Shadow Chaser
K. J. Dahlen
kjdahlen1@yahoo.com
Excerpt Heat Level: 1
Book Heat Level: 1
BLURB:
When
serial killer, Aaron Chrispen comes back to Angel City, it's to claim the only
victim in eleven years to get away, Hannah Masters, and for revenge on the
police officers, Jesse Wyatt and Sam Dylan, that almost ended his life. When
Jesse tells Hannah that the killer is back Hannah is plunged into a nightmare
she thought was over.
FBI
agent Eli Stone has been after this killer for eleven years and joins Jesse in
the hunt. In the final showdown between Aaron, Jesse and Eli only one will die,
but which one will it be?
EXCERPT
He had learned to be
patient, very patient. Over the years he had discovered that anything worth
having was indeed worth waiting for, and he really wanted this. He had wanted
this for five very long years. He had come back to this small Wisconsin town
for a purpose and soon he would get back what he lost but he had to wait a
little longer. He had to wait until he had all the players playing his game.
He sat back against the wall
of the shop and waited. The ground he sat on was hard and dry, but he didn’t
seem to notice. He had long ago trained his mind to overcome certain
situations. Everyone had been fooled by his resolve. They claimed his debt to
society had long been paid, and he was a free man but he’d fooled them all. Oh,
his debt was paid; he spent the better part of his youth in a hospital for the
criminally insane, but he learned to play the game they wanted him to, and he
fooled everyone when he made his escape.
For the past eleven years,
he had lived the life he wanted. Traveling from place to place, outwitting
everyone. He was doing what he wanted to do. That what he did was against the
laws of God and man was beside the point. He had long ago stopped caring to
please anyone but himself.
He had been sitting here
since early morning; hidden by the bushes in front of him, he could see the
daily life of the ordinary people all around him. It was late afternoon. Soon
the same people he’d seen this morning rushing off to start their day would be
hurrying home from work and school to have supper and go about their lives. He
could see it all playing out in front of him. Kids would be outside playing and
laughing while their parents were taking care of business inside. Then one by
one each family would retreat inside for their tedious evening ritual.
Daylight would fade into
darkness and the laughter and other everyday sounds would settle into quiet.
The empty streets would fall into shadows and finally the quiet would be
swallowed by the night. His mind’s ramblings could have been a scene from a bad
movie, something so old it was shown in black and white. He chuckled silently
and wondered why people really lived this way. Didn’t they have any fun any
more? Where was the excitement?
He sat unnoticed as daylight
faded. He had been in town for fourteen days, and no one knew he was here, and
that fact suited him fine. The streetlights began casting shadows all around
him and he welcomed them. The shadows comforted him like a blanket comforts a
child. He felt safe.
This was his time of night.
He loved it. He could be either a saint or a sinner and while he preferred to
be a sinner, he could become whoever and whatever he wanted. He could move
anywhere and no one would see him among the shadows. He felt himself come
alive. His primary senses sharpened and his lackadaisical attitude disappeared.
He walked freely during the day but preferred to conserve his energy because at
night he came alive, at night like the mighty lions of Africa, he hunted and
his quarry didn’t escape death.
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