Lynn Combs

The Night He Saw Red is a fast-paced, twisted tale of fear, deception, and unexpected consequences—where nothing is quite what it seems.

Jeff returns home to a silent house and a blood-red envelope on the entry table. Inside: a threatening rhyme claiming his family has been kidnapped. Each new clue, written in sinister red ink, sends him racing across town on a frantic scavenger hunt—retrieving a phone from a bartender, watching a chilling video of his daughter, and blindly obeying cryptic instructions from someone who seems to be watching his every move.

With his panic mounting and time slipping away, Jeff finally reaches a shadowy alley behind a nondescript building—bracing for the worst.

Suspenseful, sharp, and wickedly funny, this story is a rollercoaster of dread and mischief, where the real payoff isn’t rescue… it’s payback.

This story took 1st place in the Sleuths Ink 2023 First Quarter Contest. It was published later that same year in A Pathway To Mystery and More a collection of short stories penned by Sleuths’ Ink Mystery Writers.