When the police call the slaughter of his mother and brother a home invasion gone bad, Mika doesn't believe it. Because he has no way to prove otherwise, he closes down, refusing to talk about what happened.<br><br>That is until Buck, a bouncer at a local bar Mika visits, convinces Mika to open up to him. When he does, Buck not only learns about the murder, but also that Mika grew up living off the grid until his father died, two years previously, at which point his family moved to the city.<br><br>They begin to bond as they try to figure out the reason behind the murders, which may revolve around the family property in the mountains. All they have to do is prove it, without being killed in the process. Only if they can will they take a chance and move their growing friendship on to something more.

Hunting a Killer

“It’s not like he had any enemies,” he said, trying to defuse what Buck was suggesting. “He didn’t own anything, either. Well, the land and our house, but that’s it.”


Buck nodded, returning his attention to his meal—so Mika did the same.


“Who owns the land now?” Buck asked a few minutes later.


“Me, I guess. Dad willed it to Mom, of course, although we never went back there once we moved down here. It held too many memories that she couldn’t face. That none of us could. Why? What are you thinking?”


Buck shrugged. “Nothing. Just my imagination, again.”


“If you think someone killed Dad to get their hands on it, and then came after Mom because she inherited it, well, like I said it’s been two years. Why wait so long?”


“That’s the stopper in my theory,” Buck replied with a wry grin.


“No kidding.” Mika took the last bite of his chicken, saw Buck had finished as well, and said, “If you’re ready, maybe we should get out of here so someone else can have our table?”


Chapter 12