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

“Not really. I don’t think the cops would have left a mess and upstairs it was worse than downstairs.” He described how he’d found things.


“I agree, it wasn’t the police. To me that says whoever killed your mom came back to look for…whatever. It might have been the deed, or who knows what else.”


“If it was the deed, what could they do with it?” Mika asked.


“Good question. My first guess would be, use it to make a forgery, turning the land over to them. Another reason they killed Reko and your mom.”


“They haven’t come after me,” Mika pointed out. “Before you say anything, or we come up with any more ideas, when do you have to be at work?”


“Would you…? It might be easier to talk if we weren’t standing in a parking lot. I don’t live too far from here, if you want to come over.”


“Sure. What’s the address?” Mika told him and Buck said he’d meet him there.


Chapter 13