2025 Karen Ann Hopkins

All rights reserved.

Books by Karen Ann Hopkins

Serenity’s Plain Secrets (Mystery/Crime Fiction)

in reading order

LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER

WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD

SECRETS IN THE GRAVE

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

PAPER ROSES

FORBIDDEN WAYS (a romantic companion novel)

EVIL IN MY TOWN

UNHOLY GROUND

SWEET REGRETS (a romantic companion novel)

BLOODY TIES

THE WIDOW

WICKED LEGACY

BLOOD ROCK

THE OFFERING

SERENITY

NIGHT SONG

DEVIL’S EYE

LOST SOUL

SINFUL ALLIANCE

PERFECT DEATH

BLOOD CLAN (coming in 2025)

DEADLY DESIGN (coming in 2025)

Wings of War (YA Paranormal Romance)

in reading order

EMBERS

GAIA

TEMPEST

ETERNITY

The Temptation Novels (YA Romance)

in reading order

TEMPTATION

BELONGING

FOREVER

DECEPTION

Willow Creek/One Kiss Is All It Takes (in partnership with HarperCollins/One More Chapter)

The Fortuna Coin (Psychological Thriller/Time Travel Suspense)

The Possum Gap Novels (Mystery/Crime Fiction)

This series has ties to Blood Rock and Serenity’s Plain Secrets.

FREE FROM SIN

DARK HOLLOW ROAD

NIGHT SONG (Serenity’s Plain Secrets/Possum Gap)

RUSH INTO EVIL

SINFUL ALLIANCE (Serenity’s Plain Secrets/Possum Gap)

DEMONS LIVE HERE

MISERY LOVES CALAMITY

GROVEL TO NONE (coming in 2025)

WICKED WINDS WHISPER (arrives in 2025)

In Night Song & Sinful Alliance, Sheriff Serenity Adams teams up with Sheriff Sadie Mills to solve chilling crossover cases.

This one is for my first grandbaby, Cece!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to Heather and Grace for editing and proofreading this installment.

Much appreciation to Melissa from The Illustrated Author Design Service for this delightful cover!

EbookPbook provided the formatting of this book.

When I’m not writing, I’m rescuing dogs and cats from crowded shelters and lonely roadsides. We’re experiencing a crisis of unwanted pets across the United States, and rescue organizations are stressed to the max. The best remedy is to spay and neuter your pets, and please adopt, don’t shop.

1

The narrow, graveled road leading to Jewelweed Hollow was bumpy, shaded by trees, and blissfully peaceful. With the windows rolled down, the only noises were chirping birds and the constant drone of the Puissant River cutting its way through the jagged ravine to my right. I couldn’t see the river, but I knew it would likely be a short hike through dense forest to reach the cliff’s edge. Along this stretch of unmaintained county road, the rapids were strong, and the river and tributaries were swollen from the heavy rain of the past few days.

I flipped the sun visor up and glanced at the thick canopy of leaves spreading over the lane. Here and there sunlight shot through, dappling the ground. A warm, humid, and pine-scented breeze trickled into the cruiser. I was grateful that the drought and heat wave of the previous weeks had finally ended. Summertime would be officially over soon enough, and the slightly cooler temps made it feel like fall was nipping at our heels. My teen daughter, Chloe, had already begun to bug me about school shopping. Time was sure flying this year.

With no one to hear, I sighed loudly and then drug my fingers through my thick, brown, shoulder-length hair. Tugging at a snarl, I experienced a sharp jab and regretted not taking the time to use conditioner that morning.

“It’s not like you weren’t busy, Sadie,” I muttered to myself.

The last several months were more dreamlike than real. During a fit of depression, boredom, or whatever you wanted to call it, I’d entered a partnership with my best friend, Tanya Beaumont, and Possum Gap’s coroner, Raymond Russo, to purchase an Antebellum mansion called the Helena House. Come to find out, it was part of the Underground Railroad and included its own tunnel system. Remodeling the huge structure to someday be a wedding and event venue was always on my mind. And so was the strong possibility that ghosts did exist, and several inhabited our newly acquired property.

A man on the run was recently shot and killed beneath the mansion, while several more died just up the road after a final showdown with a group of anarchists who fled a shanty town in Wilkins County before settling on the Helena House property, hoping to live under the radar and grow marijuana. All the culprits were outsiders and had no business in our neck of the woods.

Murder was on the rise in Possum Gap. The small, isolated town in southeastern Kentucky was bordered by rough hills of the Appalachian Mountain range on one side, and quaint farmland on the other. Because of our low population, a sheriff and four deputies were enough to police the entire jurisdiction. Law enforcement used to be a lot easier when traffic accidents, petty theft, domestic violence, and drug-related offenses were all that filled my days.

A series of strange crimes and happenings had turned me into a nervous ninny. Moving out of Possum Gap’s town center and into the countryside was a thrill and a trial at the same time. The mansion needed a ton of work, and I’d quickly learned that starting a big business venture wasn’t for the faint of heart. Tanya—a realtor and broker—handled the business plan, insurance, marketing, and legalities, while Russo contributed the lion’s share of monetary investments and oversaw the contracted work at the property.

What did I contribute to the project? I was still figuring that out. Sure, I’d invested enough of my own savings and the profit from selling my house to be considered an investor. Living in the small guest house behind the mansion meant that I could keep an eye on everything that Tanya and Russo did, but my job as Possum Gap’s sheriff was a major distraction. It kept me from doing much of anything at the Helena House for the time being.

Then there was Chloe. My sixteen-year-old daughter had always been an independent young lady, but pushing my buttons was her favorite thing to do lately. Tanya wasn’t even a mother, but without her constant encouragement, I’d lose my mind being a single mom.

The clouds parted and sunshine spilled into the cab. I raised my chin to its glow for a few long seconds, enjoying the breeze filled with the pungent smells of decaying leaves and damp earth.

As much as I didn’t want to think about two major thorns in my backside, I couldn’t stop myself. Furrowing my brow, I pursed my lips while images of Russo and John sprang to life in my head.

Side by side, Russo and I battled intruders in the cellar and vast tunnel system beneath the mansion. Then we spent days cleaning up the mess they left behind and picking up debris from the forest fire that almost took out the mansion. So, what was pestering me so badly? There hadn’t been a spare minute to discuss Russo’s recent displays of affection. A spark existed between us from day one, but the thought of ever pursuing a romance with the Yankee who was a few years younger than me hadn’t really crossed my mind.

We were complete opposites. Where I was down to earth and desired a simple, practical life, Russo came across like someone out of a Hollywood movie. His swarthy good looks, hooked nose, tall stature, and brilliant mind were hard not to notice. Russo was also arrogant and had grown up in wealthy crime family. He’d gone to a hoity toity university and of course, graduated at the top of his class. Initially, he planned to put his skills to work to protect his family, but something happened in New Jersey—something he hadn’t explained to me yet—to make the northeasterner move to Possum Gap. Even though he’d excitedly signed up as an investor and partner on the Helena House project, I didn’t believe he would actually stay in this rusty old hill town for long. The southern Kentucky wilderness was just a temporary distraction for Russo. Soon enough, he’d get itchy feet to walk along busy streets and dine at fine restaurants. Possum Gap had nothing to offer a man like Russo; a man who could have most of the things he wanted, including his pick of beautiful, exotic, and sophisticated women.

I snorted, then shook the dumb thoughts away. Being none of those things, I had no idea why Russo pursued me in the first place. Admitting that time spent with the man of science was enlightening and often pleasant, I believed he was going through a self-discovery phase. I wasn’t about to get burned by his penchant for recklessness for the first time in his well-organized life.

Three young does stepped out from the forest, and I hit the brakes to allow the trio to cross the lane. They were in no hurry, and neither was I. If Tanya hadn’t bugged me nearly to death to take Lucy Dover up on her request for a one-on-one meeting, I would be back in my office, going through a mound of files.

When the does disappeared into the thick foliage on the other side of the lane and the way was clear, I remained stopped. Rubbing my forehead, I wondered what I was getting myself into. It wasn’t like the hill clan was important to the goings-on in Possum Gap. On the contrary, they mostly kept to themselves and rarely ventured off their lands. They had everything they needed to live, with over two thousand acres that surrounded Jewelweed Hollow. The Puissant River crisscrossed one corner of the land, and several large creeks and tributaries meandered through the rest of the property.

I glanced around, spotting the high peaks of hills through the branches ahead. To the left side of the gravel lane were trees whose trunks were nearly too thick to see around. This grove had stood for over a hundred years and provided a buffer between the lane and Rocky Flats Creek.

The Dovers were well known to be cold-blooded killers of anyone who got in the way of their criminal operations, but they were also stewards of a huge swath of pristine mountain land within my territory. I begrudgingly admired their close kinship and how they were loyal to each other to a fault. The mostly red-headed clan would rise together and battle to the death to protect what they deemed as theirs. Then they’d slink back into the forest, minding their business, sometimes for years. Those lapses in violence were a gift, but troubled days eventually returned. Now that the Dovers had a new matriarch, I wasn’t sure if we were entering a period of peace or turmoil.

Only time—and possibly this meeting—would reveal the truth.

The Bible proverb, “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” might as well be the Dover family motto. Lucy’s mother, Geraldine Dover, had been shot and killed the previous fall by the patriarch of the rival Boone clan. Lucy Dover might have been one of Geraldine’s youngest children, but she was also the fiercest. In her forties, Lucy had the signature Dover red hair. With sharp, foxlike features and a strong, athletic body, she stuck out in a crowd. She cussed like a sailor and hated outsiders with a passion. The clan’s new leader spent her days farming hemp on the hillside or milking her herd of goats. Rarely did she leave the compound, and some might think that’s why Lucy had insisted on our meeting being in the hollow instead of town, but they’d be mistaken.

Lucy owned a certain kind of autonomy on her own land that she wasn’t afforded off it. For decades, my predecessors had made agreements with clan leaders to basically ignore what happened in the hollow in exchange for tranquility outside of Dover lands. Sometimes money changed hands, and other times, threats kept Possum Gap’s former sheriffs in line. Those who came before me treated the hill people like they didn’t exist. Turning their heads, they ignored the crimes and sometimes even murder committed in the hollow. If Dover violence spilled into Possum Gap, they always had a get-out-of-jail-free card—until now.

I wasn’t willing to play nice when the Dover’s dealings affected the citizens of my town. And then there was the bone-chilling reality that as the crow flies, Jewelweed Hollow wasn’t too far from the Helena House. The mansion’s property shared a small strip of land bordering the Dovers’ acreage. That could have been the main reason I’d decided to take Lucy up on her offer to have a pow-wow. All of Tanya’s arm twisting wasn’t nearly as compelling as the reality that the Dover clan could ruin everything Tanya, Russo, and I were working towards.

An event venue nestled in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky could be a game changer for Possum Gap. There was already talk of growth and opportunities for our residents. Jasmine and Monica were looking into the financing to buy and renovate the dilapidated steakhouse building on the edge of town so they could turn it into a brand-new restaurant. Out of a brood of six, two of the youngest Rankin brothers—Bryson and Blake—were setting up a rafting venture on their riverside property. Darcy, Tanya’s sister, was under contract to buy a cute Gingerbread Craftsman home in the heart of Possum Gap, where she planned to live on the first floor and rent out the second-floor apartment as an Airbnb. That was something she’d never dreamed of doing before we bought the Helena House. The mayor had even budgeted to refurbish and expand the Tobacco Museum on Main Street.

All of this was because of the future opening of the Helena House. There was too much riding on the success of the project. Issues with the Dover clan could ruin everything.

And then there was John Dover, Lucy’s nephew and a man I’d developed a friendship with. Well, maybe we were more than friends. We kissed during a stressful moment. It had been nice, but John was a Dover and Possum Gap’s sheriff couldn’t date a Dover. End of story. That reality didn’t keep the mountain man from invading my dreams and thoughts at every possible opportunity. John had saved my life on multiple occasions, and we were similar in more ways than I liked. Hiking, fishing, kayaking—spending time in the great outdoors were things I enjoyed as much as he did. And even though John was a Dover, through and through, he wasn’t involved in the clan’s criminal activities. At least, not really. It was complicated.

I took a swig of the bottled water from the cup holder. The slight raspberry taste caused me to pucker my lips and look at the label.

“Dang it, Chloe. I asked for regular water—good ol’ fashioned spring water.”

I pressed the gas pedal and started moving again. I hung my free arm out of the open window, catching the pleasant breeze. A few cotton-like clouds drifted lazily across the vibrant blue sky. A hawk screeched somewhere overhead and when I tilted my head to listen, the faint rumble of rapids reached my ears, along with birds chirping and the loud tapping by a woodpecker on a nearby tree.

It’s a nice morning to visit Jewelweed Hollow, I tried to convince myself. Much better than being stuck in my office or joining Buddy and Laverne from the humane society during their visit to Mrs. Taylor’s trailer. The old woman hoarded cats. Last I heard, she was up to fifty-six. Wading through clutter and filth to catch the cats and then assisting Laverne in transporting them to a feline rescue in Lexington was probably worse than a sit-down with Lucy Dover. But not by my much.

The trees thinned, revealing a long, level patch of land, and the breath caught in my throat. Surrounding the dozen or so trailers was a green meadow dotted with yellow and purple flowers. They were just weeds, but the burst of color was startling after leaving the dark green hues of the forest behind.

Jewelweed Hollow was the same as the last time I’d visited. Yards were overgrown and plastic toys littered most of them. Rusty old cars poked out of the tall grass and four-wheelers were parked near every front door. Horses and a few cows grazed in one field while Lucy’s beloved goats were corralled next to the driveway. Children of every age, sporting dirty faces and raggedy clothes, darted here and there between the trailers, while some of their elders sat on porches, smoking cigarettes.

I noticed a pair of ladies huddled on the nearest stoop. They were snapping beans and nostalgia washed over me. It was something that I used to do with my nana. The scene triggered memories of popping one of the raw beans into my mouth for every ten I’d snap. It was Nana’s rule, and I had taken my work very seriously. The fresh crunchiness and slightly bitter experience were something that you never forgot. Remembering made me want to stop by the farmer’s market on the way home and grab a quart of beans just to eat them raw.

No one waved. Only scowling faces stared my way. I didn’t expect friendliness from these people. I just counted my blessings that no one was shooting at me.

Above the hollow, the driveway wound its way to a neatly mowed yard and a doublewide trailer. From this distance, I could barely make out the flamingo lawn ornaments and the statue of Jesus. It was impossible to miss the two gigantic flags that flapped in the wind above the hollow. Both had seen better days. The American flag was a little less tattered than the stars and bars of the Confederate one.

The Dovers acted like the Civil War had been fought yesterday, still holding grudges against anyone north of the Ohio River. It was that kind of thinking that made it difficult to reason with a Dover. As a group, they believed laws didn’t apply to them and their freedoms extended to their illegal enterprises.

I knew that if I came into the hollow with a force of police officers to make arrests, it would be a bloodbath. Children and elderly would take up weapons alongside their kin, and many would stubbornly die. Because the job of doing the right thing was nearly impossible in Possum Gap, I’d run for the position of sheriff unchallenged. I’d learned right quick that I couldn’t change a culture that had roots embedded here for over two centuries. All I could hope for was a truce of sorts. An arrangement where the Dovers kept their business quietly on their own lands and didn’t cause trouble for the townspeople or the rest of my territory.

A flash of light on the hillside caught my eye. It was behind the double-wide where Geraldine used to live with her second husband, Jessie Dixon. I knew from experience that at the end of the rugged path going up that way, there was a high meadow. It was a dozen or so acres, and where the lower meadow contained hemp, horses, cows, and goats, the high one is where the Dovers grew their marijuana. A pavilion and several moonshine stills were also safely tucked away on the flat patch above the hollow.

Leaning over the dashboard and wearing sunglasses that tinted the world a slight yellowish hue, I removed them to see better.

The flashes weren’t direct light. They appeared to be reflections off metal.

“What in the world?” I muttered.

At that same moment, a flurry of activity beyond the goats shifted my attention.

Three men and two women—all carrying rifles in hand—came running out of the tree line. The children who were playing near a shed scattered, and the ladies on the stoop grabbed their beans and high-tailed it into the trailer.

A thud on the side of the cruiser jerked my head sideways. It was Summit Dover. His wild eyes caused my heart to beat faster. Recently, I’d learned that he’d served in the marines and maybe that’s why when he leaned a shotgun against the side of the cruiser, I didn’t overreact.

“Get out of the car, Sadie!”

Summit was in his early thirties and reminded me of a Viking. Tall, strong, and with colorful elastic bands restraining his long, red hair and his matching beard, he was a striking individual. He was also one of the rare Dovers with a level head.

His frantic voice got me moving in a hurry. With a Glock 19 pistol holstered on my hip, I also grabbed the Mossberg pump-action shotgun when I exited the cruiser.

“What’s happening?” I kept my voice steady, searching for a threat with darting eyes.

Summit touched my arm. “No time. Come on.”

I planted my boots into the dirt. Yeah, I trusted Summit, maybe even considered him a friend after some of our dangerous adventures, but following without knowing what was going on was a tall order to expect me to be compliant.

His eyes flared. “I’ll tell you everything once we have cover.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. What do we need cover from?

I didn’t get a chance to ask the question. Gunshots rang out in quick succession.

I ducked and raced after Summit into the tall weeds. He didn’t stop until we reached the goat shed. Waving his weapon, he chased out the half dozen animals that were in there.

In a swift motion, he punched a plank in the wall, popping out a narrow board.

He pointed. “There’s another strip over there.”

I got the gist and did the same thing until I had the perfect place to aim my gun through the wall while remaining safe behind triple-thick sheets of plywood. The thickness made no sense as a goat shelter but came in handy during a gunfight.

In the hollow, nothing surprised me. These people were always ready for a fight—or an ambush.

“Summit,” I said the word in a low drawl. “Who’s shooting at me?”

“Not you. Us.”

I glanced sideways to find him staring out the opening, muscles tight and rifle ready.

After two dozen or more shots were fired, silence hung over the meadow, but only for a blink of an eye. Shouting and the revving of engines suddenly filled the void.

I didn’t have cell phone service in the hollow, but I wasn’t so far in that it wasn’t worth a try.

When I pulled out my cell phone, Summit snapped, “Put that away.”

Summit swiveled just enough to level a hard stare at me. “Now. Unless you don’t want to have a chance in hell of an amicable conversation with Aunt Lucy.”

I remembered how this man had been instrumental in keeping Russo and I alive after we’d come under attack by a handful of twenty-something-year-olds beneath the Helena House. A chill raced up my spine. The last thing I wanted to do was rile Lucy up before we even met.

I hesitated only for a second before returning the phone to my pocket. “You’re testing my patience, Summit. Who are your kin battling in the high meadow? Is it the Boone clan?”

Another round of gunfire rang out. Peeking through the opening, I saw a speckled hound race across the lane, and then a trio of heavily armed Dover men took off on their all-terrain vehicles up the hill.

“Naw. They’re a bunch of pussies who wouldn’t dare come on our land with ill-intent.”

I wracked my brain. If the Dovers had somehow gotten onto the feds’ radar and there was a raid, I would have been told. I couldn’t imagine another group of people who would be insane enough to venture onto Dover lands to start a war with them.

“Then who is it?”

The hollow fell silent once again. A hawk shrieked above our heads, and I held my breath.

“How’s Tanya been lately?”

His question caught me off guard. When I glanced his way, I found Summit looking back with pursed lips and thoughtful eyes.

“Ah, fine.” I blew out a rough breath. “Stay on topic. Who the hell is firing at your kin and why?”

The corner of Summit’s mouth curled. “Don’t sweat it. We have it under control.”

I was quickly losing patience. “Do you know how insane this is? I’m an officer of the law and—”

“What about John? Have you talked to my cousin lately?”

This time, Summit kept his gaze directed through the opening, right above the barrel of his gun.

“It doesn’t matter right now!” I hissed out the words but didn’t get the opportunity to say anything else.

Bullets sliced the air, striking the outside wall of the shed. Summit returned fire.

“Damn,” I muttered right before I aimed and waited for a target to appear.

The sound of roaring engines overpowered the pop, pop, pop noises.

Hot breath caught in the back of my throat when I saw what came racing down the hill.

Dozens of Motorcycles.

2

Iaimed the pistol at Summit. “Drop your weapon, Summit. They’re leaving.”

Summit didn’t look at me when he answered. “They’ll be back to kill us all.”

My face flushed with anger while my heart raced. The gun was steady in my hands, though. “I am so damn serious right now.”

“You’re making a mistake.” Summit pulled the shot gun through the opening, then lowered it. “You won’t understand until it’s too late.”

I watched the motorcycles blast by. Shots fired from the nearest trailer knocked one of the men from his bike, and another bullet made contact with the shoulder of a barrel-chested man at the front of the line. His long gray beard split around his thick neck. Tattoos covered his arm closest to me, but the designs were just a blur as he sped by.

The bald fellow right behind him swerved his bike closer to the trailer and threw something.

My eyes bulged and I sucked in a breath. Summit saw it too. His response was to shove me to the ground and place his body between me and the wall of the shed.

The boom shook the hollow. Next, shrapnel struck the shed, but the thick layers of wood protected us. Smoke rose as debris continued to fall.

Summit pushed off me and extended his hand. I took it and with an easy tug, he jerked me off the ground. My ears ringing, I ran into the clearing. Summit went straight to what was left of the trailer.

I had a clear shot of the back of the last biker, but I didn’t press the trigger when I saw the logo on the man’s black leather jacket.

“Oh, no.” I lowered my gun and re-holstered it as I spun around.

“Sadie!” Summit shouted.

He held a girl in his arms. Judging from the size of her skinny body, she might have been twelve, but no more.

I started to run, making a beeline to the cruiser, which was parked far enough from the trailer that it didn’t take any significant damage. Grabbing the medical kit, I sprinted to where Summit laid the girl in the grass.

A lady with a torn shirt and hair that was a mixture of gray and red dropped beside the child with a deep groan. She grabbed the child’s limp and bloodied arm and held it to her breast.

“Reba, girl, talk to me! Talk to me!”

Reba’s hair was strawberry blonde, and she couldn’t have weighed more than fifty pounds soaking wet. A spattering of freckles covered her nose. The blood on her cheek was from a gash that wasn’t life threatening. Neither was the laceration down the outside of her forearm. The rest of her body didn’t appear damaged on the outside, but if she was inside the trailer when it blew up, she could have internal injuries.

I patted her cheek that wasn’t bloody. “Reba, wake up. Come on,” I coaxed. She was unresponsive. I had emergency medical training, but my skills were very basic and confined to CPR and blood management, to triage trauma and was about it.

Without looking, I knew Summit hovered behind me. His breathing was loud, and he kept cussing under his breath.

“You must have a satellite phone for emergencies, Summit. Call 911, now,” I ordered.

“Seriously, I don’t. And no outsiders. Aunt Sarah Jane used to be a nurse.” His finger appeared at the side of my head. “She’s over there taking care of Theo.”

I found the woman, who surprisingly didn’t look much older than me. The spritz of gray hair at her temples contradicted her youthful, wrinkle-free face. A quick glance around, and I discovered another man with a bloody face leaning up against a tree. Four-wheelers barreled down the hillside and a crowd of Dovers gathered in the middle of the lane.

“You have at least three people who need medical assistance.” I began chest compressions on Reba. “And Reba is just a child. Are you really going to deny them medical treatment to protect your family?”

“It’s not my call.” Summit jumped to his feet. “Please do what you can for Reba.”

Summit jogged away and I kept working on Reba. Her grandmother hugged herself and rocked back and forth next to me. My hearing was still a little messed up. The shouts sounded distant and the engines dull. I caught glimpses of Dovers running here and there. Some embraced, others waved their rifles in the air. The chaotic scene took place under bright sunlight while a warm breeze fanned my face. Behind me, goats bleated, and the muffled sound of crying came from three little girls sitting cross-legged in the grass. A brown dog loped by, and a lone chicken squawked and flapped away when six Dovers parked their all-terrain vehicles where it had been pecking the dirt.

Lucy was easy to spot. With a deep frown etched onto her slim face, she stopped to talk to Summit before she continued walking toward me.

Beneath my hands, I felt Reba’s chest inflate and I stopped pressing down. When the girl coughed, I could finally breathe freely again. I carefully sat the girl up. She blinked at me before holding her hands out to her granny, who pushed by me to grab up the child.

In a normal setting, the child would be loaded onto a waiting ambulance and rushed to the Possum Gap Community Hospital. Since it appeared we were in the middle of one of the fabled Jewelweed Hollow wars, I doubted the girl or any of the Dovers would end up in a medical facility, even once the dust settled.

I carefully stood, looking around the meadow. Smoke still billowed into the sky from the wreckage of the single-wide trailer that the grenade had split in two. Most of the Dovers had fallen silent. Only murmurs and coughing. A glance down the gravel lane showed the bikers were gone, and back towards the meadow, I spotted small groups of people gathering in patches and talking in hushed voices. There was enough weaponry in hands and slung over shoulders to fill a decent sized gun shop.

Strangely, no one raced after the violent intruders. That part was puzzling.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get your head blown off, Sadie,” Lucy said. “Why the fuck are you here?”

The tall Dover woman stopped a few meters away and crossed her arms. Summit casually crossed the flattened grassy area, then whispered something in her ear. Lucy rolled her eyes before they settled on me.

“Was that supposed to be today?” she asked in a rather high-pitched voice.

I processed the question, trying hard to focus on her deeply tanned, makeup-free face. It was difficult when I saw the Dovers dispersing and starting the tedious task of cleaning up the mess. One rail-thin, gray-haired woman picked up a toaster that had somehow survived the explosion.

Yeah, totally normal behavior.

I straightened my back and hoped my voice would sound smooth even though my ears were still ringing. “Do you mean our meeting? The one that we texted about last night?”

Lucy blew out a hard breath. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m a little busy today.”

“You don’t say,” I replied sardonically.

She wagged her finger at me. “Don’t sass me. You wouldn’t have been any the wiser if you didn’t happen to fall into Dover business on this fine summer day.”

“I think that explosion could be heard as far away as downtown.” I glanced at the black smoke twirling into the sky. “That cloud is a beacon for miles around for anyone who sees it to call the fire department.”

Lucy took a few steps closer and snarled. “People ‘round these parts mind their damn business when anything involves my kin and happens on our land.” She turned to her stepdad, Jessie Dixon. “Better make a call, though, just in case. Tell the townies we are burning a downed tree and it’s under control.”

Jessie licked his lips, then spat out a wad of tobacco juice. When his gaze landed on me, he said, “Her being here is a bad idea—”

Lucy rounded on the old man. “What da ya want me to do about her, Jes?” In the blink of an eye, and before I had time to react, she pulled a revolver from her back pocket and aimed it at my head. “Should I just kill her right now? Is that what yer sayin’?”

My breaths were shallow. Lucy was unpredictable on a good day, and this chaos certainly didn’t fall into the good category. The woman was rude when she was feeling friendly and downright violent when she wasn’t. The only thing that kept me calm was curiosity.

What the hell was going on in the hollow?

Jessie’s eyes flared. He sucked in a deep breath before his chest deflated. The man was used to being yelled at by the former matriarch who was now his dead wife. Jessie took it better than most when he rubbed his chin which bristled with gray stubble. In a dirty t-shirt and tan workpants that were torn at the knees, he looked like most of the other Dover men. He wasn’t a true Dover, but he might as well have been. Married to Geraldine some twenty-five years earlier, he’d lived in the hollow long enough to be one of them.

“She can’t just walk away—”

“Shut up, Jessie, and do what I asked before we hear sirens in the distance.” She lowered her voice, and it came out in a gritty slowness. “I know it’s because of this bitch my mama is dead. I haven’t forgotten that truth, but when the time comes to end her life, it will be when I decide, not you.”

I didn’t know Lucy well. I’d dealt with her mother on my previous trips to the hollow. But there was one thing I was certain about. Lucy had a stubborn streak. She was also prideful, impatient, and her fiery temper was well-known across the hill country. About five years earlier, she’d shot her then boyfriend in the privates when she’d caught him making out with one of the waitresses behind the Saloon. The waitress was lucky. She only received a black eye during Lucy’s rampage.

In most civilized places, the Dover woman would have gone to jail, but because of the agreement Geraldine Dover made with my predecessor, Lucy couldn’t be charged. Her boyfriend fell under the hill clan’s umbrella because of his relationship with Lucy. Of course, he didn’t press charges. After surviving and healing somewhat, he skedaddled when he got the chance. Last I’d heard, he’d landed in northern Michigan, just about as far away from the Dovers as he could be without leaving the country. The waitress also left town in hurry.

This is what I was dealing with here. People who were used to doing exactly what they wanted without any interference from law enforcement.

The thought of ignoring what I’d just witnessed in real time made me feel ill, but first things first. Lucy crossed the line when she threatened my life.

In one smooth motion, I snatched my gun from its holster and aimed it at Lucy. In a flurry of movement, at least a dozen rifles were trained on me. Shifting my eyes, I saw the surprise on the faces of those who were willing to shoot me. Their pale faces, wide eyes, and twitching mouths gave me a rush of satisfaction.

Dovers were a pain in the ass. Plain and simple.

The irrational giddy feeling that washed over me was startling, but I happily embraced it. “Unless I kill you first, Lucy Dover.”

Lucy’s eyes grew wide, and her upturned nose flared. We stared at each other, neither of us lowering our weapons.

“You’re outnumbered,” Lucy hissed.

The Dover woman’s stance was impressive. From head to toe, she stood like a statue. More importantly, her gun hand was steady. But mine was, too.

“Sure. I’ll die today, and so will you. Is it really worth it?” Birds chirped in the branches above our heads and the rolling sound of rushing rapids calmed my racing heart. I might not be a Dover—thank God—but I’d been born and raised in these hills and worked hard at being Possum Gap’s sheriff. My patience was threadbare, and after the events of the previous week and nearly losing my life at the Helena House, my composure was in tatters.

Summit touched Lucy’s shoulder. She flung off his hand without losing her aim on me.

“Come on, Aunt Lu—”

“Hush!” she chastised him. “Your soft heart will be the end of our ways and clan.” She spoke without shifting her gaze. “Is what worth it?” Lucy asked me.

Summit licked his lips but said nothing more. The big Dover man had grown on me in recent months, but I now realized that he would let his aunt blow my head off even though he had a conscience. Clan came first. Always.

I inhaled a small breath. “No matter how hard you try, Lucy, you’ll never be your mama. You’re going to have to make your own legacy. But if you’re dead, your family will be thrown into even more calamity than you’re all experiencing right now. So, I ask you again, is being a badass worth your life? I might look the other way in matters concerning your kin, but I won’t tolerate disrespect. Your mama knew better than that and so should you.”

While I talked, Lucy’s frown slowly cracked and lifted into a grin. In a swift motion, she dropped her hand, pushed the safety back into place, and stuck the revolver into the back of her jeans. The rest of her kin followed suit.

“I’ll give you some credit, Sadie Mills. You have bigger balls than the last sheriff.”

Everyone chuckled, including Summit. I caught the jerk of his head when his eyes landed on my gun which still pointed at Lucy.

Feeling the sting of anger, combined with a flood of adrenaline, I slowly lowered my weapon and returned it to its holster. I kept my voice steady. “I can see you’re going to have a busy afternoon here, but we need to talk. Now, more than ever.”

Lucy smacked her lips. “Agreed. You and me are gonna finally have a proper sit down, Sadie Mills.” She flicked her hand at a plump-faced woman standing next to the smoldering trailer, who quickly disappeared into the smoke.

The woman returned less than a minute later with two tall Dover men. One was bare-chested. He had a scraggly red beard that was peppered with gray. and it was difficult to tell where his tattoos ended and the spray of blood began. The other fellow was younger with stringy, blond hair covering half his face. The rest was smudged with soot.

My mind quickly registered the Dover men, but it was the man they held between them that caught my attention. His swollen face was black, blue, and purple, and a slash across his cheek was bleeding. Pockets of spittle clung to his black beard. He was neither young nor old and when he spat, it splattered the gravel in a red wad.

“Fuck you,” the stranger muttered.

I swiveled to watch Lucy walk away.

“Oh, don’t look so shocked, Sadie. It’s Dover business.” She glanced over her shoulder. “And your lucky day. You get to see our kind of justice doled out firsthand.”

A few of the Dovers stayed at the trailer, stomping out pockets of fire in the grass with their boots. The girl who’d been unconscious walked on wobbly legs with her granny and a few other youngsters towards a blue trailer further up the hill.

The rest of the clan followed quietly behind Lucy. The biker struggled with his captors, but in his condition, he was no match for them. He repeatedly cussed at everyone within sight, and I couldn’t really blame him for the vile things leaving his mouth. The man might be taking his final breaths, and he knew it.

Summit split from the group and returned to my side.

“I understand you don’t have much stomach for all this, but if you don’t come now, you might never get another chance to talk to my aunt.”

I blew out a long breath before I eyed him. “Do you realize how insane”—I spread my arms—“this is?”

Summit shrugged, smiling a little. “You never did say how Tanya is doing?”

The dreamlike feeling of the moment shattered. I stepped closer to Summit and lowered my voice to a harsh whisper. “Stop, damn it. I can’t stand by and do nothing while your kin murder that man.”

Summit’s lips pursed before the corner of his mouth rose. “Relax, Sadie. This is none of your business. None of the townies care about a random biker dude who’s not even from Possum Gap. Don’t turn this into your own moral dilemma.” He pointed at the back of the man being dragged away. “He’s not some innocent soul who stumbled into the hollow. The Demon Squad didn’t come here peacefully.”

I lightly grabbed Summit’s arm and tugged him closer to a patch of blackberries. We stopped in a sunny spot where branches brushed my elbow. When I inhaled, I smelled their sweet, overripe scent. Bugs buzzed the fruit and when I heard tapping, I searched the tree line until I spotted a large, red-crested bird pecking a dying tree several yards away.

“I don’t care why they came, Summit. What’s going on here isn’t right. I wouldn’t be a good cop if I looked the other way while you execute a man.”

Summit shrugged. “Maybe it’s best if you left then. No one’s going to stop you.” He scratched his chin through the red beard. “Lucy might not like it, and I can’t say if she’ll call ya for another meeting, but it’s up to you.”

The tall man turned on his heels and stretched his legs to quickly put distance between us and catch up with the group. Crossing my arms, I watched him leave.

I liked Summit. He’d proven himself to be a good guy on several frantic occasions. But he was a hillman through and through. Summit’s loyalty fell to his kin. I couldn’t trust him any more than I could trust his cousin, John.

3

Itrudged up the steep driveway on foot and by myself. The largest chunks of the exploded trailer had been quickly pulled off the gravel lane, but I spotted glass shards and didn’t want to chance the cruiser getting a flat tire in Jewelweed Hollow. I might still need a quick escape and kept the thought on the edge of my mind as I stared ahead, watching the Dovers swell to more than three dozen in what used to be Geraldine’s front yard.

“Miss Sheriff!”

I jerked my head in the direction of the forest. Loping towards me was a teen on a brown horse. The kid was tall, lanky, and as red-headed as the rest of the Dovers. A spattering of freckles, red cheeks, and pretty green eyes softened his appearance. The starchy-looking blue jeans and plaid button-up shirt made him look better suited to a rodeo circuit than the hill country.

Stopping in my tracks, I didn’t move a muscle when the kid reined the horse to a stop a couple of feet away and dismounted. Well, more like shimmied out of the saddle at warp speed.

“Do ya remember me?” His wide eyes and gaping mouth would have been comical under different circumstances.

“It’s only been a week since you hand-delivered the letter from your Aunt Lucy. Of course I remember you, Crow.”

He nodded vigorously and his sharp movements caused the mare to toss her head sideways. Crow took a step with the horse, not letting go of the reins.

“What are ya doing here, Miss Sheriff?”

I inhaled deeply, reminding myself that he couldn’t be more than sixteen, the same age as my daughter, Chloe. They went to school together, and as they’d both reminded me when I’d met the Dover boy, they had a love of horses in common. As his question replayed in my mind, I wondered if the kid was simple-minded or really that ignorant of the goings-on in the hollow.

A few shouts rang out by the tan-colored doublewide, and Lucy’s loud laughter traveled down the hill to my ears. I did my best to ignore it and focused on Crow’s face. It was a round face, with wide-spaced eyes and a well-proportioned nose. I could see that when the last of his baby fat left his cheeks and his shoulders filled out, Crow Dover would be a nice-looking young man. Some of his bright red hair fell over his forehead messily, but he didn’t bother to push it back. Unlike some of his relatives who didn’t want to waste water on daily showers, and except for a gob of his horse’s drool on his arm from when she’d tossed her head, he appeared fairly well-kept. He alternated from looking me in the eye, to dropping his gaze to the gravel. The entire time, he tapped the toe of his boot.

Understanding flashed in my mind. Crow Dover was nervous. Not because I was a sheriff or a stranger. This kid was raised with the confidence of almost every other Dover I’d encountered in my life. And I would wage a bet that the fiasco with the biker gang and the explosion didn’t cause that look of anxiety in his eyes.

No, it was none of that that had this Dover boy in a tizzy. Chloe was the reason for his discomfort. Plain and simple, Crow had a crush on my daughter. From her reaction to his sudden appearance the previous week, it seemed she was as infatuated with him as he was with her.

Blowing out a long, tired breath, I shredded any feelings of sympathy towards Lucy’s nephew. Crow was a Dover and that’s all I needed to know about him.

“Bonnie, right?” I took a step and put my hand out towards the horse’s muzzle.

Crow tugged her closer so I could rub her forehead. All the tension left Crow’s body. He slumped a little and smiled brightly. “Shew, Miss Sheriff. I can’t believe you remembered my horse’s name.”

“And your brother’s gelding is Clyde, just like the famous killers.” I kept my face neutral. “It’s hard to forget names like that, especially when I’m an officer.”

Crow’s back straightened, becoming rigid again. My words reminded him of who I was.

I watched his Adam’s apple drop when he swallowed. “How’s Chloe? I’m sorry you cancelled the movie the other night.” Crow lifted his chin, becoming braver. “I’d like to take her this coming weekend, if you’ll give us permission.”

Muffled voices from the hilltop reached me and the breeze picked up, turning the air a few degrees cooler when clouds blocked the sunshine. The dimming of the hollow gave my mind a nudge. Stop it, Sadie. Figure out what you’re going to do, and just do it.

I stepped into his personal space and poked my finger into his bony chest. Crow didn’t budge or even sway back, which I silently admitted was impressive. But then I noticed the stubborn sheen in his green eyes and my chest burned.

My voice came out low and fierce. “Look around you, kid. Your relatives just had a shootout with a biker gang. What’s left of that trailer down there is still smoldering, and a man’s life hangs in the balance and all you can think about is a date with my daughter?”

Crow’s brow knitted and I saw confusion cloud his bright eyes. He glanced around, then opened his mouth to respond, I raised my palm to stop him.

“That’s the problem with your family. Stuff like this happens so often that you’re completely immune to it.” I flicked my hand towards the doublewide on the hill. “Dovers are known for weed, moonshine, violence, and murder.” I caught and held his gaze. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to trust you with my daughter.”

Crow licked his lips and inhaled deeply. “I understand, Miss Sheriff.” I didn’t like the way his lips pressed tightly together before he added. “It won’t be long before Chloe is an adult. Then you won’t be able to control what she does anymore.”

His words shook me to the core. When he turned to mount the horse, I grabbed his arm.

