When the shocking discovery of a murdered woman’s body disturbs the tranquility of tourist season, the police detective in charge of the puzzling case must work alongside the new filmmaker in town to pursue every lead in the new romantic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.
After a scandal derails her television reporting career, Macey Burns comes looking for a change of pace in Lost Beach, Texas. She’s ready to focus on her first passion—documentary filmmaking—and has a new job working for the island’s tourism board, shooting footage of the idyllic beachside community. Her plans for a relaxing rebound are dashed when she realizes the cottage she’s renting belonged to the woman whose body was just found in the sand dunes.
Detective Owen Breda is under intense pressure to solve this murder. Violent crimes are rising in his small town, and he can’t stand to see anyone else hurt…especially not the beautiful documentarian who keeps showing up at the precinct.
With the clock ticking, cameras rolling, and body count climbing, Macey and Owen must use all their resources to find the killer without getting caught in the crosshairs.
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EXCERPT:
Macey blinked at the windshield, shocked. Her heart raced
as she tried to catch her breath. The car was tilted, and the headlights
illuminated a patch of weeds and a gravelly strip of shoulder.
Macey put the gearshift in park and shoved open the door.
She started to get out, but the seat belt yanked her back. Unbuckling it, she
slid out. Rain pelted her as she looked around in a daze.
What the hell had happened? One second she'd been driving
along and the next second it was like aliens had seized control of the car. And
she'd definitely felt a bump. Had she hit something?
Glancing at the road, she saw no other traffic. She
retrieved her cell phone and slammed the door. Her wet flip-flops thwacked
against the gravel as she walked around the front of the Honda and checked for
damage. No dents. No sign of an animal.
She stopped beside the front bumper. The right tire was
flat.
"Crap."
She switched on her cell phone's flashlight and aimed it at
the tire. Rain streamed down her face and neck. What now? She turned off the
flashlight and called Josh, but he didn't pick up, so she sent him a text:
SOS! Flat tire. Call me.
A car raced past and sprayed her with water. She yelped and
whirled around, but the driver didn't even slow. Cursing, she glanced up and
down the highway. This end of the island was fairly desolate-mostly campgrounds
and nature parks. She'd passed a marina, but that was a ways back.
When she'd planned her trip down here, she had wanted
seclusion. After weeks of scouring listings, she'd been ecstatic when a
long-term rental popped up on the island's north end, just footsteps from the
beach. The idea of being away from town, surrounded by sand and waves and the soundtrack
of nature, had been immensely appealing. But now she wasn't sure. Maybe she
should have followed Josh's advice and rented an apartment in town for the
summer.
Macey shivered and rubbed her bare arms, chilled from the
rain despite the warm temperature. Her tank top and jeans were already soaked
through, and she was out here alone and stranded.
I can handle it.
Ha. Famous last words.
She went back around the Honda and reached inside once
again, this time to pop the trunk. It was a new-to-her car, and she didn't know
the spare tire situation, but surely there was something in back. Macey had
helped a boyfriend change a tire in college once. Well, maybe not helped, but
she'd watched, and it had seemed pretty straightforward.
She tromped back to the trunk and slid aside the tripod and
the suitcase filled with camera equipment. After finding the corner tab, she
peeled back the layer of carpet.
Score! A spare tire, along with a heavy metal tool-a lug
wrench?-and what had to be a jack.
But the spare seemed . . . off. She frowned down at the
anemic-looking tire. Pressing her fingers against it, she confirmed her
suspicion.
The spare was flat, too.
"Crap," she said again.
Macey checked her phone. Still nothing from Josh. She hated
asking a man to rescue her, but it was freaking pouring, and she was out of
options.
Another lightning strobe, followed by a clap of thunder.
Then a jagged white bolt zapped down from above.
She looked up at the sky, awestruck. The ferocious beauty
of it reminded her of why she'd been attracted to Lost Beach in the first
place. She'd been lured by the film project, of course, which would pay her
bills while she got her life sorted. But beyond that, she'd been attracted by
the dramatic juxtaposition of nature and people. She'd been lured by the rugged
Texas coast and one of the last long stretches of untamed beach and twenty-foot
dunes.
Rainwater trickled down the front of her shirt, reminding
her of her plight. She stared down at the useless tire.
Her trip was off to a rocky start. She wasn't
superstitious-at least not usually-and she refused to take tonight as a bad
omen. She was here for the entire summer, and no matter what happened she
planned to make the best of it.
A flash of light had her turning around. A pair of
headlights approached, high and wide apart, like a pickup truck. The truck
slowed, and she felt a ripple of unease.
But maybe this was just what she needed-some Good Samaritan
here to help her.
The truck rolled to a stop and the driver's-side door
opened.
Macey squinted into the glare. Nerves fluttered in her
stomach as a man got out. Tall, wide shoulders, baseball cap. She couldn't see
his face, only his towering silhouette against the light as he walked toward
her.
As he got closer, she saw that he was very tall-six-three, at least, and he easily outweighed her by a hundred pounds. Oftentimes Macey liked being short because people underestimated her. This was not one of those times.
"Need a hand?"
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