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’m still reeling from the vodka, my head swimming, but moving keeps me alert, and hearing Steve’s voice in my thoughts puts a bounce in my step.


I smile into the night, but the euphoria of seeing Steve again is fleeting. Picking up speed, I walk with purpose another three blocks to the downtown waterfront to Lou’s Diner.


Steve is not there when I arrive, and I am the only one in the diner at this early hour. I check my watch: 4:20. The red neon sign flashes OPEN in the front window, and when I enter the stifling warm diner, Lou is watching TV. He turns and flashes me his gold-grill grin.


“Pretty early for breakfast, Officer Ballinger,” he says, wiping the counter and rearranging condiment containers. “You on duty?”


I shake his strong hand, and slide into a booth by the window. “No. I’m waiting for someone.”


Chapter 14