Shelter — Lauren Gilley

Alma Morales never expected to be a widow so soon, least of all a pregnant widow. Three weeks after her husband Sam's murder, she's still asking questions no one seems to have the answers to. How does a landscaper from quiet, suburban Marietta get gunned down in the heart of Atlanta? What are the police not telling her? And most important, why does her family not care? Alone, a bundle of ragged nerves, she turns to Sam's cousin Carlos for comfort. Carlos grew up with his cousin Sam â€" they were more like brothers than cousins â€" and the death hits him hard, even harder than Alma knows because Carlos was there the night Sam was shot. As Alma searches for closure, Carlos tries to keep one step ahead of her, hiding the painful truth of Sam's dark associations, all while getting himself more deeply entrenched in the Atlanta drug trade. With the help of Sam's friend Sean, Carlos sets out to find the man who shot his cousin. But when the trail leads to a new, powerful entrant into the narcotics business, it's no longer Carlos's freedom that's at stake, but Alma's life.