Kingdom by the Sea (Romantic Suspense) Read Online Free Page A

sand. 
Frantic, she gripped harder on his arm, digging into the rough fabric of his
coat until her fingers were raw.
    And
just as suddenly as she'd been grabbed—she was freed.  Her attacker was pulled
off of her—in a split second—and the force of her resistance sent her flying
into the sand.  She landed on her knees, coughing.  Nearly gagging on her
hair.  She turned back and saw the silhouette of two men fighting.  She could
only make one of them out clearly.  He was meaty looking with a hideous face
that appeared almost crooked. 
    Nicole
screamed as she scrambled to her feet, almost falling down again.  Her limbs
felt weak, boneless, but her legs kept on, struggling to make it uphill and
into the house.  Vaguely she heard a loud thump behind her—then a deep male
voice—but she didn't dare look back.
    She
kept going until a hand closed on her wrist. 
    She
let out another scream as she was pulled back—only this time, she wasn't pulled
hard.  The gesture was gentle.  Comforting.  Her mind and body were still too
flustered to make sense of it, though, and she yelled, “Let go of me!”
    “He's
gone, he’s gone,” he said.  “Are you okay?”
    This
was not the man who’d grabbed her.  Facing him now, Nicole finally saw him.  He had a shaved head and a kind of intensity about his face.  His eyes
were dark and assessing.  Not a combination Nicole would normally think of as
reassuring. 
    She
was still too rattled to speak.
    Holding
her hand, the man spoke slowly.  “Sweetheart.  Are you okay?”  He enunciated
his words the way a paramedic might and her relief swelled even more. 
    “Yes,”
she said finally.  He let go of her hand, but still looked intently at her. 
    “Do
you live around here?” he asked.  “Is there someone I can call or...?”
    “I...um,
yeah, I live here.”  She cast a glance toward the house.  “Where did he go?”
    With
a shrug, the man said, “Well, I popped him pretty good and he took off.  Do you
want me to call the police?”
    “Yes...I
guess so…where did you come from?”
    “I
was coming up on shore,” he said, motioning back toward the water.  “My boat
crapped out on me about fifty feet out.  I was pulling my dinghy up on the sand
when I saw that guy on you.  Are you sure he didn't hurt you?” 
    Before
she could respond, she heard sirens.

Chapter Five
    An hour
later she and the stranger—whom she'd since learned was named Michael King—were
sitting in a police station on Arlen Road .  She couldn't recall if she had ever
been inside a police station before, but this was not how she would have
pictured it.  Woodsy and cozy, it held nautical pictures on the walls, each
with an identifying placard below— Clam Bake '98.  Nauset Races '04.  Easter
Scrod Parade '06 .  The entire police station looked to be a one-room
operation, a tight cluster of desks, papers, and manila folders.   
    When
Officers Donovan and Spackel had escorted Nicole and Michael inside, they'd
greeted the only person there—a woman named Sue who was wearing a dispatch
headset.  Classical music was playing softly from the radio on her desk.  With
a cursory wave, she went back to her paperwork.
    Then
Nicole and Michael had given their official statements, which of course were
brief since the events on the beach had happened so quickly.  Apparently a
“concerned neighbor” had called the police.  
    Spackel,
the younger of the two officers, had put on a pot of coffee and now it was
gurgling on the other side of the room.  Nicole was anxious to get some of it,
determined—however falsely—for it to calm her nerves. 
    “So
do you have any idea who it was?” Nicole asked now.
    “No,
but we have some more descriptions.”  Officer Donovan grabbed a folder on his
desk and flipped it open.  “First, Herman MacDonald called in about a
‘suspicious man’ behind the Fish Fry.  And then Chester Northgate reported one
of his motorboats stolen less than an