He stared at the woman, mesmerized for a moment at the destruction that glared back. Then Duke shook his head, tearing his gaze away from the photo hanging on the board.

​

Such a young life to have been taken away too soon. The only question he wanted to answer was who had taken it.

​

They’d pulled Beth Terden’s body out of the lake over five months ago, back in May. Oddly enough, about a year from the day she had left town. Or so they thought. She hadn’t left at all. Her life had been snuffed out, taken away from her.

​

Griffin had handed him the reins to the case. And what had he uncovered so far?

​

Jack shit!

​

She’d been a loner in town. When he interviewed people, going shop to shop, they had known who she was, but nobody had taken the time to get to know her. No one had claimed to be her friend. Duke couldn’t figure out if that was due to her personality or the lack of time she’d been in town. She’d been working at the cafe for three months before she disappeared. Everyone assumed she had up and left town without a word goodbye. Because the place she’d been renting had been cleared of her stuff. Why else would they think anything bad had happened? She took all her belongings with her. People had rented after her, so trying to pull prints was a useless endeavor.

​

Now Duke knew the killer had made it look like she left on a whim.

​

The body had been submerged in the lake for a year, presuming the killer had tossed her in the lake the day she died. It had wiped away any viable evidence. What the medical examiner could infer was she’d been strangled. Determining if she’d been raped beforehand had been too difficult to pin down due to the deterioration of her body. The killer had tied a rope around her feet that was attached to a slate block. Too bad for the killer, the rope had somehow broken, which was how her body floated to the top. They might not have ever found her if not for that.

​

So with no evidence, no witnesses seeing her leave town, no idea if she had a problem with anyone, Duke had nowhere to go with the case.

​

Stone cold.

​

Yet, he couldn’t let it go.

​

He’d removed all the photos and documentation he’d built up—which wasn’t a whole lot—from the conference room at the precinct and brought it home. Now he had it all set up in his spare room. Every morning before he left for work, he stared it. Bore a hole in the wall, he stared so hard and for so long.

​

Nothing new ever jumped out. Not that he expected something to appear before him. But it helped him cope with the feeling that he’d failed this woman. A woman he hadn’t even known that well.

​

She’d been a lost soul that ventured into town, and she’d remain one until he found her killer. Found her the justice she deserved.

​

He had figured Juliet, her employer from Noel’s Cafe, would have had most of the answers he wanted. But even Juliet hadn’t known much about her. And in typical Juliet fashion, she hadn’t bothered to do a background check or call any of the references that Beth had given her. When Duke took the time to do so, they all came back fake. Beth had lied up and down her application. If Juliet—

​

Damn it!

​

He wasn’t going to let his mind wander to that place. Blaming Juliet wasn’t going to help him solve the case. She saw a woman in need, and that’s all she needed to see to hire her. Juliet had a heart of gold. She’d help anyone who needed it. She had obviously seen something in Beth’s eyes to think she had needed help.

​

So the big question was why Beth had chosen to lie about herself? What had she been hiding?

​

When he’d run a check in the police database, he found no criminal record, not even a speeding ticket. While she might’ve lied about her references, she had given her real name. Her driver’s license wasn’t fake. That just brought more questions than answers. Why lie about her references then? The address on her license had been a location in New York. That last-known address hadn’t proven to be helpful in the least. She’d had it marked as her residence, but when he’d called the location, she hadn’t lived there for over two years. So odd. Who was this woman? Why had she lied about everything?

​

The place she rented didn’t even have her last-known address. He wasn’t sure why Mindy, the previous realtor of the town, hadn’t done more of a background check on her either. It shouldn’t have mattered Beth had been renting month by month. A history of her should’ve been done. To make sure she could make the rent each month. But Duke shouldn’t have been surprised. Not when Mindy’s brother had been revealed to be a predator of the truly sick variety. Putting cameras in the places she managed, spying on the residents. It had never been proven, nor had Mindy or her brother admitted to it, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Mindy had helped him do his dirty work.

​

Beth was a ghost. A mystery he wanted to solve.

