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Troy Davis had been with the sheriff’s depart life He knew this town and he knew these people; he was one of them Four times now he’d been elected to the office of sheriff by an overwhel at his desk on this bleak January day, he let his mind wander as he sipped stale coffee The departood, no matter how recently it’d been brewed As he sat there, he thought about Sandy, his wife of more than thirty years She’d died last year of co hole in his life He’d often discussed his cases with her and had cohts She usually had opinions, carefully considered ones, on what led people to coht them to his attention

Troy would’ve been interested in her views on one of his current cases A couple of local teenagers had come upon skeletal re out of town Partial results of the autopsy were finally in, but they raised more questions than they answered Additional tests were forthcoht provide further inforh it was to believe, the body had gone all this time without discovery, and no one see--and very cold--case and, of course, the loss of his wife, Troy had reason to count his blessings He had a coan, wasman In fact, Troy couldn’t have chosen a better husband for his daughter had he handpicked Craig hirandchild

As far as finances went, Troy had no complaints His house was paid off and so was his car He enjoyed his work and had strong ties to the community

And yet…he was miserable

That misery could be attributed to one source

Faith Beckwith

Troy had reconnected with his high-school girlfriend, and al, he’d fallen in love with her all over again

Neither of them possessed an impulsive personality They were adults; they’d knohat they wanted and what they were doing

Then the relationship that had seehter’s reaction and to soan learned he was dating again so soon after her mother’s death, she’d been very upset Troy understood his daughter’s feelings It had only been a few months since they’d buried Sandy; however, Sandy had been ill for years, and in so before But the fact that Troy had hidden his relationship with Faith fronificantly to the wholeTroy had planned to ask Faith to nancy As luck would have it, Troy, who’d been with Faith, had turned off his cell phone

His guilt had been overwhel, especially so soon after Sandy’s death

In retrospect Troy saw that he’d coan’s e he’d broken off the relationship with Faith He’d acted out of res into account; her shock and pain haunted hihter and her needs ever since That didn’t hts of her filled his every waking moment

To complicate this already complicated situation, Faith had sold her Seattle home and moved to Cedar Cove to be closer to her son, Scott--and to Troy Seeing her around town these days was torture Faith hadto do with hi-persons file for you, Sheriff" Cody Woodchase stepped into his office and set the folder in Troy’s in-basket

"Thanks," Troy murmured "You checked the appropriate dates?"

Cody nodded, dutifully efficient "And came up blank The only major case I can personally recall was Daniel Sherman a few years back"

Troy ell aware of the outcoh-school friend had walked away from his family for no apparent reason He’d simply vanished The case had bothered Troy for well over a year As it turned out, Dan had committed suicide, his body eventually found in the woods

"That one was solved," Troy pointed out

"I reme-persons files and printed them out for you"

"Thanks" Troy reached for the folder as soon as Cody left his office Cedar Cove was fortunate enough to have a low crime rate Oh, there was the occasional public disturbance, domestic violence now and then, a break-in, a drunk driver--the sort of crime common to any small town There was a est that came to mind was the man who’d shown up at Thyer had the ht But that case, which was actually a murder, had been solved, too

And now…the hu to the autopsy, they were those of a young hteen Based on those bones, there was no obvious cause of death No blunt-force trau as twenty-five to thirty years