It was time to leave.
The decision took months—months of intense therapy, group and one on one sessions with a number of professionals. Ruiz was right. He needed to talk things out, reevaluate, grow. It centered him, refocused his world, or the lack thereof. To a point.
One more step remained, however. Even after being cleared to return to work, despite Mathers’ objections and the loss of all respect from his fellow officers, something remained out of place. He earned back the gun and badge, Ruiz happily turning them over as well as his old office. A gift from his captain and his friend. The familiar routine of everything, falling back into place.
Except it was different.
Loren was different.
Or needed to be, anyway. After falling so hard, after making an almost fatal mistake at the Church of the Second Coming, Loren knew that change was necessary. Coming back was not the answer. Staying hadn’t been the answer for almost four years.
It was time to leave.
Ruiz took the news poorly. Words were spoken in anger, mostly out of a renewed concern for the other. Both sides tried to persuade their counterpart and both failed. But the decision remained Loren’s alone.
Chicago waited for him. A job, though similar to his current standing in the department, brought a change of scenery and with it a chance at something new. New friends. New relationships. And his family as well.
A chance to start over.
Loren dropped the last of his files in a single box on the desk. The box consisted of almost a decade of his life. A lone file remained loose. He took it in his hands, thumbing through the thick dossier carefully. His wife’s file.
Four years had passed without resolution. He agonized over the details every day. The case became his life and now it sat in his hands, the anchor around his ankle pulling him back into the deep. Loren set the file down and closed the box. He patted the cardboard lightly, running his hand along the edges. Then he turned and headed for the door.
He didn’t need it. The box was Portents, through and through. His mistakes and his regrets, the guilt over his wife. The pain he dulled with work, with Soriya Greystone and the world she introduced to him, and more. A lot more that he exorcised with therapy over the last six months. There was no need to revisit it.
Not for his new start, not in Chicago.
His hand reached for the door, but he was unable to turn the handle. He bit his lower lip, wishing for a piece of gum to distract him. He looked to the box on the desk and started back. Opening the flap, he removed the single file on top, his wife’s name and a case number adorning the tab. He tucked it under his arm and headed to the door, the handle turning easily in his hand.
On the desk, the lid of the box remained open. As it always would for Greg Loren.
About the Author
Lou Paduano is the author of the Greystone series of novels including Signs of Portents and Tales from Portents. He lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife and two daughters. Sign up for his e-mail list for free content as well as updates on future releases at www.loupaduano.com.
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AVAILABLE NOW
Portents is a city like no other—and one that Detective Greg Loren can’t wait to escape. Since his wife’s death years earlier, Loren has looked forward to the moment he can leave the city of Portents for good—and never look back.
But fate has another plan for Loren. Called back to duty, Loren finds himself embroiled in a series of murders that has shaken the city. Together with Soriya Greystone, a young woman with unearthly powers, Loren must work quickly to find the otherworldly being that is killing citizens of Portents one at a time. Loren is tasked with deciphering the mysterious signs left at each of the crime scenes…even if it means traveling to worlds not his own to do so.
COMING FEBRUARY 2017
Six tales of monsters, the dead rising, and the terrors of Portents.
The beasts Detective Loren and Soriya Greystone battled in Signs of Portents were just a hint of what lurks in the city. Tales from Portents explores the city’s immersive history, including stories of Loren’s descent after his wife’s death—and his opportunity to have her rise from the grave. Among the pages, Soriya battles gremlins, navigates lessons with Mentor, and meets the werewolf Luchik. Follow new characters with expansive histories as they come face to face with the horrors of Portents—both human and otherwise.
From the Greystone Collection, Tales from Portents navigates the cases that make even Detective Loren lie awake at night.
COMING SEPTEMBER 2017
Death has come to Portents.
Three months after the Night of the Lights the city has changed. Detective Greg Loren struggles to find his place in the world, while his partner, Soriya finds her confidence shattered in an instant.
Something is wrong with the Greystone.
There isn't time to worry about it, however. A new menace stalks the streets, slaughtering innocents mercilessly. Who is controlling it? Who has found access to the mysterious Medusa Coin? And what does it mean for the city?
Faced with an insurmountable challenge will Loren and Soriya be able to overcome this new threat or will they fall with the rest of Portents?
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