Crime Thriller
Date Published: December 3, 2025
At the age of 13, Aurelia’s entire life changes when her parents
begin to align themselves with the Juarez Cartel, running drugs and
trafficking women through Rio Bravo, their small town off the Rio Grande
River. Determined to get away from this life, Aurelia collects years of
evidence on the cartel.
At the age of 17, she is forced to run when her parents arrange a marriage to
a cartel member. After working with the FBI to take down most of the cartel,
she is placed in a protection program. Unbeknownst to her, the Juarez Cartel
has rebuilt and is stronger now than before.
In a twist of fate, Aurelia is kidnapped, forced to marry Diego, son to the
leader of the cartel, and produce an heir. Diego, who becomes an unseen ally,
along with Aurelia begin to align themselves with individuals throughout
Mexico to take down the cartel. They will fight, blackmail, and kill to
protect those they love.
In an act of desperation, Diego makes the ultimate sacrifice and enlists the
help of Daniel Zimmerman, a U.S. FBI agent and Aurelia’s first love. On
the day of the raid, will everyone make it out of Mexico alive?
EXCERPT
Looking at Diego, I really take him in. The tall, lanky boy that I knew is gone. I stare at the muscles that fill out the shirt Diego wears. The soft brown color of his skin, peeking out from the collar of his shirt, is darker than I remember. His face is chiseled with a prominent jaw line. Hair, long enough to run my fingers through, graces his head. I see those eyes I remember. Kind, dark pools of ink.
Angry with myself for the feelings coursing through my body right now, I look away. I hate that I feel even an ounce of attraction toward him.
“I didn’t know what your stomach could handle, so I brought you something light. If you want something else, I can get it for you. There is also an ice pack for your eye and some pain medicine.”
I just nod, and pick up the water bottle, taking a long drink. I nibble on the crackers as I hear Diego say, “You can ask me anything. This is one place you are free to talk. Between the ocean waves and the wind, the listening devices can’t pick up our voices as long as we talk softly. I am sorry I was so angry with you earlier. You do not know what I have sacrificed, and that was not fair of me to think otherwise.”
Out of all the things I should have asked, “Why?” is all that comes out.
Diego just looks at me and raises an eyebrow. “Why would you sacrifice anything for me?” I clarify.
Diego just sits there for a while, looking at the ocean before he finally speaks.
“Our lives are actually a lot alike. We both had a parent taken from us when we were young, and our lives ripped out from under us. That control was taken from both of us, and we did the best we could with the life we were given. I wanted nothing to do with that life and had pretty much given up hope, until one day I met this beautiful, feisty girl, who, despite what life had given her, was determined to make the most of it.”
Diego turns to look at me.
“The days I spent with you on the back porch of your mom’s house were the best days of my life.”
“Then you stopped coming and joined the enemy!” I practically yell at him.
“Do you think I had a choice any more than you did?” Diego yells, hitting his fist on the chair, knocking over the food.
“Shit!” Standing up, he runs his hands through his hair.
“I’m sorry. Hector saw the friendship between the two of us on those visits and reported it back to my father. Miguel was already trying to get me under his thumb, and he saw an opportunity to use you to get that done. I told him he was crazy, and you were just some stupid kid I had to talk to while we were there. I knew he had eyes watching, so I started being part of the conversations with the cartel to get their eyes off you.”
I sit there in stunned silence. It was like I had been putting a puzzle of my life together and thought I knew what the picture was, only to realize I was not even given all the pieces.
“I still continued to watch you, even though you wouldn’t even look at me. I was planning to explain everything to you, but then you met Daniel. Believe it or not, I was happy for you. Your entire way of being changed for the better. I was hopeful that you would just keep under the radar, and he would get you out of that life. I was just biding my time until that happened, and then I was going to tell my father that I was out. If that meant the end of me, that was fine, because I knew one of us would have a life beyond all of this.”
“What?” I whisper.
I don’t even think he hears me as he starts pacing. “Then you guys got caught and-” I stand up at this point and am shaking from head to toe.
“Did you know? Did you know what they were going to do to him?” I yell.
“I was pulling more and more away from the cartel’s dealings. I did not know what was happening until Daniel was already gone.” I know by the way he holds my eyes—he is telling the truth. Sinking back into the chair, I turn my head toward the ocean.
“I was going to come to you after that and try to explain. I waited for you after a shift one night. When you came out, you had a determined look in your eye. Instead of approaching you, I followed you.”
At this, I whip my head around to look at him.
“Imagine my surprise when you ended up at the docks where the cartel just happened to be unloading drugs.”
“Did you rat me out?” I ask.
A hurt look crosses his face before he looks away again.
“No, I told my father I wanted in on the runs after that. I thought if I was there, I might be able to protect you. The night you were spotted, I did everything I could to make sure you got away.”
“You knew I was there?”
“I always knew where you were, crazy girl. I saw you even when you didn’t see yourself.”
About the Author
T.R. Motley. I have lived in Oklahoma all of my life. For the last 28
years now, I have dedicated my life to taking care of my family and other
families as a nurse. I worked in the Pediatric ICU for 25 years taking care of
extremely sick children. There were highs, when I was able to place a child in
his parent’s arms after a being on life support to watch the smile on both of
their faced for a very long time. There were lows, when I placed a child in
their parent’s arms, which would be the last time they would ever hold them.
My love of books started as a teen when life was not the best, and I would
place myself in the characters shoes and get lost in the story. As an adult,
it was my escape from reality in a sometimes cruel world. Along the way, my
own stories began to swirl in my head. I always wanted to put those stories on
paper, but needing to be a responsible adult, took the safe route.
On my last week in the PICU, my fellow coworkers and I went on a float trip.
Several people asked if we had it to do over again, would we still have become
a nurse. Surprisingly, only two people said they would. When going around and
asking what everyone would have done instead, I said I would have become an
author. Silence ensued for a minute, before there was a chorus of, “Go for
it!” Two months later, I did a ton of research and started my first novel.
Seven months later, I had a completed piece of work. Months of beta reading
and changes along with and editor, helped round out what my book has become.
Now, twenty years later, I am pursuing that dream of storytelling.
Aurelia’s story is about overcoming any obstacle, even when being pushed down
from every angle for most of her life. It is about seeing some of the worst
circumstances in life, facing those head on and fighting back to make her life
better. It is about believing that just because you were born into a certain
life, you can fight for what you want and make your way out. It is about
finding love in the worst circumstances and having life ripped away once more.
It is about a woman fighting in a man’s world and excelling. It is about
finding friends in the misted of tragedy and realizing sometimes people will
fight for you just as hard.
We see the mark drug cartels not only leave on the U.S. and Mexico in general,
but in the lives of real people. We see how easy human trafficking and
bringing drugs in from Mexico can be. We learn that people are so greedy for
power and money, that they allow these things to happen. People that should
protect us. This is a powerful story of how Aurelia, who is immersed into this
world, not only fights for herself, but others who have been drug in along
with her. There are powerful characters that Aurelia meets along the way who
join forces to not only help her with this fight but become the family she
never had.
This is a romantic suspense novel, appropriate for ages 18+ (adult only).
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