CHAPTER 1 The Basement

People assume killers live dramatic lives.

They imagine penthouses, guns under pillows, secret lairs.

I live in a condemned basement.

The building was abandoned years ago after a mass suicide. Officially it was blamed on drugs.

Unofficially… it was a purge.

The Phantomthornheart Society cleaned the place out.

Addicts. Pimps. Johns.

The cult believed rot should be cut away.

I moved in afterward.

The halls are empty. Doors chained closed.
I nailed DO NOT ENTER signs over most of them.

Only one room matters.

Mine.

Inside it's different.

Posters.
Old game consoles.
Stacks of books.

And three steel cases.

My murder kits.

The computer screen glows cyan in the dark.

The forum is open.

The Society never meets face to face.
Everything is done online.

Anonymous usernames.

Encrypted posts.

Instructions.

Tonight there's a new thread.

TARGET ASSIGNED: CLEANER ADAMFANTOME

I sip cheap coffee.

My day job starts in five hours.

Library assistant.

Cataloging books.

Helping old ladies find mystery novels.

But tonight…

Someone is going to die.

And if I do my job right…

It'll look like fate.