Chapter 4: The Unwitting Instrument
The next morning, I cornered Greg Gable in the small, fluorescent-lit breakroom, the smell of stale coffee hanging heavy in the air. He was hunched [more…]
Category: Fast Food
Chapter 3: Trace Evidence
I found Adrian in his private office, the city lights of Nashville a distant blur behind his floor-to-ceiling windows. It was well past midnight. He [more…]
Chapter 2: The Silent Archive
I walked into the frigid, humming air of the server vault on Floor 2, the chill immediately raising goosebumps on my arms. The room was [more…]
Chapter 1: Paint on the Fourteenth Floor.
Part 1 Her three-year-old daughter Lily stood over CEO Adrian Sinclair while he pretended to sleep, holding bright blue and yellow washable paint pens. “Because [more…]
Chapter 16: The Legacy of Mud
I finished wiping down the counter, my mind still replaying Ava’s quiet smile. During my break, I poured myself a mug of lukewarm coffee and [more…]
Chapter 15: The Ordinary Counter
An unspecified long time later. The hiss of the coffee machine filled the air, a familiar, comforting sound. I wiped down the greasy laminate counter [more…]
Chapter 14: The Auction on the Courthouse Steps
A long time later. The Montana wind, cold and sharp, whipped around me as I sat on the stone steps of the Copper Creek County [more…]
Chapter 13: The Grandfather’s Silence
The drive to my grandfather Silas’s remote cabin was a blur of gravel roads and pine forests. The familiar landscape, once a comforting sight, now [more…]
Chapter 12: The Bank’s Ledger
The morning after the gala dawned gray and cold, mirroring the landscape of my soul. I hadn’t slept. I had wandered through the silent, seized [more…]
Chapter 11: The Empty House
The next few hours blurred into a surreal nightmare. Harlan Finch and the deputies moved through the manor, cataloging assets, affixing official seals to doors [more…]
