Beneath another name

h trembled in

er mother had called her outside to help with the porch lights. She'd grumbled, dragged h

t

d they sti

. On the back, in

s should st

for a long time, her sto

this behind as a warning. Or maybe a m

ew who she

around every name in Paul's folder, every face i

motel coffee, bitter and scalding, and m

wasn't an

e former sherif

a developer,

till alive wa

ined the w

enough to know who she really was. That meant they remembered the gir

named Rac

vered above

ey want me to stop asking questio

comfort. But

hone and sent a sin

a photo. Someone took the no

espo

o her bag and left the mo

The librarian, an older woman with iron-gray hair and a swe

at like a dinosaur fossil. She scrolled through years of newspapers, hunt

uried in the Hartwood H

resumed Dead

fire" that claimed the lives of Mark and Joanna Monroe, and presumed the dea

g the article charred wood, s

it, a sec

eal Stalle

d development project luxury cabins, to be built on Monroe

e byline: Writte

fr

ll

e few local journalists who tried to dig deeper into the fire. His

be

photo of the a

half-consumed by ivy. His mailbox leaned at an angle, and his yar

ked thre

th

ked open, and a thin man in a stained bathrob

m the census,"

N

u F

N

hin. "Then you

rah Clarke. I read your article about the Monroe f

ared

long

oor wider and gestur

shuffled into the kitchen and returned with two mug

said. "People who talk about i

t most

I can

er. His eyes were sharp b

the family

.. close. My mother wa

at least, w

dded

Monroe wouldn't sell the land, and that rubbed Colton Ellis the wron

you write mo

I got a DUI I don't remember getting, lost my press cre

ned in

family out. All fo

's t

dn't name. It was like hitting a wall. Every

or

es dar

started asking questions.

art po

But I need more. Do you have

n stood and limpe

, he handed her

ase. But I don't want a

s of police reports. And one blurry image of a man standing

's t

ught it might've been so

the photo

you," s

replied. "They'

she spotted a black SUV

nted. Engi

eath c

r, ducked into an alley, and doubled back behind the hard

ng of being h

m, she spread the new

resurfacing:

it into

lopments. Sleek website. Luxury branding. But no mention of H

back, tappi

ive, he'd have files.

nother tex

is Ridge Developments.

ply.

gan to

stood outside th

sign nailed to the gate. The house was long gone,

ere still there

mbed th

oft soil, she felt som

ori

ther singing in the kitchen. The smell of pai

d

Screams

wn and touch

er," she

tood

s when sh

g sna

sharply but

No figures. J

she

d followed

back to

ked every window. Pul

opened he

fr

l notif

Paul

on't Trust

licke

s a singl

u are. And he's

lse qu

been