“Stop and think about this, Crow. It’s not just me you’ll have to deal with. Chloe’s dad is the county attorney. And the one thing we see eye to eye on is our daughter. Between the two of us, we can make your life miserable if you choose to go down that road. Even once she’s a legal adult.”

Crow snickered before pulling from my grasp and mounting his horse. “You think you’re so much better than us, don’t ya? Like you, I couldn’t pick my kin, but I’m glad I don’t share blood with phony townies. I’m proud to be a Dover and I ain’t afraid of you, Miss Sheriff.”

He reined Bonnie around and took off down the path he’d rode out of a few minutes ago.

Facing the doublewide, I started back up the hill.

“Yeah, Crow, I don’t doubt that you’re not afraid of me,” I muttered under my breath. “But I know who does terrify you.”

4

When I arrived in the yard, the crowd automatically split, giving me a narrow opening to walk through. Cigarette smoke and sweat made me wrinkle my nose, while I passed closely to men with shaggy beards and frowning women. All ages were present, from toddlers playing in the grass to a few elderly people sitting on rockers.

I didn’t even know the name of the stranger sprawled on the ground. One of his eyes was swollen shut and blood trickled from a gash on his jaw. Watching his chest rise and fall for some seconds, I knew he was alive. The man appeared to be resting and waiting, just like everyone else.

Lucy sat on one of those old-fashioned braided, foldup lawn chairs. Other than the biker on the ground, she was the only person not standing. Summit was closest to her, and he unflinchingly met my gaze. I knew most of the Dovers by face if not by name. When I scanned the crowd, a mixture of curious gazes and scowls of disapproval flicked my way until I found Christen.

By now, I figured that the Dover teenager who’d been kidnapped by a sex trafficker might have turned eighteen. That was one of the times when I’d let the Dovers do as they pleased with a man who had raped one of theirs and killed her brother. Unlike today, it seemed appropriate to allow the family to have their revenge in that situation. But in hindsight, it had just become another event where the Dover clan got away with dishing out their own vigilante justice, making it even more difficult to control them at times like this.

Christen’s face was thinner than the last time I’d seen her, and her tight, pink t-shirt revealed cleavage and a swollen belly. Our eyes met and she offered a small smile. It wasn’t surprising that she’d taken the course that most of the Dover women did. Pregnancy at a young age was the fate of many of the hill girls. Lucy was an anomaly in that department, being one of the only Dover women I knew who never had children of her own. But she’d certainly raised enough of them.

Movement across the yard caught my eye. I sucked in a small breath and hated my reaction to finding John Dover wearing a lopsided grin and sitting on a log while he whittled a piece of wood.

I’d met the man the previous year after a shootout in a single wide trailer up the road from his home. Three men had been killed, including his cousin, Jax Dover—Christen’s brother. I still got heartburn thinking about facing his clannish—and angry—relatives in Jewelweed Hollow when that case unfolded. But the source of most of my nightmares since that terrible time were of a teenager named Charlie and the moment that I pulled the trigger, ending her life. The girl was a lost soul who had been raped repeatedly by her stepfather while her mother had ignored the abuse. Charlie was a lit fuse bound to blow, and when she did, she shot and killed her parents and her younger sister. She ran away from brutal memories and guilt into the arms of a man twice her age who sex trafficked her. Her murderous appetite didn’t end with her family, though. She added an Amish teen to the list of lives she took, and nearly succeeded in killing an Amish father and his young children whom she had taken hostage before I intervened.

Seeing John Dover stirred so many unpleasant memories and a few nice ones. I gave my head a small shake to rid myself of all of them.

John was close to my age, and like now, he usually wore faded blue jeans and a t-shirt with an obnoxious phrase or picture on it. This one sported the image of a large handgun on an American flag with the phrase, Just Try Me.

John might be a Dover, but he certainly wasn’t a redneck or even a hillbilly. Although he spent a lot of time hiking Dover lands, John had bought his own place off the compound where he lived with his dog, Daisy, and he ran a successful apiary. Locally, his honey was in high demand, and John sold it as far away as Lexington, along with plants he harvested from the woods and dried for medicinal purposes.

John Dover felt most at ease in the woods, and that’s where I usually stumbled into him. Sweeping my gaze over the hillman, I spotted a large hunting blade holstered to his belt loop and spied his dark brown shoulder-length hair tied back in a ponytail. I tried not to notice his muscular arms and the rugged dark bristles covering his well-defined chin and jawline. John wasn’t like the dangerous men I came in contact with in the back country. This Dover man was articulate, polite, educated, and a walking contradiction most days. As hard as I tried to figure out his intentions and motives, John Dover remained a mystery. And it bugged me how much I wanted to know more about him.

John continued to smirk and stare, causing my cheeks to burn. I wasn’t easily flustered, especially by a Dover, but this one had my stomach in knots. Lifting my face to the stiff breeze, I frowned deeply back at him.

John finally lost the grin, but he didn’t rise from the log either. He seemed content to quietly sit back and watch the show without getting involved.

Lucy’s sharp voice broke the connection between me and John. I jerked my head her way.

“What did you say, Kyle?” Lucy knelt beside the biker sprawled in the grass, but her eyes narrowed at me. “Hmm?”

I walked into the center of the circle of onlookers where Lucy and the man were.

Lucy kept her gaze locked on me. “Oh, yeah. You’re wondering why the lady cop isn’t saving you, huh?”

My heart calmed and I inhaled a small breath. When I’d left Tanya at the Helena House that morning, I couldn’t have anticipated this mayhem. Maybe I should have been prepared for anything. My time in Jewelweed Hollow was often filled with shootouts and near-death experiences.

When the man tried to sit up, Lucy punched him in the face. He dropped back with a groan and rolled sideways, only to be kicked by one of Lucy’s brothers. I thought his name was Seth, and his short-cropped hair was brownish red. His harsh movements barely disturbed the cigarette dangling between his lips. Only a sprinkle of ashes fell while he continued kicking.

Was Lucy goading me into acting? Then she would have an excuse—at least in Summit’s eyes—to shoot me. There were a million secluded spots to bury my body in the hills and I’d never be found. But Lucy wasn’t an addict, a drunk, nor a fool. She knew I’d told Buddy, my first deputy, along with others where I was going this fine summer morning. Why risk an army of law enforcement descending on her land? Something else was going on here and until I understood, I needed to tread very carefully.

When I began to talk, Seth stopped kicking.

“A drug deal gone wrong? Did someone infringe on your territory? The Demon Squad biker gang stole from the Dovers, or vice versa? A—”

“Missing… our… Denver…” Kyle groaned the words out until his head lolled to the side and he closed his eyes.

I bent over the man, ignoring Lucy’s sickening smirk. “Who’s missing?” When he didn’t answer, I snapped my head in Lucy’s direction. “Maybe I can help. What’s going on?”

I rose with Lucy and when she crossed her arms over her chest, I placed my hands on my hips. The rest of the Dovers fell silent except for Seth, who occasionally smacked his lips.

When he drew his leg back to kick Kyle again, Lucy snapped, “Enough!” She waved her hands. “Go on and get, everyone! Clean up the fucking mess those idiot two-wheeled riders made.” Most turned and departed without question. Seth opened his mouth to argue, and Lucy’s finger shot up. “I said enough. An’ I meant it. You’ll disappear right quick if you know what’s good for ya, Seth.”

Seth shook his head and swatted the air, then looked at me. “Don’t meddle, Sheriff, or you’ll end up worse than dead.”

With a sudden burst of movement, Lucy rushed at her younger brother. The scream that came from her throat pierced my eardrums. Seth turned and sprinted away before Lucy reached him. When she stopped screaming, Seth’s laughter filled the void.

I knew my eyes bulged. I’d seen a lot of crazy encounters during my time as sheriff and while growing up in the hill country, but these people’s ways were always baffling. Glancing back to the log, I found John still sitting there, whittling away at the stick like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Not you,” Lucy told Summit when he started to leave.

Summit stuck his thumbs through the belt loops of his faded denims and sighed.

The man on the ground whimpered, then he managed to mutter, “You’ll pay… you all are… going to suffer for… this.”

My gaze swiveled to Lucy. She walked to the front porch and turned on a spigot next to the steps. Grabbing the end of the hose, she dragged it to where Kyle still lay and pressed the nozzle. The cold water blasted Kyle’s face, making him stagger to his feet. Lucy continued to spray the water at the man, and with each passing second, he came back to life.

Covering his face, he shouted, “Stop it! Stop, you crazy bitch!”

Lucy released the nozzle and followed Kyle as he jogged backwards.

“Now, you listen to me, douchebag. Get on your damn bike and ride the hell out of here. If you ever step foot on Dover land again, and I mean, just one of your fucking tires rolls over the property line, I will shoot you dead myself.”

When I saw Kyle’s bleeding mouth spread into a smile, I held my breath. Stupid man.

Lucy charged forward. His flailing hands weren’t enough to stop the Dover woman, who was the same height as Kyle. She forced the hose into his mouth and held down the trigger on the nozzle. Water squirted from all sides of his mouth. When Lucy pulled the hose out, she punched him. A tree trunk kept him from falling backward.

Kyle turned my way, and Lucy slapped his face. “Don’t go looking to that one for help. She’s the law in these parts and her loyalties are to the hill folk,”—Lucy’s head jerked to me—“all of us.” Lucy spat and the wad of spittle landed on Kyle’s boot. “You’re an outsider and we protect our own.”

“But Denver—”

This time when Lucy raised the hose, Kyle stopped talking and half-jogged, half-limped to his motorcycle that was lying halfway down the hill. He reached it a moment later and shoved it upright. The sound of the engine’s motor roaring to life was music to my ears.

I stood beside Lucy, watching Kyle fly down the lane, kicking up dust as he went. When I could no longer see the motorcycle and the sound of the engine lessened to a distant hum, Lucy turned and faced me.

“Ready to talk?”

Being the sheriff of Possum Gap was a dangerous and corrupt job, I guessed. Since no one had died, including me, I couldn’t complain much. I was in the hollow after all.

Thanking my lucky stars, I now had a bargaining chip for the real reason I was here.

5

As I walked up the porch steps, I craned my neck around the side of the house to look for John. He’d up and disappeared at the same time Kyle left on the motorcycle.

“Merle, girl. Get us some of the good stuff from the top shelf.” Lucy shouted through the screen door. She then flopped into the nearest rocking chair and waited for me take the one next to her. “Lord knows we need something strong.”

I wasn’t about to disagree with her. I might appear calm on the outside, but my nerves were frayed.

The blonde girl who came through the door wore an outfit like her aunt’s. Short shorts and a tight tank top was more expected on a teen than a forty-something-year-old. Her braids bobbed on her shoulders when she handed Lucy a large Mason jar with sloshing red liquid and two glasses. Once the girl was close, I changed my mind. Her lack of breasts and thin hips made me think she was more like twelve or barely thirteen.

Before she went back into the house, she showed me her straight, white teeth, flashing a grin. The look made me draw in a sharp breath for no good reason at all.

“Eh, don’t let the girl crawl under your skin.” With the hand holding two glasses that clinked, she pointed at the door and lowered her voice. “That one is a weirdo.”

I swayed back a little. “I’m surprised you’d speak that way about your kin.”

Lucy snorted. “We don’t share the same blood, Sadie.” She expertly set each glass on a separate knee and unscrewed the canning jar lid. “We cooked this five autumns ago. It’s some of the best elderberry wine we’ve ever canned. And this is one of the last jars.”

I tried to relax and used my toes to push the rocker back and forth, but even my feet were stiff. “Wine is a little tame, don’t you think?”

Lucy chuckled. “Oh, don’t you worry your pretty head. There are some extra ingredients in there that won’t disappoint.”

She kept the glasses perched on her knees and poured the spiked wine without a single drop being spilled. I remembered that she’d bartended on and off at the Saloon in Possum Gap for decades. I couldn’t deny that when it came to anything liquor, Lucy Dover had skills.

I took the glass she handed me and savored the sweet-smelling contents that carried a punch of heat into my nose. It wasn’t even noon yet, but I didn’t care. A morning like this one was an excuse for alcohol. I swirled the honey-fruity tasting liquid around my mouth before swallowing. I couldn’t help puckering my lips and squeezing my eyes shut.

Lucy squealed in delight. “Damn, it’s good, ain’t it?”

Good wasn’t exactly how I’d describe the moonshine. Potent, powerful—yeah, but good was not a strong enough word. I swallowed another gulp and rested the glass on my crossed knees. Lucy had finished half her glass by the time I looked her way.

The breeze matched the warmth spreading in my gut. It felt nice to sit and rock, hearing birds chattering in nearby trees and the aroma of pine needles in the air. Occasional shouts and the scent of burning plastic from the smoldering trailer kept me from fully enjoying the moment.

It felt like the quiet before the storm.

I wondered about Lucy’s lack of anything to say and was reluctant to break the silence. Clearing my throat that still burned a little, I lifted my chin at the doorway, and asked, “Who’s kid is she?”

Lucy glanced at me, then stared at the activity around the bottom of the hill. “My kid brother, Seth, hooked up with her mama eight years ago. Merle was maybe five at the time.” Lucy exhaled softly and I sensed her discomfort as the air around us thickened with secrets. “Collie was barely fourteen when she got knocked up by some dude in Corbin. My brother built fences at that time, and when a job took him to that part of Kentucky, he ran into Collie and the way he told the tale, it was love at first sight.”

Lucy paused, taking a gulp from her glass. We had more important things to discuss and getting away from the hollow was strongly on my mind, but still, I couldn’t change the subject. I found myself leaning over the armrest, closer to the leader of the Dover clan.

“I’m guessing Seth changed his mind about Merle’s mom,” I said softly, not wanting to be heard by the girl if she was eavesdropping.

“Oh, damn, Sadie, that’s putting it mildly. Seth brought Collie and the kid back with him one summer evening. Ma loved her sons, and although she sensed the young woman’s crazy mind from a mile away, she allowed Seth to move his new girlfriend and her kid into his trailer.”

So far, the story had been mundane by Dover standards, but the way I found it hard to take full breaths, I knew something more sinister was about to be revealed.

I waited and after a long hesitation, Lucy started talking again. “That bitch loved the butchering part.”

I blinked. “What?”

Lucy pressed her lips together and gave a firm nod. “Whenever Seth or any of us brought home a deer after hunting, Collie was all over it. She’d skin and carve them up with a big ol’ smile on her face.”

I hesitated, speaking slowly. “It’s part of the process.”

“Oh, yeah, but her level of zeal was creepy, especially being preggo.”

“Was it Seth’s child?” I didn’t need to know about a pregnancy from years ago but felt compelled to ask.

“Who knows. Ma wanted to believe it was, but even she had her doubts. The baby was stillborn, so it doesn’t matter.” Lucy’s brow knitted and she held my gaze. “Ol’ Sally, one of my aunts, delivered the boy, and she was pretty freaked out about it.” Lucy exhaled loudly and then lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “That crazy whore stuck a blade up in her when she went into labor. Aunt Sally tried to stop her, but Collie kept screaming crazy witchy shit. When the babe came out, the top of his head was slashed and he wasn’t breathing.”

I didn’t want the scene to come to life in my head, but a vision grew with a mind all its own. “Geraldine must have been furious.”

“Oh, yeah. Ma ordered the nameless babe be buried immediately, and we barely had time to mourn him before it was done.”

I took a small sip and forced the liquid down my throat. “That’s terrible.”

Lucy snorted before she finished off the contents of her class. “I haven’t gotten to the really bad part yet.”

“It gets worse?”

“After Collie, still bleeding and staggering, had cussed everyone out, talking complete nonsense the entire time, she fell asleep on the ground at the edge of the forest. Ma ordered that we leave her there, and Seth wasn’t ‘bout to argue with Ma. He was pissed himself at what his woman had done.” Lucy paused to listen to a lone yelping coyote that quickly turned into a cacophony of the entire pack. “That’s odd. Early in the day for them to sing a kill song.”

I shivered. She was right. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d heard the unnerving yowling of a pack of coyotes at this hour.

When their calls dwindled to nothing, Lucy continued. “The next morning, one of my cousins discovered the babe’s grave was dug up and empty. We searched the next few days for the boy’s body and for Collie, but she’d up and vanished herself.”

The story had taken such a dark turn that I needed another large sip from the glass.

“Sadie, what I’m about to tell you has been for Dover ears only for the past eight years. Can I trust you to speak to no one of it when you walk away from the hollow?”

I really wanted to tell her to forget it, I didn’t want to know the end of what I imagined was a grisly horror tale, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave the ending untold. I had never heard anything about it until now and any crimes committed against the baby would be a cold case, and very hard to collaborate without witnesses. And the Dovers would never tell the truth about what happened in a court of law.

I bit the corner of my lip. “I’ll keep it to myself.”

Lucy nodded slowly. “We followed the smoke trickling over the forest off our lands. We found Collie with dried blood smeared over her face at an overlook that we refer to as Eagle Stone because it resembles the shape of an eagle’s head when you look up at it from the trail below. She’d made an alter of sorts on the boulder with branches, crow feathers, and shiny rocks. She’d burned her baby’s body.” Lucy gave a hard shake of her head and lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “It wasn’t a cremation, Sadie. What she done to that babe—her own flesh and blood—was a sacrifice.”

My eyes bulged. “Why did you tell me this? That’s horrible.”

She shrugged. “You asked me about the girl, and I couldn’t explain things properly without giving you the backstory. You see, Ma told Seth that his woman was evil. That she worshipped the darkness, and there was no place for her in the hollow or anywhere else. Ma gave Seth no choice. He took Collie deep into the woods, all the way to the old pioneer church at the edge of our land, and while Collie cursed him, he shot her in the back of the head.” Lucy grunted. “So here we were, minus the mother but stuck with the kid. Ma thought the girl was young enough to adapt to our ways, and for the most part she has. After Ma died and I inherited the clan, I got the damn kid, too.” She pursed her lips and leaned closer. “Between you and me, the kid’s not entirely normal. You know how seeds grow in a person? I’m waiting for the day she snaps just like her mama.”

The story had such an unsettling effect on me, it was hard to think of the right words to say. “Lucy, she might have other relatives in Corbin. Family who could take better care of her under the circumstances.”

“We thought of that, but because of what Seth did to her mama, Ma was afraid to send her away. Keeping her close was a better option.”

“Does she know what happened?”

“Nope. It’s never been spoken to our young’uns. Another secret we hold tight.” Her brow lifted. “Oh, and now you know as well.”

“Look, what Collie did was horrendous, but it didn’t give your mother the right to instruct your brother to execute a clearly unwell young woman.”

“Unwell? She was batshit crazy.” Lucy leaned back and began rocking. Clouds overhead thickened, blocking out every last bit of the sun. With the loss of it, the air cooled and the wind picked up, flapping the giant American and Confederate flags hard enough that their snapping sounds could easily be heard from across the meadow. “Collie was like Bethel Beaumont and her voodoo worshipers in the lowlands. She was into dark magic. Shit you don’t mess around with. Shit we can’t even wrap our minds around, ya know?”

Unfortunately, after what happened at Helena House, I understood exactly what she meant.

The entire conversation was strange, and I wanted to distance myself from it. “I didn’t come up here to talk about all your clan’s past sins and secrets. I want to discuss the future and how we’re going to move forward. Are you up for it, Lucy?”

Lucy stopped rocking. “That all depends on you.”

“Me?”

Lucy cracked a smile. “You’re no angel, though you pretend to be. I learned many things from Ma, but the one thing that she said always benefited her the most was not only keeping your enemies close, but making sure their dirty laundry was in the same basket as your own. Do you get it, Sadie?”

I stood and walked to the railing and scanned the surrounding mountains. Filled with ugly trailers, junk cars, and criminal activities, Jewelweed Hollow was a rough and dangerous place, yet the view from the doublewide on the hilltop was absolutely breathtaking. It reminded me of something my pappy said when I was just a kid. We were also sitting on a front porch, only instead of the panoramic view I now gazed at, he was referring to the brilliant flowers in front of the neighbors’ large house across the street.

“Sadie, girl. Look on over there. What do you see?”

I wondered what he meant and answered quickly. “Pretty flowers and a fancy house.”

Pappy snorted. “Sure, but what you don’t see is how Mr. Hudson smacks Mrs. Hudson around every Friday night after he gets drunk. He used to do the same thing to his son back about fifteen years ago until the teen hung himself from a rafter in the garage behind the house. Mrs. Hudson also purposely ran over Misty Simmon’s cat with his car last year because it kept crapping in her flower garden.”

My eyes widened as the horror sank in. I was too young to remember the teen Grandpa talked about, but I used to pet Birdie the cat when he’d stroll across the road to visit Nana and Pappy’s back porch where Grandma fed him leftovers. She’d promised me that Misty gave Birdie to a cousin in the country where he would hunt barn mice and lay in the sunshine without neighborhood kids throwing rocks at him.

Tears dribbled down my cheeks. “Why tell me that, Pappy? I liked Nana’s story better.”

Pappy nodded his head slowly while he stared at me with hard, gray eyes. “Sadie, your Nana’s flowerbed is nowhere near as impressive as Mrs. Hudson’s, and our home is half the size and as plain as can be, but we’re good people.” He inhaled deeply. “You get what you see, Sadie girl. Drop a rose bloom on a turd, and the turd is still a turd.” Pappy patted my hand and narrowed his gaze at me. “Do you understand?”

The memory faded and I blinked to completely erase the quiet street in Possum Gap where my grandparents used to live. A crow cawed and I quickly found it soaring over the jagged gap that the locals called Bear Gap because it was where black bears kept dens during the winter.

Sunshine sliced through the clouds over the pass where the trees were so thick that the hills on each side looked like they were covered with hunter green blankets. Then my gaze flicked below. The Dover compound was the turd Pappy spoke of. Surrounded by the beauty of the wilderness, it was easy to ignore the ugly little spot of civilization in the middle of it, but the turd was still a turd.

That made Lucy the queen of the turds. When the thought occurred to me, I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into laughter. Lucy’s eyes widened and she left her rocker to stand with me at the railing.

“Have you lost your mind?” she asked.

Her deep frown made me laugh harder. The one thing a crazy person feared was a person crazier than themselves. Pulling myself together, I dragged in a full breath and blew it out with a whistle. Like a weight had lifted from my shoulders, I felt lighter and freer. For the first time since I’d become Possum Gap’s sheriff, I knew how to handle Lucy. Like my predecessors, I’d been dealt a rough hand of having the Dover clan living in my jurisdiction, but while I’d used some of the same tactics they’d embraced to stay alive, I could still keep my soul clean from their taint.

When I finally had my mirth under control, I faced Lucy, who had lit a cigarette and was still frowning.

“Anything that I’ve done on the job has been for the good of Possum Gap’s citizens. Never did I make a decision where I personally benefited from anyone’s treachery—”

“The forest speaks to me, Sadie. I know you done murder to protect yourself and your kin.”

“I suppose some might see it that way. I don’t consider it murder if I’m saving someone, and that includes myself.”

Lucy tilted her head, and her frown lessened. “Well, I’m proud of you, lady. You’re starting to think like a Dover.”

I shook my head. “No, Lucy. I have nothing in common with any of you. Like I said, what I do is for the greater good, and as long as I stay on that path, I can walk into church on Sunday with a clear conscience.”

Lucy smirked. “You go to church?”

“Not as much as I probably should.” Feeling more confident than I had when I arrived, I continued. “As it’s always been, as long as your shenanigans don’t interfere with Possum Gap business or put any of its citizens in danger, and you keep it on your own lands, I’ll look the other way.”

“Smart lady.” Lucy leaned her back against the railing and crossed her arms. “I sense a but coming.”

“If any of your kin cross the line and cause trouble for my people, I’ll return to the hollow with a force that you won’t be able to fight off.” She began to speak, and I raised my hand and quickly added, “I’m not stupid, Lucy. I’ve been careful in all my cases, covered my tracks well.” Pointing a finger at Lucy and trying not to cough when she blew smoke in my face, I said, “No one will believe you over me if we ever face each other in court.”

“Oh, it’s not in a court where I’d finish you. Dealing with the likes of those with supposedly high morals, it’s through the people they love most where’d I find my revenge. That keeps them under control.”

I expected her to say that. It was no secret that the officers before me who weren’t crooked were kept in line by the hill folk through threats of violence towards family members.

“Yeah, try it.” I stepped closer, right into Lucy’s puff of cigarette smoke. “Your loved ones aren’t always in the hollow.” Lucy’s eyes doubled in size. “Aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends—they all venture into town from time to time.” I lowered my voice and hardened it. “If you ever harm anyone I love in retribution or leverage against me or mine, I’ll do the same to yours. Don’t forget, a little bit of hill blood runs through my veins, too, and that’s all it takes to make me just as dangerous as you.”

Lucy took a drag from her cigarette, turned to blow out the smoke, then faced me again. “Okay, then. We understand each other. I’ll keep my people under control and our activities on Dover soil, and you’ll leave us be. That includes what happened here today. Agreed?”

I was in a good bargaining position and wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to get what I really wanted.

“On one condition.”

Lucy’s brow rose, and after she smashed the cigarette and tossed the butt into the grass, she placed her hands on her hips. “Within reason.”

“You have a nephew—”

“Oh, my God, Sadie. I don’t give a shit if you and John are fucking. You’re both grown-ups. Do whatever you want.” She snorted and barked out a gulp of laughter. “It’ll never work. If you were a friend, I’d tell you to get the hell away from him before he breaks your heart, but in truth, I’ll enjoy seeing those big, fat tears in your eyes.”

Wondering how Lucy knew about our relationship—or whatever was going on between John and me—was a waste of time. I agreed wholeheartedly with Lucy’s sentiments.

“No, not John.”

“Then who the hell are you talking about?”

“Crow. I want you to keep him away from my daughter. If you don’t, all bets are off.”

6

Billy Rankin wiped his brow with a handkerchief, then glanced back at us before he hit the switch. In turn, I looked at Tanya’s face for confirmation. “Should we wait for Russo? He’s been very excited about this fountain.”

Tanya swatted the air with her hand. Her rings flashed in the bright sunshine as she zipped up the long, burgundy sweater jacket. It was the first chilly autumn day, and the strong breeze caused the maples to sprinkle red leaves everywhere around the mansion. Combined with the splashes of yellow-leafed oaks and a dozen potted orange, pink, and white chrysanthemums, the naturally festive vibe of the Helena House and its expansive yard made me happy.

“Sadie, hon, that man is out of here at the crack of dawn and back after the moon rises most days. If we wait for him to flip the switch, it will be Christmastime, and the pipes will be frozen.” The corner of Tanya’s mouth rose. When I nodded agreement, she turned to Billy. “May I have the honor, Bill?”

He straightened up. “Of course. I apologize for not realizing the significance of the moment.” He winked at me, and I grinned back.

We’d kept the Rankin brothers Billy, Benton, Beau, Brody, Bryson, and Blake busy with the many renovations on the Helena House for several months now. The mansion had a long way to go, but at least we could walk across the colonnade without falling through the floor. A chandelier had been hung in the ballroom, and we had new windows in most of the first-floor rooms. After the initial major hiccup of a fire and intruders in the cellar’s tunnel system, we were moving along nicely with the renovation.

“Get your tushy over here, Sadie,” Tanya ordered cheerfully.

I joined her at the side of the two-foot-tall cement wall that formed a circular pool surrounding a three-tiered cast stone, Italian-style fountain that Russo’s mother had donated. Gazing at the stone horse heads and elaborate flowers, I tried not to remember the argument I’d had with Russo about the ridiculously generous gift. Because Tanya’s cousin, Alice Beaumont, had donated intricate light sconces and several solar lampposts along the curving driveway to the cause, I grumpily relented. Seeing the pool full of water with the fountain mounted and ready to go, I had to admit, it was dumb to look a gift horse in the mouth—even one that more than likely came from dirty money. The less I knew, the better. We were basically running out of funds, and every little bit helped.

Billy backed away. “Each tier is lit from beneath it.” He removed his ball cap to scratch his sweaty, gray head. “You won’t be able to enjoy the full affect until after dark. I have to say, I’ve never hooked up something so grand before, and likely never will again.”

“It’s supposed to be one of a kind,” Tanya chirped. “Give me your hand, Sadie.”

I did as I was told. “You want to flip the switch together?”

“Of course!”

Billy chimed in. “If you wait for Russo, all three of you can—”

“Nonsense!” Tanya countered. “If I don’t see this fountain in action this morning, I’ll die of suspense.” She offered Billy a forced smile and softened her tone. “Then I can be on my way and out of your hair, Bill.”

He made the motion of zipping his lips and once I knelt next to Tanya, she grabbed my finger and pressed it on the switch. A long, gurgling sound was followed by a spurt of water from the top of the fountain. I held my breath, and Tanya didn’t let go of my hand, squeezing it uncomfortably tight.

“Give it a minute—” Billy started.

“I’m going to wring your neck, Bill Rankin, if you messed something up—” Tanya’s beratement quickly turned to a squeal of delight when the water began properly pouring over the edges. “Oh, good Lord, it’s stunning!”

I tugged my hand away from Tanya to pat Billy on the back. “Great job. I never doubted you.”

“I’ll give Russo directions on how to winterize the fountain. If it stays mild, you might be able to keep it running until the end of December.” He picked up his toolbox. “I’ll be working on the plumbing in the upstairs bedrooms if you need me.”

Billy waved while walking away.

“Thank you, Bill! This is perfection!” Tanya called after him.

Billy passed Chloe as she came down the stairs. It was a straight shot from the little house behind the mansion, through the main hallway, and out its enormous wooden front doors. We all usually went through the mansion when coming or going, since it was a significant shortcut.

“Good morning, Chloe,” Billy said.

I heard Chloe mumble, “Hi,” when she passed by him. Seeing me, her voice changed to a loud and harsh one. “Mom! We have to hurry up or I’ll be late!”

It was such an unpleasant, jarring noise. I resisted the urge to press my fingertips to the side of my head when Tanya swiveled to question me with wide eyes and a raised brow.

“ACT this morning. She’s had her head buried in a study book for two months.”

Chloe walked right up to Tanya’s SUV. “Can I catch a ride with you, Aunt Tanya? Mom drives too slow.”

Tanya eyed me and I shrugged. “Ah, sure.”

Once Chloe slammed the door, Tanya came close. “Is that girl still acting like a brat towards you?”

I exhaled loudly while I buttoned up the flannel jacket I had on. “Ever since Crow bailed on their re-scheduled movie date, she’s barely talked to me. That was three months ago.”

Tanya whispered fiercely. “How could she possibly know about your arrangement with Lucy Dover?”

“Chloe is a smart girl. Right after I went to Jewelweed Hollow, Crow stopped talking to her altogether. She doesn’t understand the how or why but blames me all the same.”

Tanya squeezed my arm. “After what went down in that hollow before your meeting with Lucy, you’re exercising completely reasonable, common-sense mothering in keeping her and that boy apart. Those people are a step beyond crazy.” She wrinkled her nose. “Most of them don’t even bathe. Well, Summit and John are fairly hygienic, I suppose. I caught a whiff of Summit in the tunnels when we were escaping and I swear, he had on expensive cologne. He smelled really nice.”

I glanced sideways at Tanya, whose wide-eyed expression and gaping mouth meant she realized she said that last part out loud.

For the same reason I didn’t want Chloe, dating Crow and I wouldn’t entertain a romance with John, I didn’t like Tanya saying anything pleasant about Summit. They were all Dovers and that meant they were off limits for the three of us.

“At least the imaginary breakup prompted Chloe to get serious about her grades and the college entrance exams. She’s made it very clear that she plans to go to college as far from Possum Gap as possible and never return.”

Tanya was a hugger. I wasn’t, but I’d learned decades ago not to resist. It was a quick embrace, and when she pulled back, she continued to grip both my arms, giving me a little shake. “Girl, you said the exact same thing your senior year and look at you now—Possum Gap’s sheriff.”

I nodded with little enthusiasm. “Chloe is different than me. I had my grandparents and parents to come back to until what, seven years ago? She has a father who ignored her for years after the divorce and only recently tried to reconnect with his daughter, and a mom who’s come close to dying more times in the past year alone than most people do in a lifetime.” I frowned, staring past Tanya’s SUV. The hills felt more oppressive than usual on this crisp fall morning. “Chloe will settle in Lexington or another city like Louisville or Nashville.” I snorted, then wiped my nose with my sleeve. “She wants to be a lawyer like her father, but she swears it’s not because of him.”

Tanya released me and swayed back. “Is that right? Why then?”

A small smile lifted the corner of my mouth. “She thinks that someday I’m going to need an attorney. She says she’s still going to charge me full price.”

She threw her head back. “Ha! That sounds like something that rotten kid would say.” Her affection for Chloe ran deep, so I knew that rotten meant wonderful and smart but a little sassy, in her mind. “Time heals all fights with teenagers and their parents.” She pointed at me as she backed up. “Remember that! I’ll see you on Friday. We can grab a bite to eat after I take fresh pics of those guest bathrooms for our website.”

“Website?” Chloe temporarily vanished from my mind. “So soon?”

“We need to build an online presence way before we begin renting rooms. Through all my posting on multiple social media sites, I’m going to have travelers and wedding planners begging to reserve their spots at the Helena House.” She blew me a kiss. “Bye, girl. Don’t get yourself kidnapped or shot today!”

She laughed and I smiled, but we were both fully aware that those things could happen.

My heart stuttered when I turned back to the mansion. It looked better, at least less haunted, but it was still in shambles. It would take two years at the earliest to be completely ready for guests. Arguing with Tanya about her frenzied promotion was a waste of time. She’d just do it anyway.

Someday, it will pay off, I kept telling myself.

Was I ready to share this place with the world? Nope, and probably never would be. When the property became a functional resort, I would have to buy another place to live. If Russo stuck around, he could have the little house, or maybe a groundskeeper would reside there.

For now, I tried to enjoy the peace and serenity of my childhood haunt. The journey of restoring the historical house was the part I enjoyed the most, while Tanya and Russo couldn’t wait for the grand opening and money to start flowing in. If nothing else than to recoup some of the insane costs of the renovations.

“Nothing lasts forever,” I muttered into the chilly air as I walked to the mansion, fighting back the sudden wave of melancholy.

The closer I got to the front porch, I started to hear the faint sound of ringing. Shoot! I started running and took the porch steps two at a time. I’d left my cellphone inside the purse that I’d thrown on a lounge chair when Tanya arrived.

When I pulled the phone out, I saw there were a dozen missed calls and twice that number of texts waiting to be read. A sense of dread washed through me making my hand shake when I swiped the screen.

“It’s my day off, Russo. I was just about ready to saddle up Belle for a ride. What’s going on?”

“Sorry to obliterate your lazy-day schedule, but you’re needed at the morgue now—and I mean like right this minute, which is impossible, but you get the gist.”

I sucked in a breath. “Why, what’s happening?”

“A hiker on the Blossom Trail at the east entrance found a body.”

I was already heading for the little house to grab the duffle bag of essentials that I kept close to the door. My “go bag” contained a change of clothes, hiking boots, a warm coat, gloves, and several bottles of water, as well as extra ammo for my Glock and a basic survival and first aid kit. I’d learned the hard way never to leave home without preparing to not to return for a few days. Hoping that it wasn’t a complicated matter was never enough to make it reality.

I jogged up the steps and straight into the large foyer. “Do we have an ID of the body yet?”

“Ah, that part is going to be difficult.”

“Why?” I sped up, stretching my legs.

“It’s a male, and that’s about all can say at this point.”

Reaching the kitchen, I grabbed the thermos of coffee off the counter. “I’m afraid to ask you for elaboration, Russo.”

“Damn, Sadie. I don’t want you too wound up, but you need to be ready for what you’re going to find when you arrive.”

“Go on,” I urged, slamming the backdoor behind me.

“The body is missing arms, legs, head, and heart.” Russo’s voice came through the phone with an edge of anticipation that made me scrunch my mouth.

So much for a lazy day.

7

Possum Gap’s morgue was in the basement of the sheriff’s department. It was made up of two spaces: a combination examination room, where one wall contained nine stainless steel cooler cabinets for the bodies, and Russo’s office.

I hated the smell of formaldehyde and of course, it was always cold down here. The bright white walls were in glaring contrast with the wood paneling everywhere else in the building. Going into the basement never got easier, especially on the rare occasions when a body had been mutilated.

What was left of this body was a gruesome scene, but what made me squirm while I folded my arms tightly over my chest was the sickening thought that the corpse on the table had once been alive. Where a lonely torso remained used to be a man.

“Are you okay, Sadie?”

Russo’s voice sounded distant at first, then it intensified until I dragged my gaze away from the remains and focused on the town’s coroner. He stared at me with large brown eyes and a tight frown. Russo was around five inches taller than my five-foot-seven inches, and his dark brown hair was perfectly cut and styled. He always wore khaki dress pants and a sport coat over his shirt. To say he was overdressed for Possum Gap was putting it mildly.

The northerner’s Italian heritage made him unique in these parts. His well-defined, arched eyebrows, proud Roman nose, high cheekbones, and olive skin gave Russo the status of being one of the most eligible bachelors in Possum Gap. Always gesturing with his hands, Russo was extremely animated. His face didn’t just speak, it performed.

Right now, Russo was rather subdued and that bothered me for some reason.

“Yeah, I guess. Darcy is upstairs searching through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System for anyone of interest.” I returned my gaze to the body. “It will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Whoever did this didn’t want us to figure out who this man is.”

“That was my first impression as well. Now, I’m not so sure that was the intention.”

My brows rose. “Really? Explain.”

Russo’s eyes flared and his mouth stretched wider. He leaned over the body, using a pencil to point at a tattoo on the right shoulder. “With the arm missing, we can’t know for sure, but these look like the horns and the top of the furry head of a Baphomet image.”

I swallowed down my discomfort and blinked. Pull yourself together, Sadie. It’s another corpse. No biggie. Leaning over the torso, I took shallow breaths, studying what was left of the tattoo. It was faded and green.

Russo started talking again. “The lines aren’t as well-defined as a newer tattoo would be, and the smudging effect signals that the man had it done a long time ago, despite the exposure of the corpse. He was in good physical shape and must have worked out regularly. Look at the defined stomach muscles. But the skin isn’t as tight as a younger man’s would be. With only the torso to go on, I would guess that our John Doe was in his forties, perhaps even fifties.”

“Men that age usually don’t shave their chests,” I added.

Russo offered a small smile. “Oh, Sadie, in this sheltered little town in the middle of nowhere, I’d agree. Out in the big world, it’s not so uncommon. Especially if the man was a workout fanatic.”

I nodded and stepped back. “Tell me more about Baphomet. Isn’t that supposed to be the devil?”

“Not exactly. Modern occultists worship the goat-headed humanoid with wings as a demonic deity, but the name originated during the Crusades, and it was specifically associated with the Knights Templar. It’s unclear when it was embraced by occultists and became their symbol.”

I wrinkled my nose as I stared at the dark edges of flesh where an arm should have been. “You can’t say for sure that it’s a satanic image, though. Most of it is missing, along with the arm.”

Russo’s face brightened. “True, true.” With gloved hands, he lifted and positioned the torso on its side. “But this upside down cross on his back adds to the demon-serving theme.”

I moved around the table and stood close to Russo’s side.

Before I could comment, he added, “It’s also a symbol of Saint Peter, who thought he was unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus Christ and requested the upside-down position. Nowadays though, it’s clearly recognized with both Goths and the occult.”

He lowered the body and then watched me closely. “Where are the plethora of questions, Sheriff?”

