Prologue
Growing up in the somewhat small town of Carmichael California. Malcolm Bishop couldn’t remember a time when didn’t dream of moving away and seeing the world. A fresh start in a fast-paced city something new, different, and exciting.
Being raised in a strict household Malcolm was expected to toe the line. His father was a military man hardcore, an Army Ranger to the bone, and expected perfection. No messy rooms or unmade beds, no tattered clothes or unpolished boots. Malcolm’s whole household was woken up at five every morning and lights out every night at ten. It was the only life he knew; he was amazed as a kid when he would go to his friends’ homes. Their rooms looked as if a tornado had gone through them. While his father did a weekly inspection and expected him to have good marks at school and a paying job, be it yard work or side jobs in and around his neighborhood.
Even at the young age of thirteen Malcolm knew he wanted more to life and dreamed of bigger and more exciting things. Yes he loved the outdoors, fishing and hunting with his father were some of his best memories as a child and the better he got with his rifle the prouder his father would be. Hunting gave them a chance to bond and communicate and for Malcolm to grow into a man his father would be proud of.
Malcolm was a good kid, he received high marks in school and never had a problem with authority. Being a good student was easy for Malcolm, but making friends on the other hand was not. A bit of a loner he only had a few choice friends. He wasn’t an outcast by any means just a touch quieter than his classmates. His head in the clouds wanting so much more, he dreamt of big city lights, organized chaos, a true adventure.
Working and saving every dime he made he planned out his big move, a short farewell followed by a quick departure. Where he would go or what he would do with his life still wasn’t clear to him at that point but with good planning, the stars were the limit. His parents were proud of the boy they hand-molded into a man. His mother was a sweet and loving woman yet like his father she kept a firm hand when it came to raising him.
When disaster struck his family, it did so with a bang literally, their car was totaled, and his parents with it. Malcolm was thrown from the car with only a scratch to show for it, he was seventeen at the time and very much his own man yet after the loss of his parents he was thrown into a maze of disbelief and guilt for living through the wreck without a scratch while his parents were mangled and torn apart. A sight Malcolm could never forget, or get over.
The loss of his parents hit Malcolm hard, with no one else to help carry the load he found himself swimming in paperwork, what to keep, what to sell and so many decisions.
With only a month until his graduation, Malcolm was looking forward to leaving Carmichael behind him. Since his parent's house was paid off Malcolm took the advice of a family friend and rented it out month to month to a couple and their two kids. Malcolm figured a little extra money every month in his pocket was a good idea, especially with the way the economy was at the time.
Malcolm was more than ready to be on his own and found himself an apartment in Downtown Sacramento directly across from the State capital it was a small but neat studio with a communal bathroom down the hall. Not wanting to go through his savings or his inheritance Malcolm got a job in Midtown Sacramento at the Spaghetti Factory.
He was a friendly guy so it didn’t take long for him to find friends, not the kind of friends you meet up with every day or are constantly in touch with more like acquaintances, friends from work nice neighbors never getting too close. After working as a waiter for a few years with no real plans or goals Malcolm felt restless and tired of the same routine day in and day out so at the age of nineteen he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and joined the military.
Like his father he enlisted in the Army with the goal to become a Ranger, he realized he did need structure and if he knew anything for sure it was that he was not cut out for restaurant work and more than anything he needed some excitement in his life and working at a damn restaurant wasn’t cutting it. Malcolm fit right in with the military life, thanks to his father it was all he knew really.
Staying on for two tours of duty Malcolm returned to civilization four years later with a head full of bad memories and a medal of merit to show for it. Yes, there were good times, it wasn’t all bad but the good times didn’t haunt his dreams at night, his guilt did. Soon after his return he enrolled in the police academy, with no family and no relationships to slow him down Malcolm excelled and graduated first in his class. After graduating from the police academy Malcolm found a job opening in Sacramento CA, he had the idea of becoming a detective and hoped to one day move away and start from zero in a new city.
Malcolm was happy he had a nice two-bedroom cottage off of 19th st in midtown and had made some good friends. It wasn’t long before he met Jordan, they had met at an Irish pub in midtown called Streets of London, she was beautiful her long hair was a deep shade of red that flowed down her back and her eyes were dark green and more than mesmerizing.
Every time he saw her, she was smiling and laughing, and everyone seemed to know and love her. Malcolm found himself awe-struck by her and her ability to lighten up a room. She was everything Malcolm was not, a true people person, the bell of the ball, the beautiful popular girl every man sought out to have and lucky Malcolm her eyes were on him. It didn’t take long for them to hit it off and begin dating. Jordan’s loud and friendly nature made her the center of attention which Malcolm had to admit was hard for him.
Malcolm didn’t enjoy being in the spotlight and would disappear into the background while watching Jordan work the room, making him the designated driver and peacemaker, her being the loudest and most flirtatious person at the party tended to ruffle the feathers of the other women and Malcolm knew deep down Jordan was loving every minute of it. Even blinded by her love at the time he still knew she was wrong and he hated to sit back and watch her in action moving around the room laughing and flirting like a schoolgirl with no care about how it might make him feel or look in front of all there friends.
Yet Malcolm remained blind to her wicked ways and when she lost her apartment he, of course, moved her right into his. His apartment was small but cozy and he and Jordan were happy, really happy Malcolm couldn’t wait to take their relationship to the next level which was a huge shocker to him since he had never really been in a relationship or wanted a commitment, but with Jordan it was different, he was different.
