A Slow Walk to Hell [Paperback]

New York Timesbestselling author Patrick A. Davis returns with an electrifying novel of murder, the military, and one man's search of the truth.

Air Force investigator Martin Collins is used to bucking the system in the name of justice. But when he is called on to investigate the torture-style slaying of Major Franklin Talbot, Collins is embroiled in the most controversial case of his career. Evidence suggests that the deadly act was a hate crime -- and that Talbot was hiding a shocking secret that may have sealed his fate. Even more shocking are the suspects: all high-ranking officers -- including Talbot's
own uncle, a leading presidential candidate.

Traversing a politically charged minefield of buried secrets, Martin is targeted by powerful forces that cannot afford to let him identify Talbot's killer. And when he finally uncovers the devastating truth, Martin will be forced to make a fateful decision between catching a sadistic murderer -- and destroying the lives of countless innocent men.Chapter 1

FRIDAY NIGHT

It was around 7 P.M. on a Friday evening and I was standing by the punch bowl in a drafty school gym, trying not to appear completely bored as I helped chaperone my daughter's formal middle school dance. I'd like to say that I volunteered for the duty out of a sense of parental obligation, but I hadn't. I'm Martin Collins, chief of police for Warrentown, Virginia, a small town seventy miles west of Washington, D.C., and babysitting three hundred adolescents came with the territory.

Understandably my thirteen-year-old daughter Emily wasn't exactly thrilled by my presence. She made me promise not to embarrass her in any way. By embarrass, she meant I wasn't supposed to take photographs, talk to her or her friends, or come anywhere near her.

I tried to placate her by telling her I wasn't going to wear a uniform. So you can chill. Your friends probably won't even notice me.

She gave l#