Skylar Falls

By James Young

Skylar Falls

 

After a rocky start to a post-high school summer, Skylar Marshall goes about her daily life working as a supervisor at a local Diner. Unfortunately, the shadows of her past throw her into the world of her late brother's cold case as a local gang stirs up trouble for the community of Spring Falls, Kentucky. Will Skylar be able to face the reality of her brother's death again after five years of healing or will the grief be too much to handle?

• Language: English
• Publisher: LightKeeper
• Release date: May 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224238347

James Young

James is a Christian Fiction writer who puts his faith first and foremost in all his inspiration. After a decade of retail life, he seeks to join the writing world by creating a safe reading selection for teen/young adult readers. He is the author of a 10-book novella series called the Grace Series and the recently released Novella, Skylar Falls. James follows the teachings of the King James Bible and believes every day is another chance to learn from the Creator and spend every day taking steps closer to becoming more Christ-like.

Book preview

Prologue

(Spring Falls, Kentucky: 5 Years Ago)

Police! Freeze! An officer begins his chase on foot through the Kentucky streets late at night. He reaches for his radio. This is Officer Marshall! We have a 10-31! On foot pursuit of an armed robbery coming from First National heading north. Requesting backup!

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A typically quiet night in Spring Falls, Kentucky was startled awake by the screech of an alarm at the First National Bank. While the rest of the town lay in slumber, an officer was called out from home by an anonymous tip from someone hearing what sounded like windows shattering. Upon arrival, the Officer quickly spotted two individuals running full speed away from the bank.

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For at least 4 blocks, the officer was hot on their trail, until they took a sharp turn into an alleyway. They came across a brick wall and stopped dead in their tracks. They dropped their bags and looked at each other as the officer raised his gun at them.

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Don't move! Officer Marshall preferred. Let's be calm about this. No one has to get hurt. Now, put your hands in the air where I can see them. Slowly the masked thieves raised their hands over their heads. Now. Slowly turn around. No sudden movements. They followed instructions. Now, get on your knees! As the fire she, his radio came on.

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Officer Marshall, what is your location?

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He glanced around and noticed a neon sign. I'm in the back alley of Kevin's Family Pawn Shop.

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10-4, I'll be right there. While he was distracted by his two, the two thieves looked up in unison and began to laugh. Confused by their antics, he turned around and noticed a figure standing on a rooftop.

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You!? What are you...? Before he finished asking, the figure fired from the rooftop and dropped a card on the ground. At that moment, a fellow officer came around the corner and saw him fall backward to the ground as a pool of blood poured from his head.

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Nick! She ran towards him as the thugs took off. She pulled her gun and began firing shots, but they were long gone. Frustrated and scared, she holstered her gun and ran towards Officer Marshall.

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She looked him over and saw the entrance wound in the center of his forehead. With shaking hands, she reached down and closed his eyes. She laid her face on his chest for a moment and began to weep uncontrollably.

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After a few minutes, she calmed herself and reached for her radio. She stared in disbelief as her comrade lay lifeless on the ground. Her hand was quickly grabbed by her Captain as she shot up in horror.

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It's ok...I'll call this in. They declared. She weakly nodded as she released her radio and her hand fell limp. Her Captain reached for his walkie as they took a deep breath. Dispatch, this is a message to all officers: we have a code 42. I repeat we have a code 42 for Officer Nick Marshall.

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There was a deafening silence on the other line before dispatch answered. This is Dispatch calling Officer Marshall. A moment of silence. After a moment of silence, a bus was requested as they began the process of closing down the crime scene. Detectives took a statement from the officer while the Captain stood over the body and shook his head. He bent over to move the tarp and looked at the Officer's face. Tap on a clip to paste it in the text box.

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Rest in Peace, Nephew. I got your six. As he pulled the tarp back over, he glanced over to the other end of the alley where a lone playing card was lying on the ground. He put on a pair of gloves and approached the card. He picked it up and examined it closely.

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What is it, Cap? The shaken Officer asked.

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He showed her the card of a modified Ace of Spades. The center of the picture was a medieval-looking sword with blood coming from the top of the blade. I don't know if this has anything to do with the case, but on Nick's life, I swear there will be justice. Right now, this isn't my main concern. He waved over crime scene investigators and motioned them to bag and tag the card as evidence.

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What now? The Officer asked.

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The Captain took a long deep breath. You go see a Psychiatrist in the morning and take the week off to process. I have to inform the family. Are you on to drive? She weakly nodded as she got off her knees and walked to her patrol car.

—-

(Marshall Residence)

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The Captain approached the house with the Officer's hat and badge. Before he could get too close, a dog started barking from inside the house. The door opened and he was greeted by a husky pup and a man in a white T-shirt and pajamas.

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Ricky? What are you... It only took seconds to recognize the hat and badge in his hands. No...please... He dropped to his knees as his wife came behind him in a robe.

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What's going on? She asked. She glanced up and saw the Captain standing there with the hat and badge. She nearly fell backward in hysteria as the couple embraced each other in grief. Hearing the commotion, a young girl came walking down the stairs.

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Daddy? What's wrong? She asked rubbing her groggy eyes. The husky pulled her sleeve towards the door. She glanced down and saw her parents on the floor inconsolably crying with the Captain standing over them. Uncle Ricky? What happened?

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He swallowed a lump in his throat as he got down on his knees and looked her in the eyes. Skylar, honey...I'm sorry. There's no easy way to say this. Nick's gone.

Chapter 1

Marshall Residence

The summer air was thick tonight. It didn't seem to bother the tree frogs chirping or the crickets from playing their melody one to another. Amazing that when everything seems to be going wrong; nature remains completely unaffected or uncaring.

