A Killing at Pine Needle Farm

Chapter 1 & 2

Chapter 1

Four Years Ago

The vodka sat warm and bitter in Jake's glass, ice long dissolved into tepid water under the crushing weight of afternoon heat. He slouched in his poolside chair, sweat darkening his linen shirt despite the umbrella's shade, watching chlorinated water shimmer like mercury. Every ripple carried Sam Kite's face—that shit-eating grin from their last meeting, burned into Jake's retinas like a cattle brand.

"Go fuck yourself, Jake."

The words echoed in his skull, sharp as broken glass. Ten years of friendship that Sam described as a brotherhood. Two and a half million dollars. That was the price tag on their brotherhood, apparently— that’s what Sam thought Jake was worth when the buyout sharks came in.

Jake had built that empire from nothing. Transformed Sam's rinky-dink surgical center into a regional juggernaut with his epidemiological expertise, bleeding himself dry over countless eighteen-hour days. But the law was clear—only licensed physicians could own healthcare…