Vapor Trail

When the phone wakes Phil Broker on the morning of his forty-eighth birthday -- six months removed from his surviving a January cold snap that (in Absolute Zero) nearly claimed his life -- it's already ninety-two degrees. It's July, and Stillwater, Minnesota, finds itself in the middle of the worst heat wave in local memory.

The news on the phone has nothing to do with his birthday wishes, however. A year earlier, an angry citizen served as jury and executioner by pumping...
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When the phone wakes Phil Broker on the morning of his forty-eighth birthday -- six months removed from his surviving a January cold snap that (in Absolute Zero) nearly claimed his life -- it's already ninety-two degrees. It's July, and Stillwater, Minnesota, finds itself in the middle of the worst heat wave in local memory.

The news on the phone has nothing to do with his birthday wishes, however. A year earlier, an angry citizen served as jury and executioner by pumping twelve bullets into a known pedophile -- and in the process became a folk hero, dubbed "the Saint" by locals. The investigation quickly went cold, and ever since rumors have circulated that the real reason the Saint hasn't been apprehended is that he -- or she -- is a cop.

Now a priest has been murdered. Was the priest a sexual predator? Is the Saint back? The caller begs for Broker's help, but as new victims start turning up, Broker wonders if he's been set up to catch a bullet for a scandal that threatens to bring down the Stillwater Police Department.