Copyright © 2025 by Declan James Books

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

Eighteen hours ago…

She looked at him, those piercing, ice-blue eyes filled with fear. Those eyes. That dark hair. He reached down and curled a strand of it between his fingers. She flinched, tried to scramble backwards, but she couldn’t find a good grip in the dirt with her hands taped in front of her at the wrists.

“This was always gonna be the dead giveaway,” he said, smiling. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back tears. If he’d taken the tape off her mouth, he knew she would have begged him. Or play dumb. Like he didn’t already know what she was. Like her words would make any difference.

“Where did you think you were going to go?” he asked. “Did you really think it was going to work out for you? That things would be better out there than here? There’s as much pain for you out there, maybe more. I’m doing you a favor.”

She shook her head. He reached forward, pulling the tape from one side of her mouth. It turned out he wanted to hear what she’d say, after all.

“No,” she whispered. “No. Please. I won’t do anything. I just went for a walk.”

No. Not interesting at all. He pressed the tape back over her mouth.

“Get up, Adah,” he said. “You want to go for a walk? We’ll go for a walk.”

He wrenched her arm, pulling her to her feet. She nearly lost her balance. He caught her, put an arm around her waist and pushed her forward so she could see where they were.

“See,” he said. “It’s a long way down.” She pressed back against him, realizing he was the only thing keeping her from falling down the edge of the ravine. It was probably a thirty-foot drop over jagged rocks and thorny branches. If she lost her footing…if he did… she’d die right here.

“What was so bad about it?” he asked. “You had everything you needed. People who cared about you. A roof over your head. Whatever they told you about the other side of the hill? You have no idea how bad it can be. How quickly you would have lost your soul. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure you never have to find out.”

She let out a muffled cry. He pulled her away from the edge and shoved her forward. She staggered, fell down on one knee. Tried hard to get back to her feet but her bound wrists made it difficult. He pulled her up, gripping her shirt.

“Adah Lee. You think you’re some special prize. You have no idea how much trouble everyone has gone through for you. You don’t care. You don’t appreciate it. You think just because of who you are, you’re entitled to something you’ve never deserved.”

He pushed her forward. He would take her through the woods on the other side of Red Sky Hill. No one would ever think to look for her there. It was a harder path around the hill. They would assume she went the other way, past the old lady’s house. It would have been the smart thing to do. But he doubted she’d ever been smart.

“Keep walking,” he commanded. “You don’t stop until I tell you.”

It would be a long walk back out for him, too. But it would be pitch dark soon. No one would think to look for her here. They’d never think she was brave enough to try to leave. And if they figured it out, they’d all think she deserved whatever came to her, just like he did.

She was slow, taking halting steps, trying not to lose her footing as the brush grew thicker. At this rate, they’d be here all night. He couldn’t afford that. Maybe he needed to end this now. Maybe he’d had all the fun he was going to. He felt again for the hunting knife strapped in a sheath on his belt. He hadn’t realized how thrilling it would be when he showed it to her. She must have seen her own eyes filled with fear, reflected in the blade. It was almost poetic.

Slowly, he drew the blade out of its holster, never taking his eyes off of Adah. He knew she must feel his hot breath on her neck as she kept trudging forward. She didn’t cry. That part was over. He wondered if she’d even try to scream again if he took the tape off. Maybe he wanted her to. Surely they were far enough away from anybody's hearing.

“Stop,” he said. “Turn around. Slowly.”

She took another step forward. Her whole body trembled as she stopped. She started to turn around. He was wrong. It seemed she still had tears left, after all.

His heartbeat kicked up a notch. The thrill of what he could finally do coursed through him. He took a step toward her.

The ground shifted beneath him. He stepped on a rock or something. It broke loose. He lost his balance, rolled his ankle, and fell to one knee. But he never lost his grip on the knife.

Adah turned back toward the woods. Her dark hair flew behind her like a banner as she started to run.

“Dammit,” he muttered. “Stop!”

But she didn’t stop. She was quicker, more agile than he would have given her credit for. He stopped to watch her flee, just for a moment. It gave him a different kind of thrill he hadn’t expected.

“Do it,” he whispered to himself. “Run.”

He sheathed his knife and took off after her.

Chapter Two

“Serving the people of Worthington County has been one of the great honors of my life. I’m grateful and humbled to be entrusted to continue as Sheriff for another four years. We’re going to finally, fully take this department into the twenty-first century…”

Detective Jake Cashen heard muted whispers behind him. A cackle. Sheriff Meg Landry had just been sworn in as Sheriff after a heated election a few months ago. An archaic rule in the county charter set inaugurations in April rather than January.

