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,” I said, “run and get Mike right now.”


“No argument,” I said. “Go now.”


I’d never spoken to him quite that sharply, so he ran from the room. I looked under the edges of the stall doors, and as far as I could tell, only one stall was occupied, and I saw a pool of blood on the floor. Mike came into the room with Robbie in tow, followed by Charles and Philip. “What’s up?” Mike said.


“One of you block the entrance,” I said, “one of you call 911, and one of you get Robbie out of here as soon as he takes care of his business. There’s someone hurt in the last stall, and there’s blood all over the floor.”


Chapter 68