"Conrad Humphries' chalk-" Booth began.

"Is there a sample left?" she cut in. "Can I take a look?"

Booth smiled. "Absolutely."

"Don't you want to know what the report says first?" Jake asked.

"Actually, I'd like to see if I can feel anything that's off before you tell me," she said, looking back to Booth.

He nodded. "As the lady wishes." He led her back into the examination room and lifted a small evidence bag of chalk off the table. "I kept a sample for you."

"Thanks." She washed and dried her hands thoroughly and then dumped a portion of the chalk into her palm, rubbing it between her fingers. "Interesting."

Jake leaned against the counter. "What?"

"It feels normal. Typical texture. Basically the same consistency."

"Basically?" Jake asked, enjoying watching her work.

"It has a slightly different consistency than the chalk I use, but it could just be the brand." She lifted her hand to her nose. "Smells the same. . . . Huh." She turned to Booth, frowning, clearly disappointed. "I give up. What did the report say?"

"There was a small amount of Dodecanol mixed in with the chalk."

"Dodecanol?"

"It's a dry moisturizer used in homemade soaps."

"Moisturizer?" Kayden said.

Booth nodded.

"So what's moisturizer doing in Conrad's climbing chalk?" Jake asked.

"Can't tell you that, but he would have had no reason to put it there himself. And at this concentration, the Dodecanol would have totally negated the chalk's effects, making Conrad's hands slipperier than a seal in water."

"Which would explain why he was going through his chalk so fast." Kayden brushed off her hands.

Jake shook his head. "So why didn't the fool stop climbing?"

"By the time it really became a problem, he was probably too far up and didn't understand the issue. He kept putting on more chalk, thinking that would help the problem, and all the while . . ."

"He was making it worse," Jake said.

She nodded, then looked at Booth. "So someone definitely compromised Conrad's chalk?"

"Yes."

"So we're looking at murder?"

"Most definitely."

"We need to go see Landon," Kayden said.

Jake lifted his chin. "You head over. I'll be right behind you."

She nodded, took a moment to wash her hands, and then left.

"So you two are paired up on this one?" Booth said, doing a poor job of smothering a smile.

"She's the climbing expert," Jake responded, just grateful to get some one-on-one time with her.

"That she is," Booth said, no longer bothering to hide his grin. "You two have fun, and try not to kill each other." He winked.

Jake turned, leaving the morgue and Booth's wide grin behind, wondering just how painfully obvious his feelings for Kayden were.

6.

Kayden and Jake sat silent while Landon read the report Booth had sent over with Jake. Well, Kayden sat; Jake stood. He always felt better standing. A by-product no doubt of his profession-always ready to move if a call came in or danger threatened.

Landon finished the report and set it to the side. "Kayden, you were right. We're dealing with murder."

"I wish I was wrong. Hard to believe someone in the climbing community would do something like this."

"How do you know it was someone in the climbing community?"

"Only someone with climbing expertise would know how Dodecanol's interaction with chalk would affect a climb."

"So either a climber or someone with a climber to help them out?" Landon said.

Jake nodded.

"Kayden, are you available to head over to Spruce Harbor with Jake today? We could really use your expertise on this one, not to mention your ties to the climbing community."

Jake moved instinctively closer to her. Killing a fellow climber was cold, unforgivable, but Imnek Island's climbers wouldn't appreciate her coming after one of their own. He wanted her to know he'd be there to run interference.

"No problem," she said. "I'll do everything I can to see whoever did this behind bars."

"Start with the widow," Landon said, "and then move on to the climbing gym. See if that's where Conrad purchased his chalk."

Jake followed Kayden back to the home she shared with her sister, Piper. It'd been their family home, and after their mother died, the siblings stayed. Gradually the brothers moved out, and now the girls shared it, but soon it would just be Kayden's. Piper would be moving in with Landon after their August wedding.

Hard to believe all the changes that had occurred in the last year-Cole and Bailey getting engaged and in a couple days married, Piper and Landon soon to follow, Gage meeting Darcy and the two now dating. It left only Kayden and Reef single. That number would drop in half if he had any say about it, but sadly he didn't. Kayden might be intrigued by him, but she clearly didn't love him.

Rori, the girls' husky, bounded down the porch steps the minute Kayden stepped from her vehicle.

"Hey, girl." Kayden bent, patting her up.

"I think she's ready for another plane ride," Jake said, laughing at Rori's exuberance.

"Maybe next time, when we don't have suspects to question."

Piper stepped from the door, a picnic basket in hand. "Hey, Jake."

"Hey, kid." As the youngest McKenna, all her siblings referred to her as kid, and during his time in Yancey, he'd taken on the habit. The fact that she was going to be Landon's wife in less than two months signaled yet another change needed to be made. She was clearly no longer a kid.

"Landon said you're heading over to Spruce Harbor."

"Yeah. We need to speak with Conrad Humphries' widow and the climbing-gym owner," Jake said.

A look pa.s.sed between Piper and Kayden, but neither said a word. Curious.

"I figured you could use some munchies." She handed the basket to Jake.

"Thanks. That was thoughtful of you." And so very Piper-always looking out for others. Kayden did, too, just in a very different way.

"See you two later."

"See ya." Kayden pulled her hair back into a lopsided bun and looked at Jake. "Ready?"

He nodded and followed her down to the Cessna floatplane. She wore her typical T-shirt, casual cotton capris, and tennis shoes. He couldn't wait to see her in a dress for the wedding. It would be a first. She'd apparently worn them on dates, but he'd always been careful never to be present when she was going on one-it was simply too painful.

They climbed on board, set the picnic basket on one of the backseats, and strapped in side by side. Jake loved watching Kayden fly. Flying and climbing were the only times he got to see the unreserved her-in her element and full of joy. It was addictive. If only being in his presence had the same effect.

Reef approached the house as the Cessna lifted off the water around back. He clasped Anna's hand. "Guess you'll have to meet my older sister later."

Anna's eyes darted up to the floatplane. He couldn't wait to introduce her to all his siblings. Couldn't wait to see their happiness that he'd finally brought home a good girl-a stellar one. She was a pastor's daughter, sweet, thoughtful . . . and most importantly, serious about her faith. He'd met her his first day at Calvary Chapel. She'd greeted him with a warm, welcoming smile when he hadn't believed he belonged, hadn't believed he'd ever belong.

Last winter had been a stark wake-up call, and while he would have been glad to avoid the death of a friend and all it led to, perhaps it had been the kick in the pants he needed to make some serious life changes.

He looked over at Anna, sweetly standing by his side. "Ready?" he asked, gesturing to the front door of his sisters' home.

"Ready."

She was brave to come all the way to Alaska to meet his family-all of them at once and all at his brother's wedding. The first of the McKenna siblings to tie the knot, though Piper's wedding was only a couple months away. He'd be back in August for it. He'd given Piper his word, and that was something he actually kept now.

Piper caught sight of him in the doorway and broke into a full-out run. She yanked open the door with a ginormous smile-"Reef, you're finally here!"-and engulfed him in a hug. For such a pet.i.te thing, her hugs were somehow all encompa.s.sing, and he loved them. "You're home."

"I told you I'd be here." He smiled. "How you doing, kid?"

"Kid?" She pulled back. "Please, you're only a year older than me." Her friendly gaze shifted to Anna. "Hi, I'm Piper."

"Anna." She extended her slender hand.

"My girlfriend," Reef said proudly, wrapping his arm snugly around Anna's slender shoulders.

Piper's smile didn't waver, but she had to be curious. Piper was always curious. "It's so nice to meet you. Please, come in." She ushered them inside.

Reef stepped into his childhood home, a wealth of memories flooding back-good memories of laughter and spending time together as a family, bad memories of his father's sudden heart attack and his mom's pa.s.sing a couple years later. It was all wrapped up in this house. The memories made him long to stay and yet, at times, made it difficult. It was easier to forget painful memories when you were far removed from where they occurred or the loved ones they involved. Up close and personal made them flare to life.

Yet home was so much more than the memories. It was the people-his siblings. He loved them fiercely, and it was time he started acting like it. "Where's Kayden off to?"

The scent of apples and cinnamon wafted from the kitchen, shifting his thoughts. "Do I smell . . ." He inched toward it. "Did you . . . ?"

Piper smiled. "Apple pie's in the oven." She glanced at her watch. "Should be ready in about five minutes."

His favorite. "Thanks, kid." He hugged her.

"You can thank me by stopping calling me kid. I'm about to be a married woman, you know."

"I know, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

"If it makes you feel any better, so is Landon, I think." She laughed.

"I can only imagine." Piper and Landon were perfect, but entertaining as all get-out. "So where'd you say Kayden was off to?"

"I didn't. You got sidetracked." Piper led the way into the kitchen, the scents of nutmeg and cloves joining the amazing aroma. "She and Jake are headed over to Imnek. She discovered a murdered climber out at Stoneface yesterday."

Anna gasped. "How awful."

"Another murder?" Reef asked as the horrors of last winter came crashing back.

"I'm afraid so. Landon deputized Jake, and he and Kayden are heading out to question the deceased's wife and visit the climbing gym where he climbed."

Reef held a chair out for Anna. "Wait . . . Landon deputized Jake?" He scooted Anna in and took the seat beside her at the kitchen table. Piper already had plates waiting.

"This is why you need to stay in better touch," she said, setting down a fresh pitcher of ice tea. "You have no idea what all you've missed."

Neither did she. He was a new man, or at least was working his way there.

Piper went on to explain that with Slidell's sudden resignation and departure from Yancey, the town council had voted Landon in as temporary acting sheriff until the fall elections could be held.

"But why Jake?" Reef asked. "Kind of a random choice, isn't it? What made him decide to be a cop?"

"Actually," Piper said, pulling the pie from the oven and setting it on a trivet on the table between them, "he was . . . is . . ." She explained the revelation of Jake's past-that he'd been an up-and-coming homicide detective with the Boston PD who'd lost his wife and unborn child to a hit-and-run driver after receiving threats to back off a high-profile case. Threats Jake had refused to give in to.

"Dude." Reef raked a hand through his hair. "I had no idea."

"The poor man." Anna's eyes filled with compa.s.sion. "He must feel so lost."

"I pray he doesn't," Piper said, her eyes equally full of compa.s.sion, "but I'm afraid you're right."

Reef poured Anna and Piper a gla.s.s of ice tea before filling his. "How did Kayden respond?"