Chapter One Captain Pink One minute. Sixty seconds. Blink, and it was gone before you knew it. And in the aftermath, you were forced to live with the decisions and consequences for a lifetime, watching time tick by, never ending, adding to your torture, giving you an unending prison sentence. “Captain Pink!” Ghoul snapped on the other end of the line, yanking me out of my thoughts. I wasn’t sure why I fell down that particular hole, but it had been happening more often lately. “What?” I...

Excerpt: This is the story the painter told the boy. . . . Harald Finn would sometimes scrutinize his own big hands with his one good eye as if pondering how he could strangle himself with them. If he bent his fingers and stared at the yellow nails, it seemed as if it was only the sheer intensity of his gaze that kept the hands off him. The very instant he looked away, the independent little beasts with five fingers would seize the opportunity to attack his throat. Yet he could also regard...

Chapter 2 Elena was glad to slip into her comfy nightgown and climb into bed. Her thoughts shifted from anger to excitement at the thought of Tony phoning her. Mob or no mob, I don’t care; he’s hot! Oh, the way he strutted in with those black Ray-Bans and a black leather jacket. And the way he acted as though he owned the place. It seemed as though people froze when he entered the club. Visions of his jet-black hair slicked back behind his ears filled her thoughts. With that, she drifted off...