When Wylie Lewis sells his half of the detective agency he owned to move into the house his grandfather willed him in the small town of Earlston, he expects he'll have work to do refurbishing and redecorating it. He doesn't expect that Garry Parish, the handsome restaurant owner who lives two doors down, would offer his assistance, as well as put him in contact with Carl, a handyman who could do most of the manual labor.<br><br>Wylie also doesn't expect to be the sheriff's prime suspect when Nelly, a young woman who works for Garry, disappears a week after Wylie arrives in town. As if that isn't bad enough, a second woman, Emma, vanishes a few days later.<br><br>Wylie, Garry, and Carl team up to try to locate them before the sheriff decides to arrest Wylie, but things take a deadly turn when they find Nelly's body. Will they be able to discover who the killer is in time to save Emma, while Wylie and Garry deal with their growing attraction to each other? Or will Wylie become the killer's next target, with deadly results?

New Man in Town

It was almost dark when they neared what they agreed would be the last cabin of the day. A rutted dirt track was barely visible in the car’s headlights. Garry turned them off before starting down it, relying on the final vestiges of sunlight slanting through the trees to light the way. When the cabin came into view, he pulled the car onto a wide space off to one side, shut it off, and they approached the cabin on foot. It was larger than the previous ones they’d checked out, with a porch, and windows on either side of the front door.


“I know who owns this,” Carl said softly. “He’s a city guy who comes out here on vacation and during deer hunting season. Nice enough fella, if a bit high-and-mighty.”


Garry went first, this time, crossing the clearing to walk around the cabin. He returned moments later, saying, “Looks like someone used bolt cutters on the backdoor padlock. It’s hanging open on the hasp.”


“Maybe…?” Wylie replied as he started toward the rear of the cabin.


Chapter 46