I Am Chosen

n��t discussed the case on the ride from Shady Acres, resorting instead t

door, then turned around and went to the table behind

n her phone. She then pulled up Facebook, where her friend Glori

nk that maybe not everyone in the diner wants to listen to your little video there?�� Hollis asked. ��Not to mention th

like this,�� she demonstrated, lifting the phone to just below eye level. ��So I can keep an eye on the door and the phone at the same time. Secondly, I��m really, really sor

ack and forth between Hollis and Kacey, chewing on his fingers. Kacey leaned over. ��Hey, it��s time

his collar to make a bib, took a bite of his grilled cheese, swallowed and said ��You haven��t said word one about wh

her fries, Kacey said ��No, Barnaby Jones,

e next steps?

o knows? Maybe they'll find a hair or clothing fiber. Beyond that, I��ll search for any similar cases of body snatchings. And then I

t was just as it had appeared, that he had

yself fitted for

rance of Declan Crowe exhuming himself. She wond

edia won��t get the job done. What will

f her burger, the kid came back, st

e, revealing her chewed-up mouth

ant, Rhonda, say when you follo

footage from the coffee shop, then that whole thing with Declan w

never fol

ed up, because�� reaso

rm relationships, his parents were dead�� stands to reason that the person who knew him best was probably

as no way she would admit it, not ou

h Street in the Pleasant Hills suburbs. The woman herself was in her

small couch facing a table and padded chair. To their left a massive bay window offered a view of the stree

the first knuckle, the other fingers curled under, almost claw-like. Arthritis, maybe? She held the tray with her right hand, with the left side of the tray sitting ato

on��t want any coffe

e ma��am,

llow up with you after that ti

anded on the tray. Kacey hated flies. She h

ut any enemies Declan mig

Created jobs�� Declan did a lot of good

, Milestone, had its hand in all sorts of p

als, competitio

Crowe was respected, e

ds? Who were his closest

get revenge on m

nd and landed on Rhonda's cheek. The woman seemed not to notice. "Especially in the last few months. He withdr

irst established, a series of coal mines were dug beneath it, expanding out in all directions. In the ensuing years, the

a was quiet. Another fly drifted lazily into the room and la

da said finally. "And I knew, knew that he had talked to some of those people who did those terrible things�� invit

aying?" Hol

s she said "Are you sure

Kacey sha

I refill my cu

e," Rhond

here were a few more flies in here, buzzing around the sink and the windows that looked out on the rear of the property. There was a door next

counter, Kacey withdrew her service w

face and stopped, taking a moment to calm herself. She tried not to think of L.A., of the galle

co

ned to come flooding back

an do

oor. A couple flies crawled into the hall from underneath. Kacey reached out an

d of flies blew past as Kacey stepped lightly onto the concrete steps, descending to a single turn and

couch was a small table with a few beer cans. Near the foot of the stairs was a small pool table. On the walls Kacey could barely make out a dart b

as a m

s slack at his sides, a beer can in his left hand. Much of the outer layer of his skin was simply gone. The underlying tissue and muscle was dar

which Kacey couldn't identify at first. As

e handles of