"The Last Passenger"
Chapter 1: The Wreck
Detective Nora Callahan stood at the edge of the ravine, her breath fogging in the chilly October air of 2025. The twisted remains of the Northeast Regional train lay below, a mangled beast of steel and shattered glass, its cars strewn like a child’s discarded toys. It was 3:47 a.m., and the Connecticut wilderness was silent except for the distant wail of sirens and the crunch of gravel under her boots. The derailment had been catastrophic—seven cars off the tracks, twenty-two confirmed dead, dozens injured. Nora, a 15-year veteran of the Hartford PD, had seen her share of tragedies, but this one felt different. A nagging unease settled in her gut, like a splinter she couldn’t dig out.
