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I kiss her cheek. “Never. Now, I need a photo.”
Her brows shoot up. “Do you even know how to work your phone camera?”
I roll my eyes... and hand my phone to Will. Then I motion for us to roast our marshmallows. She lights hers on fire, and I touch mine to it, setting them both ablaze. We smile for the camera, and Will takes the shot.
Marshmallows eaten, I slip away to the balcony, overlooking the bonfire. I watch Casey for a moment. Then I look at the photos and find the one I want—Casey in her bridal gown, me in my tux, both of us grinning behind those flaming marshmallows.
I take a deep breath. Then I text the photo and hit a number on the phone. It rings a few times.
“Hey,” I say, when Katherine picks up. “It’s Eric. I just sent you a photo.”
“Oh! I see it. Hold on.” A moment’s pause. Then she comes back. “Eric? Is that...?” Her voice chokes. “Oh!”
“Yeah, so, I got married today, and I wanted you to be the first to know. I wanted to tell you about her, too. She’s great...” I struggle over the next word, but finally get it out. “Mom. She’s really great, Mom, and I can’t wait for you to meet her...”
MURDER AT HAVEN’S ROCK
I hope you enjoyedDead Letter Days. To visit Casey and Eric in their new town, check out the spinoffHaven’s Rock, starting withMurder at Haven’s Rock. You can turn the page for a peek at the first three chapters
PROLOGUE
The longer Pennyworks on building this strange little town, the more obvious it becomes that the company is lying. Lying about everything. They say this tiny community deep in the Alaskan forest is owned by a private firm conducting climate and environmental research. That’s both valuable and potentially controversial, given the political divide over climate change.
The owners want to conduct this potentially very lucrative research unhindered, and they were willing to pay a small fortune for the construction crew’s discretion. Every member of the crew had been hand-selected from across North America. They’d signed ironclad NDAs and been provided a “working on an oil rig” cover story for family and friends. All electronic devices had been confiscated at the airport. They’d been flown out in a private plane with darkened windows.
The others didn’t care what the reason was. Research, climatology, environmental engineering, it was all so deathly dull. As far as they were concerned, any company willing to pay a year’s wages for a quarter’s work could insist the crew work wearing clown noses.
While Penny had accepted the story herself, there was a reason she’d grown up in a bedroom filled with cats. It was her mother’s joke—and a not-so-subtle reminder.Curiosity kills the cat, Penny. Be a little less curious, and you’ll live a lot longer.
That was like telling Penny to breathe less air. She thrived on mysteries and puzzles, especially when it came to houses. Yes, most people don’t think of “houses” as puzzles, but that’s because they aren’t architects. A new client comes to you, eyes glittering with the dream of their perfect home, and you need to make it a reality, even when everyone has told them that their vision won’t work. Penny’s specialty is making it work.
That’s why she’s here—to take this company’s dream and make it a reality. They wanted to minimize their town’s footprint while maximizing both function and comfort. The last part sold her. This wasn’t a firm trying to stuff worker bees into the smallest hive possible. While they did need to be small—to keep others from investigating—they didn’t want to sacrifice livability. That made them good people, right? At least decent as far as corporations went.
The budget ignited the first whisper of doubt. Not that they were asking her to cut corners. She expected that, and she expected to discover that their insistence on “maximum livability” was mostly advertising for the scientists and technicians who’d live here. No, the problem was that theydidn’tamend her plans, even when she warned it’d take the project over budget.
She’d run a test asking for something ridiculous. If they’d agreed, that would mean they were fleecing investors with a fake project, which would be disappointing but none of her business. Instead, they balked at the overage and asked her to scale it back.
Something was going on, and after nearly twenty years in the business, she thought she knew all the scams and tricks, and she couldn’t figure this one out, which had her cat whiskers tingling.
She’d started sneaking into places she shouldn’t be. Listening to conversations she wasn’t supposed to hear. And all she caught were tidbits that made her more suspicious without answering any of her questions. For a curious kitty, that was catnip.
Penny had just finished eavesdropping on a conversation when the participants stormed off. That happened a lot between these two: Bruno, the engineer, and Yolanda, the contractor. Yolanda was trying to keep things on schedule, while Bruno kept finding issues that needed to be addressed. Tonight’s argument had been different.
When it broke up with both participants storming off, Penny was left musing in her hiding spot, idly watching Yolanda stalk across the jobsite. Now Yolanda stops, peers into the gathering dark, and then slips into the forest.
That gets Penny’s attention. They aren’t allowed into the forest. That’s been madeveryclear. It’s dangerous and untamed Alaskan wilderness, filled with grizzlies and wolves and killers. Okay, no one said “killers” but they all know Alaska is where serial killers run when they need to escape the police.
The person who enforces the “no forest” rule, with strict penalties? The same person who is going in there now.
Penny jogs to a building on the edge of town, ducks into the shadow of it, and peers around the corner. When Yolanda turns again to peer back, Penny’s heart stops, but after a slow and careful look around, Yolanda disappears into the forest.
Penny counts to five and then takes off in pursuit. She tracks the whisper of branches brushing Yolanda’s nylon jacket, the crack of a twig under her work boots, the sudden explosion of a startled bird taking flight. Penny has never been what anyone would call outdoorsy—she once rolled in poison ivy to get sent home from summer camp—but she’s pleased with herself here, picking up those sounds and tracking Yolanda without getting close enough to be caught.
Admittedly, Yolanda is on a path—one hacked out for the approved “group walks”—so it’s easy enough to follow her. And it’s also easy for Penny to keep on that path and let her mind wander and fail to realize that the sounds up ahead stopped a while ago.
When Penny finally does notice it, she stops to listen ... and realizes just how silent it is out here. Not just silent either. It’s dark.
She peers around the gloom and shadows. It’d been dusk when she set out. Yes, noticing that, she’d realized she should have grabbed a flashlight, but her eyes had adjusted easily enough, and it wasn’t as if it was fully dark.