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I sat there in Dad's old rocking chair taking every single squeak and creak that came. I was done playing games, but any girl in my position would be. I looked up at the cloudy skies, and even the few stars that pierced through brought no comfort.

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Our family husky, Jack, was lying down next to the chair. Dad got Jack for himself, but as long as we've had him: he's always taken a shine to me more than anyone else. Like most pets, Jack always knew when something wasn't right. I never had to say anything. He just always knew, and some days it felt like he was the only one I could trust.

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My name is Skylar Marshall. I'm 5'5" with long auburn hair and blue eyes. I'm a bit more of a tomboy than a girly girl, but I can make an effort if the moment calls for it. I'm from the small community of Spring Falls, Kentucky. I lived in a small, two-story wooden house about 10 minutes from Spring Fall High where I graduated just last week. While most graduates are probably out there partying, vacationing, or getting ready for the start of college; real life never shut down for me.

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Since sophomore year, I've had a job as a waitress at a local Diner. In the months leading up to graduation, my manager made me a supervisor over the majority of the crew. It wasn't what I saw myself doing for my life, but to be 19 and holding a strong supervisor position is nothing to laugh at.

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For almost 2 years, I've been in a relationship with the same guy: Daniel Briggs. He was a rising star athlete with the school football team. I was never really a sports person, but I supported him and went to whatever game I was able to that didn't fall on a work night.

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The first year of our relationship; everything seemed just right. But once Senior year started; he started closing himself off and stopped talking to me as much in between classes. We started to go on fewer dates, and after his games, it seemed like he vanished without a trace. After a few months of putting up with his vanishing act: I stopped going to his games altogether and it doesn't seem like he even noticed.

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Fortunately for me; that's why I have my best friend to watch my back. Her name is Terrah Nova. Her parents were free spirits who used to be in a band. So, they appropriately gave her a rockstar name in hopes of boosting her confidence; which she never needed. Terrah never used her name as an excuse to get attention. She made a reputation for herself all her own.

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While naturally free-spirited; a pushover she was not. She always enjoyed the idea of getting new friends, but if you crossed the ones she cared about the most, then she made sure that you felt every ounce of humiliation for it. So, I guess you can say my best friend is an assassin on a social level.

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After the last game of the season; she decided to tail Daniel and see what exactly he's been doing this whole time. I never asked her to do this. That's just one more reason why I love her so much.

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It didn't take her very long to find out. He's had plenty of time to come clean and tonight I called him over to confront him. I'm done with the secrets and I'm done with the lies. Whether he admitted to anything or not: the game that he's really been playing is over.

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I've been sitting out here for about an hour trying to give myself time to mentally prepare. I rocked back and forth tapping my fingers on the old wooden rocking chair. Each squeak of the chair was one more second until I could release my pent-up frustration.

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I reached over to the side table Dad helped me make out of an old oak tree stump and grabbed my glass of tea to cool off from the early summer humidity. The cold drink running down my throat left me with a moment of relief, but the sugar was only fueling my anxiety.

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After a few sips; Jack perked up and started growling. My heart was racing with nervous energy to get this over with. I could feel the sweat building up on my forehead as I set the glass back down, rubbed Jack’s head, and stood up.

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You could hear the gears of his dad's old Chevy grinding. It was a project car from the mid-80s that he inherited from his grandfather. He messed around with it as much as he could until football practice took over his daily routine.

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The dim beams from the old headlights barely pierced through the trees at the front of our gravel driveway. If there were no other hints he was coming: you could easily smell it. He never could quite figure out what was causing it, but the exhaust port lately had been spitting out smoke. I gagged on the smell in an attempt to keep my composure.

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As Daniel pulled in, Jack started to stiffen up like he was ready to attack. I rubbed his chest and laid a hand on his head. That was our signal for him to stand down. He was a very good guard dog and I've enjoyed training him myself.

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As Daniel got out of his truck, His 5'9 figure came into view. He had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and a birthmark on the side of his eye. He used to tell his team that was his radar for picking up on what the other team was planning. He was never right, but the joke never ended. Normally he's wearing his letterman jacket that he got from the team, but tonight it looked like he was just wearing an old windbreaker. There were bags under his eyes, and the side of his face was glowing bright red.

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I got your call. He greeted weakly, fidgeting with his pants leg. I stood there on the front porch staring straight into his eyes, trying to ignore the smell of wintergreen coming from his body wash.

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He turned his attention away from me to stare at his muddied sneakers. His attempt to stall was almost as infuriating as the little secret he thought he could hide from me. Just from his body language alone; I was confident I could get him to sing like a canary without me even having to say a word.

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Let me take a guess: Terrah said something, didn't she?

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I didn't answer, but inside my head, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. You tell me, you lying sack of garbage! I trusted you!

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What do you want me to say, Skylar!? If you already know what's going on, then why don't you just come out and tell me you know?

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Because I would hope the guy that I've been dating for the past two years would be man enough to tell me he messed up, or for that matter be smart enough to know that he wouldn't be able to get away with something this stupid. Whether you're honest with me or not, Daniel, I'm done.

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You could visibly see the lump in his throat forming as my words hung in the air. He stared at me with pained eyes, but I did not pity him. Fine, you want the truth? I haven't been with the guys after practice.

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Hearing the truth nearly broke my focus, but I knew there was more coming. Who is she? Or I guess I should ask, who was she?

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He quickly put a hand to his red face. He never used to be this pathetic. I don't know what made him go from being a genuinely sweet guy to such a sleazeball. Rebecca Susan from chem class.

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It figures that one of the most popular girls in school would make a move on him just for being part of the football team, but by the looks of it, she found out what's really been going