Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep Read Free Page B

the vet, and I’ll stay here with the kids.”
    “Thanks.” Bree managed to get to her feet. “Let me check on Davy first.” She wanted to run her hands over him the same way she’d just done with Samson, to make sure he was all right. She hurried to the back door where the boys stood peering out. They were more excited than frightened.
    Samson followed her into the kitchen. She wanted to pick him up, but knew she couldn’t transfer her own fear to her son. Samson nudged her hand then stopped, his ruff raised. He whined and went to the back door. Sniffing the floor, he whined again then lifted his muzzle and howled. He tucked his tail between his legs and hunched down.
    He was signaling a death scent.

2
    T he streets of Rock Harbor were choked with cars, a sure sign summer had come to the U.P. Ignoring the posted no-parking zones, motor homes had been left in haphazard abandon while their occupants loitered along the outdoor displays of thimbleberry jam and local honey.
    Kade Matthews grimaced when he couldn’t find a spot to leave his pickup. There was no use in getting ticked off though. This was how it was every summer. And the money the tourists spent kept the town going the rest of the year. He finally found a space he could squeeze into across from the Suomi Cafe. He got out of his truck, then dodged a family in the middle of the street, gawking over the architecture of the town clock.
    The cafe was doing a brisk dinner business. Molly, her hair scraped back from her skinny face, brought him a cup of coffee as soon as he slid into a booth. “What happened at the lake today, eh? I heard a body was found.” Her Yooper accent was always more pronounced when she was excited, and today it was thick enough to butter the nisu in the display case.
    “Then you know more than I do. I left when the sheriff took over.” He studied the menu though he knew it as well as the contents of his own cupboards.
    “Hey, you heard the latest Yooper joke?” Molly didn’t wait for Kade to answer. “You know you’re a Yooper if your mosquito repellent doubles as your aftershave.”
    Kade grinned. “I heard you’re a Yooper if you think the sign saying ‘Fine for Parking’ means this is a really good spot.”
    She laughed and nodded toward the street thronged with cars. “Looks like all da trolls are the real Yoopers.”
    Anyone living below the Mackinac Bridge, otherwise known as Troll Turnpike, was called a troll. The ongoing joke in the U.P. was that trolls were easy to spot because they locked their houses when they left and locked their car doors even in Escanaba. No real resident bothered with locking anything. Kade wasn’t even sure where his house key was hiding.
    He grinned at Molly and ordered a pumpernickel and rye sandwich with chips, then turned to stare out the window. Seeing Bree today had shaken him.
    “I thought I’d find you here.”
    His sister’s voice interrupted his thoughts, a circumstance he welcomed since his thoughts persistently drifted to Bree. He glanced at his watch. Six o’clock. “You’re off work early.” The Coffee Place didn’t close until eleven, and he’d thought Lauri had to work until then.
    Lauri slung her tall, slim form onto the seat across from him. “The smell of the espresso was making me sick, so Cutler let me go a little early.”
    She did look a little green. Kade pushed his glass of water toward her. “Need something to drink?”
    She shook her head. “Food is what I need. The morning sickness doesn’t usually bother me if I eat breakfast, but I was running late this morning so I didn’t eat anything. All I’ve had today is a bagel.” She told Molly to bring her a chicken-salad sandwich and a Dr Pepper then turned to Kade. “Okay, give. What’s going on out at the lake? Bree called for me to come help search, but I had to work.”
    “Phil Taylor was reported missing. I found his fishing rod and gear out by Three Indians. When I left, Bree and Naomi were