George Martin and his partner Mike live a comfortable life in Jacksonville with their Irish setter, but something's missing. Maybe George, a captain in the sheriff's office, has just been working too hard again. There's been a rash of break-ins in the area, and the homes targeted all seem to belong to older gay men.<br><br>Then when the time finally comes for George and Mike to take their vacation, they pack up and head to their mountain cabin for two weeks-only to find a small boy living in their generator shed. Robbie, who bonds with George right away, has witnessed an unspeakable tragedy, but that is just the beginning of the trouble.<br><br>Alone in the world apart from a very ill maternal grandmother, Robbie stands the very real risk of becoming a ward of the state if George and Mike can't convince a bigoted judge to change his mind. Meanwhile, George still has a job to do: solve the break-ins-and a murder -- and track down who's responsible.

Break and Enter

Robbie followed us to the great room, and Mike said, “Robbie, do you feel like going for a walk?”


“George and I like to walk up the road to the top of the mountain and back down again. It’s good exercise. We take Thor with us, and you can come along, if you feel like it.”


I RETRIEVED THOR’S leash, clipped it to his collar, and the four of us headed down the steps and up the driveway. We walked at a much slower pace than usual, to allow for Robbie’s short legs to keep up. When we passed Cyrus Hall’s house, I said to Robbie, “Isn’t your house near here?”


“It’s over there,” he said, pointing at a small house about a quarter of a mile up the road. When we got closer, I saw the familiar yellow crime tape across the door.


Chapter 14