Brenda Novak - In Close

Dear Reader,

I love old mysteries. Maybe thats why Im such a fan of cold case programs. I cant stand unanswered questions, so I enjoy vicariously experiencing the resolution of such cases and the satisfaction that resolution brings to all the people involved. If something mysterious happened to my friend or loved one, Im the type of person whod dig and dig and dig and never give up, never be able to let go. So I completely identify with the heroine of this novel, Claire OToole, whose mother, Alana, went missing while Claire was in high school. I enjoyed exploring how that event shaped Claires life. I also found it fascinating to consider what mightve happened to Alana and to come up with a list of possible suspects, including Claires stepfather, who was so good to Claire while she was growing up; her crippled sister, with whom she has a strained relationship; the man with whom Claires mother mightve had an extramarital affair; even a few surprise contenders. This case is particularly hard to solve. Its quite a challenge for Claireand so is the man who decides to help.

Isaac Morgan has overcome great difficulty himself, which is partly what makes him a perfect match for Claire. Shes exactly what he needs, if only he can figure out how to open his heart again.

Part of the fun of creating this novel was imagining the small town of Pineview, Montana. This area is uniqueso different from where I live in California. Id love to own a cabin in the Chain of Lakes area, where I placed my fictional town. Maybe someday I will (if I can ever talk my husband into leaving suburbia).

I would like to extend a special thanks to Becky Kranz for purchasing the chance to name a character in this book via one of my annual online auctions for diabetes research. She chose the name Carrie Oldman, which you will see in the story. Like every other person whos helped me raise money for this important cause, Becky is a hero to me.

For more information about me or my work, please visit www.brendanovak.com. There, you can enter my monthly contests, see whats coming out next or participate in my annual online auction for diabetes research, which runs for the entire month of May. To date, weve raised over $1.4 million!

All the best,

Brenda

Contents

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D avid had a copy of the case files on her mother. Everything was here, from the missing-persons report to the last interview. Claire had seen some of this before, but even she hadnt been privy to all of it. How had he come by this much information?

He mustve gotten it from Sheriff King. Either that or hed called in a favor from his old hunting buddy, Rusty Clegg. Rusty had been a deputy for the past six or seven years. It helped to have a friend on the force.

But what felt so strange about finding this was that David had made his own notations on many of the reports and interviews. It was almost as if hed picked up the investigation where the sheriff had left off.

Why hadnt he told her what he was doing? The dates on the log hed kept correlated with the first year of their marriage and included a number of entries in the months leading up to his death. The last time hed written anything was two days before the accident. She found detailed information on her stepfather and Leanne, plus her mothers only siblinga sister living in Portland, Oregonand a complete chronology of Alanas last movements.

Some of it Claire didnt want to read. It brought back That Night, the longest night of her life, during which every adult she knew, including her stepfather, was out searching. She and Leanne hadnt been allowed to leave the house. Theyd waited for their mother, or some word of her, praying all the while for her safe returnto no avail. When the sun came up, their stepfather and one friend after another checked in with the bad news that they hadnt been able to find any sign of her.

Reluctant yet determined, Claires eyes skimmed the handwritten log fastened to the left side of the thickest folder.

May 10: Spoke to Jason Freeman. Claims he saw Alana at the bakery between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. Watched her go in and come out carrying a bag of doughnuts while he drank a cup of coffee in the cab of Pete Newtons truck. Jason says she got in the car with Tug and drove away. Tug confirms this in original interview. Other than Tug, Jason is the last person to see Alana.May 12: Tried to reach Joe Kenyon.

Now there was a name, the one most often mentioned by those who theorized that Alana had been unhappy in her marriage and had gone looking for fulfillment in the arms of another man. If shed had one affair, it was plausible shed have more and might even have run off with whatever new lover shed taken, right? That explained the mystery to some. But it explained nothing to Claire, who couldnt believe her mother had ever cheated.

He wouldnt open his door when I knocked, but Carly Ortega across the street told me Alana stopped at Joes house quite often. She even saw her car parked in his drive once, late at night.

Late? How could that be possible? Tug was always home at night. Alana wouldve had to slip out of bed without his noticing in order to leave the house. And why would she do that? Joe had come to cut down the diseased cottonwood tree that was about to fall onto their roof, but other than the few hours theyd spent together then, Claire couldnt remember them ever speaking.

May 13: Tried again to get an audience with Joe Kenyon. Refused to speak to me. Prick.

Davids log went on for several pages. Figuring shed read the rest at home, Claire switched to the other side of the folder and skimmed several interviews originally done by Sheriff Meade.

Carly wasnt the only one who believed there was something going on between Joe Kenyon and Alana. Joes twin brother, Peter, thought they were involved. He insisted that hed heard his brother take a call from Alana while they were at work one day. He said he couldnt hear what was being said, but he could tell by the tone of Joes voice that it wasnt a simple request for tree-trimming services.