When she heard footsteps she froze. Tuhk. Tuhk. Tuhk. The steps were slow and echoed along the crumbling stone walls of the building. Slowly they...grew louder. They approached the open door to Christine's room. She froze, terrified.A dark figure stood in the doorway, his features obscured by the darkness. He was huge, almost inhuman in his height and mass. Over seven feet and a chest the size of a refrigerator. He moved closer to the nearly naked teenager bound and helpless in the. My last day would involve noting more than sitting in the office. I was done being a Homicide Detective. Helen sent me off with a sly little smile. She knew this day would be bitter sweet for me; first because my career was ending, second because I was also going to be on the receiving end of a LOT of jokes. Helen and I both knew that at the end of my shift I would walk away leaving it all behind me. Literally.This case had really put a bad taste in my mouth. Two former friends turned out to be. Not through physical force, but simply by being a force of nature. We weren't even sleeping together. Bizarrely, I wondered if her now-gay husband, Dave, ever regretted separating from Rachel. It was unfair, I knew, to think that. It couldn't have been easy on him - finding out his true feelings, and finding out that his true feelings meant he could no longer emotionally commit to a crazy, zany, amazing wife. I had to remind myself, the Rachel I now knew was born out of the crucible that was. She asked if she could watch the process to satisfy her curiosity about it. She finally persuaded the shop owner by purchasing a fine silver candelabrum at a price she would never have paid for the item alone — even with the vast amounts of coin she carried.She spent the remainder of the day staying out of the way, observing as the men melted the silver and cast it in rough molds. Skilled hands then finished the pieces once they cooled. She asked a few questions when the men sat down for a.