Chapter 3.11

Wednesday, May 12^th, 2023

8AM

Marcia, Chet, and Fraiser were perusing the area near where the body had been found when they saw French and Coleridge approaching.

“G’Mornin’,” Fraiser called as they got close.

Marcia was worried that they’d be ordered out of the area, but Coleridge asked, “Find anything?”

Chapter 10

Monday, May 10^th, 2023

6PM

“It was rash to take Fraiser and Jenkins off the case,” Judge Matthews admonished Coleridge.

“I know,” she said.

“Why did you?”

Coleridge was reluctant to answer, and Sylvia came to her rescue. “Bill, I don’t think that’s something she wants to discuss with us.”

Bill wanted her to face what she’d done, but he was willing to drop the matter for the moment.

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

Chapter 3.5

The dryad had made its way back into the woods, out of sight. There weren’t many sounds, except the crying of Rachel as her world was turned upside down once again.

Daddy and John seemed to have put the loss of Ralph behind them, or at least realized that dwelling on it wouldn’t get us through this mess we were in. It seemed as though they were talking to the pixie. I wasn’t sure what they hoped to get from her, but I quietly joined them.

Chapter 9

Monday, May 10^th, 2023

5:30AM

Marcia quietly opened the door to Allie’s room and checked in on her niece. It had become a routine that she went through every morning. She would check on Allie, then Sammy, and then go out and help Bruce with the animals.

Allie was in deep sleep, so Marcia reversed course and quietly closed the door. She moved to her nephew’s room and quietly opened the other door. Inside, Sammy was sleeping soundly as well. On his wall was a fresh drawing. Curious, Marcia tiptoed over to look at the picture of the riverbank. The moose with her calf and the diving eagle were both spectacular to see in their own ways.

Chapter 8

Saturday, May 8^th, 2023

“What in the hell are you doing here, Fraiser?!”

Ron Fraiser spun around to face, of all people, Brandy Coleridge. “Whaddya mean, Agent Coleridge?”

Chapter 6

Thursday, May 5^th, 2023

6:37 PM

Chet was surprised, but he pointed with his thumb to Bruce’s trailer. “He’s staying in his camper over there.” He wasn’t sure what was going on, but being police, he really didn’t want to question them.

Detective Fraiser nodded, then stepped off the porch and started toward the trailer.

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

3.3

I entered Jack and Sylvia’s lab, and found Sylvia alone, hunched over her work bench. She whirled like the proverbial kid with her hand in the cookie jar when she heard me. Speaking of her hands, she slipped something into her pocket, but I couldn’t tell what. She was a bit suspicious, but I put it down to me being suspicious of everything and everyone now, so I forced myself to ignore it.

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

3.2

Daddy enlisted Jack and Sylvia to help him work on a way to repair the people’s bodies.

They found that the heinously fast changes that Amos favored, required a commensurate amount of bots inside a person. Structure changes to the skull as well as any in the brain, weren’t made with the health of the victim in mind. As the brain held the person, the repair project started with that. But, due to starting without the person’s original genes, they planned to work back from what they did have, reversing all of Amos’s changes.

Author’s Note: I apologize. I messed up. For some reason, I was thinking of May 3rd as being the day Shelly Chatham, Marcia’s biological mother, passed away, and May 4th as being Marcia’s birthday. That is backwards, so I’m currently working on fixing my error in the previous two chapters – As well as what was supposed to be chapter 3. Rosemary rolls eyes at this point. LOL

Chapter 3

5 AM

Marcia arose and hurried through her morning routine, then hurried out to help Bruce feed the animals. She really wanted to get to the horses. There was one that she absolutely loved, and secretly wished was hers. He was a palomino, and greatly resembled the horse Roy Rogers rode in all of his movies.

When she realized she would be on a farm where there were horses, she decided that she wanted to learn about them. Thus, she had decided to research all she could. When she came across information on the famous palomino, she’d watched as many films as she could find with the old western star and his master.

Chapter Three – Susan

The identity of the killer and his backstory is revealed but not to the police who continue their investigation. Steve's moral courage is tested when temptation comes his way. Penelope continues to remain sober and a valuable asset to the Task Force.

Chapter One - April

Detectives Steve Edwards and Penelope Bishop are chasing a serial killer targeting trans women. Penelope is battling her own demons after the fallout from the Lipstick Killer case and whilst Steve is deeply in love with trans drag queen Felicity Goodnite he is tempted to stray. This is a five-part thriller with plenty of bumps and curves.

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

2.7

It was a couple of days later that I entered Marc’s lab.

“Whatcha want, Rose?” he asked, keeping lots of distance between us. I assumed he didn’t want my sister to know he’d been talking to me.

“She’s still mad at us?” I asked.

“I’m on probation. I’m not supposed to help you with anything right now.”

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

2.6

As it’s been a little while since I last posted any of this story, I’m going to give a “When we last saw our protagonist…”

From Chapter 2.5

“You’re not acting predictably,” Paula told me.

“I just lost my husband,” I exploded. “Would you care to explain what is predictable about that?”

She sat down, and her demeanor softened. “My bots aren’t able to predict how you’re going to react to things right now.”

Paula turned her attention from me to Carla. “Are you saying you can communicate directly to your bots?”

I was shocked as well. “How can you do that?” I asked. “I asked mine a question a couple of days ago, but I could only talk to them in a dream.”

Carla appeared uncomfortable. “I suppose it’s something that I learned while Amos was in control.”

I shrank away in fear. “Don’t touch me!” I screamed, terrified. “Get away from me!”

“What’s going on!?” Carla was very confused now.

“He’s still here! He killed John, and he’s still in you!” I tried to back away having no control over my actions.

Paula grabbed me as I flailed my arms at my little sister. “Perhaps you should leave and let her calm down,” I heard her say.

I was crying uncontrollably now, the pain of the last few days taking over.

And now on to 2.6...

I wake up in a strange place in a strange body, with no memory of anything which has happened before. Who am I? What sex am I? What race am I? What am I doing here? Why am I wanted by the police? What should I do about the pervert spying upon me? Is he involved in getting me into this position?

The questions seem never-ending.

Author’s Note: There is no explicit sex or violence in this story (apart from a punch under the jaw). There are one or two swear words, and there is talk of historical crimes such as rape and murder. Do not read or read with caution if you think you may be offended or upset by this.