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.”* * * *The sun had warmed the cabin nicely, which was ideal considering the afternoon I had in mind.I took Seth to the bedroom and showed him exactly what my idea of a vacation was.True to pattern, he was calm and lazy, and we spent an hour and a half that left me with an afterglow better than any beer buzz.Around dinnertime, we finally pried ourselves out of bed, and I settled onto the couch with my laptop and cell phone so I could set up a remote hotspot and get online.Seth stretched out next to me and put his feet in my lap.“That is not helpful,” I said.“Suck it up, you love me.” He smirked and started to play a game on his phone.He had a point.I wasn't inclined to argue, so I worked around him and used the photos to run Mason's license plate, which gave me enough personal information to run background checks on both him and his wife.I also ran credit reports and opened a file on my computer to log some notes just in case.Then I checked my email and shut down.I nudged Seth to make him move and went to pour a cup of coffee.“What did you find out, Kojak?” he asked, sitting up.I leaned against the counter and took a sip.“They are Derek and Candace Mason, of Green Bay, Wisconsin.She's twenty-eight, he's thirty-one, they have no kids.Neither one has a criminal record, although she's prone to speeding.He works at Menards, which I gather is like Home Depot, and she's a hairdresser.As you can imagine, they don't make a ton of money.In fact, they have a mortgage, a car loan and a couple of maxed-out credit cards.Earlier this year, her grandfather died and they inherited the cabin from him.His name was Einar Wilcox.The taxes on the place aren't cheap, so maybe they've been trying to wreck the property value.”“That is a scary lot of information to get off a laptop in the middle of nowhere.”“Well”—I shrugged—“if you're willing to pay for access to some of the sites and services I do, there's not a lot you can't find out.”“Have I ever told you this PI stuff is a total turn-on?” He came into the kitchen and kissed me.Then he started poking around in the fridge.“So what now?”“Nothing.Like I said, I just wanted to know who they were.They don't seem like much of a threat as long as we stick to our side of the lake.”He snorted.“No problem.”Chapter 3The next day was Fall Fest.Honey had given us the lowdown on what should and shouldn't be missed.First on our agenda was a pumpkin-pecan pancake breakfast at the community center, which she had assured us was worth getting out of bed for.“Wow,” Seth said after he swallowed a huge bite of pancakes smothered with real maple syrup.“I think if autumn had a flavor, this would be it.You don't usually taste anything like this in Florida.”I reached out and swiped a drop of syrup off his lip with my thumb.“They're not bad, maybe a little sweet for my taste, but they definitely fit the season.”He ate all of his and half of mine, and then we struck out to explore the town of Samoset.Most places had flyers advertising the schedule of events, so I snagged a couple and handed one to Seth, who studied it as we strolled down the sidewalk.“Nice.” He smirked.“Fire extinguisher demonstrations sponsored by the Namakagon Fire Department.Now you know you're in a really small town.”“I'm okay if we skip that,” I said.“Looks like there's a lot of live music during the day, though.I wouldn't mind hanging out to hear some.”We spent the morning milling around the street vendors and people-watching.Then we went to the food trucks and got hot dogs for lunch, which we ate while listening to a couple of folksingers.Afterward, we bought big plastic cups full of pumpkin ale and wandered down a side street hosting a classic car show.“Now we're talking,” I said.Seth lit up and bounced on his heels.We're both classic car buffs.Seth is partial to the muscle cars of the Sixties and Seventies, but my favorites are the Fifties and Sixties era cars with their amazing stylistic details and pure romance.I drove a burgundy 1966 Ford Mustang named Matilda because her white rag top made her look like the little old ladies in Florida.Restoring her had been one of the things that cemented my friendship with Seth early on, and I wouldn't have minded doing another one.In fact, we'd been on the lookout for a car for Seth and had been considering a '72 Chevelle that was going cheap and needed a complete engine overhaul.We stayed there the better part of the afternoon, poking our way from one end of the street to the other, admiring cars and talking to old guys who had driven these things when they were brand new.An especially nice '58 Fury caught my eye and I bent down to look inside.I was distracted, however, when a hand grazed lightly across my ass.I straightened to say something pointed to Seth, and found myself face to face with a young blonde woman who blinked coyly and gave me a flirtatious smile.From the pictures I'd seen during my background search, I knew this was Candace Mason.“Hi there, handsome,” she said.“Have we met? I swear you look familiar.”“I'm pretty sure not.You must be mistaking me for someone else.”“I don't think so.” She reached up to play with my collar, letting her thumb accidentally brush my skin.“You're staying out on Cable Lake, aren't you?”Yeah, okay.Clearly this was no coincidence or random meeting.She'd probably seen me taking pictures of their car
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