The Shadow Factory Chapter Snippet

Dante—Monday morning

Leesburg, Virginia

Hands at ten and two, he stared into the parking lot. His mind’s eye saw something far different than the neatly arranged lines of trucks, sedans, and SUVs. An outside observer might have regarded his gaze as a million miles away. He wasn’t.

The last time he’d been at the office, most of the windows were belching flame in time to the screams of the dying. The disconnect of the song on the radio was just as jarring as the sight of the intact building.

“You don’t belong here,” the singer crooned, and Dante couldn’t help but agree. The music and lyrics were familiar, but the voice wasn’t. Every time he’d heard it before, it had been sung by a woman—Kathleen something, he thought, but wasn’t sure. He was more of a metal guy and only listened to alternative when there was no, well, alternative.

He’d thought this world a mirror image of his own, but the longer he was here, the more the slight differences piled up. In a way, it was fascinating—a street called avenue, a football team with a different name.

Bands with different lead singers.