Chapter 1
THERE’S A STRANGER standing on the sidewalk, staring up at my neighbor’s house. In a town as small as Springside, any stranger is greeted with wariness. Ones who stare up at houses? Even more so.
Which is why I’m tracking this particular stranger from behind my screen door. I’m cradling a cup of coffee in my hands, but my phone is in my back pocket, the police chief’s personal number on speed dial. Lately, whenever a stranger wanders into town, something bad always follows them. I want to make sure nothing has followed this one, because in less than a week, my neighbor, Sadie Lancaster, is getting married.
No one, not even this well-dressed stranger, will stop that. Not if I can help it.
With a shoulder, I push open the screen door and step onto my porch. The man is still pla
