Leave of Absence

Not only is Marion Maloney lonely after a bitter divorce, unfulfilled teaching English to rich boarding-school boys, and angry at her runaway ex for leaving her with tax debts-she's also being stalked and sexually harassed on campus by someone too well-connected to name. Marion takes some comfort in a platonic friendship with fellow teacher Sam Field, but her nerves are pushed to the brink by her stalker, and she takes a leave of absence, checking in to a country inn an hour away. Marion invites Sam to spend an evening with her at the inn, where their friendship-though still platonic-grows deeper. Sam returns to school to learn that a woman he and his friends had been partying with has been murdered; meanwhile, Marion's car is found abandoned on a Connecticut beach. The two mysteries, possibly connected, throw Sam's life into turmoil with two weeks left in the school year.Retired detective Jackie Spellmeyer, who teamed up with Sam to solve a previous mystery, is hired by police to help with the murder, and thanks to her cerebral detective work and skill at manipulating the headmaster and his ethically unreliable son to cooperate, that crime is solved; she also smokes out Marion's ex and frees her from his tax liabilities. Sam's focus on Marion's disappearance (in which he admits he is emotionally involved), along with his mystical streak, lead him to the Southwest and a mysterious artist named Ariana Bello, who may hold the key to the whereabouts of Marion. Ariana plays cat-and-mouse games with Sam to keep him guessing, but his persistence forces all three to confront the complications of their love triangle-and to forge its outcome.