Carrington City Chronicles: Detective Myra Allen

CHAPTER ONE

The rain was pouring harder and after the last flash of lightening, followed by the hard crash of thunder, it was obvious that the storm was getting closer than anyone in Carrington City ever expected. After a series of outages, the streets were speckled with some neighborhoods having electricity and others did not. Cars hurried up and down the streets, people rushed the sidewalks, hovering underneath umbrellas, handbags and even briefcases to try a keep from being completely soaked. Some were successful, others, not so much.

As the horns honked and tires splashed through the heavy puddles, some took refuge inside buildings that were still open. This kind of weather was typical for Carrington during the warm Spring to Summer months and most were prepared the ones that weren't suffered the consequences. As the city stood busy, people hustling out of the rain, a few miles outside the city limits things were a bit different. Quieter. Avendale Estates was one of the most luxurious places to live. It was almost its own city within Carrington itself having fifty-foot black wrought-iron gate at its entrance and housed the most elite and prestigious of Carrington City. The streets were lined with homes, the next more grandiose than the previous. Large luxury houses that settled on various acres of land and were meticulously separated by well-kept shrubs or hedges, black iron fencing, and stone or brick walls. Every house in Avendale was lit, as if their power was not even affected by the downed power lines just outside the walls and the truth was...it wasn't. It wasn't at all. Avendale had its own electrical wiring that was not above ground but buried below. It was one of the many perks that came with the one million dollar or higher price tag that it cost to live there. Lightening again, flashed across the pitch-black sky and for a split second it looked like a rainless day, seconds later it was dark again.

There stood a house that was more of a mansion at the very end of Avendale Lane. The other residents had given it the name, "The Castle", and it very much resembled one. Large, rounded towers on both ends, made of gray stone and gave the appearance of an actual castle, but others gave it that name because of the man that resided within.

Killian Westcourt, co-owner of Westcourt Corp, lived alone in that large castle of a house, that is if you didn't count his butler and two maids that resided there as well. Not only was Killian one of the most eligible bachelors in Carrington but he was the most notorious for using that fact to his advantage. His business savvy skills were commendable, but his womanizing ways were starting to overshadow all his triumphs. There had been a few possible heirs that turned out to be close calls, lucky for him anyway. The Westcourt family, in a sense, founded Carrington City, they were some of the first to reside there and remain. Killian's parents, Marilyn and Harold, lived down the black paved lane inside and equally lavish home and so did his siblings, Oliver, Ryan and Lillian, along with their families. His grandfather, Harold Westcourt Sr., who was still alive surprisingly, lived with his in-home caretaker, not too far from Marilyn and Harold because of his age and they feared someone would have to keep a close eye on him.

By Killian being the only one without a family within his home he was always known for having "friends" over. Large, extravagant parties and keeping the media with a new story to report almost every other week.

As the lightening clapped once again in the sky, a thunderous boom of thunder hit, even shaking Killian as he stood on the second-floor balcony looking out into the pouring sky in only his black silk Ralph Lauren pajama pants. With an athletic build, at six-foot seven and almost zero percent body fat, by looking at Killian you could tell why and how he got away with just about everything. His bright white smile, with dimpled cheeks and hazel eyes were also other indications that all he had to do was look and smile and women would pretty much give him anything he desired and most of the times they wanted to give it before he asked. Taking a hard gulp of his premium scotch, Killian grinned and shrugged his shoulders at the night. Well, that and the fact that he has just closed another deal and almost felt like he was on top of the world.