Chapters RAPE &
1
Chapter 01
Rain hammered the roof of the Ford Pinto like fists on a coffin lid. Every drop hit with violent insistence, a steady pounding that blurred her thoughts almost as much as it did…
2
Chapter 02
The door to the barracks had a hydraulic cylinder shutting quietly behind her, and she stood for a second, letting her eyes adjust—not to the dim light, but to the discernable …
3
Chapter 03
Snow had fallen overnight, clean and heavy, turning the farmland into a quiet, white canvas. The cold hit hard, stinging fingers and tightening the air in your chest…
4
Chapter 04
The room felt too full for its size. Reporters hunched over notepads, some already scribbling, others tapping the edges of their recorders like they were trying to shake them awake…
5
Chapter 05
The barking came out of nowhere, sharp, panicked, and constant. It broke the stillness like a slap to the face. Hunter #1 stopped in his tracks. He held one hand out to…
6
Chapter 06
The conference room was packed to the hilt. Deputies, detectives, and local officers from neighboring towns filed into the space with heavy coats and serious faces, gripping…
7
Chapter 07
The hallway at Troop B was streaked with melting salt from endless foot traffic. Phones rang behind closed doors, printers zipping, and intermittent voices chirped over radios…
8
Chapter 08
By the time Holt slid into the booth, most of the breakfast crowd had cleared out. Plates clinked in the kitchen. Somewhere behind the counter, a radio played low…
9
Chapter 09
The road stretched out in front of him like a dark ribbon twisting through the woods. A light drizzle had begun to fall, soft enough not to turn the concrete highway slick but steady…
10
Chapter 10
The airport stirred with early movement. Suitcases rolled past. Footsteps echoed. Non-stop announcements over the terminal speakers…
11
Chapter 11
The Buzzy Bee looked like it hadn’t changed since the war. Floorboards groaned underfoot. A flickering neon Iron City Beer sign bathed the bar in tired red light. Smoke clung…
12
Chapter 12
It was a dry autumn morning in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The kind that stung through sweaters and carried the bite of burning leaves from nearby yards…
13
Chapter 13
The snow came down like punishment, thick, relentless, and blinding. Wind howled across the open stretches of road, shoving against power lines and rattling the aging aluminum…
14
Chapter 14
It was cold in Washington Park. The winter air was so sharp it hurt to breathe. Snow covered the grass. The sun was going down, making everything look gray…
15
Chapter 15
Cold light spilled from the ceiling, washing the hospital waiting room in a dull, sterile shine. Jack Holt sat alone, elbows on his knees, hands clasped, twiddling his fingers…
16
Chapter 16
The room was quiet. The clock blinked red, lighting part of Holt’s face every few seconds. A heavy quilt lay tangled at his feet. The January chill had crept into the corners of his…
17
Chapter 17
The dirt road stretched out like a scar, winding through a patch of nowhere on the edge of Washington County. No houses. No lights. Just woods pressing in from both sides…
18
Chapter 18
The morning air was dry and brittle, the kind that bit at your cheeks and numbed your toes. Detective Jack Holt pulled open the front glass door of the Observer Reporter building and …
19
Chapter 19
People slowly filled the wooden benches in the courtroom. Harsh lights hung from the ceiling, leaving a creepy pique glow. The marble walls looked faded and had…
20
Chapter 20
The quiet whirr of tires slowed against the asphalt as Mallory Signet eased her car into the driveway. The headlights cut across the front of the house, modest but…
21
Chapter 21
The early morning quiet inside the library felt sacred, like even the dust motes floating in the air respected the silence. The warmth inside was a welcome contrast to the icy…
22
Chapter 22
The phone rang once in Bernecki’s hospital room, now just a transitional suite before official discharge. Sunlight crept in through partially opened blinds, cutting across the …
23
Chapter 23
The television flickered softly across the room, casting blue light onto the walls of Kelly Morgan’s apartment. She sat curled on the couch in a worn hoodie, one knee tucked …
24
Chapter 24
The roll-up garage door’s springs tightened as it lifted, letting in a sharp gust of winter air and the sound of early brittle trucks starting along the industrial block. Inside…
25
Chapter 25
The door briskly opened to soft jazz playing on a vintage stereo. Murphy stood in the entryway, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel and looking every bit like a man trying too…
26
Chapter 26
The first light hadn’t yet broken over Centerville, but the search had already begun. Flashlights moved in disciplined rhythm through the predawn fog…
27
Chapter 27
The interior of St. Agnes was grand, with its high vaulted ceilings and intricate stonework. The atmosphere was thick with a palpable sense of loss, weighing heavily on all….
28
Chapter 28
Even hours after impact, the wood framed remains of the suburban house still smoldered. Charred timber leaned at angles like broken limbs. A wing fragment jutted from the…
29
Chapter 29
Pittsburgh National Bank was quiet in that way public spaces get when everyone knows not to linger. The marble floors gleamed, polished down to dullness near…
30
Chapter 30
The jukebox played Merle Haggard’s “Low and lazy,” and Dahlia Stanford was wiping down the same spot on the counter for the third time. The place was dead…
31
Chapter 31
The far-off lightning did little to create solice, instead it mimicked a surreal scene, scary, ominous, reminiscent of a child watching a horror movie…