Russo only called me sheriff when my businesslike treatment began to offend his sensibilities. Like John, Russo and I had a sometimes-flirtatious relationship. I couldn’t deny the chemistry between the Yankee and myself. We’d even almost kissed once. That had been months ago, though, and like the Dover man, Russo understood my hesitation to become romantically involved with him. While a romance with a Dover was impossible, the possibility of one with Russo was also unlikely to succeed.

Several things held us back. Russo was a professional counterpart and a damn good coroner. It would be extremely difficult to replace him if he left because of a hard breakup. Leaving was really at the heart of the matter, if I was being true to myself. Even after a year of Russo living and working in Possum Gap, and since he had already left once for a short time and then came back, I doubted he’d ultimately stay for long. The northerner came here to escape something involving his crime family, that I was sure of. When the issue was resolved, I was betting he’d head back to the northeast and Possum Gap—and its sheriff—would be just a fleeting memory for the charismatic man. I believed that owning a share of the Helena House was a phase for the coroner as well. From personal experience, I knew that nothing lasted forever.

“I’m thinking, that’s all,” which was the truth.

I glanced over to find Russo staring at my uniform. “Did you drop Chloe off at school for the ACT?”

That he’d even remembered it was the day of Chloe’s important college entrance exam was impressive. “No, Tanya did.” I didn’t mention the fountain. “Presently, let’s focus on him.” I swept my hand over the torso. “Tell me about what you gleaned from only partial remains.”

Russo slowly nodded before pointing at the Y-shaped incision running down the front of the chest. “I didn’t make this cut, Sadie. The killer did. They removed the viscera, kidneys, heart and lungs. The man’s testicles, scrotum, and most of the penis are gone as well.”

My heart bounced and the breath caught in my throat. “Like butchering cattle or deer.” I swept my eyes over the torso. “It’s not skinned, but removing the head, limbs, and organs is the way animals are prepared before butchering.”

“Yes, my thoughts exactly.” He pointed at the gap where the right leg should have been. “The removal of the limbs and head was done in a rough manner with a heavy, sharp object—probably an ax.” The pencil shifted to the man’s chest. “But this one is more interesting. See the serrated edges?” He raised his head to make sure I was paying close attention. “I’d say the killer used a bone saw to separate the chest wall and then removed the organs.”

I swallowed, feeling less squirmy after standing over the man’s remains for a while. “Only the torso was found at the Blossom Trailhead? Nothing else?”

“When the call came in, Buddy and I rushed over there with the ambulance on our tail. I came immediately back into town with the paramedics and the body, leaving Buddy there to look around and protect the crime scene.” Russo shook his head. “Honestly, I felt time was of the essence to begin the autopsy and I needed to do it in a controlled setting. I’m far from finished, but I called you after I took photographs. While I was waiting for David and Bran to bag and load the remains onto the ambulance, I scanned the area and didn’t see other body parts lying around or any weapons. The parking lot is basically a gravel turn off, and other than a lot of trees, fallen leaves and pine needles, nothing popped out as being unusual.”

“Blossom Trail doesn’t have much foot traffic, especially this time of the year. It’s basically a short, rocky loop that several longer trail systems spike off from. It’s known for forest flowers in the spring and mushrooms in the fall. Because of the easy access to the road, it’s a good place to dump a body.”

“The torso wasn’t hidden or concealed in any way,” Russo said. “There were no tire tracks since the gravel is packed right up to the entrance of the trail. Whoever left the body didn’t seem too worried about it being discovered. They might have even wanted it to be found.”

“It’s hard to say. Farmers usually drag the remains of butchered animals to the back of their property and cover it with lime. A hunter is more likely to drop a deer corpse in a remote location. The murderer seemed more focused on getting rid of it and not concerned with being caught.” I stepped away from the table. “We need to get back up there. Something important had to be left behind.”

Russo rolled the table to the nearest cooler cabinet and opened the door. He was in a hurry.

“As much as I hate to leave, I’ll have to finish this later. You’re right. There’s always a clue and we must find it. Otherwise, the investigation will go nowhere without the rest of the guy’s body.”

I watched Russo expertly transfer the torso onto the slab and slide it back into the wall.

“Who’s the hiker? Has anyone interviewed them yet?”

Russo’s frenzied movements stopped while he slumped. “No one’s told you?”

The banging inside my chest almost hurt. “No.”

“It’s John, Sadie. John Dover found the body.”

8

Leaves spiraled into our faces when a gust of wind whipped through the forest. It was only midday, but the sun had been erased by dark, angry clouds.

“Is it supposed to rain?” Russo glanced over his shoulder.

Buddy answered him while scratching his large head. “It ain’t supposed to until tomorrow evening. Being such an organized and all-knowing person as yourself, Russo, how come you never know the weather forecast?”

Buddy was fifteen years my senior and could have been elected to the head position if he’d been more motivated to run the department. The giant man towered over everyone in town at six foot seven. His trim beard matched the snowy whiteness covering his head. His hair and beard contrasted in a startling way with his tanned face and broad, weathered features. For as long as I could remember, Buddy had white hair. Someone had told me that not long after his brother drowned in the Puissant River, Buddy’s hair turned this ghostly color. He was only fifteen at the time of the accident. I often thought that if you combined Clint Eastwood’s and Santa’s DNA, you’d come up with Buddy. At first glance, he was intimidating. Once you got to know him, you quickly found out that Buddy was about the nicest man you’d ever have the pleasure of meeting. Without interest in leadership, Buddy was a natural soldier. He was loyal to a fault and where he lacked imagination and gumption, Buddy managed to rise to every challenge.

Right now, the burly man looked spooked while he peered into the trees.

“Eh, even with today’s forecasting tools and advancements, weather is unpredictable in the mountains at best.” Russo lifted his leather tote and wagged it at Buddy, who wasn’t paying much attention. “I carry a raincoat and umbrella at all times and am pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t rain.”

Listening to their useless conversation, I stepped lightly. We had already spent an hour searching the section of ground where John had found the torso. Since it had been drained of blood before it was deposited there, the crime tape was the only thing that distinguished the spot where the torso had been from the rest of the forest floor. And because of the wind, leaves now covered where there was a depression.

I stopped and looked around again, like I had about every six feet since working my way up the trail. I would do a grid search off trail as well, but seemed more likely that someone would simply drop the body along the trail and leave the same way they came in. Several crows that were hidden in the golden foliage took flight in a flurry of flapping black wings and caws. Raising my chin, I watched them break through the swaying canopy and disappear into the clouds. Their sudden departure made my muscles tense. A thought occurred to me at that moment, and I searched the sky, finally finding what I sought.

“This way,” I said, stepping off the trail.

“Sadie, wait. I thought we weren’t bushwacking on this excursion.” Russo kept walking but turned around to address Buddy. “Didn’t we just conclude that there wasn’t anything else here to collect?”

“Keep walking, city boy. Sadie is onto something. Maybe you should be as observant of nature as you are everything else,” Buddy said.

“After thoroughly searching the area where the torso was discarded and lacking any kind of drag marks in the ground cover, it’s obvious that the killer drove up to the trailhead and shoved it out right there.”

I ignored Russo’s explanation and continued to watch the sky. The terrain became rougher and slowed us down. Using boulder clusters and large trees, I made mental notes to remember the way back to the trail. I was confident Buddy also realized my theory, even though our brilliant coroner was oblivious.

It took ten minutes to reach the spot I sought.

“Holy crap!” Russo exclaimed. “You were following the circling buzzards?”

“Yes, Russo. In the country, the best way to find any kind of dead thing is to follow the turkey vultures.”

Buddy passed Russo and me, then began waving his arms and shouting, “Get out of here! Damn birds, move it!”

I counted fourteen huge black birds flapping their wings and reluctantly taking flight. Two of them were more stubborn, hopping on the ground and hissing at Buddy before he picked up a stick and used it to drive them off. Once the last bird was gone, Russo sprinted around me.

“I’m beyond impressed with both of you!” Russo knelt on the ground and pulled a camera out of his sack. “I would never have thought to scan the sky for carrion-eating birds. Even if it had occurred to me, I would have dismissed it as unlikely to be successful.” Russo paused and glanced back while I approached the scene more slowly, taking a good look around. “Animals die in the forest all the time. How could you know that they’d bring you to the right remains?”

I would have laughed at the awe-struck tilt to Russo’s voice and his wide, admiring eyes if the situation wasn’t so grave.

“It was a gamble of sorts. Since the torso was dumped in the same vicinity, it made sense that other body parts might be nearby.” After studying the ground immediately around the place Russo focused his attention, I turned to Buddy. “Take the Strider Trail up to Denton Road and continue the search. There’s usually a trashcan in the parking lot. We’ll tag the entire can for possible evidence and bring it to the department.”

Buddy nodded and left us, crashing through some brush before he came out on the other side above our location, moving at a swifter pace.

I joined Russo and he stopped what he was doing.

“Wait. You knew of an intersecting trail nearby?”

I pinched my lips together at what I saw on the leaf-covered ground. “There are a bunch of trails out here. Some are connected by deer paths, like the Blossom and Strider Trails. The Strider Trail is around a mile long and dead ends at a worn-down deer path. Hikers use the path to get onto the Blossom Trail.”

“I didn’t know you were such an avid hiker.” Russo seemed more concerned with figuring out how I’d brought him to this place than the gore at his feet.

“I used to hike more often before Chloe was born, and then when she was a little kid. Trails are like roadways: if traveled enough, you never forget them.” I let out a long breath. My heart noticeably banged in my chest, and I felt jittery. My gaze darted around, scanning the tree trunks and highest branches. “My theory is whoever killed our John Doe, brought the torso and these remains down from the Strider Trail, not Blossom. Denton Road is desolate and turns into gravel for a mile leading to the trailhead. It’s used less frequently than the Blossom Trail by local hikers.”

“I disagree.” Russo leaned back on his heels and tilted his head towards me.

I snorted. “Really? You might be out of your league this time.”

“Because I’m an outsider? Or does my prior city-dwelling status cause you to doubt me?”

Sparking with challenge, Russo stared hard at me. Forcing myself to take a few normal breaths, I felt my beating heart calm. We had no reason to believe that whoever killed our John Doe was still in the area. This might simply be a case of a murderer chopping up a corpse and distributing the parts to throw law enforcement off their tracks. A methodical collection of evidence and consideration of all possibilities was in order. Russo and me discussing it—or even arguing the logistics—was how we got to the truth.

“Well, for one thing, the Strider Trail is downhill to the deer path where it levels out for a bit then drops again. If I were disposing of a body or parts of it, I’d choose the easiest way, and that would be starting at the Strider Trail and working your way down to the Blossom Trail.”

“Did the killer retrace their steps back to a vehicle or would they have walked on the road for miles back to the place they parked?” When I didn’t immediately respond, Russo continued, “Because, when Buddy and I originally drove to the Blossom Trailhead this morning, I studied the lay of the land on my cell phone’s GPS maps. With the way Marigold Lane and Denton Road veer away from each other, a person would have to take Gunner Road, which connects the two roads.”

He was right. “Okay. I suppose he could have hiked back through the forest. It would be a lot shorter, but more difficult.”

Russo’s brow shot up. “He?”

Now I was becoming annoyed. “Yeah. Most homicides are committed by men, and it would have taken a huge amount of physical strength to chop off the legs and head of a grown man. Not to mention breaking through the rib cage to pull out numerous organs.”

“I agree, it would be. The percentages are in your favor, and I think a man did this as well, but we must keep an open mind as we collect evidence. Adrenaline can give even a small woman the ability to dismember a body.”

“Getting back to the question of how the torso ended up at Blossom Trailhead and this”—I flicked my wrist at what was on the ground, “Is close to the Strider Trail, what is your explanation?”

“We’re dealing with multiple killers.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. Why didn’t I immediately think of that? Probably because most murders were committed by a single person, especially ones that ended with dismemberment. The thought that there could be more than one killer made my stomach roll.

“But just like we don’t have definitive evidence to point to the gender of our killer, we also lack any reason to believe this wasn’t the act of a lone and very insane individual. It was simply a gut punch of intuition when you began talking about another trail leading to a different road.”

I nodded, pursing my lips and raising my face to the cooler breeze shaking branches all around us. Colder air and a harder gust made me glance skyward. I wondered if Russo was correct about the forecasters getting it wrong.

Russo snapped several pictures, then put on latex gloves. I finally fixed my gaze on the torn flesh in front of me. “The vultures did a number on that. What exactly are we looking at?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Russo pointed at a flabby piece of flesh lying about twelve inches from the rest of the gore. “That is part of a penis. Since our John Doe was missing his, I’d guess this belonged to him.” He pointed with a pencil while talking. “We have a partially eaten liver right there, and that mushy clump is skin,”—Russo held my gaze—“which means one of two things. Either the killer removed the skin from the John Doe’s limbs, or this is from a different person altogether.”

I forced myself to stare at the small mound of flesh. It was grayish and the edges were dry. I was thankful that I didn’t feel queasy. Maybe there were too many questions rolling around my head to truly process what I was seeing. “Okay. I remember reading somewhere that skin makes up the largest organ of a human’s body—”

“Correct. An average-sized person might have eight or nine pounds of skin.” He dropped his gaze. “This is maybe three pounds, and that corresponds approximately to skin off the legs.”

“Do you see any other missing organs around here?” I rose to my feet and stretched my back. A desire to be away from here made me anxious. I hated the thought that two formally enjoyable hiking trails were now blemished forever.

“No.” Russo followed my lead and stood. “It’s unfortunate. The head is the most important piece of the puzzle, and with such a vast amount of wilderness surrounding us, we might never find it. The other organs will quickly disappear, eaten by scavengers or lost to decomposition. Time is running out for us to find the rest of the body.”

“The killing took place somewhere else,” I said quietly.

He nodded. “It would have taken time, and I’d guess a private spot, probably a garage, basement, or barn is where our John Doe was carved up.”

I sighed loudly as my gaze wandered between the trees and a shiver raced through me. With the way the wind rattled the branches while sweeping through the forest, I couldn’t hear anything specific. Other than the younger swaying trees and larger stationary ones, there wasn’t anything to see.

A strange sensation twisted my stomach into knots and tensed every muscle in my body. My scalp tingled and my palms began to sweat. I thought I heard something, then caught blurry movement near one of the larger trees.

Pulling my revolver from its holster, I jogged over to the tree and carefully walked around it.

Nothing.

“What?” Russo asked. His tone sounded crisp and worried.

“Didn’t you see that?” Focusing on watching the wooded area, I didn’t look his way.

Russo left the remains and quickly reached my back. “Is there someone out there?”

“I don’t know. It was probably just a trick of the eye.”

“Under the circumstances, being unsettled and paranoid is expected,” Russo said close to my ears.

I still didn’t face him when my voice came out in a harsh whisper. “A killer chopped up and skinned a body in Possum Gap, Russo. We should all be paranoid.”

Russo gave a curt nod. “Fair enough.”

“Go on and get everything bagged. Finish collecting evidence and taking your pictures. I’ll radio Buddy to bring down crime scene tape and close off the entrance to both trailheads.” I glanced up. “And you should make it quick. I smell rain in those clouds.”

“On it.” Russo got to work, then stopped to stare at me with furrowed brows and a tense jawline. “Where to next?”

“We need to interview John Dover.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

9

John’s home wasn’t the usual doublewide. Instead of vinyl siding, the exterior walls were covered with boards that were weathered to make the building look a lot older than it probably was. It was appealingly rustic and sat far enough off the quiet road to be rather private.

The last time I’d been to the residence was when I was investigating multiple murders at the trailer house where the road ended roughly a mile away. That was when I’d first met John, and I remembered the moment well. Back then, he was just another Dover. He was a black sheep of sorts, choosing to live away from Jewelweed Hollow where most of the hill clan lived.

John had been a possible witness to that case, and I didn’t really examine his abode the way I was now. I spotted an old-style, wooden-handled broom resting against the doorway. The wind rocked a two-seater swing on one side of the porch back and forth, while potted plants took up the opposite side. When I craned my neck around the pine trees in the front yard from this angle, I spotted a couple of tidy outbuildings, and a side yard filled with wildflowers that were beginning to wilt at the end of the season. Beyond the faded blooms were at least two dozen beehives. John’s apiary was larger than I’d expected.

“Are you ready for this?”

Russo’s quiet question turned my head. We sat in the cruiser and were parked next to John’s pickup truck. Why we didn’t immediately exit the vehicle was obvious. Russo was no fan of John’s, but the two men had survived a few harrowing experiences together. And John and I were…well, I didn’t know what we were. In the beginning, we were consultants, then reluctant partners, and in the end, friends. At least I thought we’d graduated to friendship, but he expected too much from me. Even if he hadn’t been a Dover, John held his cards close and wore a stonelike poker face that I couldn’t often read. Sure, he had a sense of adventure and laughed sometimes, but beneath his outdoorsy, laid-back persona, was a very guarded man.

The subject of John Dover was usually a prickly one for Russo. From his tight facial features and raised brow, I felt he was nearly as uncomfortable as I was about questioning John.

“It’s been three months since I last saw or spoke to John,” I confessed.

“Right around the time of the Helena House invasion and Mr. Dudley’s murder,” Russo confirmed. He scrunched his mouth. “You really haven’t talked to him since?”

I heard disbelief in his low voice. Russo still considered John competition. For what? I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. Like it mattered. Russo had also been distant since the explosive day John Dover and his cousin, Summit, had joined us in a battle for survival that felt like an outlandish dream now.

I got straight to the point. “What? Did you suspect that John and I were secretly dating or something?”

Russo’s hands shot up. “Whoa. That’s not what I—”

“Cut it out, Russo. We practically live together on the same property. We’re business partners. We work together all day long, and Chloe insists on you joining us for dinner on the weekends. You’re nosier than Janet the librarian, and she’s the busiest gossip in town. And”—I exhaled loudly—“ever since you and Darcy broke up, you haven’t dated anyone that I know of, even though your flirty ways have switched to a pleasant friendship, and besides—”

“Stop!” Russo didn’t shout, but his voice held so much intensity that he might as well have. When I snapped my mouth shut and stared back at him, he softened his tone considerably. “First off, I never dated Darcy. I thought I’d freaked you out with my forwardness and stepped back to give you space.” He ran his hand through his thick waves. “Honestly, you were like a doe ready to bound away in the blink of an eye, I didn’t want to be the one to chase you off.”

The murder of an unknown man and his cut up body was still on my mind, and I was bewildered why we were having this conversation at this odd moment. It wasn’t Russo’s fault; it was mine. And if I was able to kick myself, I would have. I could hear Tanya tsking in my head.

“Girl, have you lost your mind? What in the world were you thinking about bringing up the conversation that you’re terrified to have with Russo?”

I don’t know! I wanted to scream at the imaginary Tanya. I didn’t speak, however. Then I heard my Nana say, “Sadie Mills, why go stirring a perfectly fine pot of fixings? Unless you have unresolved feelings—”

“No, I don’t,” I said out loud.

Russo swayed back, looking a bit confused. “Sadie—”

A knock on the passenger side window made us both jump. I lowered the window, and John popped his head inside.

“Sorry to interrupt. I was beginning to wonder if you planned to park in my driveway all day.” He grinned while his gaze skipped over Russo to settle on me. “I can bring you all out a bologna sandwich.”

I studied John. Without the usual ponytail, his hair hung loose on his shoulders, and he had to keep pushing it back because the wind kept blowing it across his face. He wore an oversized and very comfortable-looking brown sweater. Faded blue jeans and well-worn tennis shoes completed his Bohemian nature-boy style. John’s amused smile appeared to be genuine.

Swinging my door wide open, causing him to step back, I got out of the cruiser. John continued grinning while I walked right up to him.

“Cut the cute banter, John. You discovered a man’s torso on the Blossom Trail, called it into authorities, then hiked Blossom to Raven’s Run to Bald Branch, right into Jewelweed Hollow.”

John shrugged, but his grin fell a little. “Yeah, you can say it’s been a strange day.”

Russo was out of the car. “Damn, man, you trip over a corpse not long ago, and the only adjective you come up with is strange?”

I crossed my arms at the same time as my gaze swept from Russo to John.

John’s brow knitted. “I’m impressed with your mastery of the trail system on the west side of Possum Gap, Sadie. That kind of knowledge might come in handy someday.”

I rolled my eyes and let out a breath at the same time Russo dragged both of his hands through his hair. The clouds thickened above our heads and the fresh scent of rain filled the air, but not a drop had fallen yet. Somehow Daisy, John’s beautiful coonhound and admitted love of his life, appeared at my side without me seeing her approach. Rubbing her head while the tops of the trees bent and swished, I quickly collected my thoughts.

“John, this is serious. Everything happening is beyond serious.” I hated that I hadn’t said anything wittier or more commanding. My frustration with this man caused my face to heat since he was making matters worse with his flippant attitude.

He softened his voice and stared back, frowning. “Calm yourself. We’ll talk.” He glanced at Russo. “Coffee, tea, or is it too early for a beer?”

Russo opened his mouth to reply, then snapped it shut and looked at me for approval.

“Coffee is fine for me. A beer might be in order for Russo—”

“No.” Russo shook his head. “Make those two cups of coffee.”

A few minutes later, I rocked back and forth on the porch swing and Russo sat on a folding chair close by. John leaned back on the porch railing, sipping a green tea and honey concoction that I’d caught a very pleasant whiff of when John had passed by.

Daisy was sound asleep at my feet. Her snoring mingled with the sounds of scraping branches against the side of John’s house. If we weren’t in the middle of a murder investigation and possible outbreak of more violence on Dover lands, I might have actually enjoyed the warm drink and company on John’s porch.

This was the first time in around eight hours that I’d caught a breath, and I hated the uncomfortable conversation to come. Russo wasn’t as apprehensive. He already had a notebook out and his pen poised in the air.

“We have the time of your call into the department. When exactly did you find the remains?” Russo asked.

John glanced my way, and I nodded. Russo would always be an outsider. Someone not entirely trustworthy or reliable. It was a sad fact that the Yankee could live in Possum Gap for the next thirty years, and most people would still feel the same way John did at that moment about the town’s coroner.

He took a sip of tea. “Whelp, I guess I stared for a minute or two before I admitted that it was in fact what I thought it was, and then I made the call.”

I leaned forward. “Why didn’t you wait at the body for Buddy to arrive? Leaving the scene to hike some four miles isn’t what most people would have done.”

John chuckled. “You should know by now, Sadie, I’m not entirely in the normal category.” He winked at Russo, and I saw the coroner’s cheeks flush and his eyes widen, but John started talking again. “I let your people know, and then I got the hell out of there to tell Lucy about what I’d found.”

It made sense. Still, my shoulders tensed. “Why did she need to know?”

John’s head shook in a spastic motion before he raised his hands. “Are you kidding? The Blossom Trail is close enough to Dover land that a hacked-up body found there would be a matter my kin would want to hear about.”

“Do you know who the man is?” Inhaling, I held my breath for his answer.

“Naw. The dude was minus a head. How would I have any idea.” John’s face suddenly brightened. “Unless I’m the one who sawed it off.”

“Stop. That’s not what I’m getting at.” It was impossible for me to interview John. Everything was a game to him, and our sometimes-close relationship made him too confident.

Russo interrupted. “Don’t bother trying to figure this one out. His actions are unexplainable. That’s why he can’t just answer a simple question.”

“I did answer it!” John raised his voice. “I have no idea who the guy was, and neither does Lucy or Summit.”

“Just like when I saw you sitting on the rock at your grandmother’s former house after the mostly one-sided battle between your kin and a biker gang last summer, you didn’t see any reason to talk to me about what happened there that day?”

“If I recall, you were preoccupied at the time and have been since,” John said in a leisurely way.

I dropped my head back and stopped pushing the swing with my feet. “Forget any of that. Are you stating for the record that you have no idea who our John Doe is and how he ended up at the Blossom Trailhead?”

“That’s about it, sure. If you’re wondering if I have any clue about who would do such a hideous thing, I don’t. But I wish I did.”

“Oh, really?” Russo said.

John tilted his head. “Do you think Dovers are immune to crazed serial killers?”

“No one said anything about a serial killer.” Russo’s eyes narrowed at John. “We have only one body at the moment.”

“Oh, come on. You’re supposedly an expert ‘bout death and murder. Is it really possible that whoever did this has never killed before?” John’s brow shot up. “Or won’t do it again?”

I digested what John said as the three of us fell into silence for a moment. Except for Daisy, who kept on snoring. Tap. Tap. Tap. Rain drops started striking the tin roof.

When I faced John, he’d set down his tea and crossed his arms.

“Could our torso belong to the missing biker?” I had been thinking about the man ever since I’d left Jewelweed Hollow.

John’s eyes flared and his frown turned into a small smile. “Naw. I can’t say much but rest assured that man is accounted for.”

Russo’s head swiveled in my direction. “What? You’re going to let John admit to knowing the whereabouts of a dead man, who was probably burned or buried, without even a rebuke.”

“You didn’t give me a chance, Russo.” I let out a long, tired breath. This was the one part of my agreement with Lucy that I thought Russo might understand. Maybe I’d miscalculated the northerner’s commitment to looking the other way when all parties were criminals.

John barked out a laugh. “That’s rich coming from a fellow whose kin probably have more skeletons in their closets than mine.”

“Are you kidd—”

“Stop.” I held up a hand to each man, giving Russo a please-be-quiet look before focusing on John. “Are you absolutely sure the torso doesn’t belong to the man named Denver that the bikers came to the hollow in search of?”

“Yep,” John said.

Russo jumped into the conversation. “Our John Doe recently died, Sadie. This Denver person has been missing for months—”

“It doesn’t mean he’s been dead the entire time. The Dovers are known for holding onto their enemies, sometimes for a long time.”

“I can assure you,” John spoke up. “Lucy and my kin did not keep Kyle’s friend, Denver, as a prisoner. He died on a summer day.”

My chest deflated and I let out a ragged breath. It was good and bad news, really. “If you could explain some of the details, I’d be more likely to cross him off our list.”

“You know I can’t do that, Sadie. Just trust me on this one. He wasn’t a nice person, and he got what he deserved. That gang was nuts to trespass onto Dover territory and think they were going to succeed.”

“They managed to blow up a trailer as a parting shot,” I said.

John gave an exaggerated shrug. “They’re not nice people. They sell fentanyl, dabble in the sex trade, and will kill someone if the price is right. It’s better for Possum Gap that we ran them off.”

“Do you know the guy’s last name?” I asked.

John shrugged. “We sure don’t.”

Russo grunted and I left the swing to lean on the railing. It was wet from the rain, but I didn’t care. I suddenly felt antsy. “We? I thought you were an observer of Dover business and not a participant.”

“I didn’t kill anyone if that’s what you mean. But don’t be foolish and dismiss the fact that my kin drove the bikers out of Possum Gap.”

“Your family’s dealings are what brought them here in the first place.” My voice rose higher than I wanted. To settle my nerves, I stuck my hand out into the rain. It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be.

“You don’t think your boyfriend over there isn’t bringing in the wrong sort to these hills?” John asked.

My heart started banging in my chest. Russo just snickered.

“Russo is not my boyfriend, and none of this concerns him, John.” I licked my lips and inhaled deeply, blowing out the breath through my teeth. “I have a few more quick questions, then we’ll get out of your hair.”

John’s shoulders dropped. “Shoot.”

“Did you see anyone on the trails this morning, either before or after you found the remains?” I asked.

“No one. This time of year, I rarely do, so it wasn’t strange to not run into other hikers or anyone for that matter.”

“Did you park on Dark Hollow Road or somewhere else?”

“My truck was behind the first barn you pass on the lane into the hollow. There’s a short path right there that leads to the trail system. You wouldn’t see it unless you drove around to the back of the barn.”

I liked this line of questioning. Russo jotted down notes and he didn’t jump in, so I continued. “You must have started out in the dark to make it to Blossom that early in the morning.”

“Yeah, I hit the trail at around four in the morning.”

Russo’s head shot up. “Why would anyone go hiking at that hour?”

I turned back to John, waiting to hear his answer.

“Mountain lions.”

“Huh?” Russo blurted.

“Crow told me when he went horseback riding right at dawn the week before last, he spotted one. I thought I’d try my luck.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in all the insanity of this place.” Russo’s face scrunched. “You went looking for a large predator in the dark? Why would you do something so stupid?”

“For a dolt like you, it would be stupid. For me, it was a rare opportunity to see a big cat that I doubted would stick around for long.”

“Did you bring Daisy with you?” I asked.

John’s brows rose. “Of course not. She would have either made the big cat move on or become kitty chow. Neither scenario appealed to me.”

“Did you see one?” Russo asked.

“No, unfortunately.” John eyed me. “I didn’t come across any predators.”

“If you don’t know who the torso belonged to, any guesses?” I asked.

“Maybe he was killed somewhere else and left on Blossom Trail just to get rid of the body? Possum Gap is a well-known dumping ground for bodies,” John suggested.

Russo swiveled in his seat to look at me. “You never mentioned this before.”

Now it was my turn to shrug. “It’s been a busy year, and don’t let John convince you that there are bodies buried all over these hills—”

“You know there are.” John smirked. “Add on the bodies in the lowlands and the number doubles.”

“What’s the number?” Russo was on the edge of his seat.

John gestured to himself. “I’m the one with issues and you can’t control your excitement about rotting corpses and buried bones?”

“It’s my job,” Russo argued. “I know this area has a long history of lawlessness, but damn, it might be worse than I imagined.”

What the guys were discussing was depressing and something I tried not to think much about. I’d only been Possum Gap’s sheriff for a couple of years. I wouldn’t let blood that was shed before my time keep me up at night or distract me from the case at hand right now. Unless, of course, a cold case fell into my lap.

“We need to focus on our mystery man’s torso. The killer might be lurking close by and could be a threat to Possum Gap’s residents”—I cocked my head at John—“and the Dover clan.”

“There you go, Sadie. We finally agree about something. I’ll grab a rain jacket.”

“No, you’re not coming with us.”

“You don’t want my help?”

I felt John’s eyes on me when I crossed the porch, then walked back. The rain came down steadily and everything beyond John’s house was a blur of browns, golds, and greens. I breathed in the earthy scent of mud while I devised a plan.

Meeting John’s tight gaze, I embraced the calmness that washed over me. “John. Can you please answer one more question? It’s important.”

“I can’t make any promises.”

The way his face relaxed and he pressed his lips together, I felt he wanted to be useful. But I knew he wouldn’t betray his family.

“Can you tell me anything at all about the Demon Squad?”

John swayed back a little. He hadn’t been expecting that question. When he looked past me into the rain, I knew he was thinking about it. I held my breath, waiting.

“The only thing that I know for sure is that these bikers hang out at a little country bar in the middle of Tennessee nowhere, but still close enough to the Kentucky line.”

“Do you have a name for nowhere?”

“Last Stop Bar.”

10

Iset jars of honey in front of Tanya and Buddy, then slid into the booth next to my best friend.

“What is this?” Tanya asked.

“Honey,” Buddy replied.

Tanya dropped her head back and exhaled loudly. “I know that!” She gave her head a little shake. “Where did it come from?”

“John Dover.” I sat back on the green, plastic covered seat and glanced out the window. It was still lightly raining, and darkness had fallen in Possum Gap. A few of the lampposts were out for some reason, making it even more dreary. I would have to talk to the county maintenance manager first thing in the morning. “He gave me a case of honey.”

“Why?” Tanya said it in such a slow, drawn out, and paranoid way. I cracked a smile.

“Maybe to be nice. Who knows for sure with him.”

Tanya held the bottle up to the light. “I bet he wants us to offer his honey for sale in the Helena House when we’re up and running.” She set it down and took a sip of her iced tea. “I’m being swamped by everyone from Dusty over at the furniture store to Maybelle in the art guild. Several artists have offered to do paintings of the mansion.”

That bit of news perked me up. “For free?”

“Heck no, Sadie. No one does anything for free nowadays. I think we can get a good deal with the increased competition, though,” Tanya said.

Buddy pushed the jar aside. “Why are we even talking about honey and art when there’s half of a man’s body in the morgue?”

As if Tanya had been trying not to think about it, she pursed her mouth. “Is that where Russo is?”

“Yeah. He had to finish the autopsy. We spent a good share of the day out on the trails collecting evidence, and then we had to follow up with John.” I said it in a dull way. My head felt heavy from thinking too hard.

“Sadie!”

It was Jasmine. She and her wife, Monica, had opened the shop three years ago and added Wi-Fi the previous year. Possum Gap had a few restaurants, but the café quickly became the only hip establishment around. It was the first stop of the day for almost everyone, from teenagers and professionals heading off to school and work, to hunters before they hit the woods. The evenings were quieter. Possum Gap became a ghost town after dark, and the only reason the ladies kept the café open this late was to serve the sheriff’s department and Possum Gap’s tiny regional hospital.

Jasmine stopped at another table when a hand shot into the air. I saw her furrowed brow and clenched jaw from across the room. She was anxious to talk to me.

Tanya lowered her voice. “How did it go?” When I cocked my head, she quickly added, “With John?”

Buddy took the last bite of his apple pie. “I can tell by the look on her face, not well.”

I thought back to the encounter with John at his house while I stared past Buddy’s hulking shoulder. The walls inside the café were covered in olive green shiplap, and there were an equal number of small tables and rustic, wooden-framed booths. At this hour, only a few seats were taken, and my gaze quickly passed over two young women in blue scrubs. Mr. Smelcher, who was in his seventies and still working at the bank, liked a cup of coffee and a dessert before heading home. The only other patrons were a trio of teenagers—Ginny, Beth, and Colton—all sipping lattes with heads bent over their laptops.

Across from the shelves full of colorful mugs of every size and shape imaginable was a bay of windows facing the dimly lit Main Street that ran straight through the middle of downtown. It was too dark to see the jagged Appalachian foothills that pressed in around Possum Gap like a protective and sometimes angry guardian, or the sandy-colored limestone walls of the courthouse and its intricate clock tower that took up the entire corner of Second and Main Streets.

Most of my headaches came from the hollow where the Dovers lived, but the small Kentucky town certainly wasn’t crime free. We had our fair share of drug dealing, petty larcenies, domestic violence, and bar fights. Losing the paper mill and coal mine had turned a once prosperous town into a desolate one, filled with poor men and women, which was a recipe for a steady stream of calamity.

“Honestly, it was weird. I’ve worked on the same side of things with John multiple times where he provided valuable assistance, and I still can’t say whether he’s trustworthy.”

“That’s because he’s a Dover,” Buddy said in a brisk tone.

“Ah, I disagree. John is not your usual Dover,” Tanya countered.

Buddy was a man of few words, but he was on a roll. “That’s because you think he’s attractive. Don’t you know some of the worst criminals in history were handsome and charismatic?”

“Excuse me, Buddy.” Tanya held up her hand. “I like John because I think he’s a good man, that’s all.”

“Like Summit Dover?” Buddy folded his hands over his belly with a dare-me-to-argue raise of his brow.

His words caused me to sit up straighter and swivel to Tanya who was already on it.

“Don’t you dare go there, Buddy Gallenstein,” she hissed. “Maybe I should tell Teresa all about how you offered to take a pay cut if Sadie secured a trained K9 for the department. I think your wife wouldn’t be too happy about a dog being more important to you than her.”

Tanya’s venom towards Buddy mentioning Summit was unexpected and uncalled for. “Whoa. Tanya, you better not talk to Teresa about any of that. It was said in a joking fashion.”

“He meant it.” Tanya didn’t back down and Buddy remained silent.

I eyed Tanya while she avoided looking directly at me. What in the world?

“Have you been in contact with Summit?” I asked.

“No,” Tanya said to quickly.

“Not for lack of his trying,” Buddy added.

A lost memory jolted my mind like a firecracker going off. “I forgot all about it, but that day I went to the hollow to speak with Lucy and there was the incident with the biker gang, Summit asked me how you were doing.”

Tanya finally returned my gaze. “He did?”

“Yeah, at about the same time all hell was breaking loose.” I dipped my chin and gave Tanya a knowing frown. “I think that man is sweet on you.”

“Someone is sweet on our Tanya?” Jasmine appeared at the end of the table.

“Don’t be spreading rumors, Jas,” Tanya scolded.

“I wouldn’t dare!” Jasmine bent over the table and faced me. “Should we be worried? My brother and nephews sometimes hike Blossom Trail.”

News traveled fast in a small town. Buddy shrugged, reading my mind. “To be safe, all of the trails in the county are closed until further notice.”

“So, we are in danger?” Jasmine was a pretty woman with a pert nose and wavy hair that bounced on her shoulders when she talked. Today it was simply brown, but the color changed from week to week.

Her frozen gaze made my stomach clench. I didn’t want to scare her, but in truth, the potential danger was real, and I couldn’t lie to her or anyone else.

“Buddy and I are discussing a curfew. The mayor is against the idea, but we’ll see how firm she is about that stance.” I tried to offer Jasmine a reassuring smile. “We don’t have any evidence that either the victim or killer are even local. It could very well be a dump and run scenario. You know that’s happened in Possum Gap before.”

Jasmine blew out a long, wispy breath. “I done told Monica that neither of us are going anywhere alone until someone is arrested.”

“Good call,” I said. “When we know more, we’ll make the information available to the public. For now, be alert.” I glanced around the café. “If anyone seems out of place or acts sketchy, call me immediately.” Her widening eyes made me quickly add, “I’d say our killer is far away from Possum Gap by now, but you can’t be too careful.”

Jasmine straightened and nodded twice. “Do you want your usual hot chocolate and brownie?”

“That would be nice. Make it to go.”

Once Jasmine was gone, Tanya grunted softly. “Dang, Sadie. Why? Why can’t we go more than a few months without some sort of murder taking place around here?”

“It happens everywhere,” Buddy answered for me.

He was correct, but considering our low population, the murder rate was exceptionally high. “You didn’t find any missing men fitting our victim’s description?” I directed the question to Buddy.

“Nothing. And no similar crimes in Kentucky or any of the surrounding states.”

I suddenly felt exhausted. “We’ll wait for Russo to finish the autopsy and carry on the investigation tomorrow. I haven’t seen or talked to Chloe all day. I wonder how the ACT went.”

“When I picked her up from school, she was confident she did all right,” Tanya said. “You know tomorrow is a teacher conference day.”

“Yeah, I remember. So?”

“Well, Chloe said you’d given her permission to spend the night with Beth Alvey, so I dropped her off at her house before I came over here.”

My heart froze and breathing wasn’t easy. “Beth is sitting at the table over there, Tanya.”

Tanya leaned across me to see. “Oh, my God. What is your daughter up to?”

“I’m afraid I have a guess.” I slid out of the booth and walked to the table with the teenagers. “Hey, Beth. Have you seen Chloe? She’s not answering my text messages.”

Beth’s brown eyes grew twice their normal size while her mouth dropped open. “No, ma’am. I saw her after the ACT, but it was from across the gymnasium.” The slender girl turned to her friends. “Have either of you talked to Chloe?”

They both shook their heads. I forced a smile and turned around to find Tanya standing there.

“I am so sorry, Sadie. I texted you, but you didn’t answer.”

“I was out of cell range most of the day.” I pulled out my phone and scrolled the messages, then showed the screen to Tanya. “See, your messages finally came through a little while ago and I’ve received nothing from Chloe.”

Tanya rubbed her face and sat down on the edge of the bench. “That girl is going to be the death of me.”

“She’s a teen, ladies,” Buddy spoke up. “Try to remember back when you and Sadie were that age. You two snuck around more than most and lived to laugh about it.” After the words were out of his mouth, he sucked in a breath. “Eh, don’t get paranoid. I’m sure she’s hanging out with other friends. Maybe even a boy.”

“Really, Buddy?” Tanya moaned.

I might have felt calmer than either of them at the moment.

