All Chapters of PREDATOR: AN ANDREW HALE SERIES : Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
36 chapters
NO SAFE DISTANCE
I live alone.Have always lived alone,at least for as long as I can remember without trying too hard. My apartment is a decent one, on the third-floor, not far from a bakery that starts working before dawn. Most mornings, the smell of fresh bread sneaks through my windows before my alarm even has the chance to go off.Four different women have lived in that apartment with me over the years.Cristina was the most recent. And by far the most patient.She tried harder than the others. Tried to understand the late nights, the sudden trips, the way my phone always seemed more important than whatever moment we were sharing. My mother cried when Cristina finally left. She said I’d let a good woman slip through my fingers.She wasn’t wrong.I still have a photo of Cristina somewhere in a drawer. She’s wearing a yellow sundress, smiling into the sun. I’d taken her to the beach on one of the rare days I managed to get time off. She looked happy that day. Very happy.I remember thinking how temp
UNREPORTED
The air in Cedar City had that peculiar chill that seemed to sink into your bones, the kind of chill that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Tommy padded beside me, tail low, sniffing every corner, every lamppost, his instincts alert. The town itself seemed calm, even polite. But quiet towns, I knew, were always the most dangerous. Secrets had a way of festering where the streets were empty and the trees whispered nothing but lies.I had a list of twelve girls. I didn't know anything about them but from my guess,they shouldn't be different from the other four. Twelve brilliant, extraordinary girls. Twelve girls who had vanished, and the world didn’t even know it. Their cases weren’t in the files. The sheriff hadn’t mentioned them. No news coverage. Nothing. It was deliberate. And from the way people looked at me in this town, I suspected everyone I had spoken to knew more than they admitted.Our first stop was the Larson residence. The house looked ordinary: a small
THE BRACELET
Cristina and I used to do puzzles every time we got the chance. She was smart,really smart. We would take the longest, most complicated words and break them down, piece by piece, until we’d solved them in under thirty minutes. I’d always admired how her mind worked, how she could see patterns that I couldn’t.That skill of hers,of dismantling something confusing and finding the answer—was exactly what I needed now.Cedar City reminded me of a puzzle. Every missing girl, every strange behavior, every locked house,it was all part of something bigger. And just like a puzzle, I had to remain calm, clear-headed, and methodical if I wanted to fix it. Everything had to be carefully analyzed, every piece placed in its proper position, or I’d never see the picture clearly.I got back to the cabin just before evening, the sky streaked with the pale light of the setting sun. The air smelled faintly of pine, and the distant ravine echoed with the occasional bird call. Tommy padded along quietly b
NIGHT OF KNIVES
The dream shattered me awake.I came up gasping, my chest tight, sweat soaking the sheets. My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to escape. For a few seconds, I didn’t know where I was. The cabin ceiling swam above me, shadows stretching and shrinking as my breathing slowed.“Fuck,” I muttered..The argument with Jesse still rang in my ears, sharp and angry, like it had just happened..“Fuck you, Andy.”“Everything doesn’t have to go your way.”I could still see his face in my head,red with anger, hurt hiding behind it. I sat up slowly and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The wooden floor was cold under my feet. I welcomed it. It reminded me I was awake. Alive.That night in New York never left me. No matter how far I ran, no matter how quiet the place, it always followed. The explosion. The sound before it, the deep, hollow boom that swallowed everything else. Metal screaming. Glass raining down. Fire and smoke everywhere.And the silence afterward.We’d been ar
LINES IN THE DARK.
Tommy came into my life the same way most bad decisions did, through a woman.Camille.My first girlfriend. Busty, beautiful, loud, and proud of every decibel she produced.She was Mexican, fiery, and impossible to ignore. We were wrong for each other in every way that mattered,we fought more than we ever had a decent conversation, but we stayed together longer than we should have because loneliness can feel like love if you stare at it long enough.We both got Tommy one breezy afternoon after her shift at the restaurant where she worked and decided to parent him together.She handed Tommy to me the day she left.He was small then. All paws, sharp eyes, and curiosity. He kept tugging at the sleeve of my jacket, whining softly like he already knew I wasn’t built to be left alone.“I hope you treat him right,” Camille said, her voice shaking even though she tried to sound tough. “Because you don’t deserve anyone at all.”Then she smiled, wiped her face, and added, “Fuck you, Andy.”She
THE BROKEN ONES
I went back to the cabin early the next morning.I had stayed the night at the clinic with Tommy, sitting on a stiff chair beside his cage, listening to the steady beep of machines and the occasional bark from another injured animal. I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the knife again. I heard Tommy’s cry. I felt the weight of his body hitting the floor.By morning, the vet assured me Tommy was stable. He would heal, but he needed rest and care. I left him there reluctantly, rubbing his head through the bars of the cage and promising I’d be back.“I’m sorry, buddy,” I whispered. “I should’ve protected you better.”He licked my fingers weakly, trusting me anyway. That hurt more than the stab wound ever could.I drove back to the cabin with a tight chest and a heavy mind. I didn’t want to slow down now. If anything, this attack only made one thing clearer,I was running out of time. The faster I finished this case, the faster I could get out of this hell hole called Ced
THE SHAPE OF THE TOWN.
