Keep the law or save Atlanta; save one friend but sacrifice a hundred strangers; administer justice but sacrifice conscience; serve the public good or seek private happiness. These choices are so overshadowed by gray as to obscure moral certitude; and in The Greater Good such choices confront a handful of law enforcement agents striving to preserve the peace in the city of Atlanta. Evil men hatch a plot using a series of murders to sink the city into civil strife. Police soon discover that punishing the guilty will only make the situation worse. Special agent, Copper Jones, is determined to find a way to serve justice; but he must decide if he can only do so by performing evil himself. Simultaneously, Copper becomes distracted by a growing attraction between himself and officer Florence Etcher who is also his chief critic for his propensity to act as if he is above the law.
The souls of a dozen corpses were crying out to Copper in his sleep, begging him to not stand idly by and watch Lemuel Cosa murdered. One of those souls was the bright translucent face of his deceased girl friend who he had slain for a greater good. In the dream she hovered above Copper’s bed and told him she forgave him for doing what he had to do when love could not exceed the demands of the moment. She assured him that even as life had flowed from her in a red stream, her love for him had been magnified by his strength to lay her upon the altar of sacrifice even though his heart longed for a future together with her. But she also told him this situation was different. He had time; he had his wits; and he had a chance to save a life. Her translucent form drifted down to lie upon Copper’s strong frame. He thought he felt the weight of her pressing upon him and he bore her with welcome ease. Then ever so gently she pressed her lips against his, emitting sparks that tasted of strawberries. Copper licked his lips and opened his eyes to an empty room. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. He threw the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed cradling his face in his hands. Instantaneously he was sure he had to give Lemuel Cosa a chance to live out his appointed days without the interruption of an assassin’s bullet. But he had to find a way to do it without losing the cover of secrecy so vital to the mission.
About Clayton Dunham
Clayton Dunham is a student of the human condition, wielding the written craft to enrapture the mind much like an artist wields a brush. The Greater Good is the fourth in a series of recent pursuits, with work progressing quickly on the follow-up.
Keep the law or save Atlanta; save one friend but sacrifice a hundred strangers; administer justice but sacrifice conscience; serve the public good or seek private happiness. These choices are so overshadowed by gray as to obscure moral certitude; and in The Greater Good such choices confront a handful of law enforcement agents striving to preserve the peace in the city of Atlanta. Evil men hatch a plot using a series of murders to sink the city into civil strife. Police soon discover that punishing the guilty will only make the situation worse. Special agent, Copper Jones, is determined to find a way to serve justice; but he must decide if he can only do so by performing evil himself. Simultaneously, Copper becomes distracted by a growing attraction between himself and officer Florence Etcher who is also his chief critic for his propensity to act as if he is above the law.
Clayton Dunham is a student of the human condition, wielding the written craft to enrapture the mind much like an artist wields a brush. The Greater Good is the fourth in a series of recent pursuits, with work progressing quickly on the follow-up.