​

The worse part—besides not finding who killed her—was he was unable to notify her family. If she even had a family. What must they be wondering about her?

​

They’d buried Beth’s body in the cemetery plot in a small section away from people who grew up and lived their life and then died in town. Maybe because he felt bad for failing her, he visited her on occasion. He didn’t stay long or say much, but it made him feel better letting her know he hadn’t given up on her.

​

Because he was as bad as the rest of the town.

​

He hadn’t taken the time to get to know her either. A smile here, a thanks there when he ventured into the cafe to purchase something and she happened to be working. But that was it. He hadn’t bothered to chat with her.

​

Shit. If he didn’t get going, he’d be late for work.

​

Pushing all thoughts of Beth out of his mind, he filled his coffee mug one more time, gulping half of it before he even walked out the door.

​

His first stop was to Mocha’s Merriment for another cup of coffee. Not that he needed a third cup, but he liked supporting the local shops. Lila had done wonders this past summer building their town’s reputation back to some of its former glory. With a freshly found dead body in the mix, it was a damn miracle how well she did. Halloween was a week away and the rental properties around town were full. The town was brimming with tourists, and with Christmas around the corner, it would stay that way—hopefully.

​

But despite all that, he always supported the local shops as much as he could. Because tides could turn and they could be back to scraping by.

​

Griffin was in his office when he got to the precinct. He always liked stopping by to say hi to his best friend, and the chief of police.

​

“How’s it going this morning?” he asked in lieu of a greeting, knocking on the open door.

​

Griffin looked up from the paperwork plastered across his desk. “Excellent. I plan to meet with Bryce and Lila later today to go over the details of the parade one last time. They are not accepting any more floats and whatnot, which is a damn good thing. This parade is going to last two to three hours with the amount that signed up. It’s insane.”

​

Duke chuckled. “Lila is a genius. That’s why.”

​

They’d never had a Halloween parade before. Thanksgiving, yes. Fourth of July, yes. Christmas, sometimes. That one was a tossup. Not everyone liked to sit outside in the freezing cold watching floats go by. The few times they tried it, it’d been pretty much a failure. Knowing Lila, she’d try again this year and it’d be a banging success.

​

“That she is.” Griffin leaned back in his chair. “Hey, you coming over tonight for supper and game night?”

​

In the last two months, the Stuarts had started game night on Fridays. Duke wasn’t sure who started it, but it had happened on Friday and then kept happening. Now it was a weekly tradition. Griffin and Eve were partners. Of course, Bryce and Lila always paired up. That left him and Juliet together. It was awkward. Because he’d loved her for most of his life and she had never seen him as more than a brother. Why the hell was he always invited anyway? He wasn’t a Stuart.

​

Well, that was easy to decipher. He was best friends with Griffin. Being an only child, he’d always been in the mix with the Stuarts growing up. Nothing had changed there.

​

“I think I have to pass this week.” Like he passed the last two Fridays.

​

“Well, hey, if you change your mind, your seat is always there.”

​

“I know that. Thanks, Grif. I’m going to head out on patrol, unless you need me to do anything.”

​

“We’re good. Have a nice day.”

​

He returned the sentiment and left the precinct.

​

How had his life come to this?

​

A dismal officer that couldn’t solve a murder.

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A friend who must look so pathetic he was invited to family game night when he wasn’t family.

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A guy who pined over a woman who would never see him as more.

​

Hell, no!

​

He was not going down to pity town. He would not do that to himself. The murder case wasn’t his fault. What was he to do when there was no evidence? And Griffin was his best friend. He’d been invited to everything the Stuarts always did. Griffin wasn’t treating him any different. There was no pity involved.

​

And as for Juliet. He’d come to terms with never having a chance last winter when Aster, Lila’s brother, strolled into town. It had opened his eyes that Juliet would never see him as a potential suitor. Not when someone like Aster captured her attention right away.

​

So that meant he had to stop wallowing in his own self-pity and forget all about her.

​

Get back into the dating game.