Excerpt of Included!

DOWN RIVER“May I help you?” Age had bent the woman’s back, but her features weresharp. Dark eyes appraised me from beneath light makeup and white, lacqueredhair. Seventy-five, I guessed, trim in a tailored suit. Diamonds flashedat ears and throat, while behind her, an antique silk runner stretched off into aworld of serious money.“Good morning, ma’am. My name is Adam Chase.”“I know who you are, Mr. Chase. I admire what your father is doing to protectthis town from the greed and shortsightedness of others. We need moremen like him.”I was momentarily undone by her frankness. Not many women wouldstand and chat with a stranger once tried for murder. “I’m sorry to bother you,but I’m trying to contact a woman named Sarah Yates. I thought that she mightlive here.”The warmth dropped off of her face. The dark eyes hardened and the teethdisappeared. Her hand moved up on the door. “There is no one here by thatname.”“But your name—”“My name is Margaret Yates.” She paused, and her eyelids flickered. “Sarahis my daughter.”“Do you know—”“I have not spoken to Sarah in more than twenty years.”She put some of her weight on the door. “Ma’am, please. Do you knowwhere I can find Sarah? It’s important.”The door stopped moving. She pursed dry lips. “Why do you want her?”“Someone I care about was attacked. It’s possible that Sarah saw somethingthat could help me find who did it.”Mrs. Yates considered, then waved a hand vaguely. “She’s in DavidsonCounty, last I heard. Over across the river.”I could shoot an arrow from Red Water Farm and hit Davidson County onthe other side of the river. But it was a big county. “Any idea where?” I asked. “Itreally is important to me.”“If this porch were the bright center of the world, Mr. Chase, then Sarahwould have found the place farthest from it.” I opened my mouth, but she cutme off. “The darkest, farthest place.” She took one step back.135