PART 1: THE SPECTACLE Chapter 1: The Sand and the scream The first thing you notice is the heat. It’s not just the…
Part 1: The Ghost in the Room Chapter 1: The Art of Disappearing My name is Eliza Rowan. I am thirty-three years old,…
CHAPTER 1: The Silence of Room 204 I arrived at Oak Haven Charter School twenty minutes early, checking my watch as I pulled…
Chapter 1: The Mirage of Peace The afternoon heat off Highway 87 wasn’t just hot; it was aggressive. It shimmered in waves…
Chapter 1: The Tomato Incident The morning sun painted long, golden shadows across the asphalt of the Eagles Rest Farmers Market. It…
Chapter 1: The Invasion of Eagle’s Point The sound wasn’t a hum; it was a tectonic shift. Hannah Collins froze, her hand…
CHAPTER 1: THE WIDOW ON THE PORCH The silence of the Montana high country was usually a physical thing, a heavy blanket…
The steady, guttural rumble of the Harley-Davidson cut a deep groove through the evening quiet of Main Street. Rain, fine and persistent, fell…
Chapter 1: The Iron Horse The air inside the Iron Horse Saloon tasted like stale beer and bad decisions. It was the…
Part 1: The Weight of the Unseen The Permanent Squint Forward Operating Base Chapman, Afghanistan. The makeshift operations center was a tomb of…