If Jake didn’t know better, Meg seemed choked up. She wasn’t a particularly emotional person. She could come off as downright cold until you got to know her.

The cackling behind him got louder. Jake turned. When he zoned in on who the hecklers were, it didn’t surprise him. Jeff Hammer had been demoted from Sergeant to the graveyard of the property room after he’d withheld information that could have helped a murder investigation. Deputy Sullivan McCloud covered his mouth and whispered something to Hammer. Sully still spoke loud enough for Jake to hear.

“She’s a token. It’s gonna be a long four years.”

Jake clenched his fists. He leaned forward, stepping out of line so he could see Landry’s family standing just one row ahead of him. Phil Landry beamed at his wife. Mercifully, Sully and Hammer’s voices hadn’t carried up to the front row.

Paige Landry, Meg’s daughter, stood behind her father looking more grown-up than Jake had ever seen her. Paige favored her mother with her tight curls and short stature. Phil put his arm around Paige and kissed her cheek. Paige let him. She had always been closer to her father than Meg.

“These are just some of the goals I have for the next four years,” Meg continued.

Sully and Hammer would not shut up. Jake turned. “You two wanna shut your yaps for at least five minutes. Or take it outside. There’s a row of reporters standing about ten feet from you. Or hadn’t you noticed?”

Hammer glared at Jake. He blamed him for his demotion. In Jake’s opinion, the property room had been a gift. If it had been up to him, he’d have asked for Hammer’s badge.

“Sorry,” Hammer said. “Forgot you’re the teacher’s pet.”

“Thank you,” Meg said at the podium.

“Enough!” Lieutenant John Beverly stood directly behind Sully and Hammer. He’d heard the whole thing, just like Jake. Beverly shot Jake a look that read “stand down.”

“Hammer, you want to be on night duty in the property room for the rest of the year? I’m sure Landry will sign off on it.”

Scowling, Hammer stared straight ahead. The room filled with modest applause as Landry finished her speech. Meg stepped off the podium and headed for her husband and daughter.

Jake was proud of her. She’d come under heavy fire during the election. A lot of people still didn’t think she deserved to be Sheriff at all. She was never supposed to have that job. The previous Sheriff, Greg O’Neal, hired her to serve as his undersheriff and her role was supposed to be strictly administrative. But when O’Neal died of a sudden heart attack, it thrust Meg into the role. In Jake’s opinion, she excelled in it. Though Hammer and Sully’s “teacher’s pet” comment riled him.

“Jake,” Meg called out. “We’re going to take some pictures. I’d like you to stick around.”

Jake heard Hammer and Sully snicker as they moved with the dispersing crowd.

“You know this isn’t really my thing,” he told Landry. “You, Phil and Paige are the stars today.”

“You did great,” Phil said as he hugged Meg. Even Paige was in a good mood today. It wasn’t easy being an almost seventeen-year-old girl in the 2020s. Never mind being the child of a public figure like she was.

“How about over here in front of the flag?” the photographer said.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Jake said.

Meg got into position with Phil on one side and Paige on the other. “Don’t go too far,” Meg said. “I’ll let you off the hook on the pictures, but go wait for me in my office. We need to talk.”

Her tone didn’t seem ominous, but Jake wondered what she could want to talk to him about right after her ceremony. There was a reception at the union hall. Jake was hoping to skip it, but Meg certainly couldn’t.

“Okay, boss,” he told her. Meg smiled for the camera. Phil positively beamed. Paige made an attempt at a smile, but she was outside of her comfort zone, too.

Jake left them and headed up the elevator and down the hall to Meg’s office. He hadn’t been in it since Meg finished her redecorating. Gone were the dark paneled walls from Greg O’Neal’s time. She’d painted them a light beige and had new, tan carpet installed. Meg had gotten rid of the monstrosity of a desk that probably dated back to the seventies. In its place, she’d chosen a smaller, sleeker, solid white oak piece.

It was nice, Jake thought. It made the whole room feel bigger and brighter…more Meg.

He sat on one of the caramel colored leather couches she’d picked. It was comfortable enough. There was a matching couch next to it, perpendicular on the opposite wall.

A few minutes later, Meg walked in. Phil was right behind her. Meg turned and kissed him. “I’ll see you over there,” she said. “Just give me about fifteen minutes.”

“Hey, Jake!” Phil waved. “Don’t keep her too long.”

