“You think this is authentic?” Jarrod asked as he eyed a copy of the note Katie had received from Isaac Wells.

Dressed only in frayed cutoff jeans, he toweled his hair and stood dripping on the rocky shore of the Rogue River. His house, a small single-story cabin of shake and shingles, overlooked this wild stretch of water and had been his home for nearly ten years. Jarrod, solitary by nature, lived alone here with his dog and seemed to like it just that way. No women to bother him. No children to care for.

“I wish I knew,” Katie admitted. “It would make things a whole lot easier.”

“What did the police say?”

“Just that they’d look into it.”

A half-grown black Lab bounded up and Jarrod bent down to pick up a stick. “Here ya go, Watson,” he said, hurling the stick into the water. The dog jetted into the swift current and caught up with the bobbing piece of wood.

“Do you think it’s a hoax?”

“Could be.” Jarrod scowled and squinted as the sun lowered over a ridge of hills to the west. Overhead a hawk slowly circled in the hazy blue sky. “But why?” He shoved his hair out of his eyes and chewed on his lower lip. “I don’t like it. Something’s not right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would Isaac Wells—or even an imposter, for that matter—want attention from you?”

“Publicity?”

“A man who spent most of his life as a recluse?” Jarrod’s eyes followed the dog as he galloped out of the river and, with the prized stick in his mouth, shook the water from his coat. “Tell me you’re not going to print it.”

“Too late.”

“Not smart, sis.” His eyebrows slammed into a single, intense line. “You might be playing right into his hands.”

“Whose? Into whose hands? Ray Dean’s?”

“I wish I knew,” Jarrod said.

“Well, maybe we’ll finally find out.”

“Be careful, Katie. One guy’s already missing and don’t even think about messing with the likes of Ray Dean if he’s involved—and even if he isn’t. The guy is a criminal, remember that.” Jarrod’s eyes held hers for a second. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“It won’t. I’m always careful,” she said flippantly. “I just stopped by because I thought you’d want to know.”

Jarrod flung the wet piece of wood back into the river.

“I do.” His scowl was so dark she nearly laughed.