hoped never to see another corpse outside of a funeral home.
There was no one I could talk to about it. According to my mother, my grandmother had been able to find things when she was young, but she had died before I was born. Though my mother had never had the gift, she’d understood it, and her unique perspective had helped me as I grew. But she was gone too—thirteen years this past April. It was only Gramps and me.
I knew Gramps understood about finding things, but I was having a hard time working up to explaining exactly what had happened at the beach during the storm. I’d hoped to make peace with it in my own mind before talking to him. I didn’t want to burden him with the information. He’d been there for me through some terrible dark places. I was old enough now to figure this out for myself.
Chapter 4
The other members of the Duck Town Council were all in place around the big, U-shaped table before I sat down. There weren’t enough chairs to accommodate the crowd of people who’d gathered for the meeting, so many were standing at the back of the room. One of them was Kevin. I waved to him through the crowd. He didn’t wave back, but he nodded and smiled.
I took the gavel that had been donated by the League of Women Voters and brought the room to order. Everyone quieted for the Pledge of Allegiance and the reading of last month’s minutes. Then we came to the public forum part of the agenda where citizens were allowed to speak.
“What are we doing about finding Miss Elizabeth’s killer?” Mark Samson, owner of the Rib Shack, called out.
The room erupted with loud chatter. I banged my gavel, but no one paid any attention. The whole town seemed to be talking at the same time, demanding answers I knew the chief didn’t have. The other council members looked worried and kept sneaking furtive glances toward the door, as though they wanted to leave. Nancy calmly typed all of it into her laptop.
“Someone is out there stalking people in Duck,” yelled out Carter Hatley, owner of Game World. “What are we going to do about it?”
I got to my feet. If the gavel wasn’t going to do any good, maybe yelling back would. “The chief is doing everything he can,” I explained loudly. “The SBI is here investigating. I know you all are upset. I understand your anger and frustration. But coming in here and disrupting the town meeting won’t help.”
I noticed as I spoke that a few strangers with TV cameras were sneaking into the back of the meeting room. I guessed I’d see myself on TV later that night.
“Mayor, this is bad for business,” Carter yelