Author: kimlong

Chapter 1: The Ghost Bus It was 2:00 AM in Chicago, and the wind chill was sitting somewhere around ten below zero. The kind of cold that hurts your face the second you step out of the cruiser. I’m Officer Jack Miller, K9 Unit. My partner is a 90-pound Belgian Malinois named Radar. We’ve been…

CHAPTER 1: THE SCENT OF THE WRONG TRACK It was 2:00 AM in Chicago, the kind of cold that doesn’t just hit your skin; it moves through the layers of Kevlar and settles deep in your bones, aching like an old injury. The wind was whipping off the lake, cutting through the alleyways of the…

Chapter 1: The Alert That Changed Everything It was 2:00 AM on a Tuesday, the kind of mid-November night in Chicago where the wind cuts right through your Kevlar vest and settles into your bones. I’m Officer Mark Sullivan, K9 Unit, and my partner is a four-year-old Belgian Malinois named Buster. We’ve seen it all….

Chapter 1: The Target I held my breath, counting the cracks in the linoleum floor of the cafeteria. One, two, three. If I didn’t look up, maybe they wouldn’t see me. That was the rule I lived by at Lincoln High. Be invisible. Be a ghost. Keep your head down, do your work, and get…

CHAPTER 1: THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE I hadn’t showered in three days. I smelled like JP-8 jet fuel, stale sweat, and the red dust of a tarmac halfway across the world. My flight landed at Dulles International Airport at 2:00 PM. The ceremony at St. Jude’s Academy in Northern Virginia started at 3:30 PM….

Chapter 1: The Notification I hadn’t seen my little brother, Leo, in eighteen months. Eighteen months of sand, static, and bad coffee in places that don’t exist on Google Maps. When you’re overseas, operating in the gray zones, the only thing keeping you sane is the idea of home. For me, home wasn’t a place….

Chapter 3: The Longest Mile The siren of the police interceptor wasn’t enough. It just wasn’t enough to clear the density of the mid-afternoon traffic that had ground to a halt in the storm. I was trapped on I-290, the “Eisenhower Expressway,” which everyone in Chicago knows is a parking lot even on sunny days….

CHAPTER 1: The Long Way Home The air in the taxi smelled like stale pine air freshener and old vinyl, but to me, it smelled like freedom. I checked my watch for the tenth time in two minutes. 10:15 AM. Recess was in fifteen minutes. I smoothed out the wrinkles in my OCPs. I hadn’t…

Chapter 1: The Badge and the Backpack I adjusted the Velcro on my tactical vest, staring at myself in the hallway mirror of our suburban colonial. The badge—Officer Daniels, precinct 4—gleamed under the light. Usually, this uniform makes me feel ready for anything. I’ve handled domestic disputes, bar fights, and high-speed chases. But that morning,…

Chapter 1: The Switch It started as a regular Tuesday. I wasn’t even supposed to be at Oak Creek High that day. I’m Major Jack Silas, 75th Ranger Regiment. My boys and I—Sgt. Miller, Cpl. Torres, and ‘Doc’ Halloway—were in town for a JROTC inspection and a recruitment drive. We were in full dress greens,…