Officer Jack Ballinger receives a phone call from the chief of police in the early morning hours regarding a dead body at an apartment building in a quiet neighborhood in the small upstate New York town of Black Falls. A female student lies in a pentagram outlined in her own blood, clutching a rosary. Ballinger and his former partner Officer Cory Ryan interview tenants in the building about the girl’s death, but are met with more questions than answers.<br><br>When another body is found in the same apartment building a few hours later, Jack knows something is wrong. As he ciphers through a patchwork of unexplainable clues, the investigation detours when Ryan disappears from the case and cannot be found.<br><br>With his future as an officer in question, will Ballinger be able to deal with the truth of these crimes once he dscovers everything he thought he knew was a lie?

Past Sins

I look at Callie who is crying hard into her hands.


Sarah puts a hand on her sorority sister’s shoulder.


“Did Ms. Block have any enemies?” I ask.


Sarah almost laughs. “Enemies? No. Kimberly was a people pleaser. Everybody liked her.”


Not everybody, I want to say, but instead I turn to Callie and ask, “Did you see anything out of the ordinary when you arrived at Ms. Block’s apartment tonight?”


She wipes her nose with a tissue that Sarah hands her. “No.”


“The chief of police has already asked us these questions, Officer,” Callie says, defensively.


“It’s an ongoing investigation, Miss. I’m just following up on some loose ends.”


“I’m sorry.” She heaves a deep sigh. “Close to midnight. Somewhere around there.”


“Did you see anybody else in the vicinity?” I ask.


“I wasn’t paying attention, Officer. I was in shock when I saw Kim lying on the floor.”


Chapter 7