Free All the Beautiful Brides by Rita Herron

and hunter, and that he’s not married. His posts indicate he’s looking for a serious relationship. That he wants a wife.”
    “Did he meet up with Gwyneth?”
    “She was supposed to meet him at that bar the night she disappeared.”
    Cal’s pulse kicked up. “Send me his address.”
    “That’s the problem. The IP address is a coffee shop not too far from Graveyard Falls. And there are dozens of people named Bill Williams in Tennessee. I’m trying to narrow the list down now.”
    “OK. Send me the address for the coffee shop, and let me know what else you find.”
    “I’m on it. I’ll also text you the photo the guy posted on his site, although I have a feeling it’s a fake.”
    Cal ended the call, checked the address, and drove through another light snowstorm.
    Thirty minutes later, he entered Moose’s Coffee, a rustic-looking structure topped with a giant moose head. Inside, plain wooden tables, fireplaces, and support beams made from tree trunks gave the feel of being in the woods.
    He glanced around the interior, irrationally hoping to see the man in the Facebook photo, but didn’t spot him. A group of women had gathered around one table, chatting and looking at magazines. Another table held students with computers and study guides.
    Most everyone had their own laptop, although a bar to the side held three computers, which could be used by guests for a fee. On a shelf above the computers, a stuffed falcon sat, its talons bared, eyes beady as if watching for prey.
    A geeky-looking college-aged student with square glasses was using one computer, an Asian girl the second. The third was empty.
    Cal crossed the room to the counter, ordered a plain coffee, and asked to speak to the manager. The young kid behind the counter disappeared through a swinging door and returned a second later with a middle-aged, burly man with thick beard stubble. He reminded Cal of a grizzly bear.
    “Eric Brothers.” The man wiped his hands on a kitchen towel, and Cal noted the scars on his fingers and palms. “What can I do for you?”
    Cal introduced himself. “I’m investigating the murder of a young woman from Graveyard Falls. She communicated online with a man who posted from this IP address. She was supposed to meet him the night she disappeared.” He flipped his phone around to show him the photo on the Facebook page. “Do you recognize him?”
    Eric rubbed at his chin and leaned forward to study the picture. The man in the photo had short-cropped hair, was wearing a suit, and looked like he belonged at a bank. He certainly didn’t fit the image of a killer.
    “No, I can’t say as I do.” He gestured around the shop. “We get mostly college students in here. Although a few businessmen traveling through stop in, and of course the hunters in winter.”
    “His profile said he was a hunter.”
    Eric frowned. “He doesn’t look like any of the hunters I know.”
    Cal silently agreed. Just as Peyton had suggested, he suspected the picture was a fake.
    That the man had posted it to lure Gwyneth to the bar.
    He texted the picture of the man to Eric. “Pass this picture around and see if any of the employees recognize him.”
    As soon as he got in the SUV, he cranked up the defroster to melt the ice particles clinging to the window, then flipped on the radio to the local station. To Mona’s show.
    “Yes, this is Mona,” a familiar voice said. “What’s on your mind?”
    “You’re a fake, Mona.”
    Cal stiffened. Whoever it was had disguised his or her voice.
    “What do you mean?” Mona asked, a note of caution in her tone.
    “How can you give people advice on marriage when your own was a lie?”
    “What?”
    “Why don’t you just leave town instead of nosing around? Nobody wants you here.”
    “Who . . . is this?” Mona asked.
    Heavy breathing followed, along with an ominous silence.
    Heart pounding, Cal punched the accelerator and raced toward town and Mona.

    He was a romantic at heart.
    He bought