Leigh balanced her phone on her lap as she tried to follow the map and read the numbers on the mailboxes. It was a curvy dirt road, and some of the addresses weren’t even in order, but she seemed to be getting closer. The multi-acre properties were spread out here. The road was surrounded by brush and a tall game fence on both sides, and it had been at least ten minutes since she’d caught a glimpse of the lake through the thick trees.

She checked the map on her phone again. At last she reached the blue beacon marking Mason’s house. But there was not a road or a driveway or even a break in the fencing. Leigh kept going. The road dipped down. Curving around a bend she spotted a narrow drive, and her headlights illuminated a metal post with a keypad and a security camera mounted on top.

“Crap,” she muttered, driving past it. She certainly didn’t want to get caught on some camera out here. She looked around, searching for any sign of Vanessa or of Cooper’s blue hatchback.

Vanessa had been here many times before. Would she have simply let herself through the gate? Or would she have called Mason from whatever phone she was using—probably Cooper’s—to let him know she was coming?

Leigh spotted a clump of juniper bushes and pulled onto the shoulder. She checked her watch. Then she checked her phone, but all her messages to Vanessa had been ignored.

Leigh’s stomach clenched.

You know Vanessa’s got a gun, right?

Leigh turned off her car and got out, glancing around. Wind whipped through the trees, slicing through the thin silk of her blouse. Regretting her high heels, she picked her way through some weeds to the game fence and peered through the wire mesh. Through the scrub brush, she saw the yellow glow of a house. At least, she thought it was a house. But she couldn’t make out any parked cars or other details. Leigh followed the fence line, searching for a gap in the trees.

“Ouch!” she yelped.

Bending down, she plucked a pair of sticker-burrs from her ankle. Then she traipsed through the knee-high weeds and neared the game fence again. The yellow glow was brighter now, and through a gap in the foliage she had a clear line of sight to the house.

It was a sprawling two-story cabin made of dark-stained wood. The house perched atop a steep slope and had a deck jutting out toward the lake. A wooden staircase led from the lower level beneath the deck to a boathouse illuminated by floodlights. Two boats and a pair of Jet Skis occupied the slips.