Cloud Judgement
How do you catch a murderer who can kill from anywhere?
Cameron Caldwell’s life is forever changed. After catching the HomeTech Hub killer and losing her dream job, she’s determined to get her life back on track. Her new consulting business is rough going, but she’s focused on success… and staying far away from any business involving the police. But when she meets a mysterious man who might not be what he appears, there’s only one person she can call for help.
Detective Will Justus’s world keeps changing. There’s a new kind of criminal on the loose, one who doesn’t even need to be at the crime scene to commit murder. Backed into a corner and needing a specific kind of technical help, he decides to reach out to an old friend. Regardless of their rocky relationship, Cameron Caldwell might be the only one who can put the pieces together.
Together, they begin the hunt for a new kind of killer.
Sneak Peek! First Chapter of Cloud Judgement
Chapter One
First Time, Last Time
Ben Lang was in heaven. H-E-A-V-E-N. It was the best night ever. He begged his parents to let him stay home alone when the sitter didn’t show up. After all, he was eleven years old. Almost a teenager. And certainly not a baby. He was allowed to walk home from school with his friends. That was much more dangerous than staying in his apartment by himself. I mean, c’mon. The building had a doorman. But he knew deep down that his parents only allowed it because it was so last minute, and the business dinner was very important to his father. Nobody had said anything to him, but he knew things were bad at his dad’s work. He heard things, grown-up things, when people thought he wasn’t listening.
Since he couldn’t count on it happening again, he vowed to make the most of his temporary freedom and do every single thing Tony Nitschke said he did when his parents went out. He made popcorn and streamed the new superhero movie his mom and dad hadn’t let him see in the theater with his friends. So maybe he left the popcorn in the microwave a little too long and some of the kernels were a little overdone. It just added flavor. At least, that’s what his dad said when it was his turn to make dinner and he burned it a bit. Covered in butter it was still delicious.
And maybe the movie was a little too scary to have watched all by himself. He’d never admit it to Tony Nitschke when he saw him at school. No way.
He even took a sip of his parents’ vodka from the liquor cabinet in his dad's office. It tasted awful and burned going down. But he wouldn’t tell Tony that part either.
He cooked himself a pizza using the big pizza stone his mom always used in the oven all by himself. He again left his food in for way too long and the kitchen got all smokey. The smoke detectors hadn’t gone off, and he turned on the fan so it couldn’t have been that bad. Not really.
Tucked in his bed at the proper bedtime because he just knew his parents would check the cameras in his room from their dinner, he could still faintly smell the smoke on his clothes. He thought if he just followed all their rules the first time they left him home alone, then they’d surely be willing to do it again.
Ben fell asleep content. Best. Night. Ever. And he never woke up again.
