77, 7 and 7

I was tagged by fellow Pelican Marianne Evans

1. Go to page 77 of my manuscript.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy the next 7 lines/paragraphs.

So here is the said passage from my upcoming release Tuesday's Child.

Blurb:

Tuesday's Child tenders direction...

Deaf from the age of five, Adeline Munroe now runs the local dolls hospital with her best friend Jasmine and constant companion, hearing dog, Ben. Haunted by visions, she 'sees' each murder either as or just before they happen.

Detective Sergeant Nate Holmes is investigating the herbalist serial killings. Things are complicated when he falls for one of the witnesses. As more women die, and Adeline becomes the prime target, is time running out for them both?

By the time Ben told Adeline there was someone at the door at seven fifteen, the kitchen no longer resembled the bomb site it had been all afternoon. The flour had been cleared off the surfaces and floor, batter wiped from the cupboard doors and Vianne’s face. She even picked the remnants of the egg shell from the sugar bowl.

She opened the door and let Nate in out of the rain. “Hey.”

“Hey. Something smells good.” Nate entered the house, shedding his wet coat.

“Thank you.” She took the coat and hung it on the free standing coat rack set in one corner of the hallway. “This is soaked.”

Nate nodded. “I was outside all afternoon at a crime scene. Uniformed officers got the call this morning, and we spent the afternoon talking to the neighbors in the hope of finding something useful.”

Adeline held his gaze. Sorrow filled his eyes again, this time seeming to permeate to his soul. She should have called him, but one thing after another had come up and… “The Herbalist?”

“Yeah. He made sure this one died. She was only fifteen.” He took a deep breath, raw emotion crossing his face. “It doesn’t matter how many of these I do, I never become immune to it.”

You can read Marianne's excerpt here