Title: Instincts
Series: Savannah PD Series, Book 1
Author: Rachel Renee
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Crime Drama
Published: December 14, 2016
Instincts: A way of thinking or feeling that is not learned.
Instincts: Drivers of behaviors.
Instincts: Help us to survive.
An abandoned factory in the dead of night—urine and decay permeating the air, setting the scene for the most recent horror film—only this isn’t the movies. The silhouette of the person hanging from the rafters is real life and the beginning of a case.
I’m detective Eliza Sheppard and it’s my job to determine what has happened to someone at the end of their journey here on earth. It’s my job to catch the guys or gals who felt it was in them to end that person’s journey. And it’s my job to put those criminals behind bars. Armed with my team of detectives, and most importantly my instincts, I set out to find what happened to respected Savannah business woman, Loretta Michaels. With little evidence and doubts from others, I am driven to follow a lead that many others suspect could be a wild goose chase. Will my instincts lead me to a killer? And how far am I willing to go to bring the killer to justice?
Sometimes when I walk onto a crime scene, I almost feel like I have stepped into the scene of a current horror film and tonight is no exception. The feel and sounds of the old building make me wonder whether I am truly a part of reality or just some actress following a script. I have to say, like a movie, this true to life crime scene, seems like the perfect place for someone to stash a body. It’s not the kind of place you would normally find an accidental death, and definitely not the type of place you’d find a suicide victim, as they usually commit the act in the comfort of their own homes. Occasionally, a setting like this could be challenged as an opportunistic scene—a place a perpetrator uses since it’s available and private, because most of the time, this is the kind of place only “true” murderer’s use. They want us to find their work, without leaving a body out in the open. The sad truth is, law enforcement are rarely the first people to find the body. Usually, it’s some innocent kids or the occasional vagrant looking for a dry place to sleep.
The voice of Officer Orlowsky reels me in. “Some kids were playing baseball in the parking lot out back. One of them hit a ball through a rear window and came inside to retrieve it. That’s when they found the victim’s body,” he looks back at me and I give him a grimace and a head nod, a sign to go on with his thought. “The kids were understandably freaked out. They all ran home, trying to forget. That was quite a few hours ago. One of the boys was finally brave enough to come forward, about forty minutes ago, and report what they had seen this afternoon.”
I hate when kids find victims. It’s worst case scenario. They usually end up in therapy for some time, trying to get over the brutality of the images they have seen and their fear of humanity. It’s kind of a Catch 22, you want the victim to be found, but you don’t want a lay person, specifically a child to come across it first.
“How bad is it?” I ask as we continue down the darkened hallway, the officer’s flashlight leading our way. The smell of urine is so powerful I bring my hand up to my nose to try and stifle some of the odor. The smells are certainly not a perk of the job.
The officer doesn’t have to respond because the hallway finally opens up, light from the moon filtering in through the broken windows. I see the silhouette of what seems to be a woman, hanging from the rafters, her head slumped over and her body completely limp. It’s pretty dark in here still, only moonlight and flashlights lighting up the room, so it’s hard to take in the whole scene. From where I stand it doesn’t look like anything more than a suicide, so I am not sure why they felt the need to call me in. Again, there has to be more to it.
Rachel Renee, born and raised in and around Cincinnati, Ohio, finds herself residing with her family in the suburb of Loveland. After completing a degree in psychology and racking up thousands of dollars in debt, she decided to become a stay at home mom and homeschool her children, all the while working on her writing career. While she is not using her degree in the secular world she uses it on a daily basis, psychoanalyzing her husband of 13 years and two children (9 and 7), her 2 dogs, 3 cats and her life as a writer and teacher. Just like Rachel enjoys reading books from many different genres, she also enjoys writing different genres as well, her first release being a contemporary romance and her second is the start of a detective/murder mystery, thriller series.
Stay tuned as Rachel continues her journey!
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