Spotlight & Giveaway: Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Laura Griffin’s new release: Vanishing Hour

When a cold case in Texas leads to a sinister string of disappearances, a newcomer to the small town helps the deputy sheriff piece together the clues in this new romantic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.
 
Corporate lawyer Ava Burch has had enough of the big city and the daily grind. She grew up with her father, who raised search-and-rescue dogs, in rural Texas and has moved to the small town of Cuervo to spend time in the dry, rugged wilderness near Big Bend National Park. When she and her dog, Huck, discover an abandoned campsite on a volunteer search-and-rescue mission, she’s perplexed, but she carefully photographs it all the same.

All Deputy Sheriff Grant Wycoff can see when he looks at Ava is a city slicker—with her designer jeans and expensive car—who has no business on a serious team made up of seasoned outdoorsmen and retired cops. But when she tells him of her discovery on the trail, he sees there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Ava’s discovery reminds Grant of the unsolved case of a young woman who went missing two years ago. As they look into the campsite further, another woman disappears under odd circumstances. With time running out, Ava and Grant must work against the brutal heat from both the Texas sun and their own electric chemistry to solve the case.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from Vanishing Hour 

Ava took another sip of her margarita and then leaned forward on her elbows, and he got the feeling she wanted to go back to grilling him about the case.
“So what’s with the sheriff?” she asked. “Is he like that with everyone or is it just me?”
“Like what?” Grant asked, even though he thought he knew.
“Rude. Arrogant. Dismissive.”
“That’s pretty much how he is.” He sipped his beer.
“You don’t get along with him?”
“Why do you say that?”
“I can tell.”
She was good at reading people, which probably came in handy in her job.
Grant set his beer down. “Jim Donovan and I have a cordial working relationship.”
“‘Cordial,’ huh? Sounds like there’s a story there.”
There was, but it wasn’t something he planned to tell her.
“Was this week your first time crossing paths with him?” Grant asked. “I would’ve thought you’d have met him through your search-and-rescue work.”
“My only other ops have been in Big Bend. He wasn’t involved.”
He nodded. “And how are you liking the SAR work out here?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
He smiled.
“I like it all right. There’s a lot of attitude, but I’m used to it.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you know how it is with this stuff. It’s mostly men. All cops.”
“All?”
“Everyone’s a cop or a retired cop,” she said. “Well, and sometimes there’re a couple military guys thrown in. Very testosterone intensive.”
He smiled again.
“But, hey, I’m fine with it. I knew what I was in for when I enrolled in the training. I’ve been around operations like this since I was a kid because of my dad.”
“Your dad’s in law enforcement?”
“He was a game warden.”
Was. Some of the puzzle pieces of Ava Burch fell into place.
“That explains the search-and-rescue dog,” Grant said.
“Huck is the fourth Lab my father trained. He got him as a puppy a few years before he retired.”
Grant found it interesting that her dad had been a cop. Texas game wardens were sworn peace officers with statewide jurisdiction.
“So, your father was a game warden in east Texas?”
“Yep. Angelina County.” She stirred her drink. “I spent my first fifteen years in the Piney Woods.”
“And the next fifteen?”
She shot him a look at the allusion to her age. “Houston.” She sipped her drink. “When my parents divorced, my mom moved us there. I went to undergrad and law school at U of H.”
“That’s a good school. And how did you end up in business with Jenna McCullough?”
“Jenna and I worked together at a firm in Houston. She and her daughter moved out here a couple years ago to be with Jenna’s parents, and she started looking for a law partner. We’d been talking about it for a while, and finally last fall, I decided what the hell, why not?”
Grant watched her eyes. There was definitely more to it than that. He didn’t believe she’d moved all the way out here on a whim.
“So, how do you like it so far?” he asked.
“What, Cuervo?”
“The town, the area. This is pretty remote compared to Houston.”
“That’s one reason I’m here.” She leaned forward. “Did you know there are only six practicing attorneys in all of Henley County? And there were none in Cuervo before Jenna set up shop.”
“I didn’t know that.” He nodded. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“It’s a legal desert. People have wills and property transactions and business matters they need help with—especially now, with all the population growth around here.” She wiped salt from the rim of her glass and licked her finger, and Grant tried to focus on what she was saying. “People are moving in from the cities, buying up property right and left. More businesses are coming here. Businesses need lawyers.”
“You’re here to save us from encroaching civilization, huh?”
