had probably fled the country; so, the case was only partially settled. Sunni Hyun was still on the Most Wanted list, and they had placed this BOLO on her. The sudden reappearance of her name had brought it back full circle. Finally, they might have a real lead on Sunni Hyun! This was more important than anything else right now.
Sam glanced at Quay as he maneuvered his truck through the traffic on the freeway. Obviously lost in thought, Quay chewed his bubble gum and blew frequent bubbles. She laughed a bit.
“What a guy!” she murmured.
“What?” Quay demanded. “What’d I do now?”
“Nothing, Just watching you and your bubble gum!” Sam answered, smiling as she looked away and out the window.