Broken Wings

Amy and Jill . . . Two young women who briefly met as they slowly were heading toward the Emergency Room entrance at Griffin Hospital. Far along in their respective labors, they soon gave birth without any complications. A little girl, Samantha, was born to Amy, while a little boy, Drew, was born to Jill. In an amazing turn of events, both infants entered the world at the exact same time, down to the very same minute and second: 3:45:18 am. Coincidence? Perhaps . . . Fate? Who Knows? The truly unknown fact then was that these four lives would be irrevocably linked for the duration of their natural lives, as well as those of their loved ones. Many unexpected twists and turns soon begun to follow, each incident with umbelievable consequences and even more umbelievable outcomes. A terrible head-on collision, so violent that it caused both cars to fly in opposite directions. Three innocent victims in total, but there was only one survivor. Two happy spouses eagerly waiting to see their mates soon, completely unaware that for them the journey had just ended. * * * A nine-year old child, healthy one day and dying the next. A devastated mother, simply unable to accept what his pediatrician had just told her. Desperation soon followed the initial denial, and she vowed that she would fight tooth and nail, and for as long as there was still any breath left in her beaten body. Somehow, somewhere, she would find someone, anyone, who would be willing to help her little one. Stating that she did not care how, she went on to say that she would indeed find the help her little child so desperately needed, and would not give up until she found that one person who could make her child well again. She was willing to go to hell and back to achieve that! A ´casual´ encounter with a handsome, charismatic stranger, who assured her that he could ´spare´ the life of her child. This turn of events offered the distraught mother the help and hope she was determined to search for. What he asked from her in return, though, was so horrible that she had to fight hard not to recoil from him, as if he had just set her on fire. It was one sordid and sick proposition, and ´only up to her, take or leave it´ but, unfortunately she was well aware that she could not simply turn around and run away, like she would like to. As vile as it sounded, it was the only option open to her and to her child, for his life depended on it. And she would be damned if she was going to let him die without a fight! Defeat was a bitter pill to swallow, especially if preceded and immediately followed by a silent barrage of self-loathing and self-pity. Complete and total inadequacy were never more blatant than at times like these. It was one hell of a choice, but that so-called choice was never hers to make, anyway. Not since she ´casually´ bumped into her ´child´s savior´, the despicable creature with the cold eyes and an even colder soul, if it had one at all! * * * Connecticut, the weekend destination for New Yorkers who were ready to escape the hustle and bustle of their hectic Manhattan lives during the weekdays, suddenly became front page news from coast to coast. A string of unsolved rape-murders, discovered in a period of less than three years, soon spread terror among the residents of Fairfield and New Haven Counties, where the crimes occurred. The resulting shock-wave was unprecedented, for it was the state´s first encounter with a serial killer. Six murders in total, and in spite of the massive manhunt that was set in motion right after the body of the second girl was discovered, the complete lack of leads had the authorities literally scratching their heads in disbelief. Six young and innocent victims and still nothing for the investigating task force to go by, other than the fact that all semen samples collected from each one of the dead girls was a perfect match. That led to extremely high levels of frustration among those assigned to find the person responsible for the brut