title: Wounds of the Past
author: Penelope Door
description: Penelope Door, a proud Brooklyn NYC native, now calls Cape Ann home. When Benjamin, her loyal puppy, is not demanding all of her time she is hard at work on her next work of fiction "Conviction" - a compelling novel about whether an ordinary couple's marriage can survive extraordinary allegations.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ONE
  
  
  
  
  
  A loud, insistent banging came from my front door, caused by an angry fist,
  and I froze.
  
  
  First of all, it was dark and pouring rain outside. There wasn’t an overhang
  or porch to cover whoever was knocking on my door. And second . . . what the
  actual fuck? I lived in the guest quarters behind my parents’ house, and their
  property was surrounded by a fence.
  
  
  So, I didn’t get visitors. Anyone coming here would go to the main house
  first.
  
  
  It meant the owner of the fist pounding on my door in the dead of night—and
  during a storm—had come onto my family’s property without permission.
  
  
  Every hair on my body stood at attention with alarm.
  
  
  “Lilith?” a male voice asked, sounding urgent. “Are you home? It’s Clay
  Crandall from next door. I need your help.”
  
  
  Like the snap of a pair of fingers, the tension in my body shifted and I
  couldn’t get my door open fast enough.
  
  
  He stood on the concrete path with his head tipped down to keep the worst of
  the rain from fal