Jake smiled. “I’ll try not to.”

Phil left and Meg shut the door. Her face was flushed, her wide smile still fixed in place.

“Was it okay?” She asked. “I hope I didn’t bore anybody to death.”

“It was fine,” he said. “You did good.”

“Thanks for hanging back. I knew you were probably planning to duck out. I’ll let you. But not before I pick your brain about something.”

“Is it that important?” Jake asked. “You’re gonna miss your party.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “We’ll be fine. The county commissioners are going to make the whole thing about them anyway.”

“What’s up?”

“I wasn’t kidding with what I said about dragging this department into the modern era. I’ll cut to it. I’ve been in communication with the Columbus Field Office. They’re forming a Violent Crimes task force. FBI, Secret Service, detectives from the surrounding counties. It took some wrangling, but I got us a seat at the table. They’ve asked me to submit a name from this department. There’s no question I want it to be you.”

Jake let out a breath. “I hate task forces. The FBI hates me.”

“This one will be different. You’ll have access to state-of-the-art equipment. I’ve seen the proposal. The feds are actually going to put real money and muscle behind this one. I need you to think about it. Then I need you to do it.”

“In my spare time?”

“The feds are paying for it. It could be a significant bump to your take home. Your overtime will be billed at double your current hourly rate. It’ll be a raise, Jake. It’s part time. You can negotiate your hours. I’m handpicking you for this one. It’s a fantastic opportunity for both you and this department.”

Hammer and Sully’s teacher’s pet comment replayed in his mind. He could only imagine the scuttlebutt that would go on behind his back when word got out about the money.

“I don’t know,” Jake said. “I told you. I can barely handle the caseload I have. Half the time I’m doing Majewski’s job in property crimes too. He’s on medical leave again for what, twelve weeks this time?”

“I know. But…”

Jake knew the bottom line. “Meg,” he said. “If I’m even going to consider taking on something like this, getting me a partner…an official one…needs to take priority.”

“I know,” she said. “It’s going to happen. Now that the election’s behind me, I’ll have the power I need to make some real changes around here. This is one of them.”

“It has to be Erica Wayne,” Jake said. “She’s practically already been my partner on the last few cases. We work well together. She deserves it.”

“I know that too,” Meg said. “Of course, Erica’s at the top of any list to make detective. But there has to be a formal promotional process. My hands are tied on that. It’s in the collective bargaining agreement. I’m posting the position tomorrow morning. Just make sure Erica puts in for it. We have to jump through the hoops but of course she’d be the frontrunner.”

Jake also knew a lot of the rank and file would hate it. Erica had only been with the department for a couple of years. She’d also served in the Army Intelligence for close to a decade before that. Jake knew of no one more qualified to work with him.

“She’ll put in for it,” he said. “She wants it. She deserves it. Will I be part of the interviewing process?”

“Probably not,” Meg said. “You can’t be objective and you’ve made no secret of that.”

There was a knock on the door. Andrea, Meg’s newly hired and much needed office assistant poked her head in.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Andrea said. “I was actually looking for you, Detective Cashen.”

“It’s Jake,” he said.

“Jake,” Andrea blushed. She was a sweet girl, Jake thought. Just a few years out of college. “Anyway, there’s someone here to see you.”

“It’s Friday,” Jake said. “After four. I’m off duty.”

“I know. That’s what I told her. But she wouldn’t take no for an answer. And she said you’d want to see her.”

Puzzled, Jake looked at Meg.

“You better skedaddle then,” Meg said. “We’ll talk more on Monday morning. I’ll expect your answer. It better be yes.” Meg winked.

“I put her in the interview room just outside your office,” Andrea said, opening the door wide enough so Jake could pass.

“Thanks,” he told her. He made the quick jaunt down to his office. He’d locked his door when he left. The interview room two doors down was the only light on. Jake gripped the knob and hoped whatever was behind this door wasn’t going to ruin his day.

He stopped short when he saw her. She somehow looked smaller here than what he remembered when he’d met her on her turf on the other side of Red Sky Hill.

“Jake,” she said. She was Melva Bardo, matriarch of one of the biggest organized crime families in the region. She lived in a remote area in the northern part of the county and belonged to an isolated hilltop community rarely seen in town. In Jake’s experience, they didn’t trust outsiders and were armed to the teeth.

“Mrs. Bardo,” he said. He extended his hand to shake hers but she waved it away.

“This won’t take long,” she said. “But it’s time I collected what you owe me.”

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