Damned Hot — Ken Kuhlken

Kyle Moss, a bankrupt real estate developer returns to Crown City, his hometown in California's Imperial Valley, from which at sixteen he had gotten sent away after a near-deadly clash with a rival, Frank Castro.Now twelve years have passed, Frank has married Yolanda, the girl over whom he and Kyle did battle. Yolanda, a Latina beauty who is now preparing for the bar exam to become an attorney is considering leaving Frank because of his infidelity. Kyle is staying in a guest house on his brother's estate and hoping to get his brother's help in securing loans from the bank their father founded. But Lloyd distrusts Kyle and fears Kyle's behavior, especially that his pursuing Yolanda will damage his political career. Lloyd is running for director of the Valley Water Authority, promising to save the valley's allotment of Colorado River water from being usurped by Los Angeles, and to revitalize the nearby Salton Sea, a vast body of water that is dying. And what makes Kyle even more threatening to Lloyd is that Frank Castro, who is running to become police chief, is Lloyd's political ally.From the time Frank breaks in on Kyle and Yolanda in bed together in Lloyd's guest house, hardly any doubt remains that one of the rivals will kill the other.All this takes place during August in the hottest summer on record in the Imperial Valley, with temperatures as high as 130 degrees Fahrenheit.In the sweltering August heat in California's desert borderland, Kyle Moss returns from a twelve year exile to win the love of Yolanda and gain some control over the bank his dying father founded and owns. What stands between Kyle and his goals are his brother, a popular local politician and Frank Castro, Yolanda's cheating husband, whose bullying and threats had sent Kyle into exile.