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 sit on the edge of the bed and yank the landline phone from the base, but struggle to remember his number.


I recall something he said to me last night at the all-men’s club—an underground bar for gay men.


I am transported back to that evening where I navigate the congested dance floor through a mob of horny college and middle-aged men to the bar. I find a seat at the counter and place my beer order with Rue, the bushy bearded bartender with a sick sense of humor.


That is when I meet Steve, and we knock into each other—literally—when ordering our drinks. His back is to me, but my left shoulder slams into the side of him by accident, hard enough for him to turn around and notice me.


If eyes are the windows to the soul, then Steve’s smile might be the front door to my world. I do not share this bit of poetry with him, but we do hit it off and start up a conversation.


Chapter 13