Against the Tide Read Online Free Page B

really.” She scowled. “I’m scared and I’m angry...and I’m exhausted.” She sat down on one of the desks and folded her arms in front of her in exasperation. “I hardly slept after the call about Dad late last night. Then I went into work early this morning. Just to manage some things so I could get out of there. And then I drove nearly nine hours to get here.” She pursed her lips, willing herself not to cry again. “I—I just want to go home.”
    â€œTo your dad’s place?” he asked gently.
    â€œYeah.” She sniffed, desperately trying not to fall apart again.
    â€œDo you think you’ll be safe out there?” Garret made a concerned frown. “I mean, considering what just happened here. Aren’t you worried?”
    Lieutenant Conrad was coming out of the office with his cell phone in hand again. “I’ve got a couple more officers on their way,” he told them. “We’ll go over everything in here and then secure the place before we leave.” He peered at Megan. “Feel free to go. You look pretty worn out.”
    â€œI’ll get you a key, Lieutenant Conrad,” she said. “Thanks.”
    â€œYou’re old enough to call me by my first name, Megan.” His smile looked sad.
    â€œOkay. Thanks... Michael.”
    She sighed as they walked to the front of the building, still trying to wrap her head around all that had happened, realizing once again how she might’ve been dead right now. They could’ve held a double funeral—her and Dad. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine as she picked up her purse from Barb’s desk. Then, remembering Michael would need to lock up, she opened the top drawer of Barb’s desk and, just like always, the spare key was in the far right-hand corner, right beneath the paper clips.
    â€œPlease keep me in the loop about this.” She removed one of her business cards from a side pocket of her purse, handing it over with the key. “This has my cell number on it.”
    â€œThanks.” Michael slipped them into his pocket. “I’ll be in touch.”
    As they stood at the door, Megan noticed what appeared to be a recently installed security system panel. “This is new to me.” She pointed to the sleek stainless keypad.
    â€œWas it activated when you arrived?” Michael asked her. “Did you have to put in a passcode?”
    â€œNo. I don’t even know the passcode.” She frowned. “Dad always made fun of these devices. He used to brag about how safe this town was. Sometimes he didn’t even lock the door.”
    â€œWell, times have changed,” Michael told her. “I’ll call the security service and see if I can get them to activate it again when I leave. That might help ward off any more break-ins.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œAnd I’ll send the passcode to your phone in case you need to get back in here tomorrow.”
    â€œThanks, that’ll be helpful.”
    â€œI wonder why it wasn’t set,” Garret said as he and Megan stepped outside. “Of course, the staff was probably upset and distracted by the news of Rory’s death. Maybe they forgot.”
    â€œThat makes sense.” Megan nodded numbly. She felt she was walking through a weird dream. Like none of this was real. But outside, as the cool sea air washed over her face, smelling like a familiar mixture of rotten eggs and dead fish, signaling that the tide was low, she suddenly knew that this was all real. Painfully real. She was home in Cape Perpetua, and Dad was dead.
    â€œI’m parked over there.” She pointed to the side street. “But you don’t have to walk me—”
    â€œI want to,” he insisted.
    As she turned the corner, she noticed that the traffic in town had thinned considerably. Hers was the only car parked on the side street now.
    â€œThat’s not your car, is it?”