Chapter 1
Regina Burke adored the controlled chaos of a rural county courthouse. And the one in Boun County, Virginia, was her favorite by a long shot.
It wasn’t anything like what most people imagined, for one thing. The pale gray stone building with grand, white pillars out front was nearly one-hundred-thirty years old, built back when years started with eighteen rather than twenty. Which meant modern amenities like broadband internet, enough electrical outlets, and reliable heating and cooling weren’t exactly a given.
Regina doubted her smartphone would get enough signal through the thick walls to function more than a few feet away from the old rippled glass windows. If she’d been allowed to bring it into the courthouse at all.
There were courtrooms, of course, handling more than on
