City of Trees City of Shadows

Rachel L. Ertassi

Description

This page-turning fiction thriller dives into the lives of three characters: the killer, a college student, and a therapist, whose stories become intertwined.

City locals face their own struggles as they deal with the day-to-day of their individual lives, until their routines are disturbed by the discovery that there may be a murderer lurking among them in the shadows.

Someone is picking people off in the night and leaving the bodies to be found in the morning. Locals see on the news that the victims are being discovered very close to some of their homes in Midtown Sacramento, California.

This page-turning fiction thriller dives into the lives of three main characters: the killer, a college student, and a therapist, whose stories become intertwined. City of Trees, City of Shadows blends themes of medicine, mental healthcare, and violence—and nobody is safe.

Sujets

• Thrillers
• Sacramento, California
• Fiction
• Sacramento

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 28 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781665732345
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

CITY OF TREES CITY OF SHADOWS
 
 
 
 
 
 
RACHEL L. ERTASSI
 
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2023 Rachel L. Ertassi.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3233-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3232-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3234-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919629
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/23/2022
CONTENTS
Prologue
Intro
Chapter 1   Vera
Chapter 2   Vera
Chapter 3   Vera
Chapter 4   Unknown
Chapter 5   Vera
Chapter 6   Unknown
Chapter 7   Vera
Chapter 8   Unknown
Chapter 9   Vera
Chapter 10   Gina
Chapter 11   Vera
Chapter 12   Gina
Chapter 13   Vera
Chapter 14   Vera
Chapter 15   Unknown
Chapter 16   Gina
Chapter 17   Vera
Chapter 18   Gina
Chapter 19   Unknown
Chapter 20   Charlotte
Chapter 21   Gina
Chapter 22   Vera
Chapter 23   Vera
Chapter 24   Unknown
Chapter 25   Vera
Chapter 26   Vera
Chapter 27   Gina
Chapter 28   Unknown
Chapter 29   Vera
Chapter 30   Gina
Chapter 31   Howard Young
Chapter 32   Vera
Chapter 33   Vera
Chapter 34   Gina
Chapter 35   Vera
Chapter 36   Unknown
Chapter 37   Vera
Chapter 38   Unknown
Chapter 39   Gina
Chapter 40   Vera
Chapter 41   Vera
Chapter 42   George
Chapter 43   Vera
Chapter 44   Gina
Chapter 45   Unknown
Chapter 46   Vera
Chapter 47   Unknown
Chapter 48   Gina
Chapter 49   Vera
Chapter 50   Matthew De Long
Chapter 51   Vera
Chapter 52   George
Chapter 53   Gina
Chapter 54   Charlotte
Chapter 55   Sam
Chapter 56   Matt
Chapter 57   Vera
Chapter 58   Sam
Chapter 59   Vera
Chapter 60   Elijah
Afterword From The Author
 
Dedicated to many, as this is my first book.
To Shawna, Renee, and Lauren
for the support.
To the diabetic community,
you deserve more representation.
And to the people of Sacramento,
a story set in our city.
 
As of early 2022, insulin is the sixth most expensive liquid in the world, climbing up to $26,400 per liter.
If milk cost the same as insulin, an 8oz glass of milk at the diner would cost $5,819.
—Gupta, 2022, Science ABC
PROLOGUE
They call it the City of Trees. The Sacramento State campus alone has over 400 species. The leaves change into miraculous shades of gold and red in the fall and brilliant greens in the spring and summer. In November, leaves fall fluttering to the ground; and in March, the petals of white blossoming flowers rain down from the trees like snow.
However, beneath the canopy of trees lays a dark secret. Each tree in the city casts a long shadow. And in the shadows lurks something evil. Something dark, violent, and insatiable.
INTRO
The moon illuminated the dark riverbank of Discovery Park. It was bold, big, and bright tonight. Enough that the sky painted the city below in a blue hue and looked itself like a navy watercolor. The river lapped at the sandy beach shore. During the day the park was often full of life, children playing in the water, families out on boats; men could be seen across the way fishing in isolated spots. Tonight, the air stank of death.
The dull lapping against the shore pulled blood from the sand that swirled into the water, tinting it red. A coyote approached the water cautiously and sniffed the red pool of blood. Unimpressed, the coyote trotted off, past a body lying face down on the beach. The water continued to pull the puddle of blood into the river with each soft wave. The moon sparkled brightly above the red river water, which shined brighter and more exaggerated by alternating red and blue as the lights from a patrol car approached the scene.
CHAPTER 1 VERA

