Runners Blues

A shot heard in the woods.

A nameless body left to die alone.

Steam wafted off me as the morning chill lapped at my hot skin. I breathed hard as I stared down at the cold figure protruding from the earth. A light dew of perspiration and tears clung to her round cheek, a cheek that would have been sweet and supple were it still warm and rosy. A cheek that should have been lifted high in laughter at a friend's joke. Instead, it was tinged with a pale blue that highlighted its shape with sadness and confusion as her spark dimmed. Her cold expression colored by the loneliness of her final moments of life.

Come along as Bridge City's reluctant hero punches his way through the mystery of the nameless girl, uncovering a horrendous plot of trafficking and the horrors of the price of flesh to those that see only money in the eyes of the innocent.