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

He laughs and reaches for a napkin in the dispenser, a mischievous wink in his eye.


“Lou’s is the only place open at this hour,” I say.


Steve looks like he is thinking too hard, concentrating on cleaning his fingers and getting out of this place. Then he says, “We could’ve gone to your place.”


I lean forward, cross my arms on the table, and watch him ball the napkin up and set it to the side. “We still can,” I say.


“I hope I didn’t interrupt you and your company.”


Steve is quiet as he shreds paper napkin off his fingers. “DJ.”


“His taste in music isn’t what interested me,” Steve says.


Steve smiles. “More color than me.”


“Is his rainbow brighter than yours?” I ask staring at his cotton candy pink lip gloss. “That’s difficult to swallow.”


Chapter 15