Chapter 25
Canada, Twenty-Eight Years Ago
That night, the boy dreamed. He heard drums and a bird whistle. His mother held him in her lap, her arms wrapped around him. It felt good and warm until he heard a deep scary laugh and then he smelled it. Something really bad, nasty. Something dead. He became frightened, worse than when the wolves came…
Northern California, Present Time
Jake’s feet were propped on his desk, arms crossed against his chest. He looked very much like an archetypal law man from a bad made-for-TV western.
“Don’t be so smug,” Maggie said to him. “I’ve heard about a thousand times I’m a lousy judge of character when it comes to men. I don’t need to hear it again.”
“I only said I wasn’t surprised that things between you and Mingan didn’t work out.” He put his hands up
