Chapter 1The Heart Left Behind
Chapter One — The Heart Left Behind
The city was still bleeding from the night before.
Rain slicked the pavement, washing away everything except the red smear that refused to fade — a heart, painted in blood, left on the alley wall like a signature.
Detective Mara Vance stood under the flickering streetlight, collar turned up, cigarette burning low. The smell of iron and asphalt mixed in the air. She’d seen plenty of bodies, but this one felt different. The victim’s chest had been carved open, the heart missing. In its place, a paper Valentine — folded neat, edges soaked crimson.
“Same as last year,” the coroner muttered.
Mara didn’t answer. She already knew.
The killer was back.
And this time, the message wasn’t for the city.
It was for her.
