Excerpt from "Night Slashers" should be out in December

Cold stagnant air filled Daniel Montague’s lungs; the chill of the December wind batted at his face. In front of him lie the raging waters of the Mississippi River, the thundering rapids eager to erase his existence on this planet.  Behind him the glow of blue and red lights danced a malevolent ballet across the moonless sky.  The sounds of sirens had all but disappeared from Daniel’s ears and he could now hear the insects and other creatures of the night scurrying through the nearby underbrush.  His feet sank into the filthy mud of the river bank as the night came in and out of focus.    

            How could he have been so careless?  Trust was something you could never earn yet somehow he had let his guard down.  His guard, the blanket that had kept him safe for so many years keeping any and all at an arms distance.  His hands trembled as he brought them to his face burying his eyes deep into his weathered palms.  It wasn’t fear he felt though he was far removed from that, this was pure anger.  He knew better and like that old saying goes “you fool me once shame on you, you fool me twice and I’ll kill you.”  But here he stood, here at the end of it all and his only regret lay in the thought that for all his perfect planning something had been overlooked.