Run for Your Life, Riley Horton! — Sara M. Barton

School librarian Riley Horton uncovers a dirty little secret about the town of Hambleport while helping students at the Wexler Elementary School do research on the Underground Railroad. The prominent citizens of the Massachusetts town, with lineage dating back to the American Revolution, have a long history of successful smuggling. From cotton during the Civil War to liquor during Prohibition, they were successful at concealing their criminal activities. When bars reopen, the townspeople turn their attention to opium, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. Imbedded deep in local government, the financial responsibilities for the money laundering and reinvestment of profits is left to skilled financial experts, and the town comes to depend on their illegal activities. When government informants disappear, the FBI wants answers, and Riley is in a position to help their deep cover agent, Dixon Wolders, find them in this intro novella to a new series. Riley's degree in information science and her analytical skills are of value to the FBI, but it's her role as author that comes in handy when she has to pass information on the operation. Over the course of several years, not only do Riley and Dixon hide their relationship from the townspeople, they manage to get closer to the truth about the smuggling than anyone has come before, and the trail leads them to Boston and Washington, DC. Politicians, from the mayor of Hambleport to Representative Liam Dooley to Assistant Secretary of State Mike Matthias can't afford for Riley and Dixon to succeed, and they call upon the security professionals to shut the FBI investigation down.