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

“I’m with Charles,” I said. “Let’s get the show on the road.”


“Okay,” Ernest said, and grinned. “Now you know why I wanted to enter the fray with the biggest gun in town.” He clapped Charles on the back. “Follow me.”


ERNEST LED US down another hall and opened a door. Letters stenciled on the glass identified the office as “Judge Williams’ Chambers.” We followed Ernest inside and found yet another secretary sitting at a desk.


“Hello, Susan,” Ernest said. “I believe His Honor is expecting us.”


“Go right in, Mr. Rodgers,” she said, pointing at an inner door. Ernest opened the indicated door and we followed him inside.


“Good morning, Ernest,” a voice said. I looked in the appropriate direction and saw a somewhat fat-looking man (it was hard to tell because he was seated behind a desk) with a bad case of male pattern baldness and an even worse comb-over. “You folks find seats, and we’ll get this procedure going.”


Chapter 24