Positive I.D.: Blind Girl's Bluff (Bookisode One)

By Warren Thomas

The brainchild of veteran screenwriter, Warren Thomas, co-creator of such blockbuster films as Swordfish and Hitman, Positive I.D. is an entertainment first: a TV series designed to be read, not watched.

Blind Girl’s Bluff, the premier “bookisode” (think episode) introduces gutsy Lyra Cole, a forensic sketch artist who will stop at nothing to catch a psycho rapist who thinks he’s gotten away with his brutal assault - - beating and raping a girl in broad daylight - - because he knew she couldn’t identify him. Because he knew she was blind.

But he didn’t know Lyra Cole.

A survivor of a horrific attack herself years ago, Lyra is an unstoppable force of nature wrapped as a supremely gifted sketch artist, tied in a sarcastically hilarious bow. There is no line she won’t cross to accomplish her goals - whether she's bringing criminals to justice or mocking the young, naïve computer expert named Gemma Kilpatrick who has been forcibly added to her team. Unknown to Lyra, Gemma was hired to secretly prove a computer program can do Lyra’s job - - which will bump the irascible Lyra out of the police department and out of the Chief’s hair.

But the question still remains... how do you track down a monster when his victim—and your only witness—saw nothing to describe? Even for Lyra, it is a daunting task.

In fact, it is a task so daunting that the Houston Police Department won’t investigate further. There is too little chance of success, they have too few resources, and the terrified victim refuses to testify. Unfortunately for the rapist, however, Lyra has never been one to let little things like “orders” or “due process” get in her way. And since there are “at least twenty senses other than sight” Lyra’s not about to let the victim’s blindness slow her down, either.

But, as Lyra uses her “unconventional methods” (including leaps of intuition that border on the supernatural) to piece together the identity of the blind girl’s rapist, Gemma discovers that he might, in fact, also hold the key to a twenty-year-old mystery that has defined Lyra's life--finding her kidnapped daughter and making the men responsible pay.

And suffer.

Hell hath no fury like a vengeful Lyra Cole.

Positive I.D. bookisodes are inspired by real police cases. A portion of proceeds will go to victim's rights charities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Warren Thomas
• Release date: Apr 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9780996013307

Warren Thomas

Warren Thomas is a veteran screenwriter, along with his former writing partner, of such blockbuster films as Swordfish, X Men Origins: Wolverine, Hitman, and A Good Day to Die Hard. However, he's grown weary of the soul-crushing vagaries of the Hollywood machine. Rather than pimp his newest creation to the highest tinsel-town bidder—only to watch his characters homogenized and destroyed “note by note” by Harvard trained, literary ninjas in Brooks Brothers suits, Warren and his partners at Black Gold Productions have decided to try a new, insanely risky gamble: taking his stories directly to the readers (gasp!). Positive I.D. is the first attempt at creating a television series designed to be read, rather than watched. Each “Bookisode” will be both a self-contained story and a small piece of a much larger narrative. So he hopes readers enjoy it. Because he doesn’t want network executives to turn Positive I.D. into a reality show. Also, he lives in sleepy Redondo Beach, California with his (mostly) loving family and (always) hateful dog, where he enjoys sunset strolls on the beach with his beautiful wife, is learning to love IPAs and is keeping his hair long while he still can.

Book preview

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Positive I.D.

Bookisode One:

BLIND GIRL’S BLUFF

by

Warren Thomas

Published by

Black Gold Productions

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

BLIND GIRL’S BLUFF: BOOKISODE ONE OF POSITIVE I.D.

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Cover art and design: Sanjay N. Patel

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Published by Black Gold Productions, LLC

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ISBN: 978-0-9960133-0-7 (eBook)

Version 2014.04.11

CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

THE SECOND SUSPECT

Next in the Positive I.D. Series

FOREWORD

Lyra Cole is a fictional character. She and the other characters who populate these stories are creations of the author’s slightly demented mind. But her creation was inspired by real forensic sketch artists who work, tirelessly, to bring justice and peace to countless victims, the world over. To that end, a percentage of sales will be donated to victims’ rights charities.

BLIND GIRL’S BLUFF

CHAPTER ONE

James was nervous. After weeks of watching and planning, the time had finally come. The buildup was part of the rush, of course. The waiting. The expectation. That ache that grew and grew in the pit of his stomach. It was like foreplay, really. And he savored every moment of it.

As he sat in the back of the bus, he tried not to stare at the pretty girl sitting several rows in front of him—he didn’t want anyone to notice—but he couldn’t help it. She was so small. So perfect, in every way. The big sunglasses she always wore nearly covered her tiny, china doll face, but did nothing to mask her beauty.

