“…in due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
—Moses, the book of Deuteronomy
CHAPTER 1:
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
The early morning shards of sunlight were just beginning to streak across the wispy morning clouds in shades of pinks and oranges. The renowned Miami heat was already firing up, despite the early hour, quickly devouring the residual cool breeze of the overnight darkness. The street vendors had already begun preparing the day’s wares, so the air was filled with the scents of a variety of tasty delicacies.
Ian Jelani ignored them all. The Miami detective stood at the crime scene, baffled over what was before him. In all his twelve years on Miami’s Police Force he had witnessed a lot of crazy crime scenes, but this one might top them all. And that counted the crazy stuff during the race riots in St. Louis, when being a black policeman was a sure-fire way to get things thrown at you. Ian was a man of average height, athletically built, in good shape for a veteran cop. His clipper cut curly, dark hair was showing tinges of gray around his temples, a shade that extended to his goatee.
Ian exhaled slowly. He had investigated more than his fair share of gang violence and ruthlessness, yet he found himself dumbfounded today. His dark eyes darted about the area, then rubbing his hands over his face in disbelief, he turned and called out to his partner, “Hey Lane, you better come over and check this one out for yourse
