The man wasn’t a stranger to killing; death was a necessary part of life. It was, after all, the only thing guaranteed at birth. At least, that was ...ow he justified taking so many lives.He wondered how it felt to die. He wondered if it would feel at all or if the end was just a miasma of pain and then nothing. As a boy he’d tortured and killed bugs and animals, trying to feel something. Anything. Trying to watch as the bugs and animals died, hoping he’d uncover some secret.He never did. He. She spun around in surprise hearing my voice, her blonde hair sticking up from the static, as her jaw about hit the ground when she made eye contact. I, of course, had a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin on my face.“Oh,” she said as her cheeks blushed red.“Let me help you with that,” I said.She let out a deep breath and said, “Please; Lauren usually takes care of this stuff but she got called away on a family emergency and left me here to do it myself.”“We will get it set up and ready in no time,” I. Tom first spoke to Shelly, telling her of the assignment and that it would mean moving to Brussels Belgium with the twins. He told her that she was welcome to come with them just as things were now. No change and no expectations. He wanted her to come but he did not want a wife or mother for his kids. The choice was hers and she wanted time to consider it.Next, Tom spoke to Nicky's parents. Now that they knew the whole story, he wanted to proceed with the divorce. He had thought endlessly about. “Alderman Bloom is expecting you,” he replied, standing up.He ushered me into an office where a graying, dapper, bespectacled man was sitting behind a desk. He stood up and reached across the desk to shake my hand.“Larry Bloom,” he said.“Steve Adams,” I said. “I wanted to talk to you about my business.”“That will be all, Fred,” the alderman said. “Have a seat, Steve.”I sat down across from him and took the white, business-size envelope from my pocket and put it on his desk. He picked it up and.