Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep
Read Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep Online
Authors: Colleen Coble
Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Suspense, #Mystery, #ebook, #Inspirational, #book
P
RAISE FOR
I
NTO THE
D
EEP
“Just when I think Colleen Coble can’t possibly outdo her last novel, she does it again! Into the Deep has everything: suspense, romance, danger, and a spiritual thread that’s delicately woven into the story’s fabric. Readers won’t be disappointed with the fabulously satisfying end. If you haven’t tried the Rock Harbor Series yet, you’re missing a treat!”
Denise Hunter,
author of
The Trouble with Cowboys
“Colleen Coble keeps the action tight throughout Into the Deep, with surprising twists to delight the most avid of suspense readers. I want to revisit these characters often!”
Hannah Alexander,
author of
Hideaway and Safe Haven
“Into the Deep
has it all, from murder mystery to a corporate intrigue to the many challenges of the blended family. Colleen Coble has a talent for creating believable characters who live in and deal with our complicated real world.”
DeAnna Julie Dodson,
author of
In Honor Bound
,
By Love Redeemed
, and
To Grace Surrendered
“Colleen Coble has done it again! A tightly drawn storyline, set within the endless complexities of a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.”
Randall Ingermanson,
author of
Oxygen
and
Premonition
“Colleen Coble knows how to keep the pages turning with characters I grew to love and amazing plot twists and turns that kept me guessing till the end. As satisfied as I was at the perfect conclusion to this series, I was sad to see it end.”
Deborah Raney,
author of
A Nest of Sparrows
and
Playing by Heart
“A gripping and emotional ride. I loved Into the Deep! Colleen Coble is a master at characterization and setting. I feel I took a trip to Michican’s Upper Peninsula, and I can only hope Bree and the gang will be back!”
Kristin Billerbeck,
author of
What a Girl Wants
and
She’s Out of Control
“Once again, Colleen Coble creates a pressure-cooker environment for her characters, then proceeds to turn up the heat. In Into the Deep, situations and relationships seem hopelessly snarled, but Coble manages to unravel the tangle and weave all the threads into a thoroughly satisfying ending.”
Carol Cox,
author of
Sagebrush Brides
INTO THE
DEEP
A
LSO BY
C
OLLEEN
C
OBLE
Birthday Wishes
included in
Smitten
Love Between the Lines
included in
Secretly Smitten
U
NDER
T
EXAS
S
TARS NOVELS
Blue Moon Promise
Safe in His Arms
T
HE
H
OPE
B
EACH NOVELS
Tidewater Inn
Rosemary Cottage
(
available July 2013
)
T
HE
L
ONESTAR NOVELS
Lonestar Sanctuary
Lonestar Secrets
Lonestar Homecoming
Lonestar Angel
T
HE
M
ERCY
F
ALLS NOVELS
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter
The Lightkeeper’s Bride
The Lightkeeper’s Ball
T
HE
R
OCK
H
ARBOR SERIES
Without a Trace
Beyond a Doubt
Into the Deep
Cry in the Night
Silent Night: A Rock Harbor Christmas novella
(
available as an e-book only
)
T
HE
A
LOHA
R
EEF SERIES
Distant Echoes
Black Sands
Dangerous Depths
Midnight Sea
Alaska Twilight
Fire Dancer
Abomination
Anathema
© 2004 by Colleen Coble
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotation in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, TN, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Publisher Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-40168-858-5 (2013 repackage)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coble, Colleen.
Into the deep / Colleen Coble.
p. cm.— (The Rock Harbor series ; 3)
ISBN 978-0-8499-4431-4 (trade paper)
ISBN 978-1-59554-318-9 (repak)
1. Upper Peninsula (Mich.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.02285158 2004
813'.54—dc22
2004006639
Printed in the United States of America
13 14 15 16 17 18 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my brothers and sister-in-law,
who believe I can do anything:
Rick and Mary Rhoads
David Rhoads
C
ONTENTS
I
’m so glad you picked up
Into the Deep
—and welcome back to Rock Harbor! This town and its people hold a special place in my heart.
It was such a joy to write about the folks in Rock Harbor again, but it was also a hard season in the life of my family. As I was writing, my dear father-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Meanwhile, Bree and Cassie wrestled with a similar prognosis for their dad in Rock Harbor. This story will always serve as a reminder to me to make every day count.
I’m happy to share that there are more books set in Rock Harbor on their way to you. Watch for my first children’s book, all about my precious granddaughter, Alexa Grace. Her “Punky” book is coming in July 2013—set in Rock Harbor of course! It’s titled
The Blessings Jar
. And there are more Rock Harbor books in the works.
Rock Harbor
Search and Rescue
releases in April 2013 and
Lost and Found
will be out in October 2013. They feature Emily, the young girl in
Without a
Trace
. She’s fourteen now and has a search dog of her own.
And
do
email me and let me know what you think. I love to hear from my readers. Email me at [email protected] and visit my website at
colleencoble.com
.
Happy reading!
Colleen
S
warms of black flies tried to find a way past the netting around Bree Nicholls’s head. Every inch of her body was swathed in some kind of covering in an effort to foil the insects, but from the stinging at her ankle, she knew some had breached her defenses. She paused and swatted at the biting pain. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula might be the best place to live at other times, but June was pure misery in the deep woods.
Her German shepherd–chow search dog, Samson, wagged his curly tail in an effort to dispel the clouds of black flies buzzing around his head. He raced ahead of her, pausing occasionally to look behind as if to say, “Are you coming?”
Naomi O’Reilly, Bree’s best friend and search-and-rescue partner, panted to keep up. “You think he’s dead?” she asked.
Bree didn’t pause to answer. It was a useless question anyway. The only way to answer that would be to find the body. She thrashed her way through the clinging blackberry bushes onto a small beach fronting Lake Superior. The beach had managed to hold back the encroaching North Woods and seemed almost hidden by the sunlight-choking tall trees surrounding it. The sandy area was already full of deputies and searchers. She scanned the shore for her brother-in-law, Sheriff Mason Kaleva, and saw his bulky form directing the searchers about to begin dragging the lake.
She almost groaned when she saw who was standing beside him. Ranger Kade Matthews’s gaze met hers, and she wished she could leave. But this was a small community, and people already talked enough
about their breakup. She tried to smile but feared it was more of a grimace when Kade’s own expression darkened.
Samson bounded across the damp sand to greet him. Kade scratched the dog’s ears, then walked away to join other rangers and Mason’s deputies at the water’s edge. As head of security on the Kitchigami Wildlife Preserve, he had every right to be here, Bree told herself, hurrying to join Mason and Samson. At least she wouldn’t have to pretend nothing was wrong. But if this breakup had been the right thing, why did it hurt so much?
“Anything?” she asked Mason.
Mason shook his head. “This is a heck of a way to introduce the new residents to Rock Harbor. The chamber of commerce coaxed the lab to open here by painting a pretty picture of all the recreation in the Keweenaw. Now it will look like the area is unsafe.”
“He might just be lost,” Bree reminded him. “Maybe he never went out on the lake.”
“He was due home four hours ago,” Mason said. “His fishing gear is still by the water. Besides, he’s a no-show at his son’s fifth birthday party. Not like him at all, according to his wife.”
She couldn’t argue with that, and it didn’t bode well. She glanced at her watch. Two o’clock. Her son, Davy, was at the party with his friend Timmy, Naomi’s stepson. The sound of the waves seemed louder, and a few raindrops hit her arm. “Storm’s coming. We’d better get out there.”
Naomi and her dog, Charley, hurried toward her. None of the other Kitchigami K9 Search and Rescue members had arrived yet. Bree turned back to Mason. “You have a boat for us?”
Mason nodded his head toward a dinghy. “I thought you’d like something low to the water. It’s got an engine as well as oars.”
“Perfect. You have the scent article?” Mason handed her a paper bag. She unrolled it and then another paper bag inside the first one. “Come, Samson.”
The dog eagerly sniffed the sock inside the bags then woofed softly. Bree handed the bag to Naomi, and Charley sniffed it as well. Both
dogs turned and looked out toward the lake. Not a good sign. Bree had hoped the man had put in to shore somewhere. He was a scientist, not a sailor. Only people experienced with Lake Superior had any business out on its capricious waves.