Part of Series
“The money’s in the treatment, not the cure…” On the brink of the first official weekend of summer, Drake Bell’s agenda was set: Join his friends, The Zoo Crew, for a birthday celebration of one of their own. Take advantage of the slow period in the annual Missoula calendar, with classes at the university having wrapped and commencement just days away. Get outside and relish in all the warmth and adventure Montana has to offer. Thoughts locked on his impending plan, he was completely unaware of the story unfolding just thirty miles north of town. The tale of a young man with deep ties of his own to the Crew, recovering from a painkiller addiction, found dead in a short-term rental. An apparent accidental overdose, the cause of death so clear it doesn’t warrant much of an investigation. Emphatic there is no way her son would ever do such a thing, the young man’s grieving mother reaches out to the Crew. Imploring them to take a look, to put her conscience at ease, they reluctantly delve into what happened. They soon uncover a plot far greater than any of them could imagine. A scheme skirting the edges of treatment and rehabilitation. Federal and local jurisdiction. Patient rights and basic humanity. All in service of a sleight-of-hand game Drake never knew existed…
Author
I originally hail from the midwest, growing up in the heart of farm country, and still consider it, along with West Tennessee, my co-home. Between the two, I have a firm belief that football is the greatest of all past-times, sweet tea is really the only acceptable beverage for any occasion, there is not an event on earth that either gym shorts or boots can't be worn to, and that Dairy Queen is the best restaurant on the planet. Further, southern accents are a highly likeable feature on most everybody, English bulldogs sit atop the critter hierarchy, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Saturday night spent catfishing at the lake. Since leaving the midwest I've been to college in New England, grad school in the Rockies, and lived in over a dozen different cities ranging from DC to Honolulu along the way. Each and every one of these experiences has shaped who I am at this point, a fact I hope is expressed in my writing. I have developed enormous affinity for locales and people of every size and shape, and even if I never figure out a way to properly convey them on paper, I am very much grateful for their presence in my life. To sum it up, I asked a very good friend recently how they would describe me for something like this. Their response: "Plagued by realism and trained by experiences/education to be a pessimist, you somehow remain above all else an active dreamer." While I can't say those are the exact words I would choose, I can't say they're wrong. I travel, live in different places, try new foods, meet all kinds of different people, and above all else stay curious to a fault. Here's hoping it continues to provide us all with some pretty good stories...
