“He’ll get his,” Jon said with satisfaction. “I saved a video that will put him behind bars for the rest of his life.”
Remembering how he had sent Shinsky’s testimony to his personal cell phone, Jon crouched down at Sturm’s body and found hers, thinking he might call Hegde or someone else and see if they could leave the Below. But there was no service.
“Must be pretty bad out there still,” he said, pocketing the phone and putting his arms around Mallory again.
“What do you think caused all that?” she asked.
“Don’t know. I guess one of the theories was actually right, or more than one, maybe. I’m just glad we’re in here and not out there.”
He kissed her again, and then hugged her tight.
“Never thought I’d be happy to be handcuffed,” he said, as he looked at the cuffs over her shoulder while they were embracing. “But I don’t think we could have won that fight without them.”
Then Jon noticed something else—the tattoo on the back of Mallory’s shoulder.
“I see the whole clover,” he whispered in her ear, “all four leaves.”
He didn’t know if this was a lingering effect of the Dayfall, or what, but he didn’t care. And Mallory didn’t either; she just gasped and squeezed him tighter when she heard it.
Before he could look back at the tattoo again, to see if it was still complete, the lights went out in the room.
“Must be really bad out there,” Mallory said.
“At least we have each other,” Jon said.
“And two guns now, in case anyone else comes.”
“Yeah, we’ll wait it out for a while,” Jon concluded, realizing that even the wound under his chin was feeling a lot better. “We’ll be all right.”
And they clung to each other in the darkness of the Below.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Isaac Asimov and Brendan Deneen for inspiration and ideas, and also to Brendan for his terrific editing work. Thanks to Paul Patterson, who served as a cop for thirty years and made sure the depictions of police work were realistic. And thanks to Jill, for clinging to me in the darkness of the Below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL DAVID ARES is an entrepreneur and educator who has started four community service businesses while writing and editing books for other people on the side. He is now a full-time author, and lives with his family in West Chester, Pennsylvania. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DAYFALL
Copyright © 2018 by Tor Books
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Paul Youll
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Ares, Michael David, author.
Title: Dayfall / Michael David Ares.
Description: First edition. | New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2018. | Identifiers: LCCN 2017039422 (print) | LCCN 2017049775 (ebook) | ISBN 9781250064806 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781466871144 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Police—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. | Serial murder investigation—Fiction. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction. | Mystery fiction. | Dystopias.
Classification: LCC PS3601.R4655 (ebook) | LCC PS3601.R4655 D39 2018 (print) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017039422
eISBN 9781466871144
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First Edition: March 2018