She crossed the Cuomo Bridge – once called the Tappan Zee, which was a much cooler name, regardless of your politics – and stayed on Interstate 87 all the way to the Adirondack Mountains.
This time of year, the long grasses were cut and drying in huge rolls. As kids, Shannon and her brothers would say the bales resembled giant toasted marshmallows. Her family’s land was looking good. The barn had been repaired and was sharp, with the white trim – an X over the front door against the fire engine red. The house was white and sprawling. The two outbuildings – the foaling shed and the tractor shed – brown. The corn silo threw a long shadow in the evening light. The corn, just about ready for harvest, was a sea of green stretching on for acres into the setting sun.
She pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine. Her window was down, the air coming in fresh. Cooler than the city. A man came walking up from the back field, cutting between the barn and tractor shed. Her brother Luke.
He walked up to the car with a curious expression. He wore thick brown overalls and a grubby white T-shirt underneath. His dark, curly hair was heavy with sweat. She smiled up at him. “You look like the last time I saw you.”
“And you look like you got into it pretty good.” Then: “What’s going on? What’s with the bruises and the scars? What are you doing here?”
“I’m all right. Good, in fact. Where’s Dad?”
“He’s out, you know, in the corn. Gabe and Toby went into town.” Luke had searing blue eyes that stared into her soul. “Mom’s inside,” he said. Then he opened the door. “Welcome home, sis.”
Shannon got out of the car. They put their arms around each other and walked toward the house, where the figure of a woman waited in the kitchen window.
COMING SOON…
FBI AGENT SHANNON AMES THRILLER BOOK 2
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Acknowledgments
This book wouldn’t exist without Brian Lynch and Garret Ryan at Inkubator books, so I need to thank them straightaway. I’d also like to thank Stephen Buzzell for answering my legal questions, and New York state troopers Kristy Wilson and Sean Kane for helping me stay sharp on police procedures. Thanks so much to my amazing early readers — David Taylor, Ed.D; John Ramirez; Linda Godfrey; Fritz Aldinger; Linda Rudd; Isaac Kirzner — you are all amazing and deeply appreciated. And to any readers who just haven’t had a chance to chime in yet — thank you as well!
As always, thanks to my wife and kids. Having a writer for a spouse / parent might be a little unusual, but they tolerate it with aplomb. Thanks to my parents, my friends, and all the readers out there for buying my books or borrowing them on Kindle or reading them over someone else’s shoulder — whatever you’re doing, please keep it up. Love to you all.
Published by Inkubator Books
www.inkubatorbooks.com
Copyright © 2020 by TJ Brearton
INTO DARKNESS is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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