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Prologue

She barely noticed the branches tearing at her skin as she ran. Running. Escaping. That was all that mattered now. The branches caught her dress like clawed hands, ripping the material and slowing her down. She cried out and tried to untangle herself. The running steps came closer. Now in complete panic, sobbing as her hands refused to work quickly enough. Her mind screamed in terror at the prospect that he should catch her. The dress finally came uncaught and she ran more, onwards through the trees. Up ahead she saw a small patch of light. She cried in relief. Freedom! Soon this hell would be over! Only 100 feet, to be sure. Less. The footsteps grew louder and louder, the sound more frequent. This was a game for him, she realized. She never stood a chance. With this painful realization came a force across her head that sent her flying. She had one last time to let out a scream, knowing no one would hear her, before tumbling into darkness, never to know fear again.

Chapter 1

Detective Joann Dawson rubbed her temples and tried to think. It seemed impossible that this could happen again. She went over the facts in her head, attempting to draw a conclusion out of the mess. The body was that of Clarissa Lynn. She is 22, has no kids, has a boyfriend, and a loving family. Had, Joann reminded herself, had. This was the seventh murder in this forest park, located near to a popular restaurant. Well it was a popular restaurant until bodies of dead women came showing up. Joann crouched down to the body, removed her sunglasses, and brushed back a strand of her long brown hair. Death by a blow to the head. Probably some large heavy object, and since there was an obviously long chase, it was picked up along the way, and discarded afterwards. A rock. She called over Detective Leo Brown, one of the team. He had been like a father to her since her own dad died, and she trusted him more than anyone else in the district. “Hey Jo, what’d you find?” asked the old man, painfully bending his legs to kneel beside her. Leo looked at Joann, the daughter he never had. Her eyes were dusty gray-blue, although one would never tell seeing as she always wore her sunglasses in the hot Miami sun. Her thick waves of brown hair caused her pain to no end, and was normally kept in a ponytail to keep out of her face. Today, however, it was down, and he liked it. The soft curls seemed to shape her face, giving her a fragile feminine look. How deceiving, he thought, for she was anything but subtle. As if to prove Leo’s point she snapped at him. “What are you staring at, old man?” she asked jokingly, “can’t keep your eyes from my stunning beauty?” With an over dramatic hair-flip to emphasize her last words, she got back to the case. “I want you to find me a rock,” she asked, and seeing his questioning glance she added, “I think it would be the murder weapon.” Leo simply nodded, not bothering to question her reasoning, and got up to find himself a bloody rock. “Oh by the way,” he shouted back to her, “some guy from LA is coming to help us on this case.” Jo gritted her teeth. Who figured she needed help, and to send in some hotshot from LA? Insulting. With a disappointed grunt and a shake of her head, she rose and waved to the supervisors. She was stressed and they knew better to challenge her. She jumped into her jeep and rode back home, looking forward to a martini and a nap.