He felt his gaze lingering—on the fall of her auburn hair around the gentle curve where her neck tapered into her slender shoulders—on her smooth white thigh that was just visible beneath her slightly hiked up skirt—look away, he had to remind himself. Don’t draw attention, now. It was almost time.

As the bus geared down, preparing to stop, his pulse quickened. This was it. He tried to control his breathing—and tried to keep from laughing out like a child at Christmas—the waiting was almost over. The bus pulled to a stop and china doll stood up. He watched her walk toward the front—holding onto the seat backs to steady herself against the swaying bus—where she waited for the door to open.

He stayed in his seat long enough for her to step down and exit the bus—just like he had practiced—then stood up and followed. Two more men were getting off at the same stop—as he knew they would—and it didn’t take much for him to just blend in with them.

A moment later and he was on the street, the warm, wet air washing across his skin. God, the air had never tasted so good! His senses seemed somehow heightened—sights, smells, sounds—the horrible, evil world had never felt so wonderful to him as it did in this moment. These final moments before the rapture.

Up ahead he saw the china doll step into a convenience store—as he knew she would—and he, again, had to suppress a little giggle. It was working—all of it—just like he knew it would. Just like Ben had taught him. Ben always said, If you plan, if you’re careful, if you pay attention, it’s easy. You can do anything you want. And you’ll never get caught.

As he approached the convenience store he knew this would be one of the trickiest parts. He had to resist the almost irresistible urge to look through the glass and find his china doll. He knew she would be inside, pouring herself a soda, just like always. And as he drew closer, the desire to make sure she was really there was almost overpowering. But he also knew there was a camera. He knew he had to look away.

Summoning all the self-restraint he carried in his soul, he looked away as he passed by. He didn’t even realize he was holding his breath until he was clear of the danger and let it out. He smiled. Just a few moments more.

As he reached the alleyway, up ahead, he looked around, nonchalantly, to make sure no one was paying attention, then stepped behind the dumpster. He knelt down and tried to control his breathing again. He was almost panting with excitement. This was it! He heard her footsteps approaching. His eyes grew wide with anticipation. Every muscle in his body tensed for the moment—

—Then he saw her. She walked past him, oblivious to the danger lurking, just a few feet away. He rose to his feet, his teeth bared in a horrible, predator’s smile, as he stepped out and grabbed her from behind.

She tried to cry out, but his right hand clamped down over her mouth while his left hand wrapped around her slender neck like a vise. And with one good yank, he dragged her back into the alley behind the dumpster.

It was ecstasy. She was so tiny he literally lifted her off her feet. As he dragged her back to the spot he’d long since picked out, she tried to struggle, but he was so much stronger—he was the strongest creature on earth—he felt power coursing through his veins.

She clawed at him, scratching the back of his hand, but it didn’t hurt. He was too strong for that. But, still, she had to know she couldn’t resist. He cracked her head into the wall, hard.

He gasped in rapture at the soft thud of skin and bone on brick, and the tiny spasm of pain that coursed through her body. This was so much better … so much better than he had ever imagined.

They were behind the dumpster now, shielded from view, and it was time. It was finally time. She was going to be his. There was nothing she or anyone in the world could do to stop that now.

He removed his hand from her mouth and she cried out, but he cracked her face again—this time against the cold steel of the dumpster—and leaned down close to her ear. If you move again, I’ll kill you. He said it in a raspy, hoarse voice as he slipped the wicked serrated knife from its hiding place in the small of his back and pressed it to her soft, exposed throat.

She began to cry, softly now, and he marveled at the sudden realization that her very life was in his hands. It would take so little for him to take everything from her. Just the flick of his wrist and she would bleed out on the rough, dirty asphalt.

But not yet. He kept the knife pressed against her throat as he reached under her skirt with his other hand and ripped off her panties—he couldn’t believe how easily the silk tore apart—and he began to unbuckle his jeans as he forced her to her hands and knees.

She reached back and clawed at him, again, this time at his face. It was one last attempt to stop him, but it was so feeble. So pathetic. He relished her weakness. Gloried in his strength.

The power of life and death was his. He pressed her face into the ground and punched her over and over in the face as he forced himself inside her.

Ohhh … finally … it was so much more than he’d imagined … he was a god.

***

Lyra stared at herself in the elevator mirror. She was still pretty, she knew that, but it suddenly occurred to her that her face was beginning to show signs of age. There was nothing major—it wasn’t like her skin was sagging off her mandibles in cascading rivulets of deteriorating collagen—just some little lines here, some reduced elasticity there. But still pretty, for sure. Her features hadn’t changed—same high cheekbones