Page 4 of Homecoming

That’s so sweet of you, but I’m pretty sure Bertha would be crushed if we didn’t stay with her.

Of course she would. No problem at all. Let me know that you’re all set tho. I’m excited for some time with you and to meet your hubby in person.

Thank you for giving me a reason to look forward to this trip from hell.

There’re lots of people here who love you and will be there to support you through this.

I appreciate that. I’m so worried about Kirby. There’s no way he had anything to do with this.

I’ve been thinking the same thing.

Do you know what happened?

One of the summer residents was found dead, and Keith/Kirby were the last two people seen with her. That’s all I know so far. She was 21.

OMG.

Kara went cold all over as the news settled on her along with the realization that the scandal would have all of Hancock County talking about the Ballard family and the sons who might’ve killed a young woman.

“Renata said the victim is a twenty-one-year-old summer resident.”

“I know. I read the local news report.”

Of course he was already working the case, knowing how badly she’d want to get back to Gansett as quickly as possible.

“I’ll cover all the bases, babe. Don’t worry.”

“Are you licensed to work in Maine?”

He nodded. “We were preparing to take a case in Maine about five years ago, so I got licensed there. Unfortunately, the defendant died of cancer before his case could be heard, so this’ll be my first case in Maine. I’ve worked in thirty other states over the years. I got licensed in Rhode Island when Grant asked me to help with Charlie’s case.”

That was the case that brought him to Gansett originally. Charlie was Stephanie’s stepfather, and Dan helped to get him released after fourteen years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

“Hearing the victim in the Bar Harbor case was a summer resident makes me more anxious than I already was. The summer people tend to be wealthy and keep to themselves. They usually don’t mix and mingle with the locals. Often, they’re long gone by this part of September, back to their real lives in New York or Connecticut or wherever they came from.”

“That’s good to know.”

Kara’s mind raced with scenarios that would’ve put thirty-seven-year-old Keith and thirty-one-year-old Kirby in the path of the twenty-one-year-old woman who’d been murdered.

A sense of dread overtook her as she braced herself for landing and to deal with the storm that awaited her on the ground.

Chapter

Two

As the ruggedMaine coastline came into view, Kara tried to focus on the things she loved about her home state as she breathed through a new wave of nausea from the plane rocking and rolling its way toward a landing.

“Almost there, sweetheart.” Dan leaned forward to look out the window. “The coast reminds me a bit of Gansett.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Doing okay?”

“I think so.” She was desperately trying not to vomit. “I ate too much cake at the wedding.” Shannon and Victoria’s celebration already seemed like days ago rather than hours.

“There’s the airport now.”

Kara was at once relieved and anxious to see the familiar Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport come into view.

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