S he would forever be in school. She sighed and tapped her pencil on the desk. She didn’t mind it though. School was something she was good at. She had been doing it for so long that it was ingrained in her personality. She was a student. And she was a good student.
Professor Wong slid her graded exam onto her desk- 68 percent. Fuck . Well, sometimes she was a good student. She slid the papers into her bag, not bothering to take out a binder to organize them. She felt the papers crumple as she jammed them against something else, probably her water bottle at the bottom of her backpack.
Whatever.
Vera hiked her backpack onto her shoulder and headed out of the classroom into the cool dusk air. She looked around campus. It was eerily quiet at Sac State. Friday night in the spring though, so that made sense. Nobody took Friday classes if they could help it, much less a Friday evening class. Even less than that during spring semester. As the weather warmed, students stayed out late in the sun drinking and socializing. Still, it was evening and the quiet made Vera feel unnerved. She balled her keys into her fist, just in case , and headed to the parking structure.
The breeze had picked up a little as she approached the parking structure by the school gym. It was the furthest from her class, clear across campus, but it usually had parking spots. She shifted the weight of her backpack as she pressed the button for the elevator. Vera checked the time. 5:45p.m. She raised her eyes as the doors opened and watched a startled couple peel their lips apart from each other, embarrassed. The girl giggled as she adjusted her shirt as they exited together. Vera rolled her eyes.
That should be me. I need to get back out there.
She stepped into the elevator, smelling an overwhelming amount of Acqua di Gio lingering in the air. It reminded her of Nathan. He used to wear it when they went on dates. She could still smell it on her clothes when she got back into her dorm room after they would mess around. Sometimes she would smell him before she saw him. She would be working on homework in the library and smell Acqua di Gio creeping up behind her and smile when she felt his arms wrap around her waist.
And then the smell turned sour when she smelled it in her dorm room on days she had not seen him. She began to smell it on her roommate. Turned out he was fucking her too. Classic.
They had dated for only a few months, but her roommate was blonde and beautiful. A Sac State Hornets dancer. So naturally, when she introduced him to her friends, he was struck by her roommate’s blatant and in your face Barbie beauty. Vera liked to think men were attracted to her intelligence, but at eighteen, not a chance.
She pretended that she didn’t notice the affair at first. He was great in bed, he was handsome, he made her laugh. If she thought really hard about it she could pretend he was a good guy too. But of course, nothing young lasts. For Vera anyway, that was just her luck. She took the breakup hard. Hit the bottle hard. Tanked a semester, pulled herself back up, got a new roommate and moved off campus after her first year. She dove into her academics in year two, and year three, and now in year four… But it had been a while since she had been pushed into an elevator wall and felt up by someone wearing Acqua di Gio .
I need a beer.
Vera walked to her car in the mostly empty parking lot. The few cars that were in it were on the first floor and had just arrived as eager Friday night gym goers. Most of the students were off campus by now. Vera started her Fridays late in the day, so she had to park at the top of the structure where there were still spots when she arrived. She made her way to her car and was immediately struck by a white streak on her left bumper that crept up the side of her back door.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”
I really need a beer.
Someone had hit the side of her poor Civic with their car leaving a swipe of white paint across her door. Her car was nothing special, a silver 1996 Honda Civic, all manual. Manual windows, locks, transmission. She had a wheel lock to protect it from getting stolen from the parking lot, since Civics are one of the most easily-stolen cars in the world. Her friend had warned her before she moved to Sacramento for school that you could steal a Civic by jamming a screwdriver into the ignition and drive with it sticking out like that. She doubted that was true but was unwilling to put her baby at risk since she had paid for it herself.
At least they left a note… Vera reached over the windshield and pulled it loose from behind the wiper. It was written on a Gordito Burrito receipt.
“ My Bad.”
Vera crumpled it up furiously and threw the note into the st