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Troy nodded "Yeah, I hear you"

"Good" Louie rose to his feet "Do your best to solve this as quickly as possible"

Standing up, too, Troy opened histhe best he could, but he wasn’t given the opportunity

"I’, you understand?" the mayor said

"Of course I won’t"

"Good" Louie extended his hand and Troy shook it "Make sure nothing sensational or ets printed, okay? Like I said, I want Cedar Cove to become a tourist destination, not some freak sideshow"

"Do you reet it Kathleen Sadler"

"Kathleen Sadler," Troy repeated "Not to worry, I’ll set her straight"

"Thanks" Louie gave him a relieved smile "I knew I could count on you"

When the mayor had left, Troy went back to the paperwork on his desk The phone rang frequently that afternoon, but there was no call from the reporter He just hoped Kathleen Sadler hadn’t taken it upon herself to investigate the actual location The cave was still taped off, but a piece of yellow crime-scene tape wasn’t always a deterrent to deterers who’d discovered the body out of the Chronicle However, that didn’t mean Sadler wouldn’t be able to track them down

After they’d stumbled upon the remains, Troy had spoken to the teens twice He was confident Philip "Shaw" Wilson and Tannith Bliss had told hi they knehich wasn’t h Tannith--Tanni--had done a good job of pretending to shrug off the incident, Troy could tell she’d been badly shaken He was glad to turn the sixteen-year-old over to herTanni needed was to be questioned by the Seattle press Shaas a bit older and Troy felt the young ht not hurt to give the two of therabbed it, prepared to talk to the elusive Kathleen Sadler "Sheriff Davis"

"Uh, I hope I’ you unnecessarily" It was Cody Woodchase

Troy caught the hesitation in his voice "You’re not What’s up?"

"I just got a call from the 9–1–1 dispatcher and apparently there’s been a break-and-enter at 204 Rosewood Lane"

"Faith?" Troy’s reaction was immediate as he bolted to his feet That was the address of the rental house where Faith had recently moved She’d been there a little ht be a…friend of yours"

"Yes," Troy said curtly, his throat ht you’d want to know"

"I do, Cody Thank you" Within seconds, Troy had thrown on his coat and reached for his hat He charged out the office door, unable to think of anything but Faith He needed to know she hadn’t been hurt, that she was safe from harm

Two

The nized that so stopped her even before she’d unlocked the kitchen door She shivered but it wasn’t because of the da on and off all day, and the wind cut through her winter coat Her indecision didn’t last long; she shook it off, turned the key and stepped into--chaos

Her kitchen floor was streith garbage Someone had upended the trash bin all over the linoleue-juice container left a trail of gri rooed to restrain herself fro before she hit the first nuo Instead, she punched out her son’s work nu Scottie was still at the office

The relief that cascaded through her at the sound of Scott’s voice nearly buckled her knees "Scottie…someone broke into the house"

"Mom? What do you mean?"

"Someone broke into the house," she repeated, surprised that she was able to keep her voice level, although she’d begun to tree all over the kitchen floor!"

"Mom," Scottie said calmly "Put down the phone and dial 9–1-1, then call ht of that Nor into this mess had completely unsettled her

"Call me back as soon as you do"

"Okay," she pro a deep breath she called eency services and waited for the operator’s voice

"This is 9–1–1 How may I assist you?"

"My house has been broken into," Faith blurted "I haven’t gone any farther than the kitchen Whoever was here made a terrible mess"

"Are you sure the intruder isn’t still in the house?"

That hadn’t even occurred to Faith Oh, dear…

"No…" The chill she’d experienced earlier returned It felt as if her feet were frozen to the floor For all she knew, so in the other room

"Are you on a portable phone?" the operator asked, breaking into the frightening scenarios racing through her mind

"Yes…"

"Go outside and remain on the line," the operator continued

Faith forced herself to hurry to the door,as quietly as she could, which was probably ridiculous since she’d been speaking in a normal tone earlier Surely if the person responsible was in the house, he or she would’ve already overheard