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- November 1981 CHAPTER 23 - Chicago, October 29, 2019 CHICAGO - November 1981 CHAPTER 24 - Chicago, October 30, 2019 CHICAGO - November 1981 CHAPTER 25 - Chicago, October 30, 2019 CHICAGO - November 1981

       PART III - THE FARMHOUSE

      CHICAGO - May 1982 CHAPTER 26 - Chicago, October 30, 2019 CHICAGO - May 1982 CHAPTER 27 - Chicago, November 1, 2019 CHICAGO - May 1982 CHAPTER 28 - Chicago, November 1, 2019 CHICAGO - May 1982 CHAPTER 29 - Chicago, November 1, 2019 CHICAGO - May 1982

       PART IV - THE CHOICE

      CHAPTER 30 - Chicago, November 2, 2019 CHAPTER 31 - Chicago, November 3, 2019 CHAPTER 32 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 3, 2019 CHAPTER 33 - Chicago, November 3, 2019 CHAPTER 34 - Chicago, November 3, 2019 CHAPTER 35 - Chicago, November 3, 2019 CHAPTER 36 - Chicago, November 4, 2019 CHAPTER 37 - Chicago, November 4, 2019 CHAPTER 38 - Chicago, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 39 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 40 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 41 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 42 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 43 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 44 - Starved Rock, Illinois, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 45 - Chicago, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 46 - Chicago, November 5, 2019 CHAPTER 47 - Peoria, Illinois, December 5, 2019

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ebook Exclusive: Creating Atmosphere in Some Choose Darkness

      PINNACLE BOOKS are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

      119 West 40th Street

      New York, NY 10018

      Copyright © 2019 Charlie Donlea

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

      If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

      All Kensington titles, imprints, and distributed lines are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, educational, or institutional use. Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington sales manager: Kensington Publishing Corp., 119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018, attn: Sales Department; phone 1-800-221-2647.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4222-7

      ISBN-10: 0-7860-4222-2

      First Kensington hardcover printing: June 2019

      First Pinnacle premium mass market printing: June 2020

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Printed in the United States of America

      Electronic edition:

      ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4224-1 (e-book)

      ISBN-10: 0-7860-4224-7 (e-book)

      For Cecilia A. Donat

       Great-aunt, old lady, friend

      I fear I am writing a requiem for myself.

      —Mozart

      THE RUSH

      Chicago, August 9, 1979

      THE NOOSE TIGHTENED AROUND HIS NECK, AND THE OXYGEN DEPRIVATION spun his head into a splendid mix of euphoria and panic. He allowed the nylon to take the full weight of his body as he eased off the stool. Those who did not understand “The Rush” would consider his pulley system barbaric, and no one but him fully knew its power. The Rush was a sensation more formidable than any narcotic. There was no other vector of life that could provide an equal experience. Quite simply, it was all he lived for.

      As he lowered himself off the stool, the rope to which the nylon noose was tethered creaked with the strain of his body as it slithered through the grooved rim of the pulley while he sunk toward the floor. The rope curved over the winch, ran down to a second pulley, then back up and around the third and final crank to form an M.

      Attached to the other end of the rope was another strap of soft nylon, which was wrapped around his victim’s neck. Every time he lowered himself from the safety of the stool, the nylon around his neck took her weight as she levitated like magic off the ground six feet in front of him.

      Her panic was finally gone. There was no more kicking or flailing. When she rose now, it was dreamlike. The Rush saturated his soul, and the image of her floating in midair enraptured his mind. He took her weight as long as he could bear, bringing himself to the brink of unconsciousness and to the edge of ecstasy. He closed his eyes briefly. So tempting was the lure to continue toward the high, but he knew the dangers of allowing himself to wander too far down that lurid path. To travel too long on its trail would prevent return. Still, he couldn’t resist.

      With the nylon tight against his throat,

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