Book World: Dead On by Robert W. Walker- Chapter Ten

At the same time, back in Atlanta, Detective John ‘Atlanta Jack’ Thomas and his partner Stuart ‘Stewy’ Harriman stood staring at the dangling body of a fire-blackened man in what appeared a sack cloth or fishnet package. The horrendous crime had been called in when a citizen walking his dog noticed the “thing” dangling from the school yard flagpole about half way up.

“Talk about half mast,” said Harriman to Thomas.

“You mean half baked.”

While the victim’s hair, eyebrows, even eyes had given themselves over to the fire, his general features remained

Book World: DEAD ON Chapter Six

“I haven’t agreed to anything,” Rydell assured Katrina Holley-Mallory. Still he’d be intrigued by her and the letters purporting to be from Iden Cantu.

After taking a deep breath and ordering another Guiness, Marcus began examining the letters. He muttered as he looked them over, “Could just be some sick sonofabitch getting his jollies off pretending to be Cantu, you know.”

She didn’t answer this, as if she needn’t bother.

It took some time for him to digest the enormity of this offering. No one wanted Cantu’s dead more than he. Handwriting sample she now slapped down—likely gotten from the case file on her husband—proved a close, close match to the script found in the letters. In fact, knowing as much as he did of handwriting analysis, Marcus determined this was no hoax. The only one taunting Mrs. Mallory was her husband’s killer.

Cantu had indeed come out of hiding. Like an animal testing the waters, he was here in Atlanta, prowling…on the hunt for her?

Book World: DEAD ON Chapter Four

Chapter FOUR

Marcus remained alone in his isolation camp, 48-B. Now all the power of the voice that told him he was no longer a fit for this world heralded him, first cajoling and warmly inviting, next berating and accusatory, and wanting his undivided attention again. Here the darkness of it all enveloped him, or very near so. Or had he chosen to cloak himself in it? And was the end result that of his own bad attitude? Or the result of all that’d happened to him? Or how he chose to react to it? Had he embraced the depression, inviting it to come into his pores, to fully take him over?