Out of the Deep Read Online Free Page A

problems. Swinging himself over the chain, he hurried along the pier to join Steven, who had a look of panic on his face.
    â€œDad—there’s this guy up on the pier—”
    â€œDid he see Bindy?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI can’t find her anywhere. Let’s move it. We need to look around the motel.”
    The four Landons checked all the halls, which were strangely empty. “What if she’s gone into someone’s room?” Steven worried.
    Olivia groaned, “I can’t even deal with that possibility. I’m calling the police right now!”

CHAPTER THREE
    J ack could hear only one side of the conversation as his mother stated, “Her name is Bindy Callister. B-I-N-D-Y. Short for Belinda. Fourteen, blondish hair, a bit overweight.” With her hand over the mouthpiece, she asked Ashley, “Do you know what she had on?”
    Ashley shrugged. “The last time I saw her, she was wearing a sleep shirt. She was reading in bed with the light on. Then I fell asleep.”
    Olivia had turned all her attention to the phone again, concentrating so hard it looked like she might shoot through the phone lines, like Trinity in The Matrix. “Yes,” she was saying. “Yes, that’s right. Fourteen. She is? You do? Oh thank—We’ll be right there. Uh…where is the police station? We just arrived this afternoon, and we don’t know anything about Bar Harbor.” Grabbing a ballpoint pen from the desk drawer, Olivia began to scribble directions. Then, slowly, she returned the phone to its cradle.
    â€œGood news or bad news?” Steven asked.
    â€œBoth. The police have her. But they picked her up in a bar. ”
    Had Jack heard that right? “Did you say they picked her up in Bar Harbor?” he asked.
    â€œNo, I said in a bar. A place that serves alcohol. Oh, Steven,” Olivia cried, reaching for his hand, “maybe we’re in way over our heads with this girl. She was able to sneak out right under our noses. When I imagine what could have happened—maybe she’s too much for us to handle. We’ve never dealt with anything like this before.”
    â€œNow calm down,” he said. “Let’s all pile into the car and find the police station.”
    That’s what they did, heading onto the highway that led to Bar Harbor, since the Seaside Motel was located about five miles from the town proper. In the back seat, Ashley held a flashlight while Jack tried to follow the street map of Bar Harbor, and Olivia studied the directions she’d scribbled. The town wasn’t all that big, but it had a lot of quirky little side streets that confused Jack. “I can’t really tell…,” he muttered. “Wait, turn here,” he told his father, who was driving. After a couple more turns they found the police station, a pale brick building, squat and square and plain, as if it, like the state of Maine, would tolerate no nonsense. Lights radiated from inside the building, casting a greenish glow onto the street. What a scary place for Bindy to be! Steven must have been thinking the same thing, because he didn’t even bother to parallel park. He left the car sitting with one tire on the curb and the headlights still on, as the family hurried into the station.
    The first thing Jack saw when he walked in was Bindy. She sat alone on a wooden bench, elbows resting on her knees and her head in her hands. Her mousy hair had fallen forward to cover her features. When she looked up, Jack could see fear in her eyes.
    A policewoman, stifling a yawn, stood up from behind her desk to approach the Landons. “Sorry to drag you folks in here in the middle of the night. I’m Officer Bartlett. Is this the girl you phoned about?”
    â€œShe’s the one,” Steven answered grimly.
    â€œOfficer Wilson picked her up in Smokey’s Bar about an hour ago—the bar’s up the hill, not too far from your