Chapter 1

     Kimmi Carter had been looking forward to this night all week, and she was not, not going to let the events from earlier in the week get her down. Yes, it was unfortunate, tragic even, that one of her classmates had been found brutally murdered, and the killer – another classmate – had committed suicide afterward, but she and Ben had been planning this night for over a month – ever since she found out that her parents would be leaving her home alone for the weekend to atten. . .

Most people in today's society know someone who is food obsessed. The proliferation of the internet and television channels devoted to the pursuit of perfection and dare I say gluttony have created a culture that at one time was amongst the fringe of societal norms. We all had a family member or a friend who took things to the extreme when to came to gustatory quests. For me there are two glaring examples that exemplify what I am talking about. I knew this one guy in college who lived life on . . .

“I’m nothing buta drunk,” she thought.

“No. I’mnothing. And I’m a drunk.”

And then she fell asleep.

Outside, thestorm’s wind had pushed the grill a foot or so from the wet, slatted patiowall. Rain had filled the heavy glass ashtray until it spilled over the sideand dripped greyish water down onto the rusting metal bistro table.

Water had comein through the slightly open window in the living room. The wind had blown itagainst the screen until it made its way down onto . . .

1

Immortally Wounded By Robbie Stockman

PART I: Suicide is a Dish Best Served by Professionals

Chapitre Un (1)

“Merde,” Michel gasped. “Shit!”

Forty-thirty a.m. in the middle of a residential street corner in San Carlos, California felt as solitary and frigid as the Siberian tundra. The street was still slippery from El Niño rains. It seemed like this was the only night in months the rains had subsided. Only a new substance was flowing now. His. . .

Chapter 2

Julie And Gary

November 29, 1990 - San Francisco, California

Julie's husband Gary disappears with their daughter Jessica.

Jessica is a 'large-for-her-age' blond, blue-eyed girl. Julie says, "She’s only two and a half. She's the most beautiful and intelligent girl that you could ever imagine. She's the 'miracle' child. She needs me and I need her."

Jessica was conceived during a seventeen month separation from Gary. Wh. . .