arpent

was read aloud in the s

thirty. Cause of death, massive trauma from exp

rtem contusions on the wrists and ankles, consistent with being bound. Ligature marks on

inted a picture of my

oftening slightly, "the victim was approximate

ves, the lab technicians, even Arthur-they all stood

et life had been growing inside me, a life I never got the chance to cheri

or me. It was for the baby. My baby. We had died together, nameless and

mething that looked like pity in his eyes. "God, that' s br

"We need to find this son of a bitch. I want t

Thompson, champion of the nameless, pregnant victim. He would hunt do

championing was the woman he' d so coldly dismissed? Would he feel guilt? Or just a

the crisp night air, the smoke from the

aced with concern. "And you need to call Elia. This who

t going anywhere. She' ll be sitting at home, waiting for me to apologize for whatever

lent scream in the void. I' m here. What' s left of

dust. All I wanted now was to be free of him. To drift away into wha

the screen, and the hard lines of his fac

s perfect face

d. "You missed our dinner res

rved only for her. "I' m sorry, Gen.

n crisis?" she asked, a

etails, protecting her innocence in a way he had never bothered to protect my f

move mountains for her, but for me, he c

there were no leads. Days turned into a week. Frustrated, Arthur was the

s," the news anchor reported over a generic silhouette. "The victim w

ings. M

broadcast ended. He picked it up, his atten

omps

nd, thin and reedy with panic, a

r... it' s Richard Carp

undless, despe

' t reach Elia. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. We haven' t heard from her in over a