Bury the Lead

Joe Gunther and the VBI team are investigating a murder and an arson case-both potentially related to a small but lethal outbreak of Ebola at a local hospital. When the body of a young woman is found near a trail at a popular ski mountain, the case falls to Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI). They quickly have a suspect, Mick Durocher, and a confession, but not everyone on the team is convinced of Mick's truthfulness. Despite his ready admission, investigators quickly sense there might be more going on than is immediately apparent. At the same time, a large local business is being targeted with escalating acts of violence-a warehouse fire, a booby rigged truck, an industrial gas leak murderously unleashed. The odd and common denominator? Mick Durocher, the self-confessed murderer, was once employed by the same company. These two puzzling cases-only tenuously connected-are further complicated by the sidelining of a key member of VBI. Willy Kunkle is undergoing surgery at the same hospital saddled with the unlikely- and suspiciously timed-outbreak of Ebola. Joe and his team pursue these cases, uncovering motives that might link them, while proving that trust betrayed can be a toxic virus, transforming love into savage loathing. Indeed, behind the mayhem and murder, Joe must uncover a tragic family history before another victim dies.