Silver Lake Secrets

HIGH-STAKES HOMECOMING

Nicole Braun left Silver Lake under a cloud of suspicion—and someone isn’t about to let her forget her troubled past now that she’s returned home. The single mom has worked hard to overcome her reputation, but suddenly she’s the target of an unknown enemy. Only local police chief Brett Eggert has the power to protect her and her young son. But nothing prepares the lawman for the discovery that Nicole’s little boy is the nephew he never knew he had. With Nicole’s secret revealed, Brett is more determined than ever to ensure her safety and find out what’s behind her deadly homecoming.

“I’m not the person you used to know,” Nicole said.

Brett jerked his head back, surprised by her candidness.

She pointed at him. “You think I’m responsible for my friend’s accident.” Her voice had a desperate quality about it. “Or you’re wondering if someone had a grudge against me and ran my car off the road, but instead of hurting me, they hurt Missy.” Her eyebrow twitched as Nicole seemed to fight back the harsh reality. Missy hadn’t simply been hurt.

More than likely, Missy had been killed.

Brett threaded his fingers. “I’m investigating the accident. That’s all.”

Nicole leaned forward in her chair. “I’ve changed. Please leave me alone.” She started to get up. Brett’s hand on hers stopped her. Their gazes met and lingered.

“Someone wanted your car to go into the lake.” He leaned in closer. “Your car.”

Nicole clutched her mittens in her hand. “You really think someone wanted to hurt me?” She let out a mirthless laugh. “I lead a pretty quiet life.”

“You didn’t always lead a quiet life.”

ALISON STONE

left snowy Buffalo, New York, and headed a thousand miles south to earn an industrial engineering degree at Georgia Tech in Hotlanta. Go Yellow Jackets! She loved the South, but true love brought her back north.

After the birth of her second child, Alison left corporate America for full-time motherhood. She credits an advertisement to write children’s books for sparking her interest in writing. She never did complete a children’s book, but she did have success writing articles for local publications before finding her true calling, writing romantic suspense.

Alison lives with her husband of more than twenty years and their four children in western New York, where the summers are absolutely gorgeous and the winters are perfect for curling up with a good book—or writing one.

Besides writing, Alison keeps busy volunteering at her children’s schools, driving her girls to dance and watching her boys race motocross.

Alison loves to hear from her readers at [email protected]. For more information please visit her website, www.alisonstone.com. She’s also chatty on Twitter, @Alison_Stone. If you’re on Facebook, find her at www.facebook.com/AlisonStoneAuthor.

Silver Lake Secrets

Alison Stone

Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave.

—Psalms 49:8–9

To my big sister, Annie St. George. (You will always be Ann Marie to me.)

Thanks for the insight into the glamorous world of funeral homes. I figure your numerous career choices over the years are good for at least a few more books. Love you.

To my husband, Scott, and my children, Scotty, Alex, Kelsey and Leah. Love you always and forever.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Extract

Copyright

ONE

The whirring of the tow truck’s motor sliced through the cold, eerie silence. A thin layer of ice coated the freshly fallen snow. Chief Brett Eggert chose his steps carefully as he walked along the curved country road. Head bent against the blinding snowstorm, he examined the quickly disappearing tire tracks that left the road at the curve and vanished into the black, murky water through an ominous opening in an otherwise frozen lake.

Not a good sign.

The red and white flashing lights of Silver Lake’s rescue vehicles—all three of them—swept across the dark form of the lone diver waist-deep in the frigid water. If the diver drifted away from the ring of artificial light, the black night would swallow him. A chill skittered down Brett’s spine. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his lined jacket, relieved and guilt-ridden that it wasn’t him outfitted in a wet suit performing the search and rescue.

“Please let it be a rescue,” he muttered to himself.

The rugged soles of Brett’s boots fought for purchase on the icy incline as he navigated his way to the edge of the lake. There, Officer Ed Hanson, forehead wrinkled in concentration, took copious notes on a thick stack of papers on a police-issue clipboard. Brett suspected the young officer had missed his calling as a novelist.

“Chief.” Ed’s eyebrows shot up and the lines eased from his face. He pointed his pen toward the road. “Tracks indicate car missed the curve. Tough to tell more than that. This beast of a snowstorm is messing with my accident scene.”