St. Augustine's Silhouettes

By Kate Hill

A killer runs loose in a small American town. When free-spirited Katherine allies herself with a man dubbed Satan by the townsfolk, has she found the man of her dreams or has she fallen into the hands of a murderer?

St. Augustine's Silhouettes was previously published by Echelon Press. This is a revised and expanded version.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kate Hill
• Release date: Oct 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310914096

Kate Hill

Kate Hill is a vegetarian New Englander who started writing many years ago for pleasure. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, watching horror and action movies, working out, and spending time with her family and pets. She also writes under the name Saloni Quinby.

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St. Augustine's Silhouettes

By Kate Hill

Copyright 2014 Kate Hill

Smashwords Edition

This book has sexual content and is for those 18 and over.

This book was previously published by Echelon Press. This is a revised and expanded version.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places, and events is purely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1: The Shopkeeper's Smile

Black brocade drapes swept aside by maroon tassels adorned the window of the oddity shop. The oval-shaped sign above the door was painted gray with black lettering. Usually Katherine passed the shop without a glance. She'd heard the rumors about the curiosities displayed inside and the peculiar shopkeeper who had arrived last month with his bizarre collection. When alone, all decent women hurried by the place with their gazes averted and their lips curled in disgust. Only groups of giggling, blushing ladies who felt protected by their number or women with less than perfect reputations ventured through the door. They stepped through the tinkling silver wind chimes into the forbidden realm of occult articles, sordid novels, spell books and antique trinkets. Most of the local men visited the shop weekly, not only for the imported cigars and tobacco, but for the collection of erotic art books and risqué pieces of clothing that they imagined on their wives and mistresses. Silky pantaloons, beaded brassieres and colorful veils sparked their desire. Men patronized his shop, but it was not a secret that they despised the shopkeeper, and Katherine knew why.

Working for the local seamstress, she overheard conversations from nearly every female resident. The more wealth and power a woman inherited or married, the more she enjoyed raking through the lives and misfortunes of others.

Being the focus of many sneering conversations that ceased when she stepped onto the shop floor, Katherine had borne the brunt of their viciousness. With no family and only a small inheritance from her father, Katherine was considered scarcely a step above those women with less than perfect reputations. Maybe people believed this because she had turned down offers of marriage from the only two men in town who would have her--the owner of the fish market and the blacksmith. Surely any marriage was better than none, at least in their minds, but Katherine didn't agree.

Perhaps their suspicions had more to do with her silky black hair, angelic face and womanly figure that tempted the darkest desires of most men and incited the women to gossip about her. Still, they had little to say regarding her virtue. Though not wealthy, she was decent and upstanding. She kept to herself in her rented room above the dress shop and attended mass every Sunday.

Despite her quiet way of life, she had secret desires and she dreamed about daring adventures.

Leaning closer to the window, she stared at the macabre display of black marble