“Where’s Bree?” I asked Tanya.

“My niece is spending time with her dad since it’s going to be a long weekend.”

“Didn’t she have to take the test?” Buddy asked.

“She’s a senior and already took it twice. Her last score was thirty-one, and she decided that was good enough.”

Their quiet discussion sounded far away while I called Chloe. It went immediately to voicemail. It wasn’t unusual for her to turn off her phone when she was angry with me or avoiding conversations. With everything going on with the hill people and the torso, I was more on edge than usual. Taking a deep breath, I tried to slow my pounding heart.

“Buddy, give me your keys.”

He didn’t hesitate to pull them out of his pocket and swap them for mine. “What’s the plan?”

I liked that Buddy didn’t question me in stressful times. It made getting things done much quicker.

I turned to Tanya. “The rec park is next to Beth’s house, right?”

Tanya nodded, then her face brightened. “Good thinking.”

“Buddy, your pickup truck won’t be noticed the way the cruiser or Tanya’s big white SUV would be. I’m going to require some stealth.”

“Oh, dear,” Buddy said.

“Can you check in with Russo? I’ll be busy for the next little while.”

“Sure thing.”

“Tanya, you’re coming with me.”

“I was both hoping and afraid to be invited.” Tanya grabbed her jacket and purse off the bench. “But I’m always up for something to do.”

I lifted my hand to wave at Jasmine and Monica but didn’t stop to say anything before grabbing my bagged brownie and the cup that had my name in bold, black cursive on its side before leaving the café. Sharp, wet air struck my face, and Tanya popped her umbrella, holding it over both of us. The rain washed away thoughts about the mutilated body and the possible trouble brewing in Jewelweed Hollow.

The only thing I could think about was Chloe.

11

“I’m so sorry, Sadie. I should have read that girl better.”

It was the third apology from Tanya since we’d gotten into Buddy’s truck. The rain had stopped, but the roads were still slick, and when the wind rattled the trees nearest the road, water drops hit the windshield. Lifting my gaze, I found the full moon making an appearance as the clouds broke. Bright moonlight splashed through the branches from above and mist rose from Little Branch Creek to our right.

“Stop it. She’s a better fibber than you or I ever were, and we were good. At this point, I’m more worried about her virtue than her safety,” I said.

“Oh my, I guess it’s inevitable, but sixteen is way too young.”

“I agree. Your niece was sexually active by then.” I shouldn’t have said it, but once I did, I glanced at Tanya.

“By the time I got her on birth control, they’d broken up.” Tanya sighed heavily. “I have no regrets, but my brother was livid.”

“Bree calmed down a lot between sixteen and seventeen. Hopefully, I can say the same for Chloe next year this time.”

Tanya took a swig of her coffee before putting it back into the cup holder. “I want to slap myself for saying this, but maybe you should talk to Ted about it.” When I snorted, she barreled on, “No, hear me out. He’s trying to get more involved in her life after years of absence. Maybe it’s time for him to suffer through some of these growing pains that you’ve been dealing with for the past a couple years.” Tanya smacked her lips. “Ted and Sandra can be the bad guys for a change.”

“The thought has occurred to me, and if Ted had been around more when she was growing up, I would definitely enlist him, but it’s the fact that he wasn’t that I can’t.” I dropped my head back on the headrest. “Chloe finally has a little bit of a relationship with her father. Sure, he’s a dick, but I get the feeling he has some remorse for the past. He’s trying to make up for it now. The last thing I want to do is throw a wrench into their budding relationship. And trust me, if Ted knew about Chloe sneaking off with a hill clan boy, he’d find a legal way to arrest the kid. Then Chloe would despise her dad forever.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Tanya wrinkled her nose.

“I would have said no a year ago, but after several near-death experiences, I’ve reconsidered.”

“Oh, geez, Sadie—”

“No, it’s true. If something happens to me, Chloe has you, Darcy, and Buddy. But she needs her own blood in the mix, you know?”

“I suppose.” We fell into silence for about half a mile. “What do you really think is going on with that dismembered body?”

I heard the fear in her voice and knew immediately what she was getting at. “This is different than your Aunt Bethal and her voodoo mischief in the lowlands. As if it’s even possible, this case feels worse.”

Tanya leaned over the armrest. “How so?”

“Well, it’s not unheard of for a killer to cut up a body. They usually do it to hide the crime. I don’t think this killer had that in mind. And I also don’t think this was their first kill.”

“Explain, please.” Tanya stared hard at me.

“They didn’t even try to hide the torso. It’s like they wanted us to find it. The organs would have been devoured quickly, so I have no idea why they were left where they were, and I doubt we’ll ever see the man’s heart and lungs.”

“Someone would have to be really sick to do all that,” Tanya murmured.

I started to respond when we turned the bend and saw an older model Blazer with its hazard lights on parked on the shoulder. In a blur, I noted a skinny woman in a jean jacket and a flowery dress underneath leaning against the vehicle. Seeing what a man was doing in the weeds made me pull off.

“Lord, Sadie. That’s awful.” Tanya covered her face.

“Give me a minute,” I said before exiting the truck.

I’d changed out of the uniform before I’d gone to meet Tanya and Buddy at the café, but I kept my badge in my inside pocket and my revolver holstered and hidden under the coat.

“Hey, buddy, that’s illegal.”

The man stopped sawing and straightened up. Blood, flesh, and fur clung to the serrated blade and there was a smear of the red stuff across his white t-shirt. It was cold, but the man was sweating from his exertion. I didn’t recognize him, but quickly imprinted his bearded, red-cheeked face and license plate to memory.

Not much older than me, he was about a hundred pounds heavier, and holding onto a deadly weapon. I slipped my hand inside my coat and brushed my fingertips against my gun’s handle.

“Whata ya saying?” His frown deepened and his thick eyebrows scrunched.

This guy might have a Kentucky plate, but he wasn’t born here. From some experience in the Deep South, I was betting he had roots in Louisianna or Mississippi.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” I asked.

“He’s Cajun,” the woman said in a friendly tone. “I told him to leave the buck alone, but he didn’t listen.”

“Damn, woman, take a look at those antlers! This big boy is a fourteen pointer. No reason for the head to rot here on the side of the road when it can be mounted on my wall back home.” The man started to return to his work.

“Stop right there.” I pulled out my badge. “I’m Sheriff Sadie Mills and you’re in my jurisdiction. It’s illegal to poach deer in Kentucky. Proper protocol would be to contact a state game warden and apply for a permit to take the body. Either way, you aren’t permitted to lob its head off and leave the rest on the side of the road.”

“Are ya fucking kidding me?” He pointed at the buck with a thrust of his hand. “It’s dead! Who cares?”

“I do. Now this can go one of two ways. One, you get into your vehicle without the deer, and I won’t ticket you. Two, you continue to argue with me, I’ll call for assistance, and you’ll spend the night in a cell. Either way, you don’t get the buck’s head.”

The man eyed my hand which was still inside my coat. He knew that I was carrying.

“You Yankees are all the same. Rules, rules, rules.” He shook his head while he walked back to the Blazer, lifted the back door and tossed the filthy saw inside.

Tanya snorted loudly enough that I heard it clearly from outside of the cab. I followed the man.

“Yankees? Are you dumb? You’re in Kentucky, and the last time I checked, we’re below the westward expansion of the Mason-Dixon Line.”

The woman stepped in front of me. She was my height and rail thin. Her roots plus around five inches were black, but platinum blonde fell past her shoulders. Her striking face with its square jaw and small, dished nose caught my attention, but it was her extra light blue eyes that held it. Silver earrings matched the stud in her nose.

“Don’t mind him. He told me he doesn’t leave home much”—she winked—“and I believe it.”

The woman’s accent could pass for mid-Kentucky, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she grew up anywhere from Lexington to northern Kentucky.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Josephine Carmichel, but everyone calls me Josie.” She thrust her prominent chin at the man who slammed the rear door and turned around. “That’s Chris—” she paused and cocked her heard. “What’d you say your last name was?”

He rolled his eyes before focusing them on me. “Guidry. Charles Guidry. Are you writing me a ticket or something?”

“I don’t have time for it tonight.” I gestured at the buck’s body. “I have your plate number and if any part of this animal is missing when I drive by in the morning, I’ll have the judge put out a bench warrant for your arrest.”

The corner of the man’s mouth rose. “I promise you won’t be seeing me again. Come on, Josie.”

When Charles was back in the Blazer, Josie began walking around to the passenger side and I stopped her. “How come you didn’t know his name?”

She smoothed back her two-tone hair and grinned. “I just met him at a bar. I’m not too picky when I’m horny, you know?”

I tried to keep my face neutral. Josie was having some fun with me or maybe she was serious. I didn’t care either way.

“Be careful,” I said.

“Always.” Her smile grew, and then she made her way to the vehicle and got in.

While the Blazer drove away, I glanced at the buck. From the man’s hacking, its neck was nearly severed, reminding me how difficult it was to separate a head from a body.

12

“Gosh darn, Sadie, that was gross,” Tanya said. “I can’t get the sight of that poor, beautiful creature being mutilated out of my head.”

“It happens all the time.” I caught Tanya’s gaped-mouth expression from the corner of my eye. “I mean poaching roadkill deer, especially buck heads with large racks. If we weren’t looking for Chloe, I would have given that man an earful and more than a warning.”

“Could he really be arrested for that kind of thing?”

“There’s a process where a person can legally take the body so it doesn’t go to waste, but it involves making some phone calls and at this hour, it wouldn’t have happened. Most officers in the area let it slide, but with my current case and a dismembered John Doe, I wasn’t in the mood for gore.”

“Hard to believe someone could do that to human being,” Tanya said in a low voice.

My thoughts exactly, but I knew better. People could do much worse when it suited them. We drove on in silence for several more miles before passing Beth’s house and coming to the entrance of the Possum Gap Recreation Park. Chloe had worked as a lifeguard at the pool the previous two summers, and when she was younger, we’d take walks on the path around the lake. As a small child, I’d push her for hours on the swings at the playground. I was very familiar with the park, and guessed my kid walked from Beth’s house across the small field and through one of the broken spots in the old fence.

“Do you have a key?” Tanya asked when we came to the gate.

“I do, but it’s in my cruiser.” I kept driving. “It doesn’t matter. There’s a hidden gravel entrance over here that dips down too much for a car to pass, but it’s no trouble for a pickup truck.”

Slowing the truck, I made the turn and drove through a narrow gap in the hedgerow that was unnoticeable unless you were looking for it or knew it was there. I pressed my lips tightly together when branches scraped the sides of Buddy’s truck. “Hold on,” I told Tanya.

She grabbed the handle above the door when we hit the bump and all four tires left the ground for a couple of seconds.

“Dang!” she exclaimed, then blew out a heavy breath when we cleared the trees. “Holy smokes. We’re behind the pool.”

“Yep. I can’t believe you didn’t know about that little trick.”

Tanya snorted. “Girl, you’re the one with the kid, not me. Other than a few family reunions at the pavilion, I’ve only been to the rec park a handful of times in the last twenty years.”

I looked around while continuing to talk to Tanya. “I thought you brought Toto to the dog park occasionally.”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No way. Too many big dogs and I wouldn’t risk my tiny guy picking up parasites or diseases.”

Even though my heart thrummed and every muscle in my body tensed, I had to smile. The love of Tanya’s life was her little Shih Tzu mix.

I quickly spotted what I was looking for—a black pickup truck parked on the other side of the gravel parking lot and blew out a breath of relief.

Tanya saw it too. “Oh, shoot.” She patted my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Sadie.”

“It’s not terrible. At least she wasn’t in a car wreck or kidnapped or worse.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. My words were for me, not my friend.

“You’re evolving as a parent, which is the way it’s supposed to happen.” Tanya leaned back and sighed. Neither one of us hurried to get out of the truck. “Kids grow up. Sneaking off with boyfriends is usually a risky piece of the puzzle to becoming an adult.”

“I just wish it wasn’t a Dover boy.” I shook my head. “Good grief, Tanya. How am I going to stop her from being with him without losing her?”

Tanya shifted in the seat to fully face me. “That girl is a few months shy of seventeen years old. Then it’s a skip and a hop until she’s a legal adult. It might just be time to stop fighting her and let her do her thing.” She raised her hands. “Within reason, of course.”

“If she stays with Crow Dover, it will ruin her life.” I felt like I was sinking into a black hole. My chest clenched and it was hard to breathe.

“You don’t know that. He seems like a pleasant young man. Not all Dovers are bad. Just look at John and Summit.”

I jerked my head her way. “You’re kidding, right? John is backwards in too many ways to count, and after Summit stopped soldiering for our country, he picked up for his kin.”

“You really don’t like him?” Tanya asked quietly.

“Who? John or Summit?”

“Summit.” Tanya covered her face with her hands and quickly spread her fingers to reveal a small gap that she peeked through. Then she started giggling. “I know! I’ve lost my mind.”

“Tanya, I can’t deal with this right now. We’ll discuss it over wine and chocolate cake next week. Better yet, let’s make it margaritas.” I was so dumbfounded by her behavior and what she’d said that my spirit had lifted a little. My best friend would need me in the days to come.

“Lawd, Sadie, I know. Go on and get that kid of yours and let’s go home before something bad happens.”

I gripped the door handle. “That’s a weird thing to say.”

“I don’t think so. It’s Possum Gap.” She leaned over. “Weren’t you even the slightest bit worried that whoever killed that man and took his head and limbs off might have gotten Chloe?”

“It had crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. I was pretty sure from the moment I heard that Chloe had tricked you into dropping her off right next to the rec park that she met up with Crow.”

“Don’t be too mad at her,” Tanya advised with a scrunched mouth.

“It’s not her that I’m mad at.”

“Crow?”

“No, Lucy Dover. We had an agreement.” I pushed the door open carefully and before exiting, turned back to Tanya. “And the leader of the hill clan didn’t keep up her end of the bargain.”

Tanya leaned back and sighed softly. “That is a problem.”

I didn’t close the door, opting to push it against the lever and leave it that way. The last thing I wanted to do was alert the kids that I was here. Sure, finding them in the middle of something was a fear, but Crow driving off with Chloe in the truck had to be avoided at all costs. Since he was a Dover, I expected him to be armed. That was also a consideration when I approached his vehicle.

Staying in the shadows of the trees and then the side of the pool’s clubhouse, I carefully made my way closer to the black pickup truck that was strangely parked beneath one of the few lights in the park. The breeze was chilly, but the rain had stopped, and although the clouds had broken to the east, they were still dark and ominous to the west.

I was surprised to hear their voices drifting through the open windows of the truck and even more shocked to see their heads poking up through the back window. They were in their seats, not touching at all, and their voices were animated.

Once I was close enough to the truck that Crow couldn’t easily drive off, I raised my voice. “Hands up! Both of you! Now!”

I heard Chloe’s groan and Crow’s gasp. His hands immediately shot up while Chloe didn’t bother. Instead, she got out and in a whoosh of anger and came around the bed of the truck.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” She huffed the words out and crossed her arms around her pink hoodie.

“Chloe, be nice to your Ma. If I talked that way to any of my elders, they’d smack me until I stopped talking.”

“That ain’t right either, Crow!”

“Don’t say ain’t—”

“Oh. My. God, Mom. You snuck up on us to correct my grammar?”

Looking at her flushed cheeks and sparking eyes, I took a deep breath. It had been a long, hard day. Evil had come to Possum Gap and a man was dead. I wasn’t going to apologize to my child, who had lied and was now acting like a spoiled brat. Losing the mom demeanor, I strode right up to Chloe. She kept her feet firmly planted.

“You lied to your Aunt Tanya, Chloe. That was wrong. And we were worried—”

“Yes, ma’am, I certainly am.” Tanya stepped out of the shadows. “You nearly gave your mom and me heart attacks tonight. Disappearing like that. Not answering our text messages. How can you justify ignoring us?”

“Cell reception is spotty here.” Chloe eyed me. “Mom knows that.”

“Well, maybe your dad needs to be called,” Tanya said. “I wonder what he’d think about you and a Dover boy doing Lord knows what—”

“Dungeons and Dragons.” Crow held up a notepad that I hadn’t noticed before.

It was filled with a mixture of his messy scribbles and a few spots with Chloe’s neat, yet larger handwriting.

“Huh?” Tanya said when she joined our circle of anxious energy.

I held out my hand for the notebook from Crow and he didn’t hesitate to give it to me. Before I dropped my gaze to it, I noticed that he wore jeans and a zipped-up flannel jacket. His hair was still messy and his boots were caked with dried mud, but he was fully dressed and so was my daughter, making me feel a tad giddy.

“It’s a kind of imaginary game, Tanya. Ted and I played it a few times with a couple of his buddies back in high school,” I said.

After studying the notebook, I handed it back to Crow. It checked out. The scribblings were setting up their character descriptions. When most kids would have been doing the wild thing, these two were dreaming up the arc of a fantasy game. To say that I was relieved was putting it mildly.

Crow cleared his throat. “Don’t be upset with Chloe, Miss Sheriff. I introduced her to the game and asked her to meet me so we could plan our characters and storyline. It’s completely my fault.”

I stared at Crow. Under my scrutiny, he stood taller. Taking the fall for Chloe would have been a brave thing to do if the kid didn’t have an aunt who was sure to give me hell if I was hard on her nephew. I had an inkling that Lucy would be as upset as me—possibly more—that Crow had defied her, going against the arrangement the Dover leader had agreed to. I almost felt sorry for the kid.

“Go home, Crow. I have my reasons for not wanting you to spend time with my daughter—”

“Because I’m a Dover. Go on and admit it.”

I inwardly groaned. Being a parent of a teen girl was not for the faint of heart. “If that’s the case, it’s because your family have illegal and criminal business dealings.”

“And you look the other way.” Crow tilted his head. He wasn’t backing down and not giving me an opportunity to respond. “I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m not like the rest of my kin. I have goals and plans outside of the hollow.”

“Like what?” The words were harsher than I planned, but the rough day had caught up with me.

“College. I’m going to be a forest ranger.”

Chloe found her voice again. “Crow got a twenty-nine on his first ACT exam and today’s is probably higher. He can go to the University of Kentucky with me.”

They were already planning to attend the same college. My head hurt from this burst of normalcy in my otherwise crazy life.

I exhaled. “We’ll talk about this later—”

“Tell me, Mom, that Crow and I can see each other again without sneaking around,” Chloe demanded.

Tanya dipped her head and shot me the say-anything-you-must-so-we-can-leave look.

“I’ll consider it. But it’s late and I’m exhausted. Word has already spread throughout town that I have a murder on my hands as well. Everyone needs to be home, safe, and sound. Everything is less drastic in the daylight. We’ll discuss this matter tomorrow.” I narrowed my gaze at Chloe. “We’re finished here. Buddy’s truck is parked over there.”

Chloe started towards Crow, and he quickly shook his head. “I’ll see ya later.”

Her eyes misted and she frowned before pivoting. She jogged over to the truck and got in. Tanya followed her more slowly.

Crow gave me a nod, but before he could get into the cab of his truck, I asked, “You can’t easily do D and D with two people. Who else is playing?”

He pressed his lips together and hesitated.

“Crow, if you and I are going to get along, you had better start being completely honest with me.”

He slumped and blew out a long breath. “Summit and John.”

13

Istared through the wavy glass pane at the drizzly rain shower. Most of the leaves had fallen from the scrub trees covering the nearest hill, but the giant maples in the yard still clung to their brilliant red leaves. Their burst of color, along with the yellow oaks, broke up the wet, gray landscape.

“It’s so dreary out,” I said out loud, but mostly to myself.

Russo sat at the small wooden table he’d set up next to a window in the parlor. There were three chairs around it for Tanya, Russo, and I to meet for business discussions. While I sipped my orange juice, Russo poured over the pictures and papers covering the table.

“What was that?” he didn’t look up.

“The weather.” I leaned back against the wide windowsill. “It’s as bleak as my mood.”

“This is tame compared to autumn in the northeast. Kids are just as likely to trick-or-treat in snow as rain there.” His head swiveled between the forestry map, the pictures, and his notes. “Have you ever had to wear a heavy coat over your costume as a kid? It sort of takes the punch out of dressing up, you know?”

I was just glad Halloween happened the previous week. It would have been a nightmare to work this particular case with the chaos that the spooky holiday brought. “Eh, about half of the Halloweens that I remember were pretty dang cold. I recall a couple where flurries were flying.”

“It’s a damn shame there’s no security cameras at these trailheads or their pull-offs,” Russo mused.

He hadn’t listened to anything I’d just said.

“If there were, someone would just shoot them out.”

Russo finally looked up. He was smirking. “Right.”

I sighed, glad for the thick wool sweater jacket I had on over the uniform. There still wasn’t any reliably working heat sources in the mansion. That was next on the list. My gaze fell on the hardwood floors that Benton and Brody had recently sanded and stained. They looked new, but only the parlor and foyer had been completed. I didn’t even want to think about how much the ballroom would cost. Probably a small fortune.

“I can’t understand how you didn’t glean anything from the autopsy, except the obvious.” My frustration made my words sharp.

Russo leaned back in the chair, giving me his full attention. “I think honing in on the time of death is helpful.”

I rolled my eyes, which were still as heavy as my head. When we’d returned home the previous night, Chloe had gone straight to bed without a word. I didn’t mind the silent treatment. Tossing and turning in bed for hours is what did me in. Thoughts about the torso and Crow’s face had jumbled together in my mind. Solving the case as soon as possible was necessary if any of Possum Gap’s residents were going to rest easy. A random nightmare when I’d finally fallen asleep of sitting across from Lucy Dover at a future Thanksgiving dinner had caused me to wake to a cold sweat with serious heartburn.

“We need a breakthrough in this case.” I took the nearest chair and plopped down.

“It’s not reasonable to expect a murder case like this to be solved overnight.”

I dropped my head back and yawned. “I know.”

“You were home late last night. Where were you?”

The fuzz inside my head cleared. “Are you keeping tabs on me?”

“Hardly. Your headlights shined right in my bedroom window.”

“You were also up late then,” I countered.

“I had my laptop out and was working. At this point, most of the investigation for me is online, searching multiple databases for a man with occult tats on his back.” Russo tapped the eraser end of his pencil on his crossed knee.

“Any leads at all?”

He shook his head. I noticed the dark stubble over his chin and jaw. Russo usually kept his face cleanly shaved unless he was burning the midnight oil, which he had last night. I shouldn’t put so much pressure on him. Russo was as professional and hardworking as they came, but he couldn’t perform miracles. Like he said, it would take time to figure this one out—if we ever did.

Russo wore his usual khaki pants and black shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Sometimes I felt like pinching myself that I had someone as capable as him on the team.

Don’t mess it up, Sadie. Either by being a bitch boss or letting his flirty ways turn into something more.

“I think we should follow up on Denver’s disappearance.”

“Don’t you believe what John told us? That the biker is buried in a ditch somewhere on Dover lands?”

“I think he believes that, but nothing about that seems right.” I popped my neck and blew out a hard breath. “If it’s really true, we should investigate and hold the Dovers accountable for murder.”

Russo put both feet on the floor and crossed his arms over the pictures. “Are you thinking about ignoring your agreement with Lucy and generations before you of letting those people do whatever criminal acts they wanted without consequences?”

His brown eyes brightened considerably, and I looked back out the window. “Our agreement is dead in the water.” I paused and set the glass down on a small patch of the table that wasn’t covered with Russo’s materials. “The reason I was out late last night was because I found Chloe with Crow at the rec park.”

“Ouch. I’m afraid to ask what they were up to.”

“Nothing intimate.”

“I really doubt that, Sadie. Maybe you arrived after they—”

“They were sitting in Crow’s truck fully dressed and chatting excitedly about Dungeons and Dragons.”

“Oh, wow. I love that game. It’s been a couple of decades, but Tony, Jimmy, and few other cousins and I used to play it all the time in our basement during family gatherings.”

“Guess who the other players are?”

“John and Summit.” When my mouth dropped open, Russo chuckled. “It’s obvious. From what I’ve learned during my time in Possum Gap, Dovers mostly socialize with each other. John and Summit are the only ones I’ve met with any amount of nerdiness in them.”

“Summit isn’t a nerd,” I said.

“He served in the military. Games like D and D are regular ways to distract and kill time. Makes sense to me.”

I pressed my fingertips onto the side of my forehead. “I do not want my daughter hanging out with one Dover, let alone three.”

“Well, if John has his way, you might have one in the family even if Chloe and Crow break up.”

I watched Russo lift his chin defiantly.

“I’m going to forget you said something that stupid.”

“If it’s not John, then what is it?”

“What are you talking about?” I knew but wanted him to say it out loud.

Russo leaned further over the table. “Us, Sadie. Do I have to type it up in memo form?”

“There is no us. We decided—”

“We didn’t decide anything. You chose to ignore everything that happened a few months ago and I’ve given you space to think it over.” Russo snorted softly and pursed his lips. “I’ve lost patience for this game. If you really have no interest in a romantic relationship with me, fine. I’ll start dating other people.”

The thought of Russo with another woman made me angry and I hated myself for feeling that way. If I wouldn’t give him a chance, he should move on. Even if it bugged me.

I licked my lips. “We work together both at the department and here on the Helena House project. Being anything more than friends could ruin everything we’re trying to achieve.”

Russo nodded slowly. “Okay. Just be warned. You will see a pretty lady on my arm in the not-so-distant future.”

My throat felt raw. “Fine.”

The roar of an engine turned my head. It was Billy in his big work truck. I watched him park on the circular driveway right in front of the steps leading up to the front porch and jump out. He didn’t bother with an umbrella. I was happy to get away from Russo’s sharp gaze and meet the head contractor at the doorway.

He seemed startled when I opened the door. “Oh, hello, Sadie.” He shook the rainwater off and then searched around until he found Russo and raised his hand. “Good morning, Russo. It sure is a soggy morning. I’ll work on the bathroom fixtures today.”

“Sounds good,” Russo said with a wave.

“Wait, Billy. Can I borrow you for a minute?”

The man scratched his gray head. “I reckon so. You pay by the hour and the clock is already ticking.”

I went back into the parlor with Billy following closely behind me. Russo quickly covered the crime scene photos with the forestry map.

Russo seemed confused. He rose and offered Billy his seat. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

Billy shook his head. “No, no. And I don’t have time to sit and chat neither.” Our eyes met. “What’s this about? Did one of the boys screw something up? I done told Beau to take his time with the wiring in bathroom number three—”

“It’s nothing like that.” I returned to my position at the windowsill. “I suppose you’ve already heard about the body that turned up on the Blossom Trail?”

“And the Strider Trail, and probably several other places.” Billy shrugged, then a shiver rocked his body. “Nasty business if you ask me.” He glanced at Russo. “Do you have any suspects or even know who the dead fella is?”

“Nothing. Any ideas?” I decided to toss out the last part because you never know what Buddy or I might have missed.

“All of my friends and family are accounted for.”

“Seems like I remember a case decades ago kind of like this one where a decapitated body was discovered in Possum Gap and the case was never solved,” I said.

“Yah, that’s right. It was nineteen-seventy-seven. I remember that because my girl, Darla, was born around that time, and me and the missus kept a shotgun at both the front and back doors.”

Russo made a humming sound. “That would be forty-seven years ago. Most likely it’s not connected to our current case.”

I didn’t look at Russo. My eyes were glued on Billy. He seemed uncomfortable and shifted between his feet. “Wasn’t there a suspect? I seem to recall an urban legend about a witch being involved.”

Russo snickered. “After my time in the lowlands, nothing would surprise me.”

“Russo, that lot is better left alone.” Billy shifted his gaze back to me. “I suppose Buddy would be too young to remember Anabelle Crane. Your grandfolks knew her, but they’re long gone.”

“Tell me what you know,” I said.

Russo remained standing with his arms crossed. By the tilt of his head, I knew we had his interest.

“I don’t like to talk of such things, but I’ll oblige ya.” He took a deep breath. “That one had its arms and legs but was found hanging upside down from a tree. It had been gutted just like you’d do a deer. All the blood had been drained—”

“Gutted?” Russo leaned in. “Were any organs removed?”

“All of them were.”

Russo and I exchanged a glance.

“Were the organs found?” I asked.

“Nope, and neither was the head. That’s the main reason the fella was never identified. No one was missing in Possum Gap or the surrounding counties, so we all guessed he was a drifter.”

Russo started pacing.

“The ability to communicate and share data with other departments or agencies was difficult back then,” I mused. “How did Anabelle Crane fit in?”

“She was killing animals and gutting them the same way that fella was found. “First it was rats, then alley cats. When neighborhood dogs started disappearing, the townsfolk got into an uproar. She lived at the dead end of Winchester Street. Back then the lot was surrounded by woods. Now it’s mostly cleared and around a dozen more houses are on past where her ol’ cottage sat.” He scratched his cheek and frowned. “That’s right. The Crane residence was torn down after Anabelle went into the asylum.”

“Was she ever charged with crimes against a person?” I asked.

Billy shook his head. “I suppose making casseroles of everyone’s pets riled the circuit judge enough to lock her up in that horrible place and throw away the key.”

I turned to Russo. “Billy isn’t exaggerating. The building had hardly any windows and the patients were abused and even raped by their caregivers. I think it burned down in the eighties.”

“Eighty-two. It was a mystery how the fire started, but I suspect it was arson.”

Russo cupped his chin. “Did Anabelle perish in the fire?”

“She did, along with sixteen other residents, two nurses, and a doctor on the fourth floor. The other floors were spared, but the building still had to be razed. The Dairy Shack and Walton’s Tire Shop now sit in the footprint where the hospital used to be.”

Russo voice became more animated. “How old was Anabelle when she was cooking up Fido?”

I grunted at his choice of words.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Billy said, puckering his lips. “Around thirty, I reckon.”

“And she was eating the pets?” I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

“Yep. From what I was told, they were barely cooked, and when the police went inside her home, her face was covered in blood.” He glanced around and leaned in, lowering his voice. “She was hurling curses at them when they hauled her away, saying awful things that didn’t make any sense. Mrs. Beaumont said that the words weren’t voodoo, but another kind of dark mischief.”

“What constitutes dark mischief?” Russo asked.

Billy shrugged. “I don’t know, really. She was deemed insane and after she went into the hospital, she never spoke again until—”

“Until the day of the fire when she cast an evil spell to send everyone on that floor to hell,” I finished. When I glanced at Russo, his eyes were wider than usual. “That’s the story I heard when I went camping with Tanya and a few other girls in tenth grade.”

“I’m going to start on those fixtures.” Billy was inching towards the doorway.

Russo followed Billy. “The man’s genitalia—was it harmed?”

Billy stopped and swayed back. “It was gone too.”

“Interesting.” Russo glanced at Billy, then me. “Did Anabelle have family?”

While I said no, Billy said yes. We stared at each other.

“There are no Cranes in Possum Gap that I know of,” I said.

“I don’t reckon there are. Seems I remember the woman just appeared one day and when she was taken away, the girl went to live in a foster home in Louisville. At least that’s what my wife told me, but it’s been a lot of years since then. I might have that part wrong.”

“Wait, I never heard anything about a daughter.”

“The girl was around thirteen or thereabouts. I can’t even recall her name.”

“If she were still alive, she’d be sixty-two now,” Russo said.

“You’re giving me a headache trying to remember things I’d rather keep buried deep,” Billy said with a sigh. “If you’re through with me, I’ll be on my way upstairs.”

“Go on, Billy,” I said with a wink. “Thanks for reminiscing with us.”

Once we were alone, Russo crossed the room and stood close. “It’s strange for sure, but I can’t see a connection. Our torso was discarded in the open and not hung from a tree. Perhaps it’s a copycat killing? It wouldn’t be the first time when a hideous crime became an urban legend.”

“What would be the reason to commit the crime again and change it up? And so many years later.”

Russo shrugged. “That I can’t answer, but from the conversation between you and Billy—what thirty-plus years difference in age—the story is not only well known but ingrained in the town’s psyche.”

“I hadn’t thought about it for a long, long time.” I snorted softly. “It’s not something you want to recall.”

“Getting back to our John Doe, it will take a week to get the toxicology reports back and hopefully a DNA match in the database. We’ve collected the evidence and interviewed our only witness. Besides hiking every mountain trail in the area, I’m not sure there’s much else we can do except continue to talk to residents and keep our eyes peeled for fresh evidence. Although, all this rain has likely washed away almost everything.”

I grabbed my raincoat and purse off the back of the chair. “Are you up for a short trip to the Tennessee border?”

“Of course. What’s on the agenda?”

“To find out more about this biker named Denver. Something about that man’s disappearance has me rattled. I can’t put a finger on it, Russo, but it feels like there’s more to the story than John told us or even knows himself.”

14

“It’s kind of like a rose on a turd, isn’t it?”

Russo grunted. “That’s one way to put it.”

After stopping at the café to pick up coffee and croissants, we drove out of Possum Gap and were on the highway an hour later. We discussed the murder case for most of the drive, but now we were stepping into a more tension-filled discussion.

The coal refinery rose from the surrounding hills like a smoke-puffing metal city. The trees still clung to some of their autumn glory and shards of light broke through the heavy clouds, striking spots of wilderness and revealing jagged dips across the hillsides.

Russo tilted his head toward me. “You’re very good at that.”

“What?”

I gripped the steering wheel tighter when an eighteen-wheeler passed us on the narrow, curvy road. We’d exited the highway about forty minutes earlier and much like Possum Gap, the deeper we forged into hill country, the scarier the roadways became.

“Changing the subject.”

“I’d rather not talk about Chloe at the moment,” I said with a harshness that I couldn’t help.

“I’ve been able to observe your relationship with your daughter over the past year, and I might be able to provide you with insight as to why she’s behaving this way.”

I rolled my eyes. “Russo, I appreciate the uncle role you took on when you moved in with us after your apartment burned down and now with you living right next door in the Helena House, but you’ve never had kids and can’t really relate to what I’m going through.”

I caught Russo’s deep frown when I glanced his way, causing a surge of sympathy to erase my annoyance. “Oh, all right. Give it to me. What am I failing at?”

“Absolutely nothing. She’s a typical teen who has a crush on a boy that happens to be a Dover. That’s only half of it though, and the easy part if you ask me.”

“Easy? My God, Russo. If my only child gets pregnant by one of Lucy Dover’s nephews, I’ll shoot myself.”

“That’s drastic. Besides, haven’t you taken her to a doctor for birth control of some kind?”

My body tensed and when I took a gulp of the cool coffee, I nearly gagged. “No! Chloe is only sixteen. She does not need birth control.”

“We’re co-workers but also friends, right?” Russo’s voice was low and coaxing.

I rolled my eyes again and dropped my head back onto the headrest. I was driving Buddy’s pickup truck for a second day. We’d figured that cruising into the homebase of a biker gang in a police car wasn’t a good idea. Russo’s new Porche wasn’t much better, but being a ninny about curvy mountain roads, he’d refused to drive it anyway. The truck was a rough ride, and the constant bouncing had nearly rattled my teeth out. It was also a chilly morning and the heater wasn’t working. It barely pushed cool air into my face through the vents. I guess I didn’t really notice the failings of the truck the night before because I’d been distracted during my relatively short stint in it compared to today.

“Yes, Russo, but that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to discuss issues with my daughter’s coming of age.

“She’s stubborn like you. I think the more you fight her over Crow, she’ll forge a relationship with him out of spite. Give her space and let her figure it out herself. Trust me on this, Sadie. Once she spends any time with the Dovers at all, she’ll be running away from those hills.”

“I can’t take the chance. She thinks John and Summit are great. By the time she realizes how corrupt and backward the rest of the family is, it might be too late.”

Trees closed in across the road, blocking out the small amount of sunlight escaping the clouds. I saw a couple of does, which made me remember the buck lying on the side of the road back in Possum Gap. I swallowed down the knot in my throat.

“That’s why you go with her and get her on protection. It’s your role to prepare her in that way and for insurance against the inevitable.”

I swiveled in the seat and gaped at Russo. “You think in order to be a good mother I have to condone her having teenage sex?”

“Not exactly.” He took a sip from his cup, and because it must have been as cold as mine, he winced before setting it down. “Look, it’s probably going to happen before you’re ready anyway. Might as well make sure her baby-daddy isn’t a Dover.”

I groaned and he continued.

“When my sister turned sixteen and started dating, it was the first thing my mother did. Her sister, my Aunt Patricia, did the exact opposite with my cousin who was the same age as my sister. A year later, my cousin had a baby and was a single mom. In contrast, my sister was having a blast in her last year of high school and preparing to head to college. She became a registered nurse and married a doctor. They have three children and live in a large house on Staten Island. My cousin also has three kids, all from different guys, and she works as a cashier at one of the shops that my folks own. Drugs, depression, you name it. She’s still fighting her demons.”

“Did it ever occur to you that she might have turned out that way even if she wasn’t a teen mom?”

“We’ll never know. But I had a talk with her about it and you know what she said?”

I shrugged.

“My cousin told me that she wished my Aunt Patricia had helped her get on the pill and blamed her mother for everything that happened to her.”

“That’s shallow. She didn’t have to have sex. Condoms are available over the counter and cheap enough.”

“So, you would leave Chloe’s fate up to Crow’s good judgment?”

“Oh my God, Russo, stop it! I understand what you’re saying and if it makes you feel better, Tanya agrees with you. But I need some time to digest all of this.” I blew out a long, tired breath. “The sad thing is that Crow isn’t a bad kid. He’s polite and smart. I like that he has set goals for himself and if he makes it as a ranger, Possum Gap is surrounded by state forestry land. He’d have plenty of opportunities for employment close to home if that’s what he chooses. It’s just that he’s one of the hill people.”

“The Dover part is definitely an obstacle,” Russo agreed.

“You don’t think I’m being a snob, like Chloe says?”

Russo chuckled. “I’ve been shot at by more of them than said hello to. That his family just murdered a guy and admitted to burying him somewhere on their land is about as bad as the fact that they think it’s normal. No, you’re right to be wary of a relationship between Chloe and Crow. My point is that there are ways to go about breaking them up that will give Chloe a choice and not destroy your relationship with her. You’re a straight-shooter, Sadie. This one time, you need to be stealthy and patient.”

“Your family are criminals. Wouldn’t this line of thinking keep you and I from ever dating?”

Russo leaned closer, and I caught a whiff of his expensive cologne.

“I thought dating between us was off the table?”

“It is, but I wasn’t entirely honest with you yesterday. I’m a cop and your family are mafia. It’s not any different than the reason I don’t want Chloe caught up with a Dover.”

Russo laughed. It wasn’t just a short, amused laugh either. When he finally caught a breath, he leaned closer. “I assure you. My family are not mobsters.”

“Yes, they are!” I sucked in a breath, determined to keep my cool.

“I admit, they have shady business dealings. It’s not like The Godfather movies, though. My parents are respectable people. We legally employ dozens of people and pay them well, including full benefits.”

“I thought you weren’t involved in your family’s businesses.”

“I’m not directly, although I’m still a member of the family. I love my parents, brother, and sister. Go ahead and frown upon some of their endeavors, but I take offense that you won’t date me. You don’t even know them.”

“Ha! I have met your brother, Anthony, and he threatened me.”

“I wouldn’t describe it as a threat. He wanted to be sure that you weren’t going after me or my family, that’s all.”

I took a deep breath through my nose. “Being co-workers trumps your family’s business dealings, Russo.”

“Did I tell you I signed up on an online dating app last night?”

The sly way he said it made me determined not to react.

“That’s nice. Good luck.”

Russo grunted softly. “You’re a hard nut to crack, Sheriff.”

