Jim watched the house burn with a sick feeling in his stomach. The fire itself wasn't bad. The firefighters had it under control quickly. It was what the fire had been intended to hide that bothered him.

They'd found Dave Collins lying face up in the center of his living room. He'd been beaten to death. Anti-gay graffiti covered the walls. Anything that could be smashed lay in pieces. The reek of dead flesh and wet ash filled his nose.

"They tried to start the fire over ...