Chapter One

"It's human nature to claw for air..."

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Damion Reisert dropped his overstuffed black book-bag on the wooden floor, looked around and let his eyes widen.

"Holy crap-…"

The floor was covered in broken glass, the door was a splintered mess, and a chalk-white body outline was scribbled on the ground next to a nasty dark-brown stain that looked suspiciously like blood. He bent down and ran his fingertips over the slighly warped wood. Definitely blood.

"Dad?" he called out. "Lise?"

Suddenly his pocket vibrated and let out an irritating electronic melody. He reached in and pulled out the cellphone, flipped it open and hit the "talk" button.

"Hello?"

"Damion, it's Dad," a deep voice crackled. "Where are you?"

The boy incredulously kicked over a large shard of glass. "I'm standing in what used to be our foyer."

"God…son, we're at the police station. Someone tried to kill me and Lisa-…"

He didn't let the man finish. As his face turned off all visible emotion, he answered, "I'll be there in ten."

He severed the call, passed through the yellow police tape again, went outside, hopped in his Jeep Wrangler, gunned the engine and took off.

He didn't even notice the cop tailing him until he ran his third red light in a row.

"Shit," he cursed, checking the rear-view mirror to be sure.

Pulling over, the officer walked up, tapped on the glass, and asked for his license. Damion handed it over and let out a string of expletives, especially when the cop ran it through the system and discovered a considerable list of offenses.

"It was only a couple parking tickets!" he snarled before the cop and his partner shoved the boy into the back seat in cuffs.

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"Son, what's the meaning of this?" Joe Reisert demanded when he saw his son being shoved into the headquarters in handcuffs. The officers, realizing the older man was family, deposited him in a hard-backed wooden chair nearby. Lisa, with her tear-streaked face contorting in confusion when she laid eyes on him, stood up and came over.

"Dame, what did you do?"

The boy scowled and gave the nearby policemen a dirty look. "I got caught. I just ran a couple lights and didn't pay a few parking tickets. It won't put me in jail; it'll just cost a boatload."

"And one hell of a wait in court," one of the officers snapped.

"But what happened?" Damion asked, diverting the attention from him. "Who tried to kill you?"

Joe looked to Lisa, who didn't answer. "Some hitman who was using Lisa to set up a job, as far as I understand."

The woman sniffed, obviously controlling her emotions. "But it's over."

"Where is the bastard?" Damion snarled.

"In the hospital. Lisa kicked his ass but good," his father said with an air of pride and a smile.

Damion seethed, writhing in his bonds. He had no clue as to the real story, but anyone who came near his sister deserved more than just an ass-kicking. When he'd found out about the episode two years ago in the parking lot, he'd gone postal, even though Lisa tried to play it off. Damion had gone on a rampage, trying to find the guy. He never did. But he felt like he was doing his duty as a brother.

Of course, he was only seventeen at the time, so his idea of "duty" was a bit skewed.

"What's his name?" he asked nonchalantly.

But Lisa recognized the move instantly. "No. Don't worry about it, Dame. He's done."

"I just wanna know the guy's name," he shrugged.

"Something Ripper?" Joe commented.

"No!" Lisa cried, but the damage was already done. "Nothing! He was just some guy-…"

"Some guy that tried to kill you!" Damion protested, trying to pull his hands around front but almost cutting his wrists on the cuffs that still held him.

"Cool it, boy," the cop said.

"Why are you burying this guy so fast?" the boy demanded of Lisa. At this, she silenced and refused to say any more.

"Officer, is it really necessary to keep him locked up like that?" Joe asked.

The policeman released Damion with a condescending look, and the young man returned it with relish. He rubbed his wrists to bring feeling back into them and inspected the red rings that bore testament to the metal.

"What hospital?"

Lisa exploded. "Damion, don't you dare! Just leave it alone! He's near death, he's going to be put away for the rest of his natural life, everyone is ok! Just leave it the hell alone!"

Damion shot her an I'm-not-taking-"No"-for-an-answer look, but she countered with a go-to-Hell face until their father broke the silence.

"Damion, son, you should just leave it alone. We're going to go check into a hotel tonight – all of us – and handle it all in the morning. Let's go."