With a jingle of dog tags, Honey trotted obediently to the front door. But her head was low and her tail wasn’t wagging as they disappeared around the side of the house. Twilight descended on the yard. Lengthening shadows chased Mandy inside. She needed to make dinner for her mother and finish the breakfast prep.

She turned toward the family quarters and her room, acutely aware of the note hidden in the mail. Every rustle of paper amplified her guilt. The Tell-Tale Heart had nothing on her conscience.

With the door safely closed behind her, she lifted her mattress and pulled out a matching envelope. Two pages slid out. On top was a picture of a picture of Bill on the front lawn of the inn. A hole had been punched in the center of his chest. Block letters were scrawled across the snowy foot of the page. If you love him. The second photo was her and Nathan locked in a passionate embrace in the alley behind the diner. It read: keep your secrets.

She stashed both threats back in their envelopes and stuffed them under the mattress. Someone was watching her. It couldn’t be Nathan. He certainly hadn’t taken the picture of them, and the first note had come the morning after the attack. Huntsville had been crawling with police. There was no way Nathan had sneaked into the inn in broad daylight. But Mandy didn’t know of anyone close enough to him to take that kind of risk. Nathan’s only family were his uncle and son. Suffering from a progressive and debilitating genetic brain disease, his uncle and coconspirator had killed himself rather than be caught, and Nathan had taken his son with him.

Had the new note been put in the mailbox before or after Danny’s visit? Before would mean an awfully big coincidence. If it had been after, then whoever was threatening her was close by. Turmoil gathered behind Mandy’s breastbone. The pressure shortened her breaths.

She could call the police. But what would that accomplish? Despite police presence in December, her tormentor had waltzed right into the inn—right into Mandy’s bedroom. The police hadn’t been able to catch Nathan over the course of an entire winter. The only thing telling them about the note would accomplish was putting her brother in danger. No. She couldn’t take any risks with Bill’s life. For now, she would do exactly what she was told. She would keep her mouth shut about Nathan. But she’d keep her eyes open around town.

Someone besides Mandy had a secret.

What would Danny learn tomorrow? Had the police uncovered any new leads on the case since last week? She pressed a hand between her breasts, where her heart rapped against her sternum. The detective didn’t know as much about Nathan as Mandy did.

She was the one who’d slept with the killer.

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR