F. M. Meredith

Two churches, two ministers, two wives, one murder. While on patrol in the central California foothills near Rocky Bluff, Officer Stacey Wilbur spots a car crashed into a giant oak tree. A woman is slumped against the steering wheel, blood pooling on the floor mats. Stacey calls the incident in to her colleague and special friend, Detective Doug Milligan, then secures the scene and waits for emergency crews. The rescue squad confirms Wilbur s judgment. The woman is dead, but it s soon apparent the crash had little to do with her death. There is a bullet hole behind her ear. The car belongs to the minister of a local church with an upscale congregation, and the dead woman on the front seat is his wife. When Wilbur gives the minister the bad news, it is met with aloofness bordering on unconcern. The typical suspect the spouse first theory ratchets up a few ticks in Stacey Wilbur's analytical mind. Before that jells, however, Wilbur learns there is a potential other woman in the mix. As she sorts through the elements of the case, Stacey tries to find enough time to explore her feelings for Doug Milligan.

Two churches, two ministers, two wives, one murder. While on patrol in the central California foothills near Rocky Bluff, Officer Stacey Wilbur spots a car crashed into a giant oak tree. A woman is slumped against the steering wheel, blood pooling on the floor mats. Stacey calls the incident in to her colleague and special friend, Detective Doug Milligan, then secures the scene and waits for emergency crews. The rescue squad confirms Wilbur s judgment. The woman is dead, but it s soon apparent the crash had little to do with her death. There is a bullet hole behind her ear. The car belongs to the minister of a local church with an upscale congregation, and the dead woman on the front seat is his wife. When Wilbur gives the minister the bad news, it is met with aloofness bordering on unconcern. The typical suspect the spouse first theory ratchets up a few ticks in Stacey Wilbur's analytical mind. Before that jells, however, Wilbur learns there is a potential other woman in the mix. As she sorts through the elements of the case, Stacey tries to find enough time to explore her feelings for Doug Milligan.

A missing child, strange burglaries, and the inexplicable murder of a mother and her daughter disrupt the peaceful beach community of Rocky Bluff, CA. Officer Stacey Wilbur, first on the scene for both murders, assists Detective Doug Milligan with the investigations and finds herself breaking her long-standing rule to never date anyone who works for the Rocky Bluff P.D.