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

“You are so dead, both of you,” the man growled. Unbelievably, despite the pain he had to be in, he managed to pull his gun. Mika did the only thing possible, stabbing the point of the knife into the man’s wrist with one hand while trying to wrestle the gun free of his grip with the other. A shot rang out seconds later. The man let out a cry as blood spurted from a wound in his chest. Buck’s hold gave way and the man fell to the floor.


As the man’s eyes began to glaze over, Mika dropped to his knees beside him. “Who hired you?” he asked desperately.


“A man who said…” His voice faded to a whisper. “Knew your…” Those were the last words he would ever speak.7


“Goddamn it!” Mika looked up at Buck. “He wasn’t supposed to die. Now I’ll never know who was responsible for what happened.” He pulled up the man’s ski mask and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him.”


Chapter 25