“I hear you Grace, but if it’s someone who’s hurt, then I can’t just shut the door. I need to see what’s going on. Just stay on the phone with me a little bit longer. You have DVR for a reason, so you can watch something when you want to. Right Grace?”, Kresley smirked sarcastically.
Grace only gave an audible “pfffttttt” and then was quiet.
Kresley nervously ran her hands through her long ponytail that sat high on her head and backed up several feet. She grabbed her high-powered flashlight that her daddy gave to her many Christmases ago. He always loved giving practical gifts at Christmas to his girls. He said he left the frivolous gifts up to their mother to buy. Kresley moved back to the open door and shined the light through the opening. Seeing nothing, she told Grace she was moving outside and to stay on the line. Once she got past the door, she aimed the light on the man’s shoes again and began working her way up. The light bounced over the white socks and blue jeans, up over a tucked-in polo shirt and light weight jacket. It came to rest on broad shoulders and the back of the man’s head. His hair was black, wavy and freshly combed. Kresley saw something shine on the side of his head and a puddle on the pavement. Moving her light closer, she saw the shiny substance was dark with a tint of red against the pavement in her flashlight’s beam. It was blood. Confusion and fear gripped her. Nausea rolled through her stomach. Was he hurt? Knocked out? Unconscious and bleeding? Was whoever that did this to him still here?
Kresley began waving her light around frantically, shining on everything that she could. Grace was talking to her over the speakerphone, but she couldn’t understand what she was saying. Something about calling 911. There was a slight buzzing in her ears and suddenly she felt woozy. Down the alley Kresley could see a vintage ’69 Mustang. She knew the owner of that car, knew who was lying at her feet, whose blood was puddled on the ground. But why?
Suddenly the air felt heavy with fear and Kresley’s hair stood up at the back of her neck. She started to turn around to see what could be lurking behind her, but before she could take a step to turn, she felt herself being pushed on her left side. Kresley wasn’t sure if it was hands or what, but the momentum caused Kresley to lose her grip on her flashlight and her phone and stumble awkwardly into the brick wall of the warehouse building. Her head crashed against the hard bricks at her temple and cheek bone. She saw stars and only heard buzzing in her ears as her vision faded. And with Grace’s voice screeching over the speakerphone, Kresley Anderson fell to the ground for the second time that day, but this time everything went totally black.
∞∞∞
The dark shadow bent down to take a long look at Kresley laying there. She was just one of four women in this town that stood out with that hair. Red hair, curves to gain any man’s interest. Piece of trash. All of them, including that mouthy blonde friend. Just as the shadow raised a hand to handle this situation more, they heard the shrill voice over the speakerphone near Kresley’s hand. Grace, that was her name. She was talking to 911 from another phone while trying to get Kresley’s attention on this one. Good luck with that, blondie. But the shadow knew the PD was nearby, so an officer would be close by or here soon. Debating on what to do, the shadow decided to melt back into the darkness. Time was drawing near to finish this. Soon. Taking out the note that had been premade, the shadow slipped it inside the cracked back door and flung it up the hall, not worried about where it landed. Someone would see it soon enough. Let the games begin.
Chapter Two
Cade Grantham had only been in Mercy Springs for two days and already he loved it here. It was just what he needed; the necessary change that was going to help him get back on track. His Aunt Mae was instrumental in getting him here. When he heard there was an opening for lead detective at the Mercy Springs Police Department, he grabbed the chance to get out of Nashville. Mercy Springs was going to be a fresh start. Less crime, smaller neighborhoods and more normalcy. The perfect way to leave all the past stresses and negativity behind.
Once he made the decision to totally change his life, things started happening. New job, new town, and moving boxes covering the floors of his new house. Cade needed a slower pace, a calmer life and this was his chance to have it. He was done with excitement for a while. He longed for days like today where he woke up, ate breakfast, got in his morning run, then went off to work. He was able to quickly build some beginning relationships with his fellow law enforcement brothers and sisters, especially Officer Boomer Collins. Cade hoped they stayed on track to become stronger friends because he knew having a good friend or two would help him settle in that much faster. Cade just wanted to be one of the “guys”, no more, no less.
On second thought, there was a bit of excitement earlier today that threw him off balance and made his mind and heart jump to attention. It happened when his Aunt Mae decided to introduce him to what she called “the blazing fire of Mercy Springs”. Cade
