The press had blamed an unattended campfire for the raging fires that consumed a massive portion of the BC forest. Then a week later, it was rumored that a single cigarette had ignited the blaze. That was before the public ban on smoking became official—before people were restricted to smoking in the privacy of their homes, in well-ventilated smoking rooms.
Brandon had never believed the fire had started from a cigarette. He personally sifted through acres of destroyed forest, searching for a clue. He had explored the land until he discovered an abandoned cabin deep in the mountains.
There, he found remnants of liquid methylyte and zymene, highly flammable chemicals used in the underground production of Z-Lyte. Z-Lyte, with its sweet musky scent, had become the hallucinogenic drug of the new generation.
Public homeowner records listed Edwin Bruchmann as the owner of the cabin. An hour later, Bruchmann was in custody. When the old man was escorted into an interview room by his caregiver, Brandon was disappointed to discover that Bruchmann suffered from Alzheimer’s.
Brandon’s leads were slowly disintegrating—until his suspicions turned to the caregiver. Gregory Lawrence, thirty-nine, had been employed by Bruchmann for the past two years and had access to all of the old man’s documents. But Lawrence denied knowing anything about a cabin.
“When was the last time Mr. Bruchmann visited his lakeside cabin?” Brandon had asked the caregiver.
Lawrence’s face had registered confusion.
Then, without thinking, he had blurted, “You idiots! Edwin Bruchmann’s cabin is not by any lake. See? I told you, you have the wrong person. Mr. Bruchmann’s cabin overlooks the valley.”
Brandon had smiled then. “I thought you knew nothing about the cabin?”
“I, uh…” the man stuttered. “Well, I m-might have heard about it once. But that doesn’t prove anything!”
A knock on the door halted the interrogation and a detective passed Brandon a toxicology report.
“Maybe not,” Brandon had agreed. “But this sure does.”
Earlier he had recognized the sweet-smelling body odor common with Z-Lyte users. Suspicious, he offered Lawrence a can of pop. When the man had finished it, Brandon dropped it into a plastic bag and handed it over to the lab for analysis.
It came back positive for Z-Lyte.
The case was immediately closed, Gregory Lawrence locked away, Bruchmann established in a care facility and Brandon promoted to AI Chief.
All accomplished without any outside help.
And Brandon certainly hadn’t needed a PSI!
This new case was no different, he reasoned. What could Agent Jasi McLellan possibly offer?
Psychic mumbo-jumbo?
He laughed suddenly, adjusting his shades.
How could the woman expect him to believe she had the power to see into a killer’s mind?
I’d have to see it to believe it.
Praise for Children of the Fog
“A chilling and tense journey into every parent’s deepest fear.”
“A nightmarish thriller with a ghostly twist, Children of the Fog will keep you awake… and turning pages!”
“Reminiscent of The Lovely Bones, Cheryl Kaye Tardif weaves a tale of terror that will have you rushing to check on your children as they sleep. With exquisite prose, Children of the Fog captures you the moment you begin and doesn’t let go until the very end.”
“Ripe with engaging twists and turns reminiscent of the work of James Patterson, Tardif once again tugs at the most inflexible of heartstrings… Children of the Fog possesses you from the touching beginning through to the riveting climax.”
About the Author
Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an award-winning, bestselling Canadian suspense author. Her novels include Divine Justice, Children of the Fog, The River, Divine Intervention, and Whale Song, which New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice calls “a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart… a beautiful, haunting novel.”
She is now working on her next thriller.
Cheryl also enjoys writing short stories inspired mainly by her author idol Stephen King, and this has resulted in Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories (ebook) and Remote Control (novelette ebook).
In 2010 Cheryl detoured into the romance genre with her contemporary romantic suspense debut, Lancelot’s Lady, written under the pen name of Cherish D’Angelo.
Booklist raves, “Tardif, already a big hit in Canada… a name to reckon with south of the border.”
Cheryl’s website: http://www.cherylktardif.com
Official blog: http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif
You can also find Cheryl Kaye Tardif on MySpace, Facebook, Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThing, plus other social networks.
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by Cheryl Kaye Tardif. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. And any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead (or in any other form), business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
FIRST EDITION
Imajin Books
February 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-9866310-7-8
Trade paperback edition also available at various retailers
Cover designed by Sapphire Designs - http://designs.sapphiredreams.org/
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