Chapter 1 - The Ghost of St. Jude
The orphanage of St. Jude was a place where color went to die.
Tucked away in the gray industrial outskirts of the city, it was a sprawling complex of cold stone and peeling paint.
Fifteen years had passed since a massive fire had burned the east wing of the building entirely to the ground.
Julian stood in the ash and rubble as a grown man with a hardened heart.
He kicked a piece of charred wood and vividly remembered the scent of pine needles.
He remembered a small trembling hand reaching for his in the terrifying darkness.
Elena had been the only bright spot in his miserable childhood existence.
She was a delicate wildflower struggling to bloom in the cracks of a concrete floor.
Julian reached into his heavy leather jacket and pulled out his most prized possession.
It was the small weathered silver locket with an engraving of a single rose.
He had promised to protect her forever on the night they were violently separated by the greedy orphanage director.
Now Julian worked as a private investigator in the city's dangerous and unforgiving underbelly.
He had spent every single day of his adult life desperately searching for her.
His latest case involved tracking a corrupt corporate executive to these abandoned ruins.
While searching the debris Julian noticed a rusted metal lockbox hidden beneath the burnt floorboards.
He smashed the heavy brass lock with his crowbar and pried open the lid.
Inside the box was a stack of highly classified adoption records that had somehow survived the blaze.
His heart hammered violently against his ribs as he flipped through the yellowed pages.
He finally found the official state file with Elena's birth name printed across the top.
Julian scanned the fragile document and felt the blood run entirely cold in his veins.
The official medical record stated with absolute certainty that Elena had died in the fire fifteen years ago.
But clipped to the back of the forged death certificate was a glossy photograph taken yesterday afternoon.
It was a picture of a stunningly beautiful woman stepping out of a black armored limousine.
She had the exact same soulful eyes as the little girl from the orphanage.
May you like
Julian turned the photograph over to read the handwritten note scribbled on the back.
The messy red ink stated that she was going to be assassinated at midnight.
