The Killings in Boulder Valley by Arlen Blumhagen

Description:

The beautiful, majestic Boulder Valley. Where locals can enjoy everything that the Montana wilderness has to offer. Where tourists can “get away from it all,” and relax beside a rushing mountain river.

The Boulder Valley. Where a deranged, psychopath hunts for his next victims.

The Killings in Boulder Valley is a terrifying short story of murder, love, and revenge.

Excerpt:

There was absolutely no reason for Maddie McDonald to worry; so why was she? Her husband Russ, and son Jeff had said they were going to do a morning hunt, and would be home early to get some chores done. It was four in the afternoon, and she hadn’t heard from them, but that was certainly no reason to worry. Maddie had spent her entire life up the Boulder Valley and had been around hunters forever. She had seen hundreds of “morning hunts” last until after sundown; with a thousand different reasons why. Maddie told herself again that there was no reason to worry; but the large butterflies in her stomach just wouldn’t settle down.

The McDonalds weren’t rich, not by a long shot. Russ had inherited some money when his grandfather passed and with that and a friend in the local real estate business, Russ and Maddie had been able to fulfill a dream they’d shared since they were juniors in high school and began dating; their dream of owning some riverfront land. “Ole McDonald’s,” as they called their place, was five acres along the Boulder River, about twenty-five miles south of Big Timber, nestled in the Boulder Valley. They had a modest three-bedroom rancher with an unattached two-car garage and a large fenced yard. The rest of the property was either wild land, mostly along the river, or pasture land for the McDonalds’s five horses.

Of course, as far as Russ and Jeff were concerned, the best part of living where they did was that they were only a few miles down the valley from Natural Bridge, and the beginning of the Custer National Forest. There was good hunting and fishing on the McDonalds’s small piece of land, but there was unlimited hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, picnicking, etc. throughout the national forest.

The McDonalds took full advantage too. There was seldom a weekend that went by without them going up into the national forest. A lot of the time it would just be Russ and Jeff, especially if they were spending the night. They still preferred tent camping, and Maddie was Holiday Inn all the way.

Maddie found herself, yet again, standing in the living room, fingers intertwined in a nervous knot at her chest, staring out the big picture window that faced southwest and had an incredible view up the valley. She simply couldn’t understand it. Maddie had never had any strong premonitions, not even much in the way of motherly intuition before. So why now? Why suddenly the feeling of impending tragedy? There is nothing wrong! Maddie chastised herself. You’re just being an old lady. Now forget it. Still, instead of doing her chores, she stayed at the window and continued to stare up the valley; her right foot tapping nervously.