Edge of Darkness

Chapter One Call it instinct, intuition, or just plain street smartswhatever it was sent a tingle down Murphy's spine. The clicking noise caused him to leap off the seat of the roller-coaster car as fast as his six-foot-three-inch frame would allow. He sailed over the back, clutching the seat with both hands. As his feet landed on the bumper that ran around the car, he hunkered down and held his breath. It was not a moment too soon. A rush of wind tousled his hair as two eighty-pound blocks of cement smashed into the seat where he had just been sitting. Another millisecond and I would have been dead, he thought.How do I keep getting into things like this? *** It was one of those days when everything inside of Murphy saidDon't go to work. It was too beautiful a day to be inside a classroom teaching biblical archaeology. As he reluctantly gathered his papers and stuffed them into his briefcase, the words of Mark Twain echoed in his mind:Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain. Murphy never tired of the scenic drive to school and the campus of Preston University. There was something deeply attractive about the lush greenery of the South and the beauty of the magnolia blossoms. Parking his car in the teachers' lot, he meandered up the tree-lined walkway toward his office near the Memorial Lecture Hall. The smell of jasmine in the air filled his senses. Students were sitting under the trees. Some were studying, but most were just talking with their friends. One group tossed a Frisbee back and forth. Murphy recalled his days as a student.Life was so much simpler then. They don't even realize how great these years are. The unbidden image of Laura swept across his mind, the moments of joy and laughter they had shared during their marriage. Those happy years before she had been murdered by Talon. The pain tore at his insides, and a sigh escaped his lips. He shook the memories away, unwilling to let the grief overwhelm him. He reached his office, opened the door, and groaned. His desk was stacked high with student test papers and book reports that needed to be reviewed.I think I'll delegate those to Shari. She'll hate me, but isn't that what assistants are for? Doing all the jobs you don't like? *** Shari had been in the laboratory for almost an hour. She was peering through a microscope at an envelope when Murphy entered. "I know, I know. You're wondering what I'm doing here so early." Murphy smiled a Cheshire cat grin as he looked at Shari. Her very light complexion and sparkling green eyes contrasted her black hair. The ponytails coming out from each side of her head were hanging down, almost covering the microscope. She had on her favorite white lab coat. "I know you love it here," he said. "Maybe I should move in a bed and then you won't have to go home at night." She looked up at him and wrinkled her nose. "Like you don't get involved inyourwork!" "Who, me?" Murphy set his briefcase down. "What are you looking at?" Shari sat up with a guilty look on her face. "Oh, just something that came in the mail for you." "For me? Why are you looking at my mail through a microscope?" She smiled, with a twinkle in her eye. "I'm just trying to protect you." "Protect me from what?" "From what I think might be inside." "This all sounds very mysterious. What are you talking about?" "I think it's a letter from your admirer," she said with a smirk. "Let me guess. Does my admirer's name start with an M?" "Not bad, Doc, for so early in the morning." Shari handed the lLaHaye, Tim is the author of 'Edge of Darkness ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780553803259 and ISBN 0553803255.