I didn’t answer. When we turned around the bend, we were facing a one-story, sprawling complex in the next curve. The tilted sign read, Last Stop Bar. The structure had seen better days. It was mostly brick, but in the places covered with boards, white paint peeled off them. The parking lot had broken pavement and a long line of motorcycles stretched across the front of the building. A few trucks and two brightly colored muscle cars took up the few parking spots.

“Are we already in Tennessee?” Russo’s voice was light and excited.

“We crossed the state line a few miles back,” I confirmed.

“That’s the place?” he asked. When I nodded, he made a humming sound. “Looks dangerous.”

“Oh, I’m sure it is. Did you bring a gun?”

“Ah, I didn’t think about it. Remember I’m the scientific participant of this mission.”

I flicked my hand at the glove box. “There’s a small revolver in there. The kind you like. It’s loaded. Put it in your jacket pocket.”

Russo did as I asked. “Won’t they search us?”

“Of course not. They expect everyone who enters to be armed. At a place like this, it’s all about who has the balls to shoot first and has the best aim.”

Seeing Russo’s face pale considerably was likely the only fun I’d have today. Might as well fully embrace the moment.

“Oh, and watch out for the biker chicks. They’re more dangerous than the guys.”

15

We walked side by side towards the entrance, which was a black metal door. There were no windows, and I counted ten plastic, life-sized skeletons—some in pirate suits—hanging off the roof. I wasn’t sure if they were still there from Halloween or if the decorations were up year-round.

Russo bent closer. “Are you sure you want to open this can of worms?”

I stopped and turned to him. “What do you mean?”

He smoothed back his hair. “Well, the bikers left the Dover compound and now we’re stirring the pot.”

I knew what he meant but wanted clarification. “How so?”

Russo squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds before answering. “Our questions might raise their interest, don’t you think? Are we ready to possibly unleash these people on Possum Gap?”

“The truth is the truth, Russo. We’re here to investigate the identity of who our torso belongs to. Don’t over complicate it.”

I started walking again and Russo fell in step. The muffled sound of music reached my ears the closer we got to the door. It was a classic eighties rock song I liked.

Scanning the front of the building, I found six security cameras and wasn’t surprised when the door opened before we reached it.

Five large men wearing a combination of denim and leather filed out of the building. Two were bald. One had a full head of thick, curly gray hair, and the other two wore stylish cuts where the sides were buzzed and the tops quaffed. All had beards and vibrant tattoos. Only one of the men was what I would consider chubby. The other four were muscular.

I was about to greet them when a sixth man limped through the door. The bruises and blood were gone, but his dented nose was a forever reminder of the beating Kyle had received at the hands of the Dovers.

The tallest man, sporting a neat haircut and trim beard, was the first to speak.

“I can smell cops from a mile away, and you two reek of them.”

Okay. So much for grabbing a beer and asking a few questions. I was forced to change course, but Russo beat me to the punch.

“I’m not a cop, but I also have that sense.” He smiled broadly and probably looked like a dork to these goons.

I didn’t bother with handshakes. These were no-nonsense types, and I adapted to their tense postures. “I’m Sheriff Sadie Mills from Possum Gap, Kentucky. This is our coroner, Raymond Russo.”

Kyle tossed his head back and moaned. “Fuuuck. I thought I recognized you. It was kinda hard with my eyes nearly swollen shut, you know.”

The tall guy turned to Kyle. “Are you telling me a cop was there when those dirty hillbillies nearly killed you?”

I answered before Kyle could. “I was there. I take it you weren’t?” I swept my gaze down the line. “You? Or maybe you?”

One man half-raised his hand. It was the chubby guy. “I rode with them. The rest of the crew have already moved on to our joint in Florida.” He smiled, flashing a mouth with a couple of front teeth missing. “Chasing the sun.”

I looked past the wide shoulders at the darkness beyond the open door. The song had changed, and it was clearer. A fun song in most situations, but I didn’t really want to go inside, so we would chat outside.

After drawing in a breath, I asked, “Did your buddy, Denver, ever turn up?”

The men exchanged glances. Kyle stepped forward.

“I’ll talk to the cop.” He lifted his chin to the tallest biker. “You don’t need to hear any of this. The less any of you know, the better.”

“Are you sure? We can take care of those idiot rednecks—”

“Yeah, I’m sure you could. Thing is, you don’t want to. They’re a nasty bunch”—he eyed me—“and it appears the local authorities don’t give a damn about what they do in those hills.”

The tall man spared me a quick glance. “We’re watching you, Sheriff. And like your neck of the woods, our cops don’t much care what we’re up to on this little plot of land.”

When the door closed behind the last biker, some of the tension vanished. Kyle leaned against the wall. Leaves took flight when the wind picked up, shaking the trees around the rectangular-shaped building.

“Denver is one of my oldest friends. I guess it’s a was now. No way he’s alive. Those stinking hillbillies killed him. I just know they did.”

I wasn’t about to pull out a notebook and I was glad Russo didn’t either. Kyle wanted to talk, but that could change in a heartbeat. Wanting to keep it conversational, I asked, “You don’t sound like you’re from Tennessee.”

Kyle grunted, then his shoulders dropped. He loosened up some more. “Only a couple of our riders are Tennesseans. We hail from all over America. Dale grew up in Cali and Steve in New Mexico. I call Cleveland my home, but I’m a bit of a gypsy and have lived in twenty-four states in my forty-eight years.”

“And this is one of your gang’s hangouts?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged and extended a booted foot to lightly tap the cement foundation jutting out from the bar. “We have a dozen or so.”

“I’ve heard of the Demon Squad. Are you all members?” I stood in a passive stance, while Russo looked as uptight as ever, taking a few steps, then returning to stand next to me.

“Dixon is the only member of the Squad here right now. The others are from a smaller gang that affiliates with ours.” He nodded at the closed door. “That’s why I didn’t want to drag them into the Dover shit.” He rubbed his face. “What a fucking disaster that was.”

“I could have told you that attacking a hill clan on their own turf was a bad idea.”

“We didn’t attack them,” he said roughly. “We went there looking for Denver.”

“In force,” I quipped.

Kyle nodded slowly. “In hindsight, it probably would have been better to approach them with lower numbers, but I don’t really think that we’d been any safer. Those ignorant fools didn’t want to talk because they’d already killed my friend.”

I sighed. “Are you saying the only reason you went to Jewelweed Hollow that summer morning was to look for Denver?”

“Why else would we go to that God forsaken place?”

“Business?” Russo chirped.

Kyle shook his head. “No way. We don’t do business with backward, unstable people like that.” He pushed off the wall. “It would be like throwing a loaded gun into flames and standing around to see what happened.”

Great analogy. I’d also made a mental note that Lucy’s story about Denver was not jiving with Kyle’s. Who was lying? “Why did you think the Dovers knew about Denver’s disappearance?”

Kyle laughed softly. “Because he was fucking one of their women.”

The statement smacked me in the face and Russo, who had started pacing again, stopped in his tracks.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Denver told me before he’d gone missing.” He looked up at the tops of the trees swaying in the wind. “Rain’s coming again.”

Russo started to talk, and I raised my hand. We had to pace ourselves. What Kyle had just said was completely different than Lucy’s story, and my gut told me that he wasn’t the one lying. Lucy had led me to believe that Denver was basically a business deal gone bad. The fact that she never even mentioned a woman caused a dozen questions to explode in my head. Why was she lying? And more importantly, who was she protecting?

“Kyle, I’m here to find out what happened to Denver and bring him justice.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, I saw the look on your face when they were destroying my face. Were you under cover?”

“Something like that.”

“What can I do for my bro? Tell me.”

Ideas of why Lucy hid the truth about Denver made me imagine different scenarios. “Denver’s last name is Martin, right?” When Kyle nodded, I continued, “I found Denver on the missing-person’s database, so I have his public information. Can you tell me if he used narcotics or had any behavioral issues?”

“Denver?” His eyes widened in disbelief. “The only vice that man had was not being able to stand being alone. All he wanted was to find a woman to replace Diedra.”

“What happened to her?” I asked.

“Five years ago, she got knocked up by a rival gang member and ran off with him to Montana. Denver’s been on a new lady hunt ever since.”

Russo couldn’t keep quiet. “Then he found a Dover?”

Kyle blew out an angry breath. “Yep.”

I pulled out my notebook, figuring that it was safe now since Kyle was eager to talk to us. “When?”

“A few months before he disappeared.”

Russo and I looked at each other before I returned my gaze to Kyle. “Where did they meet?”

“At a bar in Corbin. He said the gal was young, but also his dream chick and that he would marry her someday.”

“But he didn’t know her very long.” It sounded so unreasonable.

“Like I said, he was on the hunt for a woman and kinda desperate, you know. Denver didn’t have a lot of confidence because of his face. The minute that Dover chick started flirting with him, he was in love.”

Russo leaned over my shoulder. “What was wrong with his face?”

“He had a red birth mark that covered half his forehead and his nose. Once you got used to it, you hardly noticed, but it usually freaked the ladies out.”

I nodded. “Do you know her first name.”

“He referred to her as Daisy but told me he didn’t think it was her real name because when he called out to her from across the parking lot, she didn’t turn right off the bat.” Kyle’s body shook with a forced shiver. “That would have checked her off my list.”

I glanced at Russo. “I can’t recall a Daisy Dover. Of course, there’s a bunch of them I don’t know by name.” I faced Kyle and held his gaze. “Do you have a description of her?”

“Nope. I didn’t care much about what she looked like. In my mind, it wouldn’t last.”

I sighed, feeling my entire body droop with disappointment. “Do you have any other information at all? You managed to find out where the Dovers lived and that wasn’t an easy task, I’m sure.”

Kyle’s brows rose. “Actually, she wasn’t shy about telling Denver exactly where she lived, and the last time I talked to him, he said he that she’d gone home, and he planned to follow her there and meet Daisy Dover’s family in Possum Gap.” He gave his head a shake. “When we rode into the outskirts of your town, I went into a gas station and asked the attendant, and she happily gave me directions right to their lane.” He snorted. “I should have known there was more to the story by the way she laughed after saying it.”

“How long was Denver missing before you went to the hollow?” I asked.

“Three weeks. Even if Denver had been preoccupied with a lady, he would have touched base with me. That was the plan. He said he’d contact me after a few days. When he didn’t, I started calling and they went straight to voicemail.”

My heart beat steadily and my skin tingled. We were so close to learning something important. “What happened when you finally met the Dovers and asked about Denver?”

“It was that same morning that I saw you. They fucking flipped out. A bunch of them walked out of the trees armed to the teeth. I never saw anything like it before. It was nuts.”

“And your guys fled, leaving you behind?” I said carefully.

“Well, it was chaotic. They didn’t know I wasn’t with them until they were about sixteen miles away. They turned around and waited for me at the same gas station we’d stopped at earlier that morning. They knew we were outgunned and weren’t about to go back in there again without more guys.”

I took a breath. “But you never returned, did you?”

“It’d be a suicide mission. Those people knew those woods and hills way better than we did. That alone gave the rednecks an advantage that we couldn’t overcome.” Kyle puckered his mouth and nodded a couple of times. “The only way we would have been able to take them on would be away from their land, but we quickly figured out that they rarely leave the hills.”

I turned to Russo who now leaned against the brick wall. “We need to go to that Corbin bar and ask some questions.”

“Afraid that’s not happening,” Kyle said.

My brow raised. “I’d like to know if Daisy Dover was a regular and what she looked like. You just rightly pointed out that Dovers stay close to home. Sometimes they travel to other places, but it’s not their style to do so.”

Kyle lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and was considerate enough to blow the smoke away from my face. “You got it wrong, Sheriff. It’s impossible to go to that bar because it burned down right after Denver went missing.”

16

As we drove away from the biker gang’s hangout, I glanced in the rearview mirror and watched Kyle take another drag of his cigarette. With the thickening of the gray clouds, the gloom had returned. The brick building appeared even dingier than when we arrived. If that was even possible.

“Coincidence?” Russo said.

I glanced over at him and snorted. “I don’t know. Bars do sometimes burn down, but it’s odd that it happened so close to when Denver disappeared.”

“It doesn’t sound like something the Dovers would do to cover their tracks,” he said with a frown.

“I agree. That family is used to doing what they want without fear of the law or other criminals. They get excited when anyone shows up on their land to battle. Driving a couple of hours away from their homebase to cover up a crime is out of character for a Dover.”

“It wasn’t that long ago. We can track down employees and interview them even if the bar itself is gone,” Russo suggested.

“It might come to that. Although, I doubt anyone will talk much even if they remember Denver and Daisy Dover being there.”

Russo grunted. “I have a feeling the name is an alias.”

“I agree.” I tilted my head while looking forward at the roadway. A splatter of rain hit the windshield, quickly multiplying to a steady deluge. “It’s really odd that John wouldn’t tell us anything about what happened to Denver.”

“He’s protecting his family, what’s odd about that?”

“In the past, John was more open about sharing information. It was like he just wanted to shut us down from even thinking about the missing biker.”

“Well, maybe since your relationship has changed, he’s not going to be as helpful in the future.”

I eyed Russo, who stared back. “How do you mean?”

Russo chuckled and looked away. “Now that John realizes that he doesn’t have a chance with the sheriff, he probably sees no reason to play nice.”

I felt my face heat and my shoulders become uncomfortably tense. “Contrary to your wild imagination, John and I have always been friends, just like you and me. Stop being so myopic, Russo. What I’m saying is that John’s evasiveness felt like a warning to not dig any deeper.”

“Which means we have to get a backhoe and go all the way.”

“Of course.” I paused, careful about my words. The wiper blades went back and forth and outside Buddy’s truck, the scene became wet and hazy. Finally, I sighed. “The evidence and timeframe say our John Doe and Denver aren’t the same man, but my gut says that they are still connected in some way.”

“That would mean the Dovers gutted our guy and left his torso on the trail, implicating John in his murder and at the very least, conspiracy to cover up the crime.”

I hated the upbeat sound of Russo’s voice. He would be thrilled if John was a murderer.

“I don’t believe that about John. He left the Dover compound to stay clear of their drama.”

“That might be true, but I recall you saying that once a Dover, always a Dover.” When I grunted, he added, “It might not be a clear-cut case.” He swiveled towards me. “John might know what happened and perhaps he believes homicide was justifiable—”

“That’s the same thing as conspiracy.”

“Hold on. You’re not thinking broadly enough. What if this Denver Martin dude was violent towards Daisy or whatever her real name is? The Dovers police themselves. John might know exactly what transpired, but he thinks justice is on his side.”

“Even if you’re correct, that doesn’t explain our torso, does it?”

Russo slumped. “I guess it doesn’t. I agree with you, though. Denver’s disappearance and our new murder case do seem to be related, but it might be one of those times when we’re trying to force a square peg into a round hole.”

“Yeah. They might be completely separate cases and we’re running in circles, chasing down the truth about a missing biker, when we already know he’s buried somewhere on Dover land.”

Russo blew out a hard breath. “While I would love to solve that crime, we better focus on our dismembered corpse. The Dovers are a known commodity that preys on unsavory types that no one misses—”

“Kyle misses him,” I said.

“Criminals miss each other.” Russo snorted. “The bar we just left oozed unscrupulous gatherings. They’re a biker gang, probably dealing with drugs, sex trafficking, and murder. John might be correct on his assumption that whatever happened to the man, it’s no great loss to society.”

“I hate that line of thinking,” I admitted. “It just seems so wrong.”

“It might be wrong, but in today’s world, let’s be practical. Your department is understaffed and underfunded. There’s a decades-old bizarre agreement with these hill people to stay off their land and leave them alone so they won’t intrude too much into the so-called civilized part of Possum Gap. We may have a really dangerous individual on our hands. Someone who might kill again. That must be our priority.”

“Or individuals. Have you thought that this might be a group of people, maybe the occult?”

“I’m betting it’s a lone serial killer, and he’s killed before.” Russo spoke with a certainty that I couldn’t muster.

The rain came down harder and I slowed in the curve. “How can you be so sure?”

“Occult murders are rare and when they do pop up, it’s usually teens or young adults acting out a horror flick they watched. Even in the northeast where the population is much higher, I recall only a couple of actual satanist cult murders.”

“It’s hard to believe people worship the devil.” I went to pick up my cup of coffee and remembered how cold it was and stopped. “Don’t you think serial killers can be devil worshipers?”

“Of course. Richard Ramirez is a prime example of one. In the mid-eighties, he killed fifteen or maybe a lot more people. He raped the elderly and murdered married couples in their beds. With the childhood abuse he suffered, brain damage, drug use, and his fascination with satanism and the occult, he was the perfect candidate for a murder spree.”

“Yes, I’ve read about the Night Stalker, but he never dismembered the bodies. He was a slash and run murderer. Our killer took their time, and it seems to me that the removal of the organs was significant to them. It certainly wasn’t easy to take off the head and limbs.”

“Ramirez mutilated some of the bodies, gouging the eyes out of one victim and nearly severing the head of another. Sexual arousal and a perverted interest in the dead contributed to his behavior, but so did the drugs. I agree with you that extracting body parts is extreme. In our sane minds, there must be a reasonable explanation. Sometimes, it’s as simple as we’re dealing with a complete lunatic.”

“I don’t know what’s worse. A crazy, unpredictable killer or one with a plan.”

Russo’s phone rang and when he looked at the screen, he groaned before answering.

“I’m working and will call you later—” He paused and when I glanced at him, he dropped his head forward and closed his eyes. “That’s not possible. No! This isn’t a good time. I’m in the middle of a murder investigation… We can discuss this later… What! You’re already in Possum Gap?” He thudded his head back and said in a defeated tone, “Give me a couple of hours then.” He quieted for several seconds. “Understood. Right. Okay… Love you, too.”

The last part got my attention, and I looked sideways at him when he stuck the cell phone into his pocket and groaned loudly.

“You move fast, Russo. Already having lady problems?”

“Oh, I wish that were the case.”

He said it in such a miserable way, that my heart skipped a beat. “What’s going on?”

“My mom. It’s my mom.”

“Is she all right?” I held my breath.

“She’s fine, and she’s here, Sadie.” He sounded terrified.

“Here?” I squeaked. “In Kentucky?”

He ran his hands through his hair with a tug. “She checked into the Bear Mountain Lodge with my brother a few minutes ago.”

I still couldn’t breathe properly. “It’s a long way from New Jersey to just drop in. Why do you think she came?”

Russo exhaled, then cupped his mouth. His freak-out mode was scaring me.

“Mom wants to see how her investment is coming along.”

I swallowed the hot knot down my throat. “Her investment?”

“The Helena House. Mom loaned me the money to invest in the renovation of the Helena House.”

17

“How do I look?” I spread my arms wide.

The view out the kitchen window was of a pink and coral smeared sky above the mansion. Tanya turned around and eyed me up and down.

She scowled while cupping her face. “Maybe a dress—” When my eyes flared, she quickly finished, “Or even a skirt, something a little dressier than black pants and a matching black blouse.” Her gaze found my shoes. “Oh, and don’t forget black boots.”

“I don’t have any dresses,” I lied.

“Yes, you do! Pretty ones. Why are you dressing for a funeral anyway?”

I smoothed my hands over the satiny blouse and went straight to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a swig. “Russo said his mom works in New York City. Don’t they all wear black clothes up there?”

“I don’t think so.” She rubbed her forehead and seeing Chloe slink by the room, she waved frantically for her to come in. “Chloe, get over here!”

Chloe was already in her pajamas when she walked in and went straight to the snack cupboard. “What?” She pulled out a bag of chips and an unopened canister of dip.

Tanya frowned at the way Chloe flopped onto the chair and ripped the bag open. “Don’t you think your mom should wear something a little lighter and airier?”

“Just to meet Russo’s mother?”

I rolled my eyes while Chloe popped a chip into her mouth and started munching.

“Good grief, girls. Neither one of you was raised in a barn.” Tanya swatted at Chloe who ducked. “Now go back to your room and get dressed. Your mom looks like a fashion plate compared to you.”

“I’m not going.” Chloe raised her chin at Tanya’s gasp. “She’s here to talk to you two. I’m not important.”

Tanya’s head whipped to me, then back to Chloe. “Of course you’re important! Russo is practically a member of your family these days and—”

Chloe stood up with her bag of chips and grabbed the dip off the table. “He’s leaving, Aunt Tanya. It doesn’t matter if we get along. Mom ruined everything, as usual!”

Tanya didn’t get a word in before Chloe stormed out of the kitchen. The door to her room slamming made both of us jump.

Tanya held out her palms. “What in the world has gotten into that girl? I understand her angst about Crow, but it’s only been one day since we caught her in his truck. Have you even had an opportunity to talk to her about him?”

I shook my head and leaned back against the counter. “Nope. That little bit of drama is because I told her a little while ago that Russo and I will never date.”

Tanya crumpled onto the chair that Chloe had vacated. “Why would you say such a thing?”

“Because it’s the truth, and I wouldn’t be doing my daughter any favors by letting her think there’s a chance that Russo would become a permanent fixture in our lives.”

She slid her tongue under her upper lip before sighing. “Let me get this straight.” She held up a finger. “No John and no Russo?”

I nodded.

“If you’re determined to be a spinster, that’s fine with me, but couldn’t you hold off telling the poor kid until next week? She has a lot going on.” Tanya frowned at me.

“In a perfect world, yeah. But when I told her Russo’s mother and brother were visiting, she was overly excited to meet them and wondered if they’d like her.” I dropped my head back for a second. “The writing was on the wall, and I hate to give Ted credit for being right, but he was.”

“How does that doofus figure into any of this?” Tanya leaned forward and placed her elbows on her crossed knee and her chin on her laced hands.

“Months ago, he told me that I shouldn’t invite Russo to live with us, but then again, right next door wasn’t a good idea either.”

“Why?” Tanya asked in a long drawl.

“He worried about Chloe becoming attached to Russo.”

“What about Sandra? They aren’t married.”

“Chloe can’t stand her, and he knows it.”

Tanya stood up and pointed at her watch. Of course, she was sharply dressed in a burnt orange jacket and matching skirt. Her heels were gray, and fake pearls decorated her ears and neck.

“Times ah-wasting. If you’re not going to change, we best get over there.”

I stood up and Tanya gripped my arms tightly, giving me a gently shake. “Girl, don’t you dare take dating advice from your ex. Nothing he does is in your best interest. He was jealous of Russo, and all this time, you were keeping things platonic.” She gave an angry shake of her head, making her crinkly, black curls that framed her smooth face bounce. “And the same goes for Chloe—” She snapped her finger when I started to argue. “No, Sadie. You’ll never have a life of your own if everything you do revolves around your almost-adult child’s needs and wants. Russo is a good guy, and if you truly don’t want to give him a chance, that’s up to you. But pushing him away too soon might be a mistake. And don’t get me started about you two working together. Nearly every couple in this town met on the job.”

Tanya finally stopped ranting, and I pulled out of her grasp. “Please stop talking about romance. Let’s just get through the night. If you had seen how terrified Russo was when he learned that his mother was in Possum Gap, you would be more focused on this first meeting than anything else.”

Tanya inhaled deeply. “Did she really hire Monica and Jasmine to cater our dinner?”

I nodded. “It must have been a large sum of money to get them to close the café early and throw something together. Somehow, she managed to hire a couple of the Rankin brothers to pick up a dining room table she ordered and deliver it, so we’d all have a place to sit down and eat in the Helena House.”

Tanya’s eyes widened. “That’s extreme.”

“Yup.” I raised my fist. “She better not think because she lent Russo some money, she’s going to come in here and take over—”

Tanya shook her head vigorously. “No worries. Together, we’ve got this.”

We locked our arms and went outside. The rain had stopped an hour ago and the wind blew the remaining clouds to the east. Stars began popping in the sky as it darkened, and the full moon hung over the hills like a nosey relative spying on us. A whip-or-will chirped in a nearby branch, then stopped abruptly when we passed under the tree.

I raised my face to the cold air and inhaled deeply. Smells of damp earth and rotting leaves flooded my nose. I also caught a whiff of the hay from the barn that was delivered a few days ago. My chest tightened when I thought about someone carving up a body somewhere in my jurisdiction.

I should be out there looking for the killer, but instead, I would spend the evening entertaining Russo’s mother.

Feeling something sinister in the harsh air, I turned my head and stared at the hills beyond the mansion. Moonlight made long shadows spill from the jagged crevices. Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I thought I heard a faint sound of singing.

“Do you hear that?”

Tanya stopped and cocked her head. After a few long seconds, she started moving and tugged me with her. “Don’t you dare start hearing strange things, Sadie. We do not have time for ghosts.”

Or demons, Tanya. I wanted to say it out loud, but my mouth was frozen.

Something evil was coming. I felt it in my bones.

18

It was strange to see light shining from nearly every window, and when we entered through the back porch door, the air inside the mansion felt electric.

A soft whistle escaped Tanya’s lips. “Shew, this place is hopping.”

“Who are all of these people?” I asked no one in particular. Someone barely touched my shoulder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

It was Monica. She wiped her brow with a hand towel and smiled. “We have four culinary students from the Wilkins Community College helping with dinner and the two servers are my cousins. They did a short stint at a Cracker Barrel eons ago.” She placed her hands on her hips and blew out a sharp breath. “I think we’re all good.”

Monica was roughly my height and more businesslike than her wife, Jasmine. She took pride in doing things right and on time. Her flushed face, messy ponytail, and stained apron told me she’d gone the extra mile this time.

Bryson and Brody Rankin hurried through the kitchen, carrying a large, empty cardboard box.

“Sadie, the table is up, and we quickly finished the sconces in the dining room,” Brody said. “My wife and her sister are setting the table. Terri brought the last flower arrangement in from the greenhouse. She cut off the wilted leaves. Unless someone leans in close, you can’t tell that it’s a month past its prime.”

“Terri is here?” I muttered, before raising my voice, hoping to stop the flutter of activity in the kitchen. “Wait! There’s only five of us. Why all this hoopla?”

Bryson and Brody exchanged glances before going out the back door. The students stayed busy at the counter creating a platter of what looked like mini-meatballs and wraps of some kind. Monica’s phone went off and when she saw the caller, she followed the brothers.

“It’s Belinda with the cake. I have to go grab it.”

Tanya’s eyes met mine right before she passed Jasmine and disappeared into the hallway.

I caught Jasmine’s arm. “What is going on?”

Jasmine swayed back. She appeared about as rattled as Monica, although her yellow sweater and blue jeans made her look out of place with everyone else in their white shirts, dress pants, and aprons.

She leaned in. “I thought you knew about”—she spread her arms wide—“all of this.”

I shook my head, losing the last string of patience I had left. “Tell me. Quickly.”

“We received the call a few hours ago—well, Monica did—from Celene Russo. She said she was our Russo’s mother and that she wanted to hire us to cater and serve for a gathering here at the Helena House.” Jasmine started smiling like a flustered teen. “Oh, Sadie,” she gushed. “We’ve been dying to get into the mansion, and you kept saying it wasn’t ready.”

In the last part she used a whiny inflection, and I cringed. I had a second to absorb her words before she began chattering again.

“The payment was”—her entire body shook—“more than we could refuse.” She stepped closer. “Is Russo rich or something?”

I dismissed her question. “How many are coming.”

“Sixteen.”

“Sixteen!” I hissed, turning the heads of the bustling young ladies. Sucking in a breath, I forced myself to settle down, but it was difficult. “Who did she bring with her?”

Jasmine raised her hand and started counting with her fingers. “She told Monica it would be her, Russo’s brother, a few cousins, and some other men.”

I mulled over her words. “Did she say anything else at all?”

“Just that the guys have hearty appetites and needed to keep their strength up, so for us to plan the meal accordingly. Oh, and no fish. She isn’t a fan of seafood, especially this far from the coast.”

I rubbed my face vigorously.

“Sadie.” Jasmine placed her hand softly on my shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you look like you’re about to throw up. Where’s the Pepto—”

When I dropped my hands, I found Jasmine hovering and frowning.

“Other than being ambushed, I’m fine.” My throat burned and my hands shook. I was starting to understand why Russo nearly fainted when he heard his mom was in town.

This is nothing. Just something to get through. Something much more terrifying than Celene Russo was out there, waiting to kill again.

Jasmine remained planted in front of me, waiting for orders. My head cleared and the panicked feeling vanished.

“Go on and help Monica with the cake. Everything looks amazing. You two did a great job for such a last-minute shindig.” I forced a smile. “I really appreciate all this hard work.”

Jasmine slowly nodded before puckering her lips. “If you need anything in there, Sadie, anything at all, just rub your hands together like this.” She briskly showed me. “I’ll be watching for the signal, and I’ll come to your rescue.”

My face relaxed and my smile became genuine. Jasmine was six years younger than me and a barista at her own quaint café. I was the town’s sheriff. It was funny to think about the perky young woman rescuing me.

“Thank you, but it’s only a dinner party. I’m not expecting to need backup.”

Jasmine swatted my arm as she left. “Oh, I know all about how frightening a potential mother-in-law can be. Monica’s mom still terrifies me.”

I took a step after her. “You’re way off, Jas—”

She paused with one hand on the doorknob and wagged a finger at me with the other. “I see how he acts around you. You might be too busy to notice, but that man is sweet on you.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but Tanya’s voice sliced the air from the other side of the room. “Sadie Mills, get your hiney over here! They’ve arrived.”

I blinked while resentment squeezed my insides.

Here I was, entertaining a bunch of Yankees who just so happened to be criminals, instead of searching for a killer.

And I had to be a good hostess because their money was invested in the Helena House…and they were Russo’s family.

19

It had been decades since this grand ol’ home had so many people in it. Hearing loud voices, I took a deep breath before stepping into the foyer right behind Tanya.

I silently thanked God that she took the lead, walking straight up to the only woman in the group and extending her hand.

“Celene Russo, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Tanya Beaumont. Russo speaks so highly of you.”

Celene shook Tanya’s hand. “I rather doubt that.”

Tanya quickly skipped over Celene’s statement. “I’m thrilled that we can thank you in person for the exquisite fountain out front. Our contractor just got it hooked up. It’s truly amazing.”

“Every mansion needs a proper fountain, and you’re right. It was a stunning sight as we came up the driveway.”

I hung back and scanned the group quickly. Most of the men were in their prime. Athletically built, well-dressed, and with perfect hair—like Russo. A few sported some gray and one gentleman had a very tidy goatee.

I recognized Anthony, Russo’s brother, and his cousin, Jimmy Conti. Both men had visited Possum Gap the previous year. Anthony was a short, smooth-talking man, while Jimmy looked like a brute with his tall frame and the faded scar over his cheek.

These two wouldn’t hesitate to shoot someone or blow something up. I was sure that chaos followed them wherever they went. Not being a fan of Anthony’s bossy rudeness, I had to admit that I admired his loyalty and concern when it came to his younger brother. Russo’s people might drive expensive cars, dress in designer clothes, and eat healthy food at five-star restaurants, but they were still similar to the Dover clan. They took care of their own and looked a hell of a lot better than the Dovers while doing it.

Russo stood next to his mother, and his deep frown told me he’d rather be anywhere else. His rigid stance made my gaze linger on him until our eyes met. He blinked in what I thought was an apology. There was something else in those brown depths that made my senses come alive. Russo wasn’t only annoyed with his family’s unexpected visit. Something weighed heavily on his mind.

Tanya stepped aside. “This is Sadie Mills, Possum Gap’s sheriff and our business partner.”

Celene’s gaze locked on me while we appraised each other. She looked younger than I expected. Barely a wrinkle marred her oval face. I saw where Russo got his distinctive nose and dark eyes and hair. Celene was also a tiny woman, barely five feet tall, but her high heels added to her height. Seeing Russo’s mother wore a long, black coat over a black pantsuit made me want to elbow Tanya and say, I told ya so, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the other woman’s intense scrutiny.

Celene flipped her straight, shoulder length black hair back with a jerk of her head and in the movement, I caught an odd look pass between her and Russo. The hairs went up on the back of my neck.

“Russo tells me you’re a brave woman who takes your law enforcement career very seriously.” Celene stepped up to me.

I thrust my hand out, but she pushed it aside and gave me a hug instead. It was tight and way too familiar for my taste, but growing up in the south, I was used to friendly greetings. I just didn’t expect one from this northerner.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Russo.”

“Don’t you dare address me like I’m an old, stuffy woman. Celene only.” She winked and motioned for Anthony to come forward. “You remember my oldest son, Anthony?”

“Of course.”

I wasn’t as startled when he came in for a quick hug.

Close to my ear, he muttered, “I’m glad to see you haven’t been shot by any hillbillies.”

He stepped back and grinned.

“Yeah, I could say the same thing for you.” I smiled back. “The shooting part, not the hillbillies.”

Anthony laughed and smacked Russo on the back after he moved to stand between his mother and brother.

“No wonder you can stomach the wilderness, bro. This one has a sense of humor and a forgiving nature.”

Russo forced a tight smile as he smoothly changed the subject. “Let us begin the tour.” He turned to Celene. “Mom, you will be in awe.”

Anthony knocked on the wall. “You still have a long way to go, but the bones of this place are excellent.”

Celene’s gaze rose to the coffered ceiling. “It is incredible.” She placed her hand on the newel post and stared at the winding staircase. “So much history. It’s literally a diamond in the rough.”

“Absolutely.” Tanya motioned to the ballroom. “Wait ‘til you see the marble fireplace.”

Celene flashed me a smile before following Tanya into the largest room in the house. Anthony and a few of the other men followed, but I noticed Jimmy remained in the foyer by the door and four of the men went back outside.

Russo lingered at the bottom of the staircase, seemingly waiting for me.

When I stepped closer, we both leaned in. “What the heck, Russo?” I said in a low, urgent voice. “Your mom brought a small army and they’re positioning themselves around the mansion? Why?”

“Nothing gets by you, does it?”

He touched my elbow, and I went into the parlor with him. The act of him closing the pocket doors made me tense up.

He walked to the tiled fireplace that miraculously had a fire burning in it. I knew Billy and Benton had cleaned the mansion’s ten flumes, but I wasn’t aware that we could safely use any of them yet.

When Russo turned around, I joined him at the mantle.

“It’s complicated,” he said.

“Your mother didn’t come to check on her investment, did she?”

“Yes, that part is true. She’s wanted to see the house in person since the day we closed, and I’ve done well to hold her at bay.”

“What changed? Why show up now during a murder investigation?”

“I don’t speak to Mother every day. She’s as busy as I am. Father is presently in Italy, brokering a business deal there, so Mother took it upon herself to make the trip.”

“Does she always bring an entourage of goons with her when she leaves home?”

Russo’s brow rose as he held out his hands to the warmth of the fire. “Mother won’t travel alone, but this ensemble is a larger than normal.”

I controlled my breathing and licked my lips. “I’ll ask again. Why is she here? And your brother? I was hoping not to see him again.”

Russo faced me. “They’re my family and you should expect an occasional visit.”

The breath caught in my throat. We stared at each other for a few long seconds before I turned around and walked to the door. “Fine. I’ll ask Celene directly since you seem to have lost your sharp wit all of a sudden.

“Wait!” Russo thrust his hand forward.

I stopped and walked back to him. “Go on.”

“Early on you were skeptical about why I’d take a job in Possum Gap. Well, mostly what I told you was correct, but there was another reason—”

“You were either escaping the law or a threat from your family’s criminal activities.” I crossed my arms. “I really hoped it wasn’t the law, and I guess the arrival of your people points in the direction of a deal gone bad.”

“That’s why Anthony and Jimmy came to town last time. To warn me that the Flores brothers might have found out that I narced on them.”

“So, you found the perfect place to hide in the hills of southern Kentucky.” I didn’t try to hide the disgust in my voice.

“Don’t you want to know what happened?”

“Does it even matter? We have a lot going on at the moment.”

Russo stood up straighter. “Yes, it does matter. When I told you that I wasn’t involved with my family’s corruption, I didn’t lie. What got me in trouble with a cartel was my high morals.”

I snorted, then lost the smile when Russo frowned deeply at me.

“Please hear me out.” I nodded and he continued, “Frederica was a twenty-year-old college student selling sex to pay her bills. It was my job to figure out who bludgeoned her to death, and I did just that. I did my job. Unfortunately, the DNA evidence pointed to one of the Flores brothers.” He paused to drag his fingers through his hair. “I think there are five of them. They hustled drugs up to my family in New Jersey from Mexico. They were our partners. Well, the other four brothers weren’t happy when the youngest of them was arrested for murder. Neither were my folks or Anthony. They wanted me to lie about the evidence, point to any other suspect—” When he saw my eyes widen, he quickly added, “To another dealer that wasn’t a Flores brother. It wasn’t like they wanted me to frame an innocent man.”

“They did their best to cover up your involvement in the autopsy, and since you were an assistant who was basically doing your lazy boss’s job, it wasn’t too hard to pay a few officials to keep your name out of the file. Then the Russo family located the perfect job for you in Possum Gap. A southern town with a population of eight thousand and surrounded by wilderness was the ideal place to transplant their kid until things settled down and they could safely spirit him back up north.”

By the time I finished, Russo’s mouth hung open and his eyes were saucer sized. “You knew all this time?”

I snorted softly and placed my hands on my hips. “I’m not a dumb hillbilly.”

“I never said that!” He blew out a long breath. “Since I arrived in Possum Gap, I’ve tried to keep the truth from you, and you figured it out on your own. I’m impressed.”

“After the fiasco on Dark Hollow Road with your brother and cousin, I reached out to a friend in Frankfurt who works in the Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations. Upon my request, she dug up some info on you and I filled in the blanks.”

“I wish you’d said something—”

“It wouldn’t have mattered. I’m pleased with your work and hope you aren’t planning to head back to New Jersey any time soon.”

Russo inhaled deeply and took his time exhaling. “It might be safer for everyone if I did go home. Word on the street is that Javier Flores is coming for me.”

I offered him a small smile. “I’m not afraid of your enemies, Russo, but they should be terrified to come here.”

Russo gave a single nod. “True.”

The knocking turned both of our heads before the pocket doors split about ten inches and Tanya’s head popped through the opening. “Can we enter?”

I found humor in her wide eyes and motioned with my hand. “Come on in.”

It was only Celene and Anthony who came through the doors with Tanya.

“What do you think about our progress?” I asked in as cheerful a voice as I could muster.

Celene walked between Russo and me to stand by the fire. Anthony lingered at the door while his gaze swept the room.

Celene held up a glass. The bubbles made me think it was champagne. “Congratulazioni! This is a marvelous estate and one I can see becoming profitable in the future.”

Jasmine poked her head in. She carried a small round tray with more glasses full of the good stuff. Where it came from, along with the goblets, I had no clue.

“Sadie and Russo, are you thirsty?” Jasmine’s voice was loud in the small space.

I saw Celene scrunch her face at the sound. Russo crossed the room and took one of the glasses.

“Thank you, Jasmine,” he said.

I shook my head. Jasmine was gone as quickly as she appeared.

“You may need to import staff from elsewhere,” Celene said.

“Nope. We’re hiring only locals.” I caught Tanya’s nod. “One of the reasons we’re doing this is to improve our local economy and help our citizens by giving them opportunities.”

“Certainly admirable. When the time comes, allow me to send a professional with hostess experience to train your people.”

Celene’s words were smooth, and she was just being helpful, yet my hackles rose. “That’s very generous of you, but we’re interested in marketing the Helena House as a venue with mountain charm. We wouldn’t want to lose our essence.”

Celene’s brows rose, and a smirk played at the corner of her mouth. “You were right about this one, Tony. She’s as stubborn as she is savvy.”

“She’s a good shot as well.” He winked at me.

Tanya hurried to get a handle on the conversation. “Celene offered to book an event here next fall.”

