Chapter 1 - The Shadow in the Rain
The ambulance engine idled with a low, steady hum.
Lily pressed her small hands against the cold, rain-streaked glass.
"Who was she scared of, Lily?" Rachel asked gently.
The little girl raised a trembling finger and pointed toward the dark alleyway next to the apartment complex.
"Him," Lily whispered.
Rachel snapped her head around and stared into the pouring rain.
A tall figure stood completely motionless in the shadows of the brick building.
He was wearing a heavy dark raincoat, his face entirely hidden from the streetlights.
Rachel instinctively rested her hand on her service weapon.
She keyed her shoulder microphone to request immediate backup.
But a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the courtyard, and the figure completely vanished.
Rachel told the paramedics to lock the ambulance doors and rushed out into the heavy downpour.
She sprinted to the exact spot where the mysterious man had just been standing.
There was no sign of him in the dark, empty alley.
However, resting perfectly upright in a muddy puddle was a single, worn woman's sneaker.
Rachel recognized the shoe instantly from Lily's description of her mother's clothing.
She knelt in the cold mud and pulled a folded piece of paper from inside the wet shoe.
May you like
Her blood ran completely cold as she read the handwritten words.
The note said, "You should have ignored the 911 call, Officer Brooks."