I didn’t plan to notice it.That was the worst part.I didn’t realize what was wrong at first.The bracelet sat on the small table by the window, catching the weak morning light. I had dropped it there the night before, too exhausted to think straight after everything with Tommy, after the Thompsons, after the weight of this town pressing down on me from every angle.Now, with my head clearer, I picked it up again.Simple design.I paid attention to the three shapes etched into it.A circle. A triangle. Another circle.I turned it slowly between my fingers.It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t expensive. It looked like something you’d buy at a roadside shop or get handed out during a festival. But the longer I stared at it, the more uneasy I felt.Not because it was strange.I frowned and leaned back in my chair, eyes drifting around the cabin and my gaze landed on a folded receipt on the counter, the one from the vet clinic. I hadn’t thrown it away yet. Out of habit, I guess.Something tugged
A KIND FACE
I woke up before the sun.The cabin was quiet in that uneasy way that made every sound feel louder than it should. Tommy wasn't back yet.I rolled out of bed and sat there for a moment, rubbing my face.Since coming to this goddamn place, I hadn’t exercised once. No running. No push-ups. Nothing. Just coffee, tension, and bad sleep.My body felt stiff. My head felt worse.If I didn’t move soon, I was going to start thinking in circles. And circles weren’t helping anyone.I pulled on my running shoes and stepped outside.The air was cold enough to sting my lungs. Good. It grounded me. I jogged down the quiet road, my breath puffing out in short bursts. The town was barely awake. No cars. No voices. Just the sound of my footsteps hitting the pavement.As I ran, my mind kept drifting back to the symbol.The town logo. The bracelet. The way it had always been there.But the letters ICE still weren't clear to me yet.I didn’t even know if ICE was real, or something my mind wanted to see.I
OPEN DOORS
The sheriff showed up the next morning.That alone should have told me something was wrong.I was locking the door of the cabin, double-checking it like I always did now, when I heard tires crunching over gravel. I turned and saw Sheriff Riker stepping out of his SUV.He was smiling.Fuck face.Not the tight, official smile he wore at the clinic. Not the offended one from before. This one looked… friendly.That bothered me more than the others combined.“Morning, Agent Hale,” he said, tipping his hat slightly. “How are you holding up?”I didn’t answer right away. I slipped the key into my pocket and watched him walk closer.“Depends,” I said. “Is this a courtesy visit or a checkup?”He chuckled softly, like I’d made a harmless joke. “Just being neighborly.”“Didn’t know we were neighbors.”“We are when there’s a case like this,” he said. “Thought I’d see how things are coming along.”I leaned back against the porch railing. “Funny. Last time I checked, I wasn’t required to give prog
OLD SCARS
My phone started ringing just as I was entering my cabin.I stared at the screen for a long second before answering.Jesse.Of course it was.I exhaled slowly and picked up.“What?”There was silence on the other end. Not the calm kind. The kind that crackles right before lightning hits.“Do you have any idea,” Jesse finally said, his voice tight, controlled, “how unprofessional you’re being right now?”I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temple.“Good evening to you too.”“Don’t do that,” he snapped. “Don’t fucking do that.”“Do what?”“Act like this is some casual check-in,” he said. “You’re on an active investigation, Andrew. An active case. We sent you there to get a case settled, and you haven’t called me once.”I glanced around the cabin. The broken door. The place looked so empty and dry.“I’ve been busy,” I said.“Busy? Busy ignoring me and calling the captain instead?” His voice rose. Every update. Every report. I hear things secondhand like I’m some outsider.”“Well,” I