“If we’re open for business—”

“Our projection is September,” Tanya quickly said. “I’ll be taking reservations a few months earlier.”

Celene listened to Tanya, then inclined her head at me. “There’s eighteen in our Signora sisterhood.”

Russo added, “It’s kind of a social club filled for the Italian girls that Mother went to high school with.”

“How fun!” Tanya said.

“For the past forty years, every single year, we’ve gone on a retreat somewhere in the world.” Celene scanned the room. “I think my friends would enjoy sipping mint julips on the expansive front porch of this mansion.”

“Oh, it could coincide with the Fall Meet at Keeneland. It’s a two-hour drive, but maybe start or finish your trip at the historic racetrack?” Tanya looked at Celene and Anthony. “Do you all enjoy racing?”

Celene chuckled. “The way you say you all is very quaint.”

Her attempt at mocking Tanya’s accent was insulting. Tanya smiled and Russo covered his face with his hand.

“I love racing,” Anthony jumped in. “We own a share of a thoroughbred stud in New York.” He shrugged. “I’m pretty good at picking the ponies.”

Russo grunted loudly. “You usually go home a thousand in the hole.”

“That’s not true!” Anthony’s hands danced in the air. “What do you know about it? I don’t remember us going to Belmont together—ever.”

Russo smirked. “That’s because you were too distracted losing.”

With lightning speed, Anthony made it to Russo and smacked him on the back of the head.

Celene took a sip from her glass and shrugged. “Brothers. No matter how old they get, they act like children in each other’s company.”

Russo swatted the air, missing Anthony, who darted out of the way.

Celene turned back to me. “Tanya told me she has a younger sister. What about you, Sadie? I know you have a teenage daughter from a previous marriage. Do you have siblings?”

“No, ma’am. I’m an only child.”

“And your parents? Are they in the area?”

Celene’s face was open and her eyes full of curiosity, but the last thing I wanted to talk about was my folks. “They are no longer with us.”

Russo’s mom reached over and touched my arm. “I’m sorry to hear that. Family is everything.”

I held my breath. For some reason, this woman who I barely knew was causing my emotions to flair.

Russo saved me. “Ma, families aren’t always bound by blood. They can be created, and sometimes those are the best ones.”

“Well said,” Anthony chimed in.

“Sadie and I grew up together,” Tanya said. “We’re as close as sisters, and my Nana Beaumont loved her as much as her own grandbabies.”

Jasmine hadn’t closed the doors and once again she popped in. “Supper is ready!”

Celene’s hand pressed against her heart. “Every time that one speaks, I receive an unpleasant jolt.” She said it barely under her breath, then raised her voice when she asked, “What exactly is on the menu?”

Jasmine grinned. “Considering you wanted the men to go home stuffed, we prepared Granny’s homestyle chicken-n-dumplings and pulled brisket smothered in our version of a Kentucky black barbeque sauce. Your fixings are mac-n-cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread. And of course, we’ll serve you all the best iced tea in Possum Gap.”

Tanya pivoted towards the door. “This menu represents authentic meals that would have been served during the plantation’s heyday.”

“When slaves labored here?” Celene asked.

Jasmine’s eyes rounded right before she left the doorway in a hurry.

“Well, sure,” Tanya started. “The food has been a staple in Possum Gap ever since those dark days.”

Celene stepped up to Tanya. “Being a modern black woman, it doesn’t bother you?”

Again, Russo covered his face.

“I’m starving,” Anthony said. Then he was out the door.

“It’s history, ma’am. And my ancestors worked this plantation, gaining the favor of Mr. and Mrs. Helena. Didn’t Russo tell you about how this very mansion was part of the long and arduous Underground Railroad? The Helena’s were abolitionists.”

Celena gave a firm nod and graced Tanya with a broad smile. “Yes, he told me everything. Ultimately, the progressive nature of the couple who built this elegant home is the reason I put my money into the renovation.” Her smile deepened. “I needed to know that you could sell the story without losing your cool. You passed the test.”

Tanya offered Russo’s mother a closed-mouthed smile before gesturing wide with her hand. They started making their way toward the door. “Did Russo tell you about our resident ghost?”

Celene tilted her head. “Why no, he did not.”

“Then do I have a story to keep you and your men entertained while we eat.”

“I love a good haunting,” Celene gushed.

I didn’t immediately follow the pair from the room and neither did Russo.

“I apologize for my mother—”

“Every family has that one button-pusher.” I snorted softly. “You get what you see with her, and that’s fine with me.”

He straightened his back. “Really? Mother drives most women insane with her strong personality.”

“People like her get things done. I’m glad she’s invested in the success of this place in more than just a monetary way.”

One of Russo’s brows rose. He looked very suspicious. “Why is that?”

“Maybe it means you’ll stay.”

The words slipped out before I properly processed their meaning. When Russo swayed back and smiled, I would have given anything to yank them back into my mouth.

Russo took a step closer, and I backed up. And then my phone rang in my back pocket. I didn’t recognize the local number, and I swiped the screen. “This is Sheriff Mills.”

When a female voice greeted me, I thanked God for the person on the other end.

“Lucinda, how are you? It’s been forever since I stopped by for coffee and gossip.”

My giddiness of receiving a call from the coolest Amish woman I knew, quickly dissipated into horror.

“I’m on my way.”

I hung up and looked at Russo who grabbed his coat that was conveniently on the back of one of the upholstered chairs.

“You’re pale as a ghost, Sadie. What did she tell you?”

“Another torso has been found. This time, tossed alongside the road.”

“Where?”

“At the edge of the Amish community.”

20

Wind blew in my face when I exited the cruiser. Russo was a few steps ahead of me, making it to the body first. Because of the location of the Helena House in relation to this area, we made it to the scene before Buddy or the ambulance could get there.

Dark Hollow Road also led right to the lane that took you to Jewelweed Hollow and the Dover clan’s compound. It was a lonely stretch of roadway where hilly woods dramatically ended right where the Amish’s tidy farmland began.

Instead of joining Russo at what was left of the body, I zipped up my jacket and crossed the road to the two buggies parked in the field. Moonlight sliced through a break in the clouds, lighting the grassy spot where a black horse and the other, a gray, grazed, oblivious to the nearby remains.

Lucinda jogged forward. Martha walked slower next to Bishop Zeke Miller, who matched her cautious stride.

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Lucinda huffed the words out in a rush. “James is home with the children. Marvin Miller and two of the other lads are already riding throughout the community, instructing our people to stay inside with their doors locked.”

I held in a smile. Lucinda was an impressive woman. She had a sharp mind and a take-charge personality that came in handy in a bind.

Several long, blonde strands escaped Lucinda’s black bonnet, whipping around her face. Her cheeks were red, and she crossed her arms tightly over her black coat. The bottom of her teal polyester dress flapped around her ankles.

Martha’s navy dress and scarf blended with her black coat and matching boots. Her mouth scrunched and the creases at the corners of her eyes deepened when she turned her face into the wind. The Amish woman had a plump body and full face. Her quick mind and witty comebacks kept me on my toes. Tonight though, there was none of her usual liveliness. Martha’s gaze was stoney and her eyes worried.

Martha might have been Lucinda’s senior by fifteen years, but they were best friends, and it wasn’t surprising to see them together on this fateful night.

The bishop’s long, scruffy-looking brown beard was peppered with gray hairs and his tan face looked weathered from being outdoors. The man was tall and thin with a hooked nose and sharp, blue eyes. I’d learned during previous encounters that he rarely smiled. His manner was usually solemn. The bishop was uptight, arrogant, judgmental, and pigheaded. At least, that’s what Lucinda and Martha told me in private. I hadn’t spent enough time with him to see much else about his personality.

Bishop Miller was level-headed, though, as were the Amish women, and with someone’s torso lying across the road, it was nice not having to deal with hysterics.

I nodded at Lucinda’s quick explanation of their efforts to protect themselves. “Good. I think that’s wise.”

The bishop, Martha, and Lucinda huddled close. As the wind gusts grew colder, we made a tight circle, closing the gaps.

“Tell us of the other body, Sheriff. What is going on here?” The bishop said in a forceful tone.

I held up a hand. “How about we start with you all answering my questions.”

Lucinda’s head bobbed up and down while Martha gave a less enthusiastic nod. The bishop stood rigidly, alternating between staring directly at me and shifting his head enough to look past my shoulder at whatever Russo was doing with the remains.

I pulled out my little notebook and started jotting down location notes. “Who found the body?”

Lucinda’s hand shot up. “Us.” She gestured at herself and Martha. “Martha and I brought Emaline Yoder soup and bread this afternoon. She slipped in a wet patch in front of her steps last week and broke her ankle, so the women in the community have taken turns bringing her and her husband meals. They’re up there in years, you see.”

“You took Dark Hollow Road as a shortcut?”

When Lucinda saw me frown, she dropped her gaze, digging the toe of her black boot into the dirt. “I’m sorry.”

Martha perked up. “It shaves two miles off the journey and that’s a consideration when we’re traveling in a horse and buggy on a cold, rainy day. Unlike you, we can’t whizz here and there in the warmth and comfort of a car.”

“This isn’t the time or place to argue about logistics,” I said. “It’s your own choice to shun vehicles.” My frown deepened. “After all the warnings I’ve given you both—and the rest of your community—to avoid this section of Dark Hollow Road, you still take it regularly?”

The bishop spoke up. “You have no authority over us, Sheriff. We go where we please.”

My brows arched. “Yet, I was the first person you called when a dead body showed up?”

“He’s an outsider, so the issue falls in your hands,” he said, then narrowed his eyes at me.

I exhaled. The wind was cold enough to pinch my cheeks, but I liked the way it invigorated my senses after the stuffy feeling that had engulfed me while speaking to Russo’s mom back at the Helena House.

Shifting my gaze between Lucinda, who raised her chin slightly, and Martha, I said, “It is your choice to take the route you want, but not too long ago, the Dovers had a shootout with a biker gang down in the hollow. If you happened to drive past their lane at the moment those motorcycles blew through, your horse would have lost its mind.” I inclined my head. “The hollow is a magnet for trouble, and avoiding Dark Hollow Road all together is wiser and safer than the alternative. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.”

Lucinda’s eyes glistened when they met mine. “I promise I’ll go the other way whenever possible from now on.”

I liked the Amish woman’s pluck. She had said it in a way to make me feel better without actually closing the door to taking the route in the future. Lucinda liked to keep her options open.

Martha nodded briskly. She was an impatient woman when not standing in a field on a chilly, wet night. “I was driving, and Lucinda spotted something sticking up out of the ditch. I do not tolerate litter within the community, so I stopped and ordered Lucinda out of the buggy to retrieve whatever it was and toss it into the back of my buggy.”

I shifted my gaze to Lucinda. That couldn’t have been pleasant. “How long ago?”

“Ten minutes at most,” Martha said. “Thank the lucky stars, Zeke drove up almost immediately.”

I turned to the bishop. “Not only do you still take the short cut to the other side of the community after I advised against it, but you also have a cell phone?”

He blew out a hard breath. “After the trouble last year, I decided to carry one for emergency purposes. It came in handy tonight.”

Martha snorted loudly. “The final decision about the cell phone has not been decided by the congregation, Zeke. Do not get accustomed to that simple pleasure. It might be a fleeting thing.”

“Zeke is right in this instance,” Lucinda spoke up. “Without it, we would just be arriving home to make the call on the landline telephone in the community shed.”

The discussion seemed like rambling nonsense, and I dismissed it completely, looking at each of the Amish in turn. “Have you run into any strangers in the community? Perhaps a vehicle you’ve never seen before?”

Lucinda answered while Martha and Zeke shook their heads. “It has been a quiet time for us. Our harvests are brought in and besides preparing for the children’s Christmas school play, there’s been no excitement of late.”

I didn’t realize the Amish allowed their kids to participate in plays. It was a fleeting thought. “None of you appear too distraught. How are you certain this person isn’t one of yours?”

Lucinda’s eyes flared, then skipped over to where flashes from Russo’s camera popped over and over again. “None of our people are unaccounted for.” She paused, frowning, and looked at Zeke. “Is that right, Zeke?”

“I just left a meeting at Jerimiah Yoder’s farm. All of our congregation’s men were there.” He leaned in. “You’ll understand when you see the man’s back. He is touched by evil and most certainly an outsider.” Standing straighter again, he glanced between Martha and Lucinda. “If you have no further questions, Sheriff, we’ll be on our way. It is not safe to travel this night, and I prefer the three of us were home behind locked doors.”

I gave a nod. “Would you like an escort?”

Zeke gave his head a shake. “I have the phone to call you if an issue arises and will see Lucinda and Martha to their farms.”

“If you think of something—anything at all—or see anything suspicious, please call me.”

“I most certainly will.”

The bishop turned to go, but I touched his arm, and he swung back. “Is it possible to ask the other Amish if they have seen anything odd in the community in recent days?”

“Of course. Let me know when it’s convenient for you to return and I will gather everyone at the schoolhouse. We may cancel our Sunday service this week, but we can hold a special meeting if it will put this matter behind us.”

Zeke climbed into his buggy while Lucinda and Martha lingered. “Come, ladies. Let’s be on our way.”

Martha reached for my hands and gave them a tight squeeze. “I will pray for the Lord to guide you and your man over there to a quick resolution of this madness.”

Lucinda gave me a hug. “Do be careful, Sadie. A demon is among us.” Her frown deepened. “And I believe it has more wickedness in store for you.”

“Me?”

“The devil searches for the innocent and honorable as victims. I feel strongly that whoever is doing these sickening acts will not stop until they’ve made a worthy sacrifice to the evil one.”

“Come on, Lucinda. I’m sure James is frantic with worry over you,” Zeke called out from his buggy.

“Wait,” I said when Lucinda started backing away. “What tells you this”—I pointed across the road at the remains—“is a sacrifice?”

Lucinda breathed in deeply through her nose. “When I first laid eyes on the man’s back, I knew.”

Martha snapped the reins, and her gray horse moved forward, rolling to a stop next to Lucinda.

“Speak no more of it or you’ll turn an unholy gaze your way,” Martha told Lucinda before leveling a hard look at me. “You must be strong in body and spirit to win this battle, Sheriff.” She offered a small, tight smile. “I have faith in you.”

Lucinda blinked at me before climbing into the buggy. With a loud snap of his reins, Zeke’s horse surged forward, and Martha’s followed. The sound of the horses’ hooves pounding the pavement lessened while the buggies grew smaller and smaller.

I stood frozen watching the Amish disappear into the dark night. My mind swam with Lucinda’s and Martha’s prophetic words as icy wind nipped my cheeks. Moonlight came and went with the passing clouds and I shivered.

“Sadie!”

Russo’s voice broke through the fog in my head. My muscles snapped back to life, and I crossed the roadway.

Holding my breath, I looked over Russo’s shoulder at the wide shoulders and back of what was left of the man. It stuck out in the thick grass with a shock of pale, puckered skin.

The remains were horrifying, but seeing the word carved into the back made me gasp.

Moloch.

21

Iquickly found my voice and knelt next to Russo. The way he scribbled notes, took pictures, and carried on in a professional manner settled my nerves somewhat.

“Isn’t that another word for the devil?” I asked.

Russo shook his head. “Moloch is considered a demon king or pagan god associated with sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice,” I muttered the word, thinking how uncanny it was that Lucinda came to the same conclusion about the word.

“Usually children,” Russo added.

My heart stuttered and I drew in a breath while I stared at the carving. “It’s awfully neat for writing on flesh.”

“Like our other torso, this one was drained of blood before the killer wrote this on the man’s back. A very sharp instrument was used and as the wounds dried, the skin shrunk back, leaving the defined letters.”

I swallowed and focused on Russo’s steady voice. “When do you think this man died?”

“If I gave you an educated guess from the condition of the body right now, less than twenty-four hours ago.”

“After our other John Doe?”

“Yes. It appears the first John Doe died around seventy-two hours ago. The killer took a day off before adding this victim. I lifted the torso, and the chest has been separated and the organs removed, the same as the first one.”

His statement triggered a thought that quickly vanished when sirens split the night air. The sound gradually grew in volume, and I anticipated we’d have company in a minute or two.

I rose and crossed my arms over my chest. “We may have a serial killer on our hands, Russo. And they’re still in the area.”

“We still can’t rule out multiple killers at this point. Also, I find it interesting that our bodies aren’t local.”

I gave a nod. “We’ve had no missing persons reported and the Amish say they aren’t short anyone either.”

Russo stood next to me. “Did they have any insight at all?”

“No. Between Zeke being the bishop and Martha being the biggest gossip in the community, if anyone was gone or anything strange was going on, they’d know about it.”

“We now have two men that appear to be the victims of ritualistic killings.” Russo removed his latex glove. “How far are we from the Blossom Trailhead?”

I lifted my gaze to the wooded hills to the east. “By way of the crow flying, roughly five miles.”

“Are there any trails nearby that would connect this spot with the Blossom Trail system?”

I forced a smooth breath between my lips. “The entrance to Jewelweed Hollow is less than a mile up the road. There are trails from the Dover compound that connect with the Blossom and Strider Trails.”

“Interesting,” Russo said quietly.

“It wouldn’t be easy to drag a torso around those trails—” I paused and stared into the dark tree line. “Unless…”

Russo tilted his head sharply. “Unless what?”

“They were riding an ATV.”

The quaint farm community filled with blaring sirens and flashing lights. Two cruisers pulled up, followed by the ambulance. At the same moment that Buddy parked, and I immediately went to the driver’s side door, Russo received a phone call that sent him a few yards in the other direction. I watched him turn his back on us when he started talking.

“Good grief. Another one?” Buddy was more agile than his hulking size suggested. He got out of the cruiser in a fluid motion.

I called out to Officer Mendez before he did the same. “Set up a roadblock on Maple Leaf.”

He nodded and backed around, heading the way he came from.

Facing Buddy, I asked, “Is Darcy checking in with the surrounding counties and the database?”

“She sure is. I took the liberty of calling Sheriff Crawford. He’s sending over two officers to do road checks at the state routes leading to the interstate.”

“Good idea. Adam has a large enough force to spare a couple. I doubt our killer has left the area, though.”

Buddy rubbed his square jaw. “What makes you think that?”

I sighed. “Two men dismembered in less than three days? It feels like there’s something more organized going on here than random murders.”

“Damn.”

“They were both mutilated—likely postmortem—and discarded the same way in remote wooded areas accessible by Possum Gap trail systems.” I swallowed down the burning tightness in my dry throat. “Buddy, there’s something else.” My first deputy remained silent, and I continued, “The murders seem to be ritualistic in nature. We could have a satanic cult on our hands.”

“That’s not all we’re dealing with,” Buddy said gruffly. He eyed Russo, who still had his back turned to us. “There’s been a shootout at the Saloon.”

The news sent a shockwave through me. “Any fatalities?”

“I just received the call a mile back and information is sketchy. Officers Fuller and Bailey are on that side of town and are enroute, along with the other two ambulances.” He paused long enough to lick his lips. “We might need this ambulance as well. Can we load up the body and drop it at the morgue in lightning speed?”

I glanced back at the remains. “Russo took photographs and already had a good look at the scene, so, I’d say that’s doable.”

Buddy shouted orders to the EMTs before turning back to me. “I’ll be heading to the Saloon now, unless you want me to stay and clear this scene.”

“You go on, Buddy. I have something I have to check out regarding our newest John Doe.”

His eyes widened. “At least you’ll have Russo—”

“I’m coming with you, Buddy,” Russo said from behind me.

I turned and found his face paler than it had been before, which considering he’d just photographed the butchered remains of another dead man, was saying a lot.

“I think you should come with me, Russo.”

He shook his head. “The shootout involves some of my family’s contingent. I have to be there.”

I swayed back. “I should have guessed.” I rubbed my forehead. “What do you know?”

Russo glanced at Buddy, then back at me. “Not much. Some of the group that traveled with Ma and Tony didn’t come out to the Helena House. They stayed in town and decided passing the time at the Saloon was a good idea.”

Buddy shook his head and lifted his hands. “Let me get this straight. Your kin shot up the Saloon for kicks and giggles?”

“It’s not what you think. The truth will be revealed when we get there.” Russo shifted his gaze back to me. “I’ll give David and Bran instructions about bagging the body. I have everything I need right now.” He patted his leather bag at his side before his brow furrowed. “I wish you’d come with us and leave this case until the morning.”

“I can’t, Russo. There’s a very sick individual in Possum Gap who will likely strike again. There’s no time to switch gears. You and Buddy take care of the situation at the Saloon, and I’ll work on”—I swept my hand at the torso—“this.”

Russo suddenly leaned in so close to my face that his breath warmed my neck. “Please be ready for anything. Don’t trust anyone.” His face hovered too close for too long, and I took a step back.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

It was a humorous statement coming from Russo who wasn’t what he originally pretended to be, but I kept my mouth shut. I was afraid that whoever was killing these men was taunting me, and that was as terrifying as the murders.

Russo called after me, “And Sadie, whatever you do, be careful.”

I waved my hand in acknowledgment as we parted ways, but the anxious look in the depths of his brown eyes sent a shiver through my spine.

22

The treetops bent over Dark Hollow Road, causing a cloud of leaves to frantically take flight in my path. Long shadows danced along the pavement, and the tall grass next to the road swayed back and forth like ocean waves.

My heart was beating like a steady drum, and I forced my breaths to remain calm. Whatever had happened or was still going on at the Saloon was pushed to the back of my mind. Hopefully, innocent people weren’t caught in the crossfire, but with Russo’s criminal family in town, I guessed it was simply a matter of them stirring up trouble with the locals. It should be easier for Buddy to figure things out once he arrived on scene than what I was facing.

I passed the old cabin where the Calhoun family had lived, tortured, and murdered children before they were in a shootout with none other than Russo’s brother and cousin, Jimmy, and then blown up, courtesy of the Italians. The windows were dark, and the porch roof had caved in. A large tree was never cleared where it had fallen over the driveway.

Slowing the cruiser, I made the turn onto the lane that led to Jewelweed Hollow. The rutted gravel was peppered with deep puddles, and I bounced up and down when no amount of maneuvering could save the tires from disappearing into the holes.

I kept glancing at my cell phone sitting on the passenger seat and counted down to the exact instant when the red X appeared over the bars and a circle with a slash across it popped up on the top of the screen.

No reception.

I’m on my own.

I didn’t get far when the sound of a loud engine shattered the still night. Dimming the headlights, I lowered the window and leaned out.

A red truck appeared from around the bend. It was moving fast, and the driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting me. Skidding sideways across the road, it came to a stop a foot or two from the front of the cruiser.

I put the cruiser in park and jumped out. Summit was the first Dover I saw. To my surprise, John exited the passenger side of the pickup truck.

“Damn it, Sheriff. Do you already know?” Summit said.

He stopped in front of me, zipping up his camouflage jacket. I saw the sidearm holstered to his belt loop. John, who pulled on tan coveralls, was in the process of looping the straps over his shoulder like he’d left the hollow in too much of a hurry to do it beforehand. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and his eyes flashed.

“Yeah. It’s on the way to town right now. I wanted to talk to Lucy and your kin about it.” Even though it had been a very long and grueling day, my voice came out with an energetic punch. With everything happening at once, I caught my second wind.

John walked closer after he exchanged a look with Summit. “I don’t think Sadie is talking about the same thing.” He positioned his body to block the wind from me and frowned.

His stoic look made my heart skip a beat.

“Another torso was discovered alongside the road, not two miles from here.” I glanced between them. “Isn’t that why you’re in such a hurry?”

“Oh, my God,” Summit said. He walked a few paces away and rubbed his face.

I turned my attention to John. “What’s going on?”

“Was the torso a man or woman?” John asked.

“Another guy.”

“Older adult or a teen?”

John asked it in such a cautious way that I sucked in a breath before I answered.

“From the large size of it, I’d say a mature male. Are you missing someone?”

John didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out a map from his back pocket. It looked like a sheet out of an old atlas. Holding it up in the headlight for me to see, he pointed. “Here’s the Blossom Trailhead where I found the other body—or what was left of it.” He pointed at the spot where we’d located the man’s organs. “Here is the Strider Trail. Go ahead and point to the exact place of the body you just found.”

I did as I was asked, holding my tongue. John wasn’t the type to waste precious time unless there was good reason to do so.

Summit came back and leaned over the map. “Makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” I nearly shouted. “Do you know the victim? Or better yet, do either of you have a clue who the killer is?”

Summit started towards his truck and looked over his shoulder back at us. “I’ll get one of the ATVs down for you, John.”

John nodded, then he pressed a finger to the map, tracing a line from the first body to the second. He paused for a second and our eyes met before I dropped my gaze again. Where John’s finger stopped, I saw that he’d created a perfect triangle. Studying the third point on the map, I noticed there were no roads anywhere near the spot. It was hilly, wooded, and isolated.

“Where is this?” There was no reason to whisper. We were alone with the wind and the snapping branches, but for some reason, the sound caught in my throat.

“It’s called Morels Gap.” John’s gaze narrowed. “Have you heard of it?”

“Yeah, the ol’ Morels Pioneer Church and Cemetery is up that way, right?”

John nodded.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Summit push one of the two ATVs down the ramp. He went back to the cab of the truck and pulled out a rifle with a strap.

“Arm up, Sheriff,” Summit said. He tossed the weapon at John, who caught it in mid-air.

Knowing these men pretty well, I didn’t argue and went to my trunk. I already had a side arm under my coat, but I picked up more ammo and selected a shotgun.

“Park off to the side, over there.”

Summit pointed to the place he wanted me to go. Then he mumbled something to John before pushing the ramp back onto the bed of the truck and slamming the tailgate. He jumped inside and as soon as the cruiser was out of the way, he sped by, spitting gravel behind him.

I watched Summit flying down the lane. “Where’s he going?

“He’s heading to the Blossom Trail where he plans to intercept us on his ATV at Morels Gap.”

“Us? Do you think the killer is at the church?”

John got on the ATV, but didn’t start the engine yet. “It’s an educated hunch, but yeah, I think it’s the right place to start searching.”

I glanced at my cruiser. “And you want me to tag along with you?”

“After finding out there’s another victim, I think you should join me.”

The thoughtful and slow way John kept talking creeped me out. There was more that he wasn’t saying. I remembered Russo’s warning about not trusting anyone, and staring at John, I hesitated.

“Even with Summit hauling butt, he’ll make it to the gap after we do. What’s the point of splitting up?”

Confusion and indecision overwhelmed my senses. Just then, a whip-or-will began chirping and I held my breath. Old timers said that hearing a whip-poor-will’s chirps warned of bad luck or even a death if chaos accompanied the bird’s song. I’d heard their melody too many times to count and I wasn’t sure if the tingle at the back of my neck or the sudden pounding of my heart was because of the bird’s night song or the faraway look in John’s eyes.

John breathed a long sigh. “We’re covering our bases, like we always do.”

“I don’t understand. When Summit almost drove into me, you two were already on your way out.”

I crossed my arms and spread my legs slightly apart. I wasn’t going anywhere without an explanation that made sense.

“Come here, Sadie.” John held out his arm.

I shook my head. “No. I’m content to stay right here.”

In a blur, John was off the ATV. When he grabbed my shoulders, I went for my gun. He anticipated my reaction and held my wrists.

“Stop struggling, Sadie!”

I swiped my boot, catching his left leg and we tumbled to the ground together.

“Let go!” I twisted and had almost pulled free when he rolled on top of me, pinning me.

Gravel bit into my back while John’s full weight pressed against me. I’d often imagined us being locked horizontally like this, but not in a scramble for my life.

We were both breathing hard.

“Please, just listen to me. I would never hurt you.”

“What are you doing on top of me then?” I hissed the question.

“It’s Crow. He’s missing.”

I stopped moving. John pressed his face to mine, and I allowed him to do it because icy tentacles began to wrap around my heart.

It was only an instant of silence, but I savored it like it was a breath of warm sunshine right before dark storm clouds swallowed the light.

“Chloe is with him, Sadie. They’re both gone.”

23

Iheld on tightly to John’s waist while we bobbed over rough terrain. We’d been at it for about fifteen minutes, and I was still in shock about Chloe. It had been a few hours since I’d seen her at the little house we lived in behind the mansion. Without cell phone reception, I couldn’t call or text my daughter to verify what John was saying. It would cost precious time to have driven back to Dark Hollow Road—time Chloe might not have.

The fear glinting in John’s eyes and the way his voice rasped was enough to get me to jump on the ATV behind him. We might not be on the best terms these days, but I still believed that John was a good man. The same for Summit. They were hillmen through and through, but they loved their kin. As fast as the cousins had been moving, it signaled that they were both sick over the possibility of something happening to Crow.

Questions still nagged, and when John slowed the ATV and parked it between a couple of large rhododendron patches, I was relieved for the absence of the roaring motor. The sudden quiet gave us a chance to talk.

“Thank God for the full moon and the break in the clouds,” John said while he stepped off the ATV. “We never could have made that trip otherwise.”

A memory sparked. “I remember four-wheeling on full-moon nights when I was a teenager.”

John cocked his head. “I can see you doing that.” He sighed. “Too bad you were too snobby to hang around with a Dover like me back then. We would have had a lot of fun.”

His jaw relaxed and he motioned me to follow him.

I didn’t budge, so he stopped moving.

“We’re going the rest of the way on foot? It must still be a couple of miles.”

“Three, actually. I wanted to ditch the ATV far enough away so that no one would hear our approach. Now come on, time’s wasting. We can walk and talk.” The corner of his mouth rose. “I mean, if your stamina permits.”

It wasn’t a time for humor or sarcasm. I dropped my head and started in the direction John had been going. He caught up and fell in stride next to me.

“To say I’m confused is an understatement.” I didn’t glance his way, instead, keeping my gaze locked on the rocky ground. You couldn’t even call it a trail. It was more of a deer path. When it narrowed, John slipped in front of me, so I continued speaking to his back. “First, how are you sure that Chloe is with Crow. Around seven this evening, I saw her in PJs at our house.”

“A lot can happen in nearly five hours, Sadie.” He stopped and lifted his hand, but not in time to keep me from bumping into his back.

Branches scraped together and leaves fluttered in the brisk air all around us. Searching the sky, I saw how fast the clouds were moving. A dog barking turned my head. It was far off, and the wind carried the sound away.

John plucked an oak leaf from the top of my head before he started talking again.

“I was listening for another vehicle. Did you hear anything?”

“Just the dog.” I looked around. The trees’ shadows swayed across the forest floor. It wouldn’t be difficult for someone who frequented these woods to sneak up on us. Luckily, John knew the land better than anyone.

He started walking and spoke quietly while facing forward. “Around eight-thirty, I was with Summit at the high meadow. Several of my cousins were butchering a deer in the pavilion and we had a bonfire going.”

I nodded, listening and picturing a group of red-headed Dovers in coveralls, drinking beer and laughing while performing a task that would put meals on their dinner plates this winter.

“I spotted Crow riding his horse at the edge of the meadow. Chloe was with him.”

The path widened and I moved up alongside John. “On another horse?”

He gave me a small smile. “They were riding together on Bonnie.”

I groaned, rubbing my neck. “I don’t understand her infatuation with him.”

John snorted loudly. “Why, because he’s a Dover? Or that he lives in a single wide trailer with parents who barely eke by while living off the land?”

I swatted the air and jerked my head his way. “I’m not going to lie. In my book, those things don’t put check marks on the pro side.” I let out a shaky breath. “Chloe is a beautiful girl and until your cousin came around, she’d pretty much ignored attention from any of the other boys at the high school.”

“Maybe it’s because they both love horses and being out in the woods. Perhaps, they read the same books or enjoy playing fantasy games.”

“Like Dungeons and Dragons?” I frowned at him.

He shrugged. When he spoke, his voice had lost its edge. “Summit and I used to play with our cousins, Marty and Matt, when we were kids. They both died on the same night from a bad batch of meth that was laced with fentanyl a few years back.” John exhaled. “I hadn’t thought about D and D in forever until Crow mentioned that he and your Chloe needed a couple more players.” He touched my arm, stopping me. “I thought it might be a good way to keep an eye on them.”

My face heated. “They weren’t supposed to be hanging around each other at all, John!” I sucked in a breath. “Lucy and I had an agreement. If I left you all alone to do your thing in the hollow, she’d make sure Crow broke it off with my daughter. Not only did that not happen, but it also appears they’re closer than ever.”

John forced a crooked grin. His brows rose and his voice pitched. “You hate my little cousin so much that you’d barter his interest in Chloe over your usual high morals?”

He had a point, and I felt like crap about it. “Yes, and I would do it all over again if there was a chance of it sticking. The last thing my girl needs is to be tied to a Dover.”

John stepped right into my personal space. I swayed back, but his hand slipped behind my back, holding me close. “Just like me, huh. A Dover isn’t good enough for you or Chloe?”

His breath touched my face, and we were close enough that I felt the warmth of his body.

The sudden urge to throw my arms around him made me mad. I shoved him hard, and he broke away, then started walking again.

I followed closely. “This doesn’t have anything to do with us, John. Get a grip and focus on the kids.”

John grunted and kept going.

My heart pounded and my hands shook. Emotions sucked, and right now, a bunch of them battled each other, making my insides roll with panic.

“Okay, so you saw them out for a nighttime joy ride. What happened next?”

I was glad when he cleared his throat.

“I jogged over to them, and we chatted for a couple of minutes about the possibility of more rain and the dangers of taking a horse into the woods after dark. Crow mentioned he picked up Chloe at the end of the driveway to the Helena House, so I knew she’d snuck out again. I told Crow to take her home immediately.”

“Of course, they didn’t listen to you.”

“They’re kids.” He glanced at me when I stepped up beside him. “Crow told me their route, which was a loop around the southern portion of Dover lands, before promising that he’d take the trail straight to the Helena House property and drop Chloe off at your barn after the ride. He had his compound bow with him just in case they crossed paths with the mountain lion.”

It all made sense. When you had horses, visiting your boyfriend on horseback was normal in these parts. I was glad Crow had a weapon, but not too keen on the thought of throwing a mountain lion into the mix of another potential danger for Chloe. “What makes you think they’re not still out riding?” I pursed my lips. “Or making out in the woods somewhere?”

John stopped and faced me. “A couple of hours after I saw them, Summit and I were heading back to his trailer for a card game when Bonnie came galloping back into the hollow.”

“Minus her riders?”

“Yeah.”

I bent over and blew out a huge breath of relief. “The horse probably got spooked and they’re hiking the rest of the way back.”

John made a face which caused me to straighten my back in a flash. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I can’t really say.”

He started moving and I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.

“Who are you protecting?”

John dropped his gaze.

“Look at me!”

He glanced back up. “I really hope you’re right and they’re fooling around under some moss-covered boulder’s ledge.”

My heart banged in my chest and my muscles were so tight, I thought I’d explode. “Why would you think differently?”

John leaned in. “Sadie, trust me on this. Everything might be perfectly fine, or it might not be. Dover business is our own, but the fact that another body turned up close to home is unnerving.”

“Do you have reason to believe one of your kin is the killer?”

He hesitated and air surged into my lungs.

“Is there a suspect? Tell me, John!”

John licked his lips, and glanced up and then down, before finally settling his gaze on me. “Tell me how you found the last body.” He took a deep breath. “You said it was another torso?” When I nodded, he asked, “Were the organs gone as well?”

“Yes. It was exactly like the Blossom Trail man. Except for one thing.”

A gust of wind was strong enough that I braced my boots firmly to the ground and John did the same.

“Go on,” he said.

“Someone carved the word Moloch onto his back.”

John’s eyes widened, but he remained silent.

“Russo and I think we’re dealing with a satanist, or perhaps multiple people belonging to a cult.”

“That sounds about right.”

John started walking again. We reached a steep place covered with wet rocks and he reached back for my hand.

I didn’t want to take it and could manage on my own just fine, but the fear of slipping and breaking an ankle or my neck because of my stubbornness made me grasp his hand after a few seconds of hesitation.

We made it to the crest of the hill quickly and once there, John released me.

“There was something that I should have asked this afternoon.”

Darker clouds amassed over the ridge. Just when I noticed the air was turning warmer, I saw a flash in the sky. Late autumn thunderstorms were rare. I caught a strong whiff of rain in the air.

“Shoot,” John said as he started walking faster. His head turned towards the ominous clouds.

“You grew up in these hills. Have you heard of anything like these murders before?” I paused, searching for the right way to say something that felt kind of silly. I had to talk louder to keep the wind from stealing my voice. “Like, maybe a murder that involved mutilation that wasn’t reported to authorities?”

John grunted. “My kin don’t carve up people, Sadie.”

“Yes, they do.”

“Well, not like what you mean.”

We reached a very narrow stretch, where to our left was a limestone wall and to the right, a hundred-foot drop to boulders and a creek below. John stopped and without warning, gripped my shoulders and positioned himself behind me.

“This way if you slip, I have a chance to grab you.”

Heights didn’t freak me out, but the pummeling wind created a dangerous situation. Touching the smooth stone of the natural wall, I took small, careful steps. It felt like forever before the path widened and there were a few feet between me and a fall that would result in certain death.

John caught up. We should have remained single file, but he squeezed beside me. “Did you ever hear about ol’ lady Crenshaw?”

I hadn’t heard the name since high school. “That murder was solved,” I said with confidence that I didn’t entirely feel considering the recent mutilated bodies turning up.

“Lady Crenshaw died a horrible death nearly twenty years ago, and her son was named her killer. That much is truth.”

“What do you know about the circumstances?” My curiosity was piqued.

“She lived at the edge of the Amish settlement,” he said. “That was before there were so many Amish. I don’t think it was even a proper community until a few years later.”

“I remember that her adult son, who also happened to be a drunk, said that he found his mother hanging from the porch rafter. She’d been gutted and her heart and liver were discovered baking in a casserole dish. He went for help and when he returned with the cops, the body was gone—”

“Lady Crenshaw had disappeared, but her heart was still cooking in the oven.”

My thoughts sharpened. “Bugsly Crenshaw was arrested for his mother’s murder and accused of eating some of her remains. He was convicted and would have served life in prison if he hadn’t been knifed by his cellmate five years into his term. He died on a prison floor.”

“I figured you’d know your Possum Gap crime history.” He slowed and cast a sideways look at me. “Didn’t you ever wonder what happened to the Crenshaw woman’s body?”

“That was long before my law enforcement career, but I think it’s generally believed that Bugsly disposed of the body before he contacted authorities. There’s a whole lot of acreage around the Crenshaw house to bury a body that might never be found.”

John eyed me. “What if Bugsly didn’t murder his mom?”

“Do you know something that no one else in this town knew then or now?” The way he danced around the subject kept me holding my breath while I waited for a bombshell to drop.

“Granny Gerrie told us kids stories around the campfire and a tale about Lady Crenshaw was one of her favorites.”

I softly snorted. “Figures.”

The clouds lit up again, and this time, I heard a rumble of thunder. As fast as the clouds were moving, I wouldn’t be surprised if the storm skimmed right by us. At least, that’s what I hoped for.

John chuckled. “I miss her. Granny loved scaring the children.”

“And the rest of us.” I smirked at John, and he smiled back.

“I know you’re not her biggest fan, but bear with me.” The trail became crowded with young hemlocks, and he paused to push the soft branches out of our way. “In Granny’s telling, when ol’ lady Crenshaw was a young woman, she dabbled in witchcraft. Because she opened herself to the devil, she was damned to be eaten by one of the wicked one’s followers. And the person who feasted on Lady Crenshaw would absorb her power.”

