A Campaign to Die For

Chapter 1

"Good morning," Holly Thompson greeted her friend, Laura Baker. She was also a teacher at Lakeshore High, but of the science kind. She had a solemn look on her face that morning. That sent off warning bells in Holly's mind. In all the years Holly had known Laura, she had never had a bad day. Laura was always optimistic and had a sunny outlook on life.

"Did you hear about the murder last night? They just discovered it this morning," she asked.

"Who was murdered?" Holly answered distractedly. Her grave tone had startled her, and she was trying to figure out why Laura was so somber.

"Banks Wolff. That guy who was running for governor. According to the news, he was found buried in the woods by a hiker and his dog. He appeared to have been..." she trailed off, knowing that he had been a close friend of Holly's.

Holly's mind was still stuck on the name. It echoed through her mind. Banks, her old friend. Banks Wolff, the politician. Banks, the one who comforted her when her parents died. "He appeared to have been what?" she prompted Laura to finish.

She hesitated, then quickly blurted out, "Shot in the head. Executioner's style."

Holly collapsed in her chair in disbelief. Banks hadn't deserved to die. He had helped her through her tough times. Why had God allowed this? she screamed internally. She was reminded once again that God didn't care about her and vowed to herself, then and there, that she would find the killer and make him pay.

***

Detective James Farrow walked into the city police department. He greeted his friend, and fellow police detective, Anthony Griffin. Just the start of a usual, albeit boring, day in my life, he thought. Later on, he regretted saying that.

He sat down in his chair and started looking at the cases. The first one he picked up was Banks Wolff, his old college roommate. He stared at the folder, still not believing that he was murdered. He shook out of his daze and quickly leafed through the folder. There wasn't much information to go on. Words floated off the paper. Shot...Buried...Woods...Dead... He ignored the rest of the cases and stood shakily. He walked to his car and made his way to the crime scene.

When he arrived, there was police tape surrounding the area. The body was laying next to a shallow grave. There was a bullet hole in the victim's head. He immediately found the officer in charge, Kasey Roberts and asked for details of the murder.

She stated, "The victim is male. About thirty-two years old. His name is Banks Reed Wolff. He appears to have been shot executioner's style and then buried sometime afterward. The murder occured sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. yesterday. It was discovered by a hiker and his dog this morning at about 11 a.m. The call came in at 11:05 a.m."

James shook his head. "He was a close friend of mine. My old college roommate. I'm going to find the killer."

Kasey opened her mouth.

He interrupted her, "Don't worry, it won't affect my work ethic."

"Okay," she said after a moment. "I trust you. But at the first sign that this gets personal, I'm pulling you off this case."

James nodded in agreement. Internally, he was shaking with fury at whoever had done this to his friend. Only cool, calm, and collected showed to everyone else.