“Well. The irony isn’t lost on me. I realize that as a transplant from the city, I’m part of the problem.”
At least she had the self-awareness to recognize it.
She smiled at him over her drink, and he felt it—again—right in the middle of his sternum.
“I guess you’re probably tired of people like me flooding into your county, right?”
“Growth isn’t all bad,” he said.
“Doesn’t growth bring crime? I would think you’d resent it.”
“It brings money, too, so it’s got some upsides.”
The server was back. “Y’all want another round?”
He looked at Ava, hoping she’d say yes. She’d loosened up, and he liked talking to her even more than he’d expected when he’d asked her out to dinner. She bit her lower lip, and he could see the debate going on in her mind.
##
Ava should say no. That first margarita was already going to her head, and she was getting chatty with Grant Wycoff. Maybe even flirty. And nothing good could come of that.
She smiled at the server. “I’m still working on this one.” She picked up the glass and rattled the ice cubes. There was at least a sip left.
The woman looked at Grant.
“I’m good.”
She walked away, and Ava tried to decipher Grant’s expression. He was tough to read. And he’d managed to do something she hated, which was get her to reveal things without revealing anything in return. Professionally—and personally—she almost never let that happen. Time to turn the tables.
“So, what about you?” she asked. “Have you always lived in Cuervo?”
“I don’t. I live in Henley, about twenty minutes from here.”
“Closer to work?”
“Work is all over the county,” he said. “But, yeah, it’s closer to the sheriff’s office.”
“It’s a nice town.”
He nodded.
“I’ve mostly spent time there at the courthouse, but it’s got a good feel to it. Did you grow up there?”
Another nod. “Then I moved away for a while. I did my police training in Dallas and spent six years with DPD.”
“Interesting. I wouldn’t have guessed Dallas.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Too crowded? You seem like you fit in better out here.”
“Thanks. I think.”
The corner of his mouth curved up in a smile, and she felt a jolt of heat.
She blamed Jenna. Jenna knew what a drought she’d been in, and she’d sent this man to her door. And now here she was, feeling a tequila buzz and staring at his hand wrapped around that beer bottle. He had long fingers and neatly trimmed nails. Hands were something she noticed about men, and his looked very capable.
A ringtone broke the spell, and Ava took a deep breath as Grant pulled out his phone. Yet another reminder of why she should be home right now, not having drinks with a sexy cop.
He glanced up from his screen. “I need to return this call. You mind if I—”
“Perfect timing.” Ava signaled the waitress. “I need to get home anyway.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
The server dropped off the check, and Ava reached for her purse.
“I got this,” he said.
Against her better judgment, she let him pay. Then he stood up and waited for her to scoot out of the booth.
The place had filled in while they talked. He reached around her to open the door, and she stepped into the cool night air.
Cool.
When had that happened? When she’d walked in, the temperature had been in the eighties.
She glanced around the gravel lot, which was crammed with trucks and SUVs. She’d parked beside Dusty’s rickety wooden sign, on the opposite side of the lot from Grant. He walked her to her car anyway.
“So what happens now?” she asked. “With the missing person case?”
“Depends,” he said vaguely.
She popped her car locks. “Will you keep me posted?”
He didn’t answer.
“Please?” She opened her door. “I’m interested.”
“I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Good.”
He stared down at her. His eyes were dark and luminous, and again she felt a jolt of attraction.
“Sorry to cut this short,” he said.
“No problem.”
And it wasn’t. It definitely was not a problem that she hadn’t given in to temptation and ordered another drink with him. He rested his hand on the top of her door and looked down at her. His gaze dropped to her mouth. Heat zinged through. He was going to kiss her. And she wanted him to. His gaze locked with hers, and the moment seemed suspended as every nerve in her body went on alert. He eased closer, and she looked at his mouth.
An engine revved beside them, and she jerked back. A motorcycle pulled onto the highway and sped away.
She looked at Grant.
“Well, goodnight.” She stepped back, further obliterating the moment.
“Goodnight.”
She slid into her car, and he gently closed the door. And she managed not to watch him in her rearview mirror as she drove away.

Excerpt. ©Laura Griffin. Posted by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
 

Giveaway: One copy of VANISHING HOUR by Laura Griffin for a U.S. only winner.

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Meet the Author:

Laura Griffin is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty-five books and novellas. She is a two-time RITA Award winner, as well as the recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award.
Buy link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709257/vanishing-hour-by-laura-griffin/