Prologue
“Sir?”
Detective Sloan looks up from his desk toward Officer Clark as he pokes his head in around the door.
“Come in, Clark.”
The officer pushes the door open wider, tentatively stepping into the room and glancing around.
“Are you alone, sir?”
“Yes, why?”
“I think you’re going to want to see this,” Clark says, crossing the room to hand Detective Sloan a folder.
Sloan eyes Clark for a moment before taking the folder and leaning back in his chair to open it. Almost instantly, he sits forward again his eyes scanning the contents within.
“God,” he mutters under his breath before glancing up at Clark again. “Who else has seen this?”
“No one, sir.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way for now.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, Clark?”
“What are we doing to do about the commander?”
Sloan leans back in his chair and sighs deeply.
“I don’t know, son. If what this document says is true, he may be well in over his head by now.”
“And his daughter? From what I’ve gathered, no one’s seen her in over a week.”
“I hate to say it, but she may be long gone by now. I doubt we’ll know what happened to her until we can find out what happened to all the other missing young women.”
“But this Valentine guy seems to have his fingers in everything,” Clark presses. “Shouldn’t we have someone stake out his place?”
“Look, if you can find out where he’s holed up, then more power to you, but don’t go rushing in on your own. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“On second thought,” Sloan says, stopping Clark in his tracks. “Have someone tail James, and see if you can find out anything about Valentine’s son.”
“Sir?”
“They must have a legacy of some sort if their dealings date back over a hundred years ago. See what you can learn out about their timeline. I want to know everything you find out about this family and any deals, deeds, purchases, or sales they’ve ever made.”
“Right away, sir.”
“Good, lad,” Sloan says. “You may just be the one cop who finally manages to save this city from chaos.”
1
Evelyn
Maiden, seriously?