
WIP; The Polyamorous Private Eye: A Jen McDowell Series—Hate Crimes
Prologue
Jen McDowell and Jonah Magliozzi were partners on the Atlanta police force. They were more than partners. They responded to an anonymous call that there were homeless persons living in an abandoned house. The caller said it looked like they were starting fires and thought they might be cooking meth. No one responded to a knock on the front door, and the door was nailed shut. She and Jonah decided to split up and circle the house to find another entrance. Halfway round the house, Jen found an outside stairway leading down to a basement door. The door appeared to be ajar. She radioed Jonah and told him she was going to check the door.
Halfway down the steps, an IED on her right side exploded, mangling both her legs below the knees. Her body armor and helmet protected most of her upper torso and head. Shrapnel torn up her right thigh except where her sidearm was holstered. Most of her right arm was spared, because she was talking on the radio with her right hand by her mouth. A piece of shrapnel tore through both cheeks, taking out a few teeth. Another piece of shrapnel struck her in the neck, missing the carotid artery by a fraction of an inch.
At the sound of the explosion, Jonah ran around the house and found Jen unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. He immediately called for an ambulance and back up. He applied tourniquets to both of Jen’s legs and carried her up to the street. The doctors later told her that the tourniquets probably saved her life. Surgery to remove both legs below the knees was followed by a year of rehabilitation and therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.