He stared out the window at the thick forest. Four months ago his sister, Jayne, had stopped at Reed’s place and gone on to the Black Bear Inn. Soon after, she’d been abducted. Could Danny flush the crazy ass out of hiding by retracing his sister’s movements?

He could only hope.

Danny fingered the knife in his pocket. There was only one way to make sure she was safe. Kill the killer.

“What’s wrong?”

Mandy looked up at her brother, Bill, staring at her from the porch. He was holding something behind his back. “Nothing. Just thinking.” She shoved the note in the middle of the junk mail.

“You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?” Bill’s eyes were worried.

Mandy put on her happy face and headed up the walk. Bill didn’t know much about what had happened in December. He had enough anxiety issues. “Positive. Where’s Jed?”

“Inside, putting stuff away.” Bill’s face lit up. He brought his hidden arm around with dramatic flourish. In his hand was a pot of pansies. Purple-and-white flowers nestled in a round terra-cotta container. “I brought you these.”

“Those are beautiful. Thank you.”

Bill beamed. “I know you love flowers, especially the kind you can plant, not the kind that die.”

“I certainly do.” She jogged up onto the wide porch and stood on her toes to give him a quick hug. On the covered porch, she flipped her hood off her head and took the flowers from him. His empty hand trailed down to rest on the elegant head of the yellow lab standing at his side. “Did you have fun with Jed?”

“Oh, yeah.” Under a mop of freshly trimmed hair, Bill flashed a lopsided grin. Though six foot four and thirty years old, her brother had the intellectual and emotional maturity of a child. Jed’s dog, Honey, rubbed her head on Bill’s leg. “Honey came with us, and after we got our hair cut, we picked up burgers on the way home. I’m going inside to eat mine.” He opened the front door and held it for the dog. The edge of a long scar, whitened with age, showed just behind his ear.

As Bill went in, Jed Garrett, Mandy’s best friend since first grade, stepped out. Formerly lean and fit from a lifetime of outdoor activity, the hunting guide’s new buzz cut emphasized that his face had thinned to the point of gauntness. Several rounds of surgery had debilitated Jed for months. Though mostly healed from the horrific injury, his body hadn’t recovered 100 percent. Mandy wondered if he’d ever be the same. More guilt piled onto Mandy’s conscience. Jed had suffered a knife wound in her defense.