We entered a darker part of the forest, where a mixture of wispy hemlock trees brushed against giant ones. It was one of a handful of virgin forests still left in the area that I didn’t even know existed until now.

“That’s incredible,” I muttered.

“It doesn’t matter whether it makes sense or not. As long as the person doing the killing believes, the victim is doomed.”

“No, not that.” I slowed my steps and looked up. “They must be a hundred feet tall.”

Guarded by the huge trees and surrounded by a low ridge that formed a bowl around the forest, the wind didn’t bother us here. It was like being in the eye of the storm. The night was quiet and steady beneath the giants.

John’s voice lost the doom and gloom, becoming animated. “The tallest ones are easily a hundred and fifty, with trunks measuring thirty feet. This is one of the spots I look for mushrooms. They thrive in old growth forests.”

I caught a trace of hickory smoke in the air and tilted my head to inhale the pleasant scent deeper.

John noticed what I was doing. “The smoke could be coming from anywhere.”

“No one lives up here, and I doubt anyone’s camping this time of the year.” I searched the area. There was nothing but tree trunks as far as the eye could see.

“There are hunting huts at this elevation.” John started again and I pivoted to catch up.

“This is state forestry.” I rolled my eyes at what I was about to say. “I guess it doesn’t matter in a place where rangers can’t patrol. Is there even any kind of road left leading to the church and cemetery?”

John shook his head. “It was washed away during the flood of sixty-seven. You can’t tell it was ever there. Trees have grown up in the place where the road used to be. The only way there is by foot, horseback, or ATV.”

“John, stop.”

He turned and slowed but kept going.

“Please.”

“We need to hurry,” he said before stopping next to a moss-covered tree trunk as wide as a small car.

“You haven’t explained to me why you believe Crow and Chloe are in danger or why Morels Gap is our destination.” I spread my arms wide. “We’re in the middle of nowhere and it’s the dead of night. I have the remains of another unknown man on my hands, along with a shooting at the Saloon. I think you owe me more information than a story about a sick individual who likely killed and ate his mother two decades ago.”

“I bet whatever went down at the Saloon has something to do with your boyfriend’s mafia family.”

John might be right, but it didn’t matter. “Russo is not my boyfriend and considering your own kin, you shouldn’t be throwing stones.”

“Probably not.” He rubbed the smirk off his face and frowned. “Just trust me, Sadie. Hopefully, I’m wrong and this will be something we can laugh about later. Regardless of the outcome, I’m not too mulish to say out loud that it’s always a pleasure spending time with you.”

“We end up traipsing through the woods way too often, and you seem to show up when calamity breaks out.” I placed my hands on my hips and dipped my chin. “Why is that?”

He didn’t hesitate. “It might be your job to protect everyone else, but it’s mine to make sure you’re all right.”

“No, it’s not. We’re friends and all—”

“More than friends. You won’t admit it, but someday you will. Hopefully, I won’t have moved on by then.”

The air left my chest, and I sagged a little. “I do trust you, John. When this is over, and depending how it ends, we can meet for a coffee at the café.”

John’s brow rose. “That doesn’t sound like much of a date.”

“It’s a start. Take it or leave it, and I’ll be fine either way.”

John grinned. “I’m not a greedy man. It’ll do.”

His words hung in the air until a low scream shattered the stillness. The hair on the back of my neck shot up and every muscle in my body tensed. It was a primitive response to a threat that people in these hills faced hundreds of years ago. Without even seeing the source of the intermittent screeching, I knew exactly what it was.

Instinctively, John and I maneuvered to stand back-to-back. I held my handgun, and John was ready with his rifle.

“It’s not after us, Sadie,” John said in a harsh whisper.

“How do you know that?” I hissed out the words.

It was darker under the canopy of branches. Another flash of lightning lit the forest, and my eyes darted under the trees.

“It’s a mating call or possibly a warning. The big cat is communicating with another one.”

I held my breath, my heart banging in my chest. Humans were usually predictable, while wild animals were the opposite. Their nature was erratic, especially a large predator.

But John’s unflinching back pressed firmly against mine made me pause. Perhaps if we remained very still, we wouldn’t have to kill it?

Storm clouds closed in above us and the forest became even darker. Then the screaming stopped.

I remained frozen and silent. Every inch of me was prickly alert.

Counting the seconds, I couldn’t have said a prayer if I’d wanted to. Survival was the only thing on my mind.

A series of flashes lit the forest.

John shouted, “Look up!”

He shoved me aside at the exact moment a large blur raced by. I lifted my gaze to the tree we cowered beneath and saw the mountain lion leap.

I didn’t have to shoot. The huge beast landed on the other one. They rolled, screeching, screaming, and growling.

John and I jumped to our feet and started running in the opposite direction.

Lightning was immediately joined by a loud clap of thunder. Then it began to pour.

The ground turned to mush, and it was hard to keep up with John in the deluge. I could hardly see. As quickly as I wiped my eyes, they were once again filled with rainwater, which fell so fast and furiously that it stung my cheeks and blinded me.

I thought I heard John, shout, “Sadie!” but the sound was muffled by a gust of wind.

This time when lightning flashed, I saw its jagged path through the air. It struck one of the giant trees with a sudden blinding light. The thunder was deafening, and a staticky sensation traveled over the wet ground, right up through my body, knocking me off my feet.

The explosion split the air. I couldn’t see John, but when I blinked and another flash of lightning lit the sky, I saw the outline of the tree breaking.

Still tingling, I jumped to my feet and ran for my life.

There was a swoosh behind me, but I didn’t look back. Forward was the only way to go, although I didn’t have faith that I’d outrun the falling tree.

Pumping my legs and praying that I wouldn’t slip, I heard the tree crashing through other ones on its way down.

Branches dropped from the sky, and just as the tree smashed to the ground, I leaped.

The forest floor was gone.

I kicked my legs and flapped my arms.

There was nothing but pouring rain and air on all sides.

Damn. I must have run right off a cliff.

It was my last thought before darkness dragged me the rest of the way down.

24

The sound of cawing woke me. I blinked into the sunlight, shading my eyes with a hand. Dozens of crows dotted the sky, swishing upwards in a wide swath, then dropping dramatically in swooping, hairpin turns. Judging from the sun that barely grazed the hill peaks, it was early morning. The smell of wood smoke was stronger than before, and the back of my legs were damp.

I held my breath and focused on wiggling my toes and bending my knees in turn. My body ached all over, which I thought was a good sign. Pushing up into a sitting position in the grass, I rolled my neck and stretched my back.

After inhaling deeply and giving my head a gentle shake to clear it, I muttered, “My guardian angel must have worked overtime last night.”

I swiveled to look behind me. The hillside was steep but covered in tall grass. Branches from the downed tree stretched over the edge where I must have gone over.

Relief that I was alive and not broken was short lived. I scanned the area. John was nowhere to be seen, but I sucked in a breath when the top of the white steeple poking through a yellow canopy caught my eye.

Morels Gap Church. The pioneer cemetery would be hidden nearby in the trees. From this vantage point, I found a meandering creek cutting through a slender valley, where jagged rock formations rose straight up on each side of it.

Grunting, I rose on wobbly legs. In all my years living in these parts, I’d never been here. Most of Possum Gap was wilderness, rarely traveled by anyone except mountain men like John. What made this particular spot intriguing was the church and cemetery. There’s no doubt that for a short time, a group of frontier settlers lived here. They farmed this little valley, raised their families, worshipped in that church, and were finally buried in the cemetery. Something happened in the early eighteen hundreds that forced the settlers to leave the valley. I remember Mr. Dobbs, my favorite high school history teacher saying that he’d hiked to the church with a group of paleontology students from the University of Kentucky on a field trip during his college days. He told the class that the newest tombstone had a death date of November, 1811.

Mr. Dodds speculated the Shawnee or perhaps the Chickasaw Native Americans drove the settlers from the land, but there’s no recorded information about the settlement or its demise. The church, cemetery, and a few piles of stones that used to be chimneys were the only signs that anyone ever lived here. Mr. Dodds had mentioned the church was well-built and up until the 1970s, someone had visited the remote location to paint the exterior and had even replaced the tin roof a couple of times in the past hundred years.

The church’s keepers were as much a mystery as the people who had built it.

Taking a breath, I lifted my face to the warm sunshine. The temperature had risen from the night before and only a few puffy clouds dotted the brilliant blue sky. I frowned at the crows, still flying in unison. A murder of crows. Their constant cawing made me shiver.

While I started limping in the direction of the steeple, I wondered where the mountain lions were and if they’d escaped the crashing tree. Since they were animals and more in tune with nature, they probably fared just fine. Their battle was the only thing that would have injured one or both.

After several steps my legs loosened, and I sped up. Reaching inside my jacket, I found that in the chaos of running for my life, I’d holstered my gun. When I gingerly pulled out my cell phone, I discovered the screen cracked. I tried to turn it on, and nothing happened.

Not wanting to think about the possibility that John was crushed beneath the giant tree or eaten by a mountain lion, I trudged forward. I didn’t hear any sounds other than the crows and the wind. Climbing back up to the place where I’d rolled down the hill would have cost a lot of energy and taken me away from John’s original destination. At least seven hours had passed since the lions and storm had separated us. If John had survived, he would probably make his way to the church. Summit had also been on route to the same location, making it the most sensible way to go.

While I walked, I thought about the Saloon. Did anyone die? Was Buddy able to rein in the Russo family and whoever they were fighting? The questions made my head hurt.

Mostly though, my mind kept replaying the night before over and over. Chloe had been her usual sassy self. Considering her recent escape to spend time with Crow, it didn’t surprise me that she’d sneak out to meet him again. She was a teenager doing teen things. The part that was difficult to grasp was that she was actually old enough to be doing them in the first place.

When did my kid grow up, and how did I miss it? I’d been so wrapped up in my career for the past few years, I’d lost track of the passage of time. And especially how precious these years were.

In the bright light of morning, I felt silly that I’d jumped on the ATV with John without argument. Chloe was more than likely home in bed, still sound asleep. She would wake up thinking her mother was none the wiser to her late-night shenanigans with her Dover boyfriend.

When I got home, I would sit down and have a have a heart-to-heart with my daughter. Her reckless behavior couldn’t be tolerated any longer. There will be changes. We still had eighteen months before she graduated, and instead of worrying me to death about her whereabouts, I would make sure the girl was too busy and tired to get into mischief. A part-time job at the café and volunteering for the after-school kids’ club would be a good start.

The ground sloped downward, and I had to walk sideways to keep from falling. My limbs were sore and weak, and I wasn’t surprised when my foot caught on an exposed root, and I tumbled forward. Grasping for the branches of a bush, I missed, then rolled a few times before finally stopping on packed dirt.

Pushing off the ground, I looked around. I stood on a well-worn path that was wide and clear enough for an ATV to travel over. Feeling a burst of energy, I realized I’d inadvertently found a trail that appeared to go in the same direction as the church.

Speeding into a slow jog, I tried to watch my steps while covering the ground quickly.

A flash of color caught my eye, and I stretched my legs until I reached it.

The pink knitted cap was caught on a branch. My heart fell into my stomach when I touched the soft material, then brought it to my face.

Inhaling deeply, I smelled her—I smelled Chloe. It was a Christmas gift from Tanya the previous year.

This was miles from Jewelweed Hollow and the Dover compound. How did Chloe’s cap end up here, in such a remote location?

John knew more than he’d told me. He expected Chloe would be here. Why keep secrets unless he was protecting someone?

As fear and anger flooded my body with adrenaline, I stuffed the hat in my pocket and took off.

Please, God, let me make in time.

25

Ancient maple trees dotted the graveyard where many of the weathered markers were broken or upheaved by roots. Even if I had stopped to try to read the inscriptions, I wouldn’t have been able to. Most were worn to almost smooth surfaces. The gravesites were plain and unassuming. Tall grass and small trees sprouted between the headstones.

The white-sided church seemed to stand guard over the cemetery. It’s walls were straight and while there was peeling paint, a rusty tin roof, and loose boards, the structure was in shockingly good condition. A slender steeple and a single doorway with cement steps leading up to it completed the picture.

I dodged the markers, jumping some and running around others. Leaves twirled through the air and the crows fell silent. The earthy scents of pine needles, decaying leaves, and dirt filled my nose, and the sound of water bubbling over rocks reached my ears.

The temptation to shout my daughter’s name was great, but I remained as silent as I could. Controlling my heavy breathing and careful not to make a misstep, I decided that stealth was my only option. Not knowing what I was dealing with, I didn’t want to announce my arrival.

Was a killer who enjoyed chopping up his victims lurking somewhere nearby? I hoped not. Still not able to wrap my mind around finding Chloe’s knit cap, my heart pounded while I struggled to organize my thoughts.

Making a dash to the church had been impulsive. The primitive building was the only one around for miles. My gut insisted that the church was the key to everything. Lonely looking, it stood there, surrounded by golden trees and creepy, gray tombstones. Brilliant sunshine glared off the tin roof.

Inhaling deeply, I stretched my legs and covered the last thirty feet at a sprint. Once my hands touched the wooden siding, I spun around and kneeled, my back against the wall. Surveying the area around the church, I didn’t see any signs of recent human activity.

A soft popping sound turned my head. On the rotted remains of a very old and very large tree stump was a squirrel cracking a walnut with its teeth. Wind whistled through the headstones, and I watched a very short-lived leaf-devil twirl through the cemetery before dropping its leaves where the forest began.

I listened hard before standing and starting down the side of the church. Since the forest went right up to the back of the building, I went that way, hoping to use the trees for cover. My heart settled a bit. Not immediately finding signs of human usage was surprising.

Reaching the back wall of the church, I pulled out my gun and held it close while I peeked around the corner. The same type of cement stairs at the front door led to a single back door. I found hard-packed dirt, fallen tree limbs, and the remnants of a collapsed shed. Scanning the trees first, I walked lightly along the back wall until I came to the stairs. While the solid wooden door was intact, the knob was missing.

Pausing to listen, then looking around once more, I went up the steps and bent just enough to peer through the hole. The slight air movement caused dust to lift and float beyond the doorway. Dirty windows allowed some sun through, lighting the long, empty room. Even the pews had been removed. A piano covered in grime pressed up against the right wall, and a thick layer of dust covered the floors so completely it was difficult to see the edges of the wide baseboards. I didn’t see any footprints or the telltale signs of human inhabitation, like trash or blankets.

No one had stepped foot in the church for years, maybe even a decade or more.

In a flash of movement, a hand covered my mouth, and another went around my waist, grabbing my wrist that held the revolver.

“Shhh. It’s John.”

My heart nearly came out of my chest, but hearing his voice close to my ear, I slumped against him.

He let go.

I pressed my hand to my heart. “Damn it. I could have shot you.”

I turned around to find John carefully stepping down.

“What in the world!” I rushed to his side.

John had rigged his hoodie up as a split of sorts. A large swath of it was caked in dried blood.

“You fared better than me when the trees started falling.”

His grin made me feel better. When I tried to touch his arm, he stepped back.

“It hurts, Sadie. Don’t fool with it.”

“Multiple trees fell?”

His eyes darted around nervously. “That big one took two smaller ones down with it.” He paused and stared at me, inhaling deeply. “I thought you were dead, Sadie. I searched around the tree and didn’t find you,”—he sucked in a breath—“After I wrapped the gash on my arm, the sun started to rise and I could finally see properly. I made my way to the edge and looked over.”

I licked my lips. “Did you see me?”

He nodded. “I had to go along the edge until I reached a switch back to make my way down. By the time I got there, you were gone.”

“And you tracked me here?”

“Yeah, and I was surprised to find you moving so fast.” He touched my shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“Weirdly enough, I am.” I pulled Chloe’s hat out of my pocket. “I found this. It belongs to Chloe.” My heart froze when his eyes widened. He didn’t try to take it. “My girl is somewhere out here, John. How is that possible? What aren’t you telling me?”

When John opened his mouth to speak, a gunshot blast echoed through the valley. As one, we ran to the edge of the cemetery.

“That was close,” John said.

“Less than a mile.” I pointed above the treetops. “There! Smoke!”

John removed the rifle carefully from his shoulder. “Is your gun loaded?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” He gestured towards the forest. “Stealth will be our advantage. Follow me.”

John took off in a stilted jog and without another plan, I followed him, saying a silent prayer that I could trust John.

26

The smell of hickory smoke grew stronger and although John tried to move quietly, he startled a flock of grackles roosting in the trees. They took flight in a flurry of chirping and flapping wings.

“Dang,” I muttered. Anyone in the vicinity would notice that.

John increased his speed. He must have realized the same thing.

We were heading uphill, in the direction of a cliff. Between gaps in the trees, I saw a solid rock wall and a boulder that would provide an excellent view of the entire valley. Sun shined onto the spot, and a hawk screeched as it flew over it.

My lungs felt like they would burst, but I kept up with John. Any pains I felt earlier vanished as adrenaline rushed through my body. It made me swift and kept me from tripping.

John suddenly slowed, grabbed my hand, and tugged me behind the wide trunk of a poplar tree. He made a shushing sign, then took a deep breath. I was pressed against his chest, while his back was to the tree.

Carefully leaning past his shoulder, I stretched to see around the trunk. There was a cave opening that had to be twelve feet tall and the same width. In front of it was a fire pit with flames streaking upwards. I saw a metal rod across it and two pots hanging there. Those things processed quickly in my mind. The horror behind the camping scene was what caught my attention.

Hanging upside down from the nearest tree was a naked body. It was male, and the arms and head had been removed. A gray bucket caught dripping blood. A table to the left of the corpse held a neat line of tools, including hack saws and a variety of knives.

The scene was straight out of a how-to-butcher a deer video. Except it wasn’t a deer. I would have heaved, but I managed to push the fact that the body was a person and not an animal to the very back of my mind. A sweep of the area and I didn’t find anyone else—living or dead. Tilting my head, I strained to listen. The only things that reached my ears were the crackling fire and shaking branches.

John pressed his mouth to my ear. “We don’t know how many we’re dealing with. Splitting up is our best option.”

I gave a single nod and watched John carefully sidestep to the next tree. Once there, he peeked around it, then back at me. Once I gave him the thumbs-up, he disappeared into the shady forest.

My gun was in hand, and I took a deep breath while I scanned the area again. Boulders and rocks littered the leaf-covered ground. Here, pine trees and hardwoods towered over my head, but where the fire pit was, it was mostly clear. The entrance into the cave was inky black and above the abyss, a narrow slab stuck out from the hillside. It was shaped like a raptor’s head. Eagle Stone. Sun shined onto the open area. On any other day, it would have been a splendid place to view the surrounding hills. Unfortunately, the peak also gave a bird’s-eye view of the tree where the body hung upside down.

That made three victims that I knew about.

My heart beat steadily and I took controlled breaths to stay focused. Chloe was nowhere to be seen, which kept me calmer. Hope was all I had at this point.

Where are you, Chloe? Are you out here somewhere, cold and frightened? Or worse…

Bright sunlight combined with autumn colors, and the tangy scent of pine needles, created an almost dreamlike experience. Nothing about this was expected.

“Sheriff!” a woman’s voice called out in a harsh whisper. “Help, me Sheriff.”

I spun around and moved sideways to the sound.

“Sheriff.”

Terrified at what I’d find around the cluster of mountain laurel bushes, I crept slowly.

Sunshine lit her face, and she smiled at me. I recognized her instantly.

Dropping beside her, my gaze swept over her body. She crouched on the ground, wearing a long, black dress and a black sweater. Her boots were brown, and her nose stud gleamed in the sunlight.

“Josie,” I whispered. “Are you injured?”

“Is he gone? Did you kill him?”

“Who?” I searched over my shoulder.

“The big man with the ax.” Josie’s eyes searched past me and her head movements reminded me of an agitated bird. “He killed Chris—I mean Charles, and now he’s after me.”

“Have you seen anyone else? A teenage girl and boy?”

Josie wrinkled her nose. “No. It’s just me, Charles, and of course, the killer.” Her voice rose to a higher volume, and she jumped to her feet. “Give me your gun! I have to protect myself.”

“Hush!” I whispered. “Hide in the bushes while I look around.”

“I don’t feel safe.”

No, I’m sure you don’t, since the guy you picked up last night is dangling upside down from a tree over there.

“It’s all right. We’re going to get out of here soon enough. I just want to make sure no one is going to sneak up on us.” I motioned at the thick bush. “Get inside there. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Her face twisted and she started to cry. “You’re leaving me without a weapon?”

“That’s right. If you’re hidden, you won’t need one.” I didn’t have time to settle her nerves, but I softened my voice. “Please, go on into that bush. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

She stood there trembling for a moment while the wind shook the trees and leaves scattered across the ground.

She finally nodded and said, “Hurry,” before ducking into the bushes.

I turned around and started back towards the church and had only gone a few steps when I heard movement behind me.

I wasn’t quick enough.

Something struck my head before I fully spun around.

In that moment, I recalled the logs on the ground next to the mountain laurel and I realized that I’d made a terrible mistake.

27

Despite my throbbing head, I lifted it and blinked open my eyes.

The sun was close to the same place in the sky. Hardly any time had passed.

Smoke flooded my face, and I couldn’t stop myself from coughing. I tried to sit up and found I couldn’t.

I was hog-tied. A rope was wound tightly around my ankles and stretched to my wrists behind my back. Fighting my binds, I grunted, trying to roll away from the fire pit.

Giggling stopped my movements. I went limp and turned my head.

Josie sat on a stool, only a few feet away, gliding a long blade across a sharpening stone.

Her jaw relaxed when she saw me staring at her.

“Oh, you’re not so tough now, Sheriff.” She giggled some more. “You’re about to be supper.”

“If I’m already dead, can you at least explain why you’re killing and cutting up men?”

She smirked. “And now, a woman.”

I relaxed as best as I could. The rope dug into my flesh, and the unnatural way I was restrained made it difficult to hold my head up. My heart pounded so hard, I wondered if Josie could hear it. Realizing the more tense I was, the more my body hurt, I inhaled deeply and slowly blew the breath out, willing my muscles to go slack.

Stay sharp, Sadie. It’s fine. Everything is okay. I’m this lunatic’s first woman, which meant Chloe is not one of her victims.

I needed to keep her talking until John could help me.

“Why, Josie? Is that even your name?”

“Nope. I guess it won’t hurt to tell you who I really am.” She cocked her head. My name is Colleen Crane.”

Crane. My head felt heavy with drastic understanding.

“Anabella Crane is your grandmother,” I said.

Colleen’s eyes widened. “You’re a clever one. I’m not surprised. Women are definitely brighter than men.” She thrust her thumb at the hanging corpse. “Especially ones like him. Thinking only with their dicks got them killed. You’re different, though. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I’d ever have an opportunity to absorb such a worthy soul.”

Absorb? My head still felt a little woozy from the strike and the strangeness of the scene around us. Golden leaves danced across the dirt while the sun warmed my face.

“Are you talking about cannibalism?” I ventured.

Colleen paused from her sharpening. “Oh, it’s not that. Sure, it technically is, but there’s a grander purpose than just filling my belly.”

I felt calm, almost sleepy. Smoke wafted around me, and birds chirped in the treetops.

“So, it’s some kind of a ritual then?”

Colleen narrowed her eyes, staring. “I serve Moloch. I have since I was a girl, the same as my mother and grandmother.”

I swallowed. My mouth was dry. “How did that come about?”

She slid the blade over the stone while she talked. “Grandmother Crane was raped by her father. When she was old enough to run away, she did. Anabelle hitchhiked around for months before she settled in Chicago. There, she was employed at a meat market where she met my grandfather.” Colleen swung her hair out of her face. “He turned out to be a vile man, beating her so badly once that she miscarried her first pregnancy. The abuse went on for years, but something else happened during that time.” Colleen looked past me. “She met a small group of Moloch worshippers. She kept it to herself but learned as much as she could.”

“How would devil worship help her situation?”

“Moloch is not the devil, but a very powerful god. When you make a sacrifice to him, you are rewarded. The worthier the gift, the greater the reward.”

I had so many questions and wondered how long the crazy woman would sit there answering them. “And eating your victims is part of the sacrifice?”

Colleen smirked. “That’s where the reward comes in. I gain their power when I consume another soul.”

My neck grew tired, and I dropped it back to the ground. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

I caught a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. Colleen jumped through the flames and landed next to my head. I tried to roll away, but her hand caught my neck and rolled me back into her.

“It’s a sacred act and it works.” She leaned close and growled out the words.

Colleen smelled of rank sweat, and I wrinkled my nose.

Anger, discomfort, and the fact that Chloe was more than likely somewhere safe made me brave. “Look at you. You’re dirty and you smell bad. You’re in the middle of the woods, carving up a dead man, and contemplating murdering a sheriff. Not the stuff success is built on if you ask me.”

Colleen remained hovering over my face. “No one’s asking you and I’m not contemplating anything. I will kill and consume you.”

“You won’t get away with killing me. People know I’m in this part of Possum Gap, searching for clues about the two dead men in my morgue. The only reward you’ll get is life in prison, and possibly even a death sentence.”

Her cheeks turned redder and her eyes flashed. “This is real! A person’s life force holds power and if I consume yours, I’ll do amazing things.”

“Like burn down a psychiatric hospital. That’s what happened to your grandmother, isn’t it? She was deemed insane after killing people’s pets and ended up in a hospital. The fire consumed her as well. Your mom went to live in foster care, but her mother’s evil beliefs carried through her to you. Right?”

Colleen leaned back on her heels. Her back was close to the fire, but she didn’t seem to mind the heat. “I’m impressed. You have done your homework.” She chuckled. “Don’t you see? You being here shows that my sacrifices have worked.”

Keep her talking, Sadie.

“It must have been easy to hunt for victims in bars, right? Even bars as far away as Corbin?”

Her gaze lifted and she appeared to be watching the leaves that were carried away by the wind when it gusted harder.

“Hunting. I guess that’s what I do. But I’ve never been to Corbin, so you can’t pin that one on me.”

Confusion ripped through my head. “How many lives have you taken, Colleen?”

“Three, and one before the hosp—” She stopped talking and frowned.

I wished that I could sit up and look this crazy woman in the eyes. “I see now.”

Her head jerked my way. “What do you see?”

“Years ago, you must have made your first kill and got caught. Like your grandmother and probably your mother, you ended up in an asylum. When were you released, Colleen?”

“Clever, clever.” She blew out a tired sigh. “I killed a man when I was only twenty-two-years-old. It happened after I was shunned from the man I loved and his family. I drifted for a while and ended up in a bad situation, where I fought back.” Her gaze drifted to the body. “It wasn’t anything like this. I didn’t have time to do what I wanted before the cops showed up. I pleaded self-defense, but because of my ideas about things, the doctors said my head was messed up. I was in that rotten place for eight years, and after years of working to prove to everyone that I was healed, I was finally released a few months ago. I didn’t have much time to accomplish my goals, so I got straight to work.”

“Goals?”

“My magic number is seven and that’s how many souls I promised to claim for Moloch.”

I hesitated. “And you’re up to four?”

“Five.”

“But you said you only killed once before—”

“The fifth was a different kind of sacrifice, but it still counts as a soul. With you, I’ll be at six, then just one more to take and I’ll finally be free.”

“Free of what?”

“The voice of Moloch. Once I’ve achieved my goals, he’ll stop whispering in my head. Then, it will end.” She lifted the knife, and the blade flashed in the sun. “I’m sick of talking to you. You can’t delay it any longer. It will be mostly painless. I’m sure the cut will sting, but once I slit your throat, you’ll quickly lose consciousness while you bleed out. I drugged the men and the moment they went to sleep, I started butchering them. There wasn’t any talking. You’re lucky in that department. You’ll close your eyes knowing my story and why your death wasn’t in vain.”

I didn’t understand her logic at all. But mentally ill people rarely made sense. “What is your connection to this place?”

Colleen’s smile chilled me to the bone. “I suppose it won’t matter to tell you the rest of it. She gestured with her hand at the cave and then the overlook. “I picked this place because it holds deep magic and I came here years ago with my first sacrifice. The natives knew it, and even the stupid settlers built their church nearby because they thought it brought them close to their God, but it wasn’t so. The trails are handy, and I easily purchased an SUV and trailer to pull the ATV with money I had before I was arrested and that was returned to me upon my release.”

“The SUV Charles drove was yours?”

“That’s right. It gives a man a big head when you let them drive your car, don’t you know that?”

“Where is it now?”

“It’s parked behind a thicket of brush off Dark Hollow Road, and the ATV is just beyond this cave.”

I quickly digested what she said, and it made perfect sense. That’s how she moved the torsos.

“Why dump the organs in a separate location than the torsos?”

Colleen shrugged. “I needed to evade law officers like you for as long as possible to complete my goal of making the rest of the kills.” She grinned. “But I thought it would be fun to freak everyone out at the same time.”

“There’s something else.” I lifted my chin towards the butchered man hanging from the tree. “Is that Charles, or did the torso at the edge of the Amish settlement belong to him?”

She grunted as she flicked the blade back and forth in the air. “I left Charles in the ditch off Dark Hollow Road. The first body at the hiking trail belonged to Rob Benson. I hooked up with him in Wilkins County at the bar in the Beaver Lodge.” She thumbed toward the body hanging from the tree. “I nabbed this one at the Saloon last night. I barely caught a wink of sleep, but it’s worth it. I hadn’t planned to do it. I wanted a beer while I checked the place out. But he was so arrogant. You know how obnoxious outsiders are. It made me so mad when Charles said that Kentucky was a northern state. What a fucking idiot. I usually carry a low profile, but I went for it with this guy and put the drug in his drink. He came out to the SUV with me and immediately passed out in the front seat. As I was driving away, there was some kind of ruckus. I heard gunshots. Can you imagine that?”

My mouth became so heavy it was hard to speak. “Outsider?” I sucked in a breath.

“Yep.” She pointed with her knife. “His head is over yonder, by the mountain laurel. You almost stepped on it.” She giggled. “I guess you were too focused on me to see the logs that I set down for the fire, and the dude’s head a little way beneath the bush.”

My stomach clenched and I felt like I was going to throw up. If I died out here, no one would know the truth. And Russo’s family would seek vengeance against my town.

28

“Enough talk!” Colleen snapped.

She lurched at me with the blade ready to cut.

Instinctively, I dropped my chin to my collarbone and rolled sideways. She grabbed my shoulder, and I fought back by rocking wildly.

“Stop moving!”

The first stab pierced the fleshy part of my forearm and the next grazed the edge of my back. My uniform jacket and two thickly layered shirts beneath it helped a little. It was a kind of fleeting pain. Adrenaline kept me from feeling much of anything except Colleen’s weight curling around my body as she kept aiming for my neck and missing.

“Collie!”

The shout came from behind us and while Colleen still straddled me, her flailing hand stalled. I couldn’t see who shouted, but I didn’t need to. I recognized the voice.

“Don’t you dare harm that lady sheriff or I’ll do the same thing to your girl!”

The sound of moaning caught my attention.

What in the hell—

“You won’t do it!” Colleen snorted, then laughed loudly. It was a forced, screeching sound that was hard to listen to. “John Dover, you don’t have it in you to kill a child. I remember how teary-eyed you got when Seth shot that old plot hound that was so arthritic, he could barely walk. It was a mercy killing and still, there you were a grown man, crying like a little girl.”

“A lot has changed in the past eight years, Collie. I’m not so wishy-washy anymore and that’s my woman you’re trying to kill.”

His words replayed in my mind in the instant it took Colleen to drop her gaze. “Are you telling me that you have something going on with her?”

“Yes, I do.”

Colleen struck the side of my head with the back of her hand. “Is that true?”

I swallowed the dirt that had gotten into my mouth during the struggle. “Yes.”

“I’ll be damned.”

“You were supposed to be dead,” John said slowly. “Seth told Granny Gerrie that he took care of you—”

Colleen snickered. “You’re ‘bout as dumb as the rest of the Dovers. Even after what I’d done, Seth loved me and begged Geraldine for mercy. She told him I could live as long as I left the hollow and never returned. She said she’d slit my throat if did.”

“My grandmother allowed you to live?” John’s voice sounded brittle. He was shocked at the revelation.

“That’s right. Seth drove me to the highway just outside of Possum Gap. He didn’t say a word when I got out of the truck and started walking away on wobbly legs. I was still bleeding and weak as a kitten. A truck driver offered me a ride and I climbed in. Things only went downhill from there.”

Oh, my God. Understanding exploded in my mind.

“It makes no sense for Granny to lie about something like that.”

I heard betrayal in John’s words.

The story Lucy told me months ago flooded back. Seth had brought a new girlfriend back with him to Jewelweed Hollow. They called her Collie, which was a nickname for Colleen. She became pregnant with Seth’s child and when she was close to delivery, she used a knife to end the baby’s life. And that baby became her first sacrifice.

I wasn’t sure why it bothered John so much that Geraldine had lied to him and everyone else. The Dover matriarch was a cold-blooded killer in her own right. Not all the bones scattered throughout the hollow were directly by her hand, but many met their fate through her orders. Colleen was obviously deranged to do such a sickening and dangerous thing.

With a heavy shudder, I realized why John would have preferred Seth had murdered his very troubled girlfriend. If he had, those three men would still be alive—and the same for me.

“As long as I was gone for good, Geraldine was satisfied. You see, your granny had her own mission, one that involved my daughter.”

I couldn’t turn my head far enough to see Merle, but the frowning, wispy-thin, blonde girl back in the hollow sprang to life in my mind and the rest of the pieces fell into place.

With Colleen’s weight on my back, it was difficult to speak. I grunted, forcing out the words. “John…leave the…girl alone.”

“Merle is just like her mother, Sadie,” John said. “She already has blood on her hands.”

“Moloch protected me!” Merle cried in a high-pitched shriek. “Denver had to die. I did what my mama told me when I was a young’un. And it was glorious!”

“The girl…killed…Denver?” I wanted desperately to get Colleen off me and stand up. Where was my gun?

I hated being as helpless as a lamb, but that’s exactly what I was—a lamb about to be slaughtered.

“I’m sure she had a good reason.” Colleen defended her daughter.

“Tell me,” John implored. “What interest did my grandmother have in Merle? Why didn’t she send her away with you?”

“She knew my granny and felt it was her responsibility to save Merle from the devil, or something like that.” Colleen chuckled. “She didn’t know that Merle was already lost. I’d made sure to teach Merle about Moloch, just like my mama had taught me.”

The trees swayed, showering us with leaves. A crow cawed and I tilted my head to listen. Something about the sound was different—

“Go ahead and kill her, John,” Colleen said.

I froze when the blade pressed into the back of my neck.

“The first person I met on the trail was Merle. You see, Moloch brought her to me weeks ago. She was always supposed to be my number seven.”

“You won’t be able to complete whatever insane ritual you’re planning if you’re dead, Colleen. I’ll blow your head off before you can blink.”

“Oh, is that so.” Colleen shifted her weight.

I dared to swivel my head and look back at her. This exposed the side of my neck, but by now it was a moot point.

In one hand, Colleen touched the knife to my skin, and the other held my revolver. She pointed it at John. It would be easy to plunge the blade down at the same time she fired.

The last little bit of hope I had left faded to nothing. I had faith in John’s accuracy, but I saw the girl’s wild eyes and suddenly realized that she was okay with what her mother planned and might have known about it all along.

Merle struggled harder in John’s grip, making it nearly impossible for him to get a clean shot off.

“It’s time,” Colleen whispered.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“No!” John yelled.

29

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The gunshots were fired so close together that the explosions blurred into one.

Every muscle in my body tightened as I waited helplessly for the blade to sink into my neck.

I’m not ready to die. Chloe needs me. A lot of people need me.

Instead of the sharp pain that I expected, I suddenly felt Colleen’s weight shift as she collapsed onto me. Gasping, I lifted my head. The chaotic scene would be seared into my mind forever.

Leaves continued to fall as swiftly moving clouds blocked the sun. John had crumpled to the ground, still gripping Merle. The bullet from my gun that Colleen fired had pierced her daughter’s heart. Blood turned the front of the girl’s white sweater red. Her head lolled to the side and her face became slack. Those once bright, angry eyes were now empty.

When John’s gaze met mine, I knew he was all right. At least his body. Cradling the thirteen-year-old while he eased her to the ground would weigh heavily on his mind for a very long time, maybe forever.

I bent my knees as much as the rope would allow and dug my left one into the dirt, pushing away from Colleen. She rolled off, coming face to face with me. Her eyes were frozen in a look of shock. Blood trickled out of her gaping mouth. An arrow was straight through her neck.

I felt the rope being cut, and then my shoulder was grasped, rolling me over onto my back.

The clouds parted and sunlight nearly blinded me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Crow?”

He grinned while he helped me sit up.

When I started to stand, he held out his hand, and I took it.

“You’re hurt, Miss Sheriff. Are you sure you can stand?”

Besides aching all over and the throbbing places where Colleen had cut me, I experienced another rush of adrenaline. I thought I was dead, and I never dreamed Crow Dover would be the reason I wasn’t.

“I’m fine.” I rubbed my wrists, and even though I felt stickiness beneath my clothes, I ignored the wounds.

“Where’s Chloe?”

John was suddenly at my side. I let him put his arm carefully around me, and I leaned into him.

“Summit took her down to his truck. He wanted to get her to safety and bring back reinforcements.”

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

“My cousin told me that you and John were out here someplace with a murderer. I thought you might need my assistance.” Crow rubbed his freckled nose. The twinkle in his eyes and his wide grin said he was mighty proud of himself.

“Sadie, you’re bleeding,” John said. “Sit back down and let me have a look.”

“I don’t want to know how bad it is,” I told John. When he frowned, I lowered my voice. “I’m betting nothing major was pierced. They’re flesh wounds. Please let me ask my questions. That will make me feel better.”

John rolled his eyes. “At least sit on this log.”

I let him guide me to the log, where I sat down. I was still shaking from coming so close to death, but I managed to fold my hands on my lap and turn my gaze to Crow.

I worked hard to keep my voice level. The kid had just saved my life after all. “What were you doing up here in the first place? I was worried sick about Chloe.”

“Yes, Miss Sheriff. I’m sure you were. I apologize for being so inconsiderate of your feelings.” When I narrowed my gaze, he quickly continued, “We were out riding together—”

“It was nighttime, Crow. Sane people don’t ride horses at night.” I raised my finger. “You snuck my girl out of her house when you knew I didn’t want her seeing you.”

John found his voice. “Hold on. Chloe left on her own. You can’t blame it all on Crow.”

I closed my eyes and tried to inhale deeply, but it hurt, so I blew out the short breath. “Okay. Let’s not worry about that part right now. Why on earth did you head up here after John advised you to take Chloe home?”

Crow fell silent and I cocked my head at John, who shrugged, before he told Crow, “Answer her question. And I’d like to know why Bonnie came back to the hollow without either of you. Be honest, Crow. Did you come across the mountain lions?”

“Lions? It wasn’t a big cat that spooked Bonnie.” He licked his lips, dropped his head, then sighed loudly. “A couple of coons were fighting above our heads, when one of them dropped out of the tree.” Crow raised his gaze. “That horse never shies at anything, but I’d say having a furball clawing at her ears was her undoing. She bucked us off, including the coon. I figured she’d gallop all the way home.”

I believed him. No one would make up a story like that. “Why didn’t you follow the horse?”

“I told Chloe about the church and pioneer graveyard the other day. We weren’t too far off from here, and Chloe wasn’t ready to go home. She asked if I’d bring her to see it. I didn’t think another hour would make a difference.”

My beating heart finally settled, and I could breathe normally. It was the typical thing a teenager would say.

