Dominic knocked on the white screen door and took a step back. His eyes swept back and forth between the wide front porch of the aging country home and the spacious yard that surrounded it. An enormous live oak tree dominated the yard, and a wooden swing suspended from the lowest branch swung softly in the breeze. It was summertime in Tallahassee, Florida, and the grass was deep green and fragrant due to all of the recent afternoon rains. Dragonflies darted around the bushes, and a group of yellow butterflies congregated on the ground near the driveway. The setting was picturesque and almost looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.

It would have been a great place to sit and relax, if he wasn't on such an important mission.

Dominic turned and knocked again, bending slightly to see if he could catch a glimpse of anyone at home through the large open window. He didn't hear anything except his own feet making the porch floorboards creak and the soft squeak of the screen door as it moved slightly on its old rusted hinges.

He saw the barrel of the rifle out of the corner of his eye just a split second before he heard the woman's threatening voice coming from the side of the wraparound porch.

"Freeze, buddy."

He turned and raised his hands slowly. A woman dressed in faded jeans, an old burgundy T-shirt and a Florida State baseball cap approached him pointing a rifle straight at his heart. Her eyes were an electrifying blue that seemed to drill right through him. They were angry yet fearful at the same time, and her gaze swept over him very carefully, taking stock of him from head to toe. Her blond hair was pulled back and lay in a long braid down her back, and her lips were set in a thin line of determinati

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