Elori Park was a little bit of untouched nature in the middle of the city’s historical district: an open field of grass and rolling hills dotted with trees. Those thick clouds held back the sun’s relentless glare, but the air was still hot and muggy.
Down on one knee at the base of a willow, hidden by the curtain of leaves that hung from its drooping branches, Anna used a small pair of binoculars to examine her target. “Looks quiet enough.”
The tree stood at the top of a hill that sloped gently down to the sidewalk, and on the other side of the street, an old-fashioned manor house waited behind a low, stone wall. It was a gaudy structure with an arch-shaped overhang above the front door. Large window boxes on each floor let her peek into rooms that looked like they had been frozen in tim
