A Life Removed

by Jason Parent

  Marklin came up behind her. “Yes. Now that you’ve learned that, you’re going to make one hell of a detective.”

  Jocelyn balled her fists. “Who helped you? Were you working with Wainwright all along? Tell us, for your soul’s sake!”

  Aaron’s eyes fluttered. My soul… He struggled to keep his eyes open. The detectives stared down at him, no warmth or sympathy in theirs. He didn’t care. Breathing became a chore, and he was ready to give up. He raised a trembling hand to his chest. With his last breath, he muttered, “Don’t let it go to waste.”

  EPILOGUE

  El Paso, TX. Seventeen months later.

  “The Bible tells us, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged.’ Now, you all believe this to mean that you shouldn’t judge your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers… that the Almighty is the only one with the authority to judge them. Am I right?”

  The crowd mumbled softly in agreement. Well-dressed men and women sweated profusely in the late-summer heat, their asses sore from the hard oak slabs beneath them and their knees dusty from their bouts with the clay floor.

  The preacher continued in a heavy Southern drawl. “And I say to you, no! That’s not what the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ says to you through his glorious teachings. He wants you to judge thy neighbor, to judge him properly, so that you may be judged properly yourself, come Judgment Day. For one day, those who do not take action against the unfaithful and the sinners, those who do not take action while the Jews and adulterers and homosexuals are given free rein over our government, the media, our schools, and our children’s innocence—well, I say to those of you among us, the Good Lord will not judge you kindly.”

  “Amen,” the congregation said in unison.

  “Rise with the Lord. Let the sinners swim in hell with Lucifer!”

  The preacher slammed his palm onto the pulpit. It worked. His congregation was enthralled. They hung on his every word.

  “Peace be with you, my brothers and sisters. Go with God.” He smiled at his flock, so faithful, so malleable. They were like lemmings.

  He was ready to begin anew.

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  About the Author

  In his head, Jason Parent lives in many places, but in the real world, he calls Southeastern Massachusetts his home. The region offers an abundance of settings for his writing and many wonderful places in which to write them. He currently resides with his cuddly corgi, Calypso.

  In a prior life, Jason spent most of his time in front of a judge… as a civil litigator. When he tired of Latin phrases no one knew how to pronounce and explaining to people that real lawsuits are not started, tried, and finalized within the sixty-minute time-frame they see on TV, he traded in his cheap suits for flip-flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the next day, and he’s back in the legal field… sorta. But that’s another story.

  When he’s not working, Jason likes to kayak, catch a movie, travel any place that will let him enter, and play just about any sport (except for the one with that ball tied to the pole thing where you basically just whack the ball until it twists in a knot or takes somebody’s head off). And read and write, of course. He does that too sometimes.

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  Connecting independent readers to independent writers.

  Did you love A Life Removed? Then you should read Seeing Evil by Jason Parent!

  Fate in plain sight.

  Major Crimes Detective Samantha Reilly prefers to work alone—she’s seen as a maverick, and she still struggles privately with the death of her partner. The only person who ever sees her softer side is Michael Turcotte, a teenager she’s known since she rescued him eleven years ago from the aftermath of his parents’ murder-suicide.

  In foster care since his parents’ death, Michael is a loner who tries to fly under the bullies’ radar, but a violent assault triggers a disturbing ability to view people’s dark futures. No one believes his first vision means anything, though—not even Sam Reilly. When reality mimics his prediction, however, Sam isn’t the only one to take notice. A strange girl named Tessa Masterson asks Michael about her future, and what he sees sends him back to Sam—is Tessa victim or perpetrator?

  Tessa’s tangled secrets draw Michael and Sam inexorably into a deadly conflict. Sam relies on Michael, but his only advantage is the visions he never asked for. As they track a cold and calculating killer, one misstep could turn the hunters into prey.

  Also by Jason Parent

  Seeing Evil

  A Life Removed