Part of Series
“The reason we don’t have an ID on the victim yet is the same reason why I reached out to you guys,” Mahoney said. “Our victim is a young Amish girl. Late teens, early twenties at the most.” A month ago, the farmhouse shared by Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner Billie was invaded. After several years working cases together, one of those finally followed them home. The perpetrators kicked in both the front and back doors in an assault that Reed and Billie were lucky to survive with their lives. Any sense of peace they enjoyed was shattered. Their place of solace, the refuge from the heinous world they spent their lives investigating, violated. Exhausted by long days followed by short nights spent staring at the ceiling, every shadow a possible threat, every sound another intrusion, the pair receive a call from the northern part of the state asking for their assistance. Heavy recent rains forced authorities to open a dam at Lake Edsell to prevent flooding. Instead of just lowering the water level, the release revealed the body of a young woman floating just below the surface—weighted down by a rope tied to two twenty-five pound anchors A young woman from a community that Reed and Billie have never experienced before. A place without driver’s licenses or dental records, school IDs, or even current photographs. Certainly, no known enemies. Without a paper trail, Reed and Billie have nothing to chase but whispers. Met with shock and the wariness of strangers that turns every question into a closed door, they’re forced to search for answers that hit far too close to home
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...
