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Chapter

1

AMOS DECKER WOULD forever reme shade of blue It would cut into hi knife ht He would never be free from it

The stakeout had been long and ulti forward to catching a few hours of sleep before hitting the streets once more He’d pulled into the driveway of the modest two-story vinyl-sider that enty-five years old and would take at least that long to pay off The rain had slicked the pavement, and as his size fourteen boots ained He closed the car door quietly, certain that all inside would be asleep at this late hour He trudged to the screen door leading into the kitchen and let himself in

The quiet was to be expected But the too quiet nature of the setting was not He had not sensed that then and later wondered why not It was one of ht He had paused in the kitchen to pour a glass of water frolass in the sink, wiped his chin dry, and headed to the next room

He slipped on the floor and this tibone-patterned parquet and he had fallen before Yet this time would be far different because of what he was about to observe The h that he could see clearly

When he held up his hand it was a different color

Red Blood

It had come from somewhere And he picked himself up to find out where

He discovered the source in the next roo, burly fellow like hiot on his knees, his face an inch or so from Johnny’s His throat had been slit from ear to ear There was no need to check for a pulse; there could be none Most of his blood was on the floor

He should have pulled his phone and hit 911 at that very moment He knew better He knew not to stampede around a crime scene, for that hat his home had become by virtue of the dead man, killed by violentHis professional side screamed this at him

But this was only one body His gaze jerked to the stairs and his ed as total panic seized every bit of hi that life had just robbed Decker of everything he would ever have So he ran, his boots pushing coagulating pools of blood outward like an inco tide

He was destroying vital evidence, royally screwing up what should have been kept pristine Right now he didn’t give a damn

He tracked Johnny’s blood right up the stairs, taking the treads three at a ti so fast and feeling so bloated it was a wonder his chest wall could contain it Hisof their own accord

He hit the hallway, bounced off one wall and then its twin as he rocketed down to the first door on the right He never took out his gun, not even bothering to think that the killer could still be there Waiting for him to come home

He smashed open the door with his shoulder and looked wildly around

Nothing

No, not true

He froze in the doorway as the light on the nightstand dimly illuminated the bare foot that protruded above the mattress on the far side

He knew that foot He had held it, ed it, and kissed it on occasion over , narrow, but soer than it should have been The veins on the side, the calluses underneath, the nails painted red, it was all as it should be, except it should not be poking above the ht That meant the rest of her was down on the floor and ould that be, unless…

He edged to that side of the bed and looked down

Cassandra Decker, Cassie to all including and most importantly hi was beyond her now He stumbled forward, stopped next to her, and then slowly knelt, his blue jean knees co to rest in the patch of blood that had collected next to her