A Dish Served Cold

It has been said. If it is revenge you are seeking, dig two graves. Anne Faircroft was a high school bully, a tormenter who relentlessly victimized other young girls on a regular basis. Now she is dead, herself the victim of a cruel and sadistic killer. But she isn t alone. Three more girls, also high schoolers, have met with a similar gruesome fate in the downtown core of Los Angeles. John Cooper, an L.A. homicide detective has been tasked with leading the investigation into these serial murders and taking the killer off the streets. One problem, his overzealous boss, Commander Randall Sinclair, wants the case closed quickly, because he needs to climb the proverbial ladder to the top and solving this case would spell instant success for him at headquarters. He also has no use for Cooper and will stop at nothing to sabotage and destroy the career of his long time nemesis in the process. Further troubles for Cooper. Omari Jackson, a life long inmate of the California penal system, has been thwarted in an escape bid from a downtown court house. He has taken six hostages and barricaded himself in one of the offices. His only request. John Cooper must come to the court house. If the detective refuses, the hostages will die. Cooper isn t aware of any reason why he would be requested specifically by Jackson, but he is absolutely sure about one thing. He has no choice.