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

Shocked, Mika put his hand over the wound. He was pretty certain it wasn’t a bad one, but it still hurt like the devil and he could feel his sleeve getting damp with blood. Defiantly, he shouted, “You can go to hell.” As he took two steps down the hallway a second bullet creased his calf, immediately followed by a third one. Mika knew it had hit Buck when he grunted, grabbing his shoulder as blood flowed between his fingers. Mika saw that the man had clambered over the top headboard, using the bed slats as a ladder.


“Well?” the man said. “Shall I continue or will you tell me where to find it?”


“You must be damned stupid,” Buck said between gritted teeth.


There was a low chuckle from the man. “I presume you mean the item is in the cistern, or you’d like me to believe it is.”


“Feel free to go look,” Mika called out as he pulled Buck out of range of the man’s gun.


Chapter 24