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WEDNESDAY

MACON, GEORGIA

Detective Lena Adams winced as she pulled off her T-shirt She took her police badge out of her pocket, along with her flashlight and an extra clip for her Glock, and tossed them all onto the dresser The tiht Lena had rolled out of bed eighteen hours ago and now all she wanted to do was fall back in Not that she’d done thathour had been wasted sitting at a conference roo questions she’d answered the day before and the day before that—navigating the usual bullshit that ca to justify your actions to Internal Affairs

“Who led the raid into the house?”

“What intelligence were you acting on?”

“What did you expect to find?”

The internal investigator for the Macon Police Department had the dour, lifeless personality of a career pencil pusher Every day, the woman showed up dressed in the same style black skirt and white blouse, an outfit that see diners at an Olive Garden She nodded a lot, frowned even more as she took notes When Lena didn’t answer quickly, she’d check the tape recorder toup the silences

Lena was certain the questions were designed to provoke an outburst The first day, she had been so numb that she’d just answered truthfully in the hope that it would soon be over The second and third days, she’d been less forthco minute Today, she had finally exploded, which see for

“What do you think I expected to find, you miserable bitch?”

If only Lena hadn’t found it If only she could take a razor and slice the ies out of her brain They haunted her They flickered into her vision like an old movie every ti sorrow

Lena started to rub her eyes, then thought better of it Six days had passed since she’d led her tea re its way across her nose and underneath her left eye had turned a urine-yellow The three stitches holding together the cut in her scalp itched like a rash

Then there were the things that no one could see—Lena’s bruised tailbone Her aching back and knees The roil in her stoht about what she’d discovered in that desolate house in the woods

Four dead bodies One man still in the hospital Another ould never wear the badge again Not toto her grave

Tears cae to let the grief have its way She was exhausted The week had been hard Hell, the last three weeks had been hard But it was over now All of it was over Lena was safe She would keep her job The rat squad investigator had scurried back to her hole Lena was finally home where no one could stare at her, question her, probe and prod her It wasn’t just Internal Affairs Everyone wanted to knohat the raid had been like, what Lena had found in that dark, dank basement

And Lena wanted nothing et all about it

Her cell phone chirped Lena exhaled until her lungs were completely empty The phone chirped a second tie

VICKERY: u ok?

Lena stared at the letters on the screen Paul Vickery, her partner

She tapped reply Her thumb hovered over the keyboard

The distant rumble of a motorcycle shook the air

Instead of typing out a response, Lena held down the power button until the phone turned off She placed it on the dresser beside her badge

The roar of the Harley-D’s twin-caunned the bike so he could make it to the top of their steep driveway Lena waited, following the faroan of the kickstand, the heavy tread of boots as her husband made his way into the house, tossed his helh she’d asked him a million times not to He paused for a moment, probably to check the mail, then continued toward their bedroom

Lena kept her back to the door as she counted off Jared’s footsteps down the long hallway His stride sounded tentative, reluctant He’d probably been hoping Lena would be asleep

Jared stopped at the doorway He was obviously waiting for Lena to turn around When she didn’t, he asked, “You just get in?”