Prologue

It was Tuesday—a normal humid summer morning in the south—not unlike any other summer morning the citizens of Greenville, MS were used to waking up to. Yet it was going to be a day none of them would ever forget.
Screams filled the heavy swamp air surrounding the flooded Greenville Cypress Preserve, and a terror unlike any the town had ever known before began.

Chapter 1

Brooke rushed from her bedroom to the bathroom while regretting the extra tap of the snooze button. It would not look good if she was late for her first day in Homicide; it had been a long seven years on patrol to get here. No sooner than she had started brushing her teeth, her cell phone rang. "Shit," she spat out with a mouthful of toothpaste. "Shit, shit," she exclaimed when she saw HEADQUARTERS on the display. "Daniels," she answered while trying to dab up the spittle on her chin.
"Welcome to Homicide, partner," came across Detective Merelise Young's voice, "It's terrible to break you in this way, but we need to respond to remains found at the Greenville Cypress Preserve. I'll be there in ten and don't eat anything; it sounds retching."
Brooke tossed down the phone as soon as she heard the click and ran to her closet. It took her all of four minutes to don a white blouse with navy slacks and lace up her department issued shoes. Two minutes later, she had her Glock holstered and was pulling her mahogany hair up into a ponytail. By the time she had fed her two German Shepherds, Gum Shoe and Columbo, she spotted Merelise in the driveway. The grim look on her partner's face did nothing for the butterflies in her stomach.

Chapter 2

Merelise was backing the car up as soon as the passenger door clicked shut. "What am I in store for?" Brooke glanced at her nervously while buckling her seat belt. Her new partner had already turned the siren back on and was heading toward the Preserve.
"All I know right now is a jogger came across a very badly mangled body near the observation deck. He used his cell phone to call it in." Merelise glanced at Brooke, "He said he couldn't even tell if it was a male or female."
"Oh my god," Brooke mouthed to herself. She began to pick at her cuticles, which was a nervous habit her mother still scolded her about. "I was hoping to start with something simple—like a drug deal gone bad or a robbery—and after my morning coffee."
"Well, there's nothing like the smell of corpse in the morning to wake you up," Merelise joked. She was the second longest employed homicide detective in Greenville. Brooke had heard stories about her while on patrol; "a force of nature," her respectful peers had called her. Now she pulled up behind the cruisers and patrol cars already at the swampy crime scene, and they both hopped out.
Immediately they found the senior detective, Harley Grant. He was talking to the M.E., Dr. Angel Vega, who was looking at what was left of what could only resemble something that used to be a human being. As they approached Harley, a strong metallic smell mixed with rotting flesh filled Brooke's nostrils. But even that couldn't have prepared her for what she saw.

Chapter 3

Brooke's first reaction was to turn her head away. Sure, she'd seen her share of blood spilled while working the beat, but nothing was as horrific as the scene before her now.
"Take a deep breath," Harley said quietly with a soft hand on her shoulder. He was several years older than the other homicide detectives and felt it was his duty to be a father-figure in addition to being the senior detective. The new kid on the block was no exception—especially at a time like this.
Merelise was already up close and conferring with the M.E. The chief medical examiner was meticulous when it came to her work, and she had a keen eye for evidence. Brooke had worked with her before, while training for Homicide, and she had been very impressed with Angel's intensity and thoroughness. Now, however, even the M.E. looked perplexed.
Brooke felt it was now or never and approached the corpse. "Oh my Lord," she whispered. It was worse than she had originally perceived. The body was in shreds. The gender wasn't even evident. Limbs and organs were missing, possibly due to scavengers—alligators were not uncommon in the marshy area. Brooke looked at Angel, "Alligator?"
"My guess is no, but I'll know more after the autopsy," the doctor shook her head.
Merelise spoke quietly, "Hard to imagine a human being capable of this. It doesn't appear to be a homicide."
"Nothing is ruled out until the autopsy results come in," Harley spoke up, "I've put away some real sick bastards in my day. You remember that case in ninety-four, don't you, Merelise? The one we dubbed 'the Scalper' because of his vicious slaughter of that tribe of Choctaws?"
Merelise nodded her head at Harley and a look of remorse crossed both their faces.
Angel brought them out of their reverie. "I think I found a hair, but it doesn't appear to be human. I'll have the lab process it." She pulled an evidence bag out of her coat pocket and bagged the hair.
Harley told the crime scene techs to finish processing the area. "Let's get back to headquarters and start the paperwork. We need to see if anyone has just been reported missing."

Just as they all turned to leave, his phone rang. Brooke and Merelise could both tell by his facial expression that it was bad news. Harley bowed his head before facing their expectant gazes. "A young woman was just found murdered in the parking garage by the court house. Ladies, it's the mayor's daughter." All of their pagers went off then, and the terror continued.