It’s a Love story framed by a murder . . .

A writer’s job is never done.

In a few weeks, the fifth book in the Lawman series will come out. It’s called My Brother’s Keeper.

But I’m already working on the book after that. Two characters in my novel have helped to keep things moving forward. They are Will Diaz’s buddy RJ Madril and his significant other, Pam Harmon. I’ve hinted throughout the novels that RJ and Pam are involved. In the fifth book (spoiler alert) they get married.

RJs also been up to his eyebrows in what we call the Brightman case. Howard Brightman is an old man. He’s dying of cancer, and this is his last hunting trip. When the mother and father of all snowstorms slam into the San Juan Mountains, preventing the jeeps from getting out, his sons hike out intending to come back with horses and rescue him.

It’s been established in the other books Taht Pam knows the Brightmans. They’re her neighbors back in Napa. She thinks the world of them. Here’s an example of when she meets the boys again:

    Good as they were, Larry, Hawkins, and PJ’s weren’t Superman. They had a limit to their endurance. They had also reached the point where their experience and training warned them they were headed for trouble. And the Air Force pilots wouldn’t want to risk their lives or the aircraft when they could barely see.

    “Pam. I appreciate your coming in,” Will said.

    “The Brightmans are neighbors,” she explained. “They had the vineyard next to us. We look after each other.” She smiled. “Besides, I think they might want to see a familiar face.”

     That made perfect sense. Especially since every passing minute increased the likelihood, this wouldn’t be a rescue but a body recovery.

    “You said they own a vineyard?”

    “That’s right. It’s near ours.”

    Will caught it. “Excuse me. You own a vineyard.”

    She nodded, but clarified it by saying, “John and Joanna own the vineyard.”

    “And they make wine?”

    “Yes. And I get a case every year out of it,” she stated. “I’ll give you a bottle from the next batch.”

    RJ thought about it. “Is the wine any good?”

    Pam smiled. “The Cab we produce is my favorite. We’ve won awards for it.”

    They heard the front door open, and Vickie came out of dispatch to greet whoever was coming in.

   “Good morning, gentlemen. Can I help you?” she asked.

    “We’re here to see Mr. Madril.”

    “May I ask who’s calling?”

    “James and Paul Brightman.”

    “Vickie, let them in!”

    “This way, please,” she said.

    James and Paul Brightman came in. Both were tall men with dark hair. James had a little gray at the temples, but it made him look dignified.

     Paul, who was younger and less muscled, hunched over a little on crutches. A proper brace now covered his leg properly. He tried to look strong and brave.

    What he really managed was to look like a guy who was fighting the pain and trying to look strong and brave.

     Both men had shaved and put hunting clothes back on. The clothing looked new, and Will suspected a trip was made to the nearby Wal-Mart in Alamosa to get clothing to replace what they’d left behind.

    Must be nice to have credit cards, Will thought.

    “Pamala Rae Harmon!” James exclaimed. His face split into a smile when he saw her.

    “Jimbo!” she exclaimed. She accepted a hug and a kiss on the cheek from him.

     His brother Paul had was smiling from ear to ear upon seeing her. She got a hug and a kiss from him as well. Pam was careful not to bump the leg or kick his crutches out from under him.

    “What happened?” she asked.

    “I blew my knew out coming down off the mountain,” Paul explained. “Took a fall.”

    “How did you make it in?” RJ asked.

    Paul cocked his head towards his brother. “James made a kind of travis and pulled me in.”

    James smiled. RJ thought the smile looked a little forced. “Blame the Air Force Survival School for that skill.”

     Will glanced at RJ. He didn’t seem to be so happy, old friends or not, with the attention to two men were giving Pam.

    “So, what are they going to do?” she asked, looking down at the damaged knee.

    “Once we get Dad out,” James advised, “We’ll hire an air ambulance to get him home.”

    Paul nodded. “I don’t think I’d enjoy a flight, even one first class home.”

    He seemed to go slightly pale. “If you don’t mind. Is there someplace I can sit down?”

    “Oh,” RJ said. He got an office chair, and he and James helped him sit down in it.

    “Thanks,” he gasped.

     “I’m sorry you got hurt and we’re looking for your dad, but it’s good to see you guys,” she said.

     “So, this is where you ended up,” James stated. “You just up and disappeared after the funeral.”

     Pam just nodded. “I had to get out of there.”

    “And you ended up here, doing what?”

     “Yes,” she explained. “I’m wearing a badge these days.”

     That seemed to puzzle them a little. “It’s not like you need to,” James said.

     “I want to, Jim.”

     James thought for a moment before saying, “Oh, that makes sense. You and Scott were both MPs. Wow.”

    “What?”

    “You travel to the middle of nowhere and what happens? You run into the girl next door. John and Joanna will be happy to know that we saw you.”

     “You don’t have to tell them anything.”

     James didn’t seem to try to get an explanation from her and addressed RJ and Will finally. “Sorry. Running into Pamela was the last thing we expected. I didn’t even know she was down here.”

    “We haven’t seen you since Scott’s funeral,” Paul stated. James had already said that. It looked like the pain was getting to him a little.

     Pam just nodded sadly.

     “He was a good friend,” Paul added.

     Pam did her best to change the subject. “I’m here helping with the search. Thought you could use a friendly face.”

   I’ve also set the background and made it a little more personal for RJ. The Sheriff, his father, is sick.

     “I understand Mr. Brightman is sick?” Pam asked.

     “Yeah, Pamala. He is,” James answered. “He’s dying. Cancer.”

      Pams’s eyes went wide at that revelation. “I’m sorry.”

     “They’ve done everything they can do,” Paul stated. He said it as if it were a proclamation from God Almighty. “There’s no drug or surgery or radiation that can help. The doctors have given him a few months.”

      “There’s nothing left to do but keep him happy,” James answered. “This was his last hunting trip.”

“I understand how you feel,” RJ said. “My father is in the hospital with cancer.”

“I‘m sorry to hear that,” James said, meaning it. “I hope things work out.”

“Me too,” RJ stated. Then he asked, “Why did you bring him?”

     James chuckled sadly. “You know, Dad, Pam. He took it into his head we were going hunting. We said no, of course. You know what he said?”

The rescue turns into a three-day search hampered by weather, and when they finally find the camp, Howard Brightman is gone.

The following year, hikers find his wallet and, despite a search of the area, Howard Brightman is nowhere to be found.

Two years later, his remains are found. RJ treats it as a crime scene and while recovering the remains, they recover the skull. A little behind where the right ear had been is a bullet hole.

What happened?

A lot of this has already been said in the previous novels, BUT it’s third hand. Will wasn’t part of the search party or the investigative team. He simply reports what RJ and Pam have told him. We don’t see the case through their eyes, hear their discussions, or are privy to their relationship.

But this is their story. Not his. And he’s not the one who writes “Case Closed” to it a couple of years down the line.

I wanted to spread the story out for a variety of reasons. First, authors write most murder mysteries to be solved in an hour on television. In the real world, cases can take weeks, months, years, and sometimes never to solve.

That’s reality.

And there are steps forward and back in people’s relationships. Pam and RJ will experience that. It’s how they grow that’s important.

So, novel number six, tentatively titled “Dead Man,” is a love story wrapped in a murder wrapped in the resilience of two people.

It’s