Crow must have sensed my displeasure, he quickly added, “When I saw the fire smoke and heard what sounded like weird singing, I took Chloe to one of the caves that I know about in the woods on the other side of the church.” He dropped his head again, but not before I saw him blush. “We thought it might be a ghost. Then Chloe reminded me that someone was carving up bodies, so we stayed hidden there until I heard movement outside the cave. When I peeked out, I saw Summit.”

“How long ago was that?” I asked.

“It was barely light, so an hour or so.”

I turned to John, “It would take that much time to hike to the nearest road, don’t you think?”

“Moving fast, I reckon so.”

Crow started towards Merle and John stopped him.

“Leave her be. You don’t need that picture stuck in your head.”

“She’s definitely dead?”

I found it interesting that the Dover kid was perfectly fine shooting an arrow through Colleen’s neck, killing her, but the sight of the girl’s bloody form shook his voice.

“Her mother’s shot went straight to Merle’s heart. She died quickly,” I said.

“Merle’s mom killed those men?”

Crow directed the question at John.

I swiveled to look at John and when he didn’t immediately answer, I asked, “So, you knew about Colleen Crane when Russo and I interviewed you the other day?”

“We suspected her, but there wasn’t any credible information to give you. It was more like—”

“Merle started saying crazy things—”

“Stop, Crow!” John ordered. “There’s more to all of this than you understand.”

I crossed my arms. “Well, I’d like to hear everything.”

The distant roar of engines caught my attention. John walked a few strides away, listened, then came back to stand in front of me.

“They’re coming,” he said.

“Who exactly?”

John didn’t answer me. I recognized the sound of multiple ATVs, and the noise grew quickly. Birds took flight from the nearby trees and the wind still gusted. Chloe was safe and I didn’t think my wounds were life threatening if I started antibiotics and got a tetanus shot. Sure, there were three dead bodies scattered around the fire pit, but John and Crow were okay. I was grateful for the way things had turned out.

I held in any more questions and slumped on the log while the Dover cousins stood next to me.

The first person to come out of the trees was Lucy Dover. She wore sunglasses and a brown suede coat over a gray hoodie. A shotgun was strapped to the side of her ATV. Seth Dover was next, and he was also dressed warmly and carried a rifle on his back.

When I saw Buddy’s large form on the third ATV, I breathed out a huge sigh of relief. How he’d ended up with the Dovers was anyone’s guess. It wasn’t until he turned the four-wheeler that I noticed Russo on his own vehicle right behind him.

Five more four-wheelers came flying out of the trees. Five Dover men, with Christen riding behind one of them. Silence didn’t fall until the last man had cut their engine.

Buddy and Russo parked a few feet away and reached us first.

“What in the blazes is going on here?” Buddy asked as his big head did a sweep of the area around the firepit.

“The females are deceased,” I said. “It got a little crazy.”

“A little?” Buddy scratched his head and came to kneel beside me. “You’re injured. Let me get you out of here.”

I held up my hand. “No. This investigation isn’t finished yet.”

Russo was at my back. “You’ve been stabbed multiple times, but judging from the amount of blood, the locations, and the cut lines, they didn’t penetrate too deeply.” He straddled the log, sitting close. “You fought your attacker, didn’t you?”

His large brown eyes were full of concern, but there was also a spark of curiosity there. The case was on his mind as well.

I didn’t get the chance to answer him when Lucy walked up. She kicked Colleen’s dead body, then spit on her. The Dover’s leader went to Merle next. She bent over and studied the girl for a few long seconds. “It’s a crying shame that the kid had to be swept up in her mom’s insanity.”

My all-over discomfort was growing, so I remained seated. “And her grandmother’s.” That got Lucy’s attention. She came back.

“You know about all that, huh?”

The danger was gone, while the strangeness of the situation squeezed my insides. I pulled it together with a deep breath. “Russo, do you have your bag?”

“I do.”

“Then get to work documenting and photographing the crime scene. I’ll fill you in on everything I know later.”

Russo got off the log and went to the ATV that he drove in on and opened the compartment to retrieve his leather tote.

“Boss, you need to go to the hospital,” Buddy said.

“In due time. For now, help Russo. This isn’t our usual case. We need to carefully document everything and then get the bodies off the mountain.”

“All righty.” When Buddy rose, I heard his knees pop.

“Wait.”

Buddy paused and looked back.

“Do we have more law enforcement on the way?”

Buddy nodded. “Sheriff Adam Crawford is personally coming, along with two more of his officers. The Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigation has been alerted.” His brow knitted. “Do we definitely have our killer here?”

I nodded but didn’t elaborate.

Buddy joined Russo at Merle’s body. I eyed Seth, who stood over Colleen, staring at her. The other Dovers stayed further back.

Forcing myself to stand, I ignored the pain and faced Lucy, who lit a cigarette. Lowering my voice, I asked, “When you told me that story about Merle’s mom, did you know that Colleen had been released?”

Lucy took a long drag of the cigarette. “Somehow the kid knew. She began acting strange.” She glanced at Merle’s body. “She turned violent right quick.”

“How so?” I waited for Lucy while she took another puff of her cigarette.

“At first, it was killing chickens and drinking their blood. The other kids saw her do it and when I confronted her, she said she was preparing for her mom to return and take her away.” Lucy shook her head. “Most of what she said was nonsense. Something about a guy named Moloch and that she was one of his disciples.” She tilted her head and stepped closer. “I don’t really get it. She was five when that bitch”—she pointed at Colleen—“left us. Ma and the rest of my kin certainly didn’t teach her that crap.”

Seth spoke up. “Once the devil seed is planted, it takes root no matter what you do.”

I glanced between the two Dovers before settling my gaze on Lucy. “Did you know he’d let her go?”

Lucy smacked her lips. “Sure. I didn’t agree with Ma, but she made the decisions back then.”

I was missing something. “You made it sound like you believed Colleen was dead and buried in the hollow somewhere. Why did you do that?”

Lucy blew a stream of smoke past my face. “You misunderstood. Colleen’s unborn babe wasn’t her only victim.” She rubbed her face in an uncharacteristic display of stress. “Denver died because of that devil whore.”

My eyes widened and it felt like my heart bounded into my throat.

Lucy gestured toward the small group of Dovers. “Come here, Christen. Tell the sheriff the rest of it.”

Christen walked slowly towards us, keeping her head down. In braids and a knit cap, her cheeks were rosy from the fast ride through the forest. The flannel coat she wore was pink and yellow and covered her belly well enough that you couldn’t tell she had a baby bulge under there.

When Christen hesitated, remaining silent, Lucy raised her voice. “Go on girl, speak it. Now!”

“Early last spring, I got restless and left the hollow for a bit. I took a serving job at bar in Corbin.” She finally looked up and our eyes met. “That’s where I met Denver. I wasn’t thinking straight and ended up pregnant. He was older and I didn’t want to be with him forever, so I came back home in a hurry. I must have said something during our short time together that he figured out where I lived.” She swallowed. “He showed up here a month or so before the rest of his gang did. I told him that I wanted nothing to do with him and begged him to leave.”

“I had to put a gun in that idiot man’s face to make him go,” Lucy added.

“He knew the child was his?” I asked.

Lucy answered. “It didn’t matter. The kid is a Dover, and if Christen didn’t want the father around, then he wasn’t going to be.”

“So, you killed him?”

Lucy shook her head. “Hell no. It was the kid that killed him. Me and my brothers done buried him. That’s it.”

I looked at Christen. “I don’t get it.”

“Denver left for a few hours, then came back. Most of us were up in the high meadow and that man managed to slip in on foot. Unfortunately for him, Merle is the first person he came upon. She drove an ax into his back.”

“The girl didn’t even deny it. Summit found her before she had the chance to do much more damage to the already dead man. But she aimed to.” Lucy took a long drag and exhaled a puff of smoke. “Like mother, like daughter.”

I glanced at John, who had remained quiet the entire time. “You knew this?”

Before he could answer, Lucy did. “Why does it matter? The girl wasn’t the one who killed the other men.”

“It’s very pertinent information.” I frowned at John, who merely shrugged. “Knowing about Merle could have led us to Colleen sooner, and maybe two more men wouldn’t have died.”

Lucy snarled and pointed a finger at me. “You don’t know how the damn thing would have played out. It was a Dover problem, and we took care of it.”

“You did a lousy job,” I said.

Lucy’s eyes widened and her mouth twitched. I thought she was going to punch me, but instead, her face loosened, and she smiled.

“I told you a hell of a lot more than I would have shared with any other officer of the law. Now, it’s your job to figure out how to keep my clan out of it.”

“That’s impossible. You buried the body. It’s conspiracy—”

“Hogwash! You’ll find the biker’s body on the south side of Green Gorge, right at the second switch back, and a stone’s throw from the beaver dam. The girl rolled the body down there and the rest of us didn’t know a damn thing about it.” Lucy put her hand on Christen’s shoulder. As far as we all know, the babe’s father is one of the rodeo boys who stopped by the arena in Corbin for a couple of days. Isn’t that right, Christen?”

The young woman nodded. “That’s right, Aunt Lucy.”

Lucy went on. “And you never heard of this Denver fellow?”

“Nope,” Christen said in a clipped yet confident way.

“Anson, take Christen back to the hollow. Go a little slower on the way back. She’s due in a couple of weeks and should be taking it easy.”

Christen passed by me and climbed onto the ATV behind Anson who started it up and drove back into the trees. With a flick of Lucy’s hand, the rest of the Dovers followed suit until Lucy, John, and Crow were the only ones left.

“Why did you tell me the truth if you weren’t prepared to stand by it in a court of law?”

Lucy snorted. “Girl, you know better than most that we ain’t going to court over this. I told ya out of mutual respect. The not knowing would have eaten you up inside and I doubt you’d ever let it go. We have an agreement, remember? As long as we don’t bother Possum Gap’s good citizens or any other innocents, then we’re untouchable.”

“Denver wasn’t from Possum Gap,” I pointed out.

“True. He wasn’t innocent either. That fucker, along with his gang, trade in nastier things than drugs. Who the hell knows why he came back to the hollow either. He might have been planning to kidnap Christen. Merle did us all a favor without knowing it.” Lucy glanced back at the girl’s body. “I won’t have her buried in the Dover graveyard. You’ll have to find another place for her. Probably a potter’s field is Merle’s destiny, right alongside that bitch who birthed her.”

Lucy was finished and started to turn away.

“You broke our agreement, Lucy.”

She turned around slowly. “How’s that?”

“You promised that Crow would stay away from my daughter.”

Lucy looked past me at Crow. “Have you been sniffing around Sadie’s girl after I told you not to?”

Lucy’s hard voice and twisted face was enough to scare grown men, but Crow was a brave kid. He walked forward to stand beside me.

“No, ma’am, I’m sorry. I went against your rules.” Crow stood up taller. “I care about Chloe and plan to continue seeing her regardless of what you or Miss Sheriff has to say about it.”

My response was a gaping mouth. Lucy’s was very different. In a blink of an eye, and with the cigarette pinched between her lips, she punched Crow so hard that he stumbled backwards onto the ground. John helped him to his feet while Lucy advanced on the kid.

“Stop!” It hurt like hell, but I managed to rush up behind Lucy and grab her shoulder, spinning her around. “I rescind that part of our agreement.”

Lucy looked at Crow, and then back at me before the corner of her mouth lifted. “I guess you do have a heart, Sadie Mills.” Her smirk deepened and she leaned in close to my face. “Wouldn’t that just be something if we were one day tied together by blood?”

I couldn’t respond. The thought made me sick to my stomach.

“Come on, Crow. You’re coming with me back to the hollow,” Lucy said.

She jumped onto the ATV and started the engine.

“The boy is going to have to fill out an official report,” I called after her. “It was his arrow that killed Colleen.”

“Whatever.” Lucy shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Can I call on Chloe this evening, Miss Sheriff?”

I exhaled. “Sadie. Please just call me Sadie.”

“Would that be all right, Mi—Sadie?” Crow asked.

“Here’s the deal. Chloe is not allowed in the hollow.” I watched Crow’s face tighten and touched his arm. “You’re welcome to come and hang out with her at our house when I’m home or in public places, like the movie theater. We’ll discuss the particulars tomorrow. Do you like creamy potato soup?”

He nodded vigorously. “I’ll eat anything. I’m not picky at all. Thank you.” He started to leave and turned back. “May I go?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll see ya tomorrow!” Crow jogged up to his aunt with the compound bow hooked over his shoulder, along with a few arrows in a quiver. He had barely gotten his right leg over the seat when she took off.

Lucy’s shouted, “Buddy, you better get those four-wheelers back to the hollow by sundown!”

With Lucy gone, Buddy and Russo joined John and me by the fire.

I let out a long, exhausted breath while I glanced from one body to the next.

To no one in particular, I said, “I don’t think that boy is much affected by the fact that he killed a woman a few minutes ago.”

John cleared his throat. “I say it will catch up to him eventually, but he’s practical minded, like the rest of us Dovers. If he hadn’t let that arrow fly, you would be dead right now. He understands what evil is and knows he beat it today.”

Buddy grunted his agreement. “If he saved your life, I’ll buy him a beer.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s not old enough.”

Russo chimed in. “I think you handled that well, Sadie.”

“Does it really matter what you think?” John muttered loudly enough that we all heard.

“Look around you, John,” I said. “Three dead and the story about how we ended up here is nearly too absurd to believe. Let’s focus on wrapping up the multiple homicide cases here and not petty issues.”

“At least you have your answers about who killed who, and you don’t even have to worry about getting a conviction, because the killers aren’t alive.” John chuckled. “Once the bodies are bagged and in the morgue, the rest of the week should be a piece of cake.”

“Uhm…not exactly.” Russo sounded like he was holding his breath between words.

I glanced at Buddy, and he rubbed his jaw the way he always did when he became anxious.

It hit me with the force of a freight train.

“The Saloon,” I breathed. “With everything going on here and me almost dying it totally skipped my mind.” Buddy avoided looking at me. Russo’s mouth pinched, and John crossed his arms, furrowing his brow. I glanced at Buddy and Russo. “Status report?” When neither Buddy nor Russo spoke, I repeated it. “Status report. That’s an order.”

Buddy sighed deeply. “I think Russo should tell you about it.”

“Tell me about it?” I only thought I’d been exasperated speaking to Lucy Dover. My frustration with my first deputy and coroner created an almost electric energy to course through me. I didn’t even care about the ramifications. I was hurting all over and John was full of it if he actually thought wrapping this mess up would be easy. “Are you kidding? I already know that the headless man over there is one of yours, Russo.”

Russo pointed at himself with both hands. “Mine? What are you talking about?”

“Colleen informed me before John and Crow showed up that she lured the man over there out to her car after she drugged him in the Saloon.” I tried to catch Russo’s gaze, but he turned to look over his shoulder at the hanging corpse. “I’m sorry, Russo. She said he was an outsider, which we don’t get a lot of around here. With your family in town, I figured that swinging body is one of your mom’s men.”

“Come here.” Russo started for the body.

I glanced at Buddy, then John. Buddy nodded his head and stayed put. John, with a perplexed expression frozen on his face, came with me.

Russo slipped on fresh latex gloves he pulled out of his pocket. He grasped the man’s shoulder. “See how long the rope is? Your lady killer used it like a pully to lift him off the ground. Without the head and arms, he was a lighter as well.”

“The head is supposed to be by a mountain laurel bush over there.” I pointed at the bush where Colleen had knocked me out. “Buddy.” I jerked my head at the bush, and he walked swiftly to it.

The loud, “Mmmm,” sound he made told me he’d found it.

“That’s convenient,” Russo said. When Buddy bent down, Russo shouted, “Don’t touch it!” He turned back to me when Buddy straightened. “All you need to see is this, though.”

Russo swung the body around and stopped its rotation with his hand when the man’s back faced us.

“Well, damn,” John said.

Elaborate tattoos covered every inch of the man’s back. I recognized some of the numbers and designs. “This man was in a cartel?”

“Yes, Sadie,” Russo said. “He’s one of the Flores brothers’ men.” He drew his lips in. “They’re here.”

I quickly processed what he said and what it meant. “Did the shooting have anything to do with this man going missing?”

Russo shook his head. “I wish.”

Buddy was back. “From what Duffy said, he was bartending and nothing was out of the ordinary until five tatted up foreigners came through the door. They went straight to a table in the corner where four of Russo’s people were sitting—”

“Again, they’re not really my people—”

“Hush, and let him finish,” I said.

Russo snapped his mouth shut.

“One of the cartel guys shot one of Russ”—Buddy paused—“the I-talians. Duffy saw it happen and was ready. He joined the I-talians when they started shooting. So did Beau and Blake Rankin. They were at the bar when the shit hit the fan.”

“Italians.”

Our heads snapped toward Russo, and he looked away.

“Sorry. It’s just wrong to pronounce it that way.”

I ignored Russo and returned my attention to Buddy. “How many died?”

“All five of the cartel men are dead. The”—Buddy paused and thought about it”—Italian who took the first bullet is in critical condition at the hospital. Doc Spencer thinks there’s a slim chance he’ll pull through. One other Italian was hit in the arm, and after being stitched up, he left the hospital.”

I leveled a hard look at Russo. “The cartel men were looking for you?”

“Since they’re all dead, I can’t say for sure.” He scrunched his face. “It’s a logical assumption, though.”

John chuckled but quickly stopped when I glared at him.

Watching Russo, I asked, “Are more of them coming for you?”

“Maybe,” Russo said quietly.

Buddy raised his hands. “They’d be damn stupid if they did. Unless they have a death wish.”

Buddy’s bravado was expected. He took pride in his little town and its very well-armed citizens.

“Regardless of the outcome, we don’t need that threat to worry about.”

“No, you don’t,” Russo said. “That’s why I’ll be heading home for a bit to get the matter taken care of. The last thing I wanted was for cartel business to spill into Possum Gap.”

My body heart stuttered, and I hated the feeling. “We have a lot on our plate right now. It’s a terrible time for our coroner to leave town, don’t you think?”

Before Russo could answer, Buddy chimed in, “No worries, Russo. Our town takes care of its own, and you’re one of us now. Drug dealers don’t scare us.”

“Yeah, it’s true,” John said.

I snapped my head in his direction, but he faced Russo.

John went on, “We—and I mean the townsfolk, farmers, and my kin—don’t take kindly to outsiders coming around and causing mischief.”

Russo snorted. “You certainly have a monopoly on this town’s chaos, or as Sadie would say, calamity.”

John shrugged. It was an odd moment between two men who had nothing in common and really didn’t like each other one bit.

Russo licked his lips. “I appreciate the show of support. I have no doubt that between the townies and Dovers, the cartel wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I hear a but coming,” I said.

Russo smiled. “But it’s my cross to bear, not yours. I’m just glad no Possum Gap residents were caught in the crossfire. It could have turned into a massacre.” His smile broadened. “Luckily for us, our contractors are sharp shooters as well.”

“Seriously, Russo, I need you here right now. We have multiple bodies and—”

“Calm down. I won’t leave until I’ve conducted these autopsies, and we’ve closed the cases.”

“It might take a while,” I said.

“I kind of hope so,” Russo said. “And I plan to return once the threat has been neutralized.”

Who knew exactly what that meant, but as he finished talking, the sound of a helicopter’s rotor blades broke through the quiet.

“Is Kenny landing in the small clearing near the church?” I asked Buddy.

He nodded. “I’ll go meet him. The rest of the responders should make it up the mountain soon.”

“I’ll help,” John said.

Before he started to follow Buddy into the trees, he turned to Russo and reached out his hand. Russo shook it.

“What’s that for?” Russo asked.

“You might be a city dweller, but I give you credit for having a sense of honor. Good luck with your trip home.” A small smirk cracked John’s mouth. “But I got a strong feeling when your past catches up with you, it’ll be right here in Possum Gap.”

John left Russo and I standing alone with his prophetic statement settling on the breeze. A tremor passed through me, and I shuddered.

“Don’t listen to him,” Russo said. “My family will take care of business.”

The scalloped clouds finally touched, blocking the sun for good. I glanced at my watch, and it was barely ten o’clock in the morning. Crazy how much had happened in less than twelve hours.

I took a step sideways so that Russo’s body blocked the hanging corpse from view. If I didn’t turn my head in either direction, I couldn’t see Merle or Colleen. I had no sympathy for the mother, but the girl was a different story. Mental illness ran in her family, and it seemed she was doomed from birth to die tragically. It was all very sad and disturbing.

I pushed those thoughts aside. For the next few days, I would be thoroughly engrossed in the Crane family saga and connecting every dot before the murder cases would be fully closed. Not to mention the shootout at the Saloon.

Although I wouldn’t say it out loud, I planned to drag the cases out for as long as possible. Maybe Russo would change his mind about going back to the northeast if he had more time to think about it. I wasn’t confident that he’d return if he left. Russo and even his mother had a stake in the Helena House, but they didn’t have to be in Possum Gap to continue as investors.

I didn’t want to lose a top-notch coroner. It would be impossible to replace him—in more ways than one.

“Why haven’t they fixed things already?” I asked.

The beating sound of the helicopter landing mingled with roaring engines of the vehicles coming through the gap. Within a few minutes, this place would be crawling with first responders. My chest tightened with the realization that Russo and I might not have a chance to be alone for a while.

“Going to Mexico would be a last resort.”

“Mexico?” The breath caught in my throat. “You’re not going there, are you?”

“I’m the reason for everything, so yes, I’ll accompany my brother and a few others down south to discuss matters and hopefully reach a resolution that doesn’t include my death.”

Russo cocked his head while he watched for my reaction.

I inhaled deeply. “I have faith your family will be the last ones standing if it came to that.”

Russo smiled and bent closer. “Would you be sad if I died, Sadie?”

“Of course—”

Russo lifted a finger to stop me. “I mean”—he paused, searching for the right thing to say—“would you be more upset than if a coworker, acquaintance, or casual friend died?”

Shoot. I hated being put on the spot. To myself, I couldn’t deny that I had feelings for Russo. There was chemistry there that didn’t make much sense. I enjoyed being around Russo, even though he was a very different man than I was used to. From the moment I experienced the stirring of something more, I’d worried about how it might affect our working partnership, and then there was John. The hillman lurked on the edges of my thoughts, even though a relationship with a Dover was more outrageous than one with a Yankee from a crime family.

I sighed and dealt with the emotional turmoil the best way I knew how.

“I’ll go with you.”

Russo swayed back as if he’d been physically pushed. “No, you won’t.”

“You can’t stop me. We’re a team. The Saloon is my jurisdiction and my responsibility. If you think that I’m going to sit back and ignore an ongoing threat from an outside source, you’re an idiot.”

“Sadie, there’s no way that you’re going with my family when we address this—”

“You asked if I’d be sad if you died? Yes, Russo, very much. So, I’m going to make sure you don’t die.”

Russo frowned. “You’re not Wonder Woman. You almost died here. If a crazy woman got the better of you, what would happen if you jumped into a nest of real vipers?”

“You’re right. I let my guard down because Colleen was a woman.” I slumped a little and let out a breath. “I guess, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the possibility that a female did that to those bodies, and it nearly cost me my life.” I let my gaze shift to Merle, crumpled in the dirt. “This is pure evil. The kind no one understands or can really predict. It doesn’t make sense. Lucinda was right, though. When we go up against the devil and we have faith, we win.”

Russo’s brow knitted while he considered my words.

“The kind of evil that you’ll be facing from the cartel is more straightforward, but nonetheless, you’ll need someone along like me.”

“How are you different than me?” Russo asked softly.

“You’re like Serenity. Both of you embrace the fact that evil is everywhere, but neither one of you see the good around us. I see it, Russo. Everywhere. In the forest, the sunrise, and the sky. Not only do I see it, but I feel it. We are not alone in the quest to stop the chaos.”

Russo stepped close enough that we were almost touching. “I believe that. No matter what’s going on, you’re steady. I guess that’s what you call faith.”

“Yes, that’s what it is. We’re also stronger together.”

“I wasn’t here to save you. It was John and Crow who did that.”

A year ago, I never would have believed a Dover would save my life, let alone multiple times. Life is unexpected.

“They were guided to be at the right place at the right time and I’m grateful for that. But this isn’t over.” I turned my head and gazed out towards the overlook and the hills across the valley just as the wind gusted, flapping my hair back. “Lucinda once said that darkness coils around this town like a snake. We can’t let our guard down, and I need you here with us to deal with whatever is coming.”

Russo nodded slowly. “We’ll discuss this again when we’ve officially closed the cases of the torso murders.”

He suddenly leaned in and brushed his mouth over mine. It was so quick that I barely felt the touch.

Russo went back to work and left me standing alone with heavy thoughts.

Maybe it was better for me if Russo left and never returned.

30

We pulled alongside my cruiser just as the last pinch of light left the sky, only to be replaced with the dull gray of twilight.

It had dropped fifteen degrees since morning, and the wind continued to snap the branches around us as we’d driven down the mountain and back onto Dover lands. I was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, but relieved to have fully documented the crime scene and that the bodies were secure in the morgue. Russo would start the autopsies after saying goodbye to his family and grabbing a bite to eat. We all needed a quick break to prepare for the final phase of the investigation.

Adrenaline had kept me alert and moving throughout the day, but now that the ATV’s engine was shut off and the pummeling wind from the speed we were going had stopped, I sagged a little in the seat before stretching my leg gingerly over it.

My legs and back were stiff, and I was sore all over. David and Bran cleaned and bandaged my wounds at the church. They’d agreed that they were superficial and administered a tetanus shot, and my doctor had called in a prescription of antibiotics to the local pharmacy. The paramedics wanted me to go to the hospital for a thorough checkup, especially since I’d been clunked in the head, but I’d refused. This case was too up-close-and-personal to leave before every bit of evidence was collected and the bodies were bagged. As long as I’d kept moving, I had no regrets, but now, I thought my stubbornness might have been unwise.

“Thank you for the ride down, John.”

I started to go, but he jumped off the ATV. His arm had been professionally wrapped, and his movements were freer and smoother than mine.

“How do you feel?”

“Oh, fine. A hot shower and a few more ibuprofens will put me straight.”

“I can drive you home if you want.”

He followed my backward steps.

“What, and then you’ll hike back to the hollow or your house on foot? You’re nearly in as rough of shape as I am.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, so am I. Besides, I’m not going home yet.”

In my desire for a hasty retreat, the back of my boot caught a root. I lost my footing, and without John’s quick reaction, I would have hit the dirt. He held onto my arm and gently righted me.

“Where are you going?” John asked.

His question was reasonable, but it still annoyed me. Was it any of his business?

“First, I’m meeting Tanya and Chloe in town, and then I’ll stop by the department to discuss the cases with an agent from the Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations. A visit to the morgue is also on my schedule.”

“I see.”

John didn’t let go of my arm. He held it loosely enough that I could easily pull away, but I stood there like a dummy waiting for something else to happen.

“I appreciate everything you did up there,” I finally said after a few long, awkward seconds. “You could have returned to Dover lands and left the rest to me, but you didn’t do that. Instead, you stuck around long enough to be a part of saving my life…again.”

John’s hand dropped from my arm and his jaw relaxed. He seemed happy that I was talking and not immediately leaving.

“It’s becoming a habit,” he said with a grin that quickly turned into a frown. “That was terrifying, wasn’t it?”

“Yep,” I agreed wholeheartedly.

“I wouldn’t have hurt Merle. You know that right?”

“I do.” I sighed. “It was the only option that might have stopped Colleen from killing me. You couldn’t have guessed that she’d already added her child to her list for Moloch.”

“What is this Moloch business?”

“We’ll talk about it some other time. I really do need to get going.”

“Wait.” John inhaled deeply, and I clearly saw indecision flick across his face. “You seem to have had a change of heart about Crow.”

“Fighting whatever infatuation Chloe has for your little cousin wasn’t working out the way I’d hoped.”

John’s brows arched. “You’re changing your game plan then?”

“I figure that if I back off and give them the freedom to get to know each other. They’ll probably break up on their own, like most teen romances. I won’t be the bad guy in that case.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Oh, come on. They’re sixteen and Chloe leaves for college in less than two years. It’s just a matter of time.” When John’s face fell, I quickly added, “Don’t get me wrong. Crow is a good kid.” I forced a small smile. “I appreciate his very accurate bow skills, too, but—”

“He’s a Dover and your daughter can’t end up with one of us.”

“I was going to say, but they’re kids and a lot will change as they become adults.” I was growing tired of the conversation. “I’ll give them a chance. Only time will tell how things turn out.”

It was getting dark under the trees, but not so much that I couldn’t see the conflict on John’s face. Usually by this point, he was heading off into the woods, not to be seen again for months.

“Why are you still here, John? What do you want from me?”

“I want the same chance that you’ve given to Crow.”

I wasn’t expecting him to come right out and say it. The way his eyes dropped, then rose, cracked a bit of my wall.

“What exactly does that mean?”

John blew out a shaky breath. “Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Yes.”

He gave a nod and smiled. “Before the mountain lions and lightning crashed our conversation, you said that we could meet for coffee. Are you still open to that? Because I’d like to call on you tomorrow. Is that all right?”

“I’m always available by phone—”

John grunted. “To set up a date.” Before I could say anything, he added, “We can go to the movie theater in Wilkins or maybe even take a drive to Lexington. There’s a big horse park there that I’ve always wanted to see. Afterwards, of course, dinner at a quality place.”

I stared at him. It all sounded very nice. Still, I couldn’t let myself go. What about Russo and our trip to Mexico? I didn’t think John would be too keen on that development.

Most of all, I didn’t want to go through another breakup. Divorcing Ted was awful, and I’d managed to stay clear of a real relationship for over a decade. Surely, I could go to my grave without having another man in my life?

“Well, what do you say?”

John’s eyes widened and I saw hopefulness there.

“Okay, John. I’ll go on a date with you but give me a month or two. I need to wrap up this investigation and of course, things must be straightened out at the Saloon.” I paused, gauging his response. His face remained neutral. “Is that doable on your end?”

“On one condition.”

I let out a breath, feeling lighter than I had before the conversation began. A little more time and a lot less pressure was what I wanted.

“Shoot,” I said.

“That you won’t leave me tonight without a kiss.”

In an instant, a giant knot formed in my throat. I wasn’t expecting such a request. Without any thought or deliberation, I nodded.

John’s arms swept around me as he pulled me against his chest. At first, his lips traced mine with butterfly softness. When I opened my mouth, his tongue pushed inside. My cheeks heated and when I leaned into John, the many discomforts throughout my body vanished. The kiss was electric, sparking sensations in my belly that I hardly even remembered. John’s hands cupped my face before he pulled back a little.

“That’s not so bad, is it?” His voice came out in a husky rasp.

“Mmm…not at all.”

He kissed the tip of my nose and then broke the contact, leaving me suddenly exposed to the chilly air.

John’s eyes shined brightly. “Stay safe, Sheriff. I’ll be in touch.”

31

When I walked through the café doors, John and Russo were both on my mind, and I must have missed the numerous cars parked along Main Street.

The café was standing room only. A loud cheer rose up, hurting my ears. Then came the back patting, which stung my hidden wounds, a tight hug from Jasmine, and a high-five from Monica.

“Way to go, Sadie,” gushed Monica. “Thank God, we can all sleep easier tonight.”

I nodded, shook hands, and murmured, “Thanks,” while searching between shoulders for Chloe and Tanya.

Finally, the crowd parted enough to allow them through.

Chloe’s face was a wet, puffy mess when she threw her arms around me. Tanya had tears in her eyes and kept wiping them away with the back of her hand until it was her turn to squeeze me.

“Mom, are you okay? Crow told me all about how that horrible woman was about to stab you through the neck and he shot an arrow through hers before she could.”

Everyone leaned in around us to hear and I raised my voice, “Thank you for the support, but it’s time to go back to your coffee and tarts, folks. Give us some breathing space, please. It’s been a day.”

Possum Gap’s citizens wanted the lowdown, but they’d have to wait until it was printed in the Gazette in the morning. People weren’t moving quickly enough, so Tanya started shewing them away.

“Go on, get! Mr. Bryant, don’t you have some cows to milk or something? That goes for you too, Leanna Coldwell. I’m sure you’d rather be sitting cozy in front of your fireplace, sipping something stronger than coffee.”

While Tanya’s voice rang out, Chloe clung to my side. It felt good to have her wrapped around me like clingy little kid. Then I spotted someone waiting in the corner, and I motioned for Tanya to come closer.

“Tanya, dear, do I need to be worried?” I held in a smile and put on my most serious expression.

Tanya’s eyes widened and she swatted my shoulder. “Girl, you’ll be the first to know if you should.” My friend quickly sobered. “What in the world happened in those hills?”

I glanced at Chloe. “That story is for another time.”

With tears still dribbling down her face, Chloe said, “Is it true? Can Crow and I officially date?”

I had so many things on my mind, but seeing Chloe’s bright eyes told me I’d made the right decision, even though it still worried me. “There will be rules, Chloe. Defying those rules and sneaking out will end things in a heartbeat. Do you understand?”

She nodded vigorously and crossed her heart. “And hope to die—”

“Don’t say that.” I held up my hand. “Go grab us a booth.” Turning to Jasmine, who hadn’t budged when Tanya cleared everyone else out, I asked, “I could really go for one of your famous grilled cheese sandwiches and a bowl of chili right now.”

“On it!” Jasmine sped away just as Summit walked up.

“Make that three,” I shouted after her and she gave me the thumbs up.

“Glad to see you’re alive and well,” the big, red headed man said.

I smiled. “Same to you.”

Tanya made a yipping sound. “I’ll join Chloe. See ya later, Summit.”

“I look forward to it.” His gaze followed Tanya until she sat down.

Before Tanya escaped, there had been a subtle change in the hue of her already dark cheeks. She was blushing!

I stepped closer to Summit and looked around the café before I spoke. Sideways glances at the big Dover man were to be expected, but no one was close enough to hear us if we spoke quietly.

“What is going on between you and Tanya?”

“Nothing…yet.” He winked. “Anything is possible.”

I shrugged. It felt like the world was upside down. The chance that Chloe, Tanya, and I might end up dating Dovers at the same time was quite remarkable.

I glanced at Chloe. Seeing her sip her hot chocolate and talk animatedly to Tanya made my heart happy.

“Thank you for getting my girl out of that deadly mess, Summit. I owe you one.”

He swatted the air in a gesture that was kind of funny coming from the large man wearing heavy outdoor clothing. I caught a strong whiff of campfire as I leaned in, and that triggered the part of my brain that understood how different the hill people were than everyone else.

“All I ask is that you put in a good word for me with Tanya.” Summit grinned.

“Ahh, I know you about as well as she does.”

“She respects you. Any little bit of encouragement is appreciated.” He pivoted away, then back again. “Thanks for giving Crow a chance with your daughter. He’s different than the rest of us. Well, maybe not so different than John. Neither of them fit in very well. Maybe the kid’s place is somewhere other than the hollow.”

For the second time that evening, I said, “Only time will tell.”

Summit left without a goodbye. The door jingled when he went through it, and as I started to go to the booth, someone caught my eye.

I tried to form spit in my suddenly dry mouth and walked to the doorway.

“Good evening,” I forced the two words out.

Celene tilted her head and looked at Anthony. “Things are done differently in the hills, aren’t they?”

“Excuse me?” I shifted my gaze to Russo’s brother.

“It seems that serial killers and shootouts abound in this part of the world. The locals barely bat an eye at such things,” Anthony said with a smirk.

Celene softly touched the side of my arm. “Your man Buddy said you were knifed a few times and took a hit to the head”—she glanced around the café—“and here you are, celebrating with the townspeople?”

It really did sound absurd when she said it.

“I feel fine. The paramedics doctored me on the mountain.” I offered a smile. “I have things to do. No rest for the weary.”

“Or the wicked.” Celene said it with a grin. “Russo notified us that we might be seeing you sooner than later. Is that true?”

The breath caught in my throat. Celene and Anthony stared at me with the laser focus of sharks with blood in the water.

Just like smelling campfire on Summit reminded me of who he was, their predatory looks told me to never let my guard down with Russo’s family. They were predators and criminals. I would have to walk a very fine line when dealing with any of them.

“Yes, that’s right. Russo is my friend, and I’ll do whatever I can to bring him back safely to Possum Gap.”

“Friend?” Celene narrowed her gaze.

I began to sweat beneath my sweater and jacket. I’d almost died a couple of times today. I wouldn’t allow Russo’s mother to strike fear in me.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I elaborated, “Yes, that’s what we are. He’s an amazing coroner and I’d hate to lose him to your family’s troubles.”

Her eyes flared and Anthony chuckled.

“I told you this one had spunk, Ma.” Anthony nodded at me, then went to the door and held it open for his mother.

Cold wind whipped into the café from the dark street.

Celene leaned in, kissed me on the cheek, and whispered close to my ear.

“Don’t hurt my, son, Sadie. There will be consequences.”

Celene smiled tartly and then went through the doorway.

My insides burned and as if my legs had a mind of their own, I went through the doorway after them.

“Stop!” I called out.

Celene had her arm looped through her son’s. They turned in unison while I marched up to them.

I directed my speech at Russo’s mother. “This isn’t a big city up north. This is Possum Gap—my town—and you hold no sway here. I appreciate your investment in the Helena House but paying it off is my biggest desire at the moment. My friendship with your son is none of your business unless it becomes more than that.” I inhaled deeply, worried that my voice wavered a little. “I don’t take kindly to threats on my turf.”

Celene glanced at Anthony. He shrugged, not smiling, and stuck his hands into his pockets.

When Celene met my gaze, her face was softer and her slight smile more natural. “At least we understand each other. I look forward to next time.”

Russo’s kin walked up to a black Lincoln Navigator and got in. Someone else, probably Jimmy, was driving.

I stood on the street for a few minutes after the large SUV pulled away. Half of the streetlights were out, and I made another mental note to speak to the city manager about it in the morning.

Our gritty little town might look rough on the outside, but good people lived here.

“I’m a good person,” I muttered under my breath.

Yet, here I was, making agreements with the likes of Lucy Dover and forming relationships with a northern syndicate.

It all left a very bitter taste in my mouth. There would be no peace in Possum Gap until the Dover clan broke up once and for all, and these outsiders left for good.

Where did my change of heart put me with John and Russo? I had no clue. But after a sneak peek into Colleen’s evil soul and learning that the Dovers had covered up the murder of an outsider on their land, I had no choice but to prepare to take them down. It wouldn’t happen overnight. Destroying a crime family, whether they were a bunch of hillbillies or fancy city folk, took time and strategy. And since I’d survived a satanic ritual ordeal today, time was something I had.

Thank you for reading!

GROVEL TO NONE and WICKED WINDS WHISPER, new Possum Gap novels, arrive in 2025! If you’re a fan of Serenity’s Plain Secrets, stay tuned for BLOOD CLAN, which also releases in 2025!

While you’re waiting for new installments, please check out the rest of the Possum Gap series and you’ll find more gritty mystery/crime fiction in Serenity’s Plain Secrets.

You might enjoy the author’s young adult Amish-themed tumultuous TEMPTATION series, her young adult epic paranormal WINGS OF WAR series, and standalones—ONE KISS IS ALL IT TAKES and THE FORTUNA COIN.

You can visit Karen Ann Hopkins and see all her books at https://www.karenannhopkinsfiction.com

& Karen Ann Hopkins at Amazon

Facebook: Karen Ann Hopkins Amish Fiction @temptationbook

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Are you looking for a breathtaking psychological thriller that will keep you flipping the pages for hours past your bedtime? Karen Ann Hopkins’ psychological thriller, THE FORTUNA COIN, won a silver medal in the Readers’ Favorite Suspense Fiction category in 2022 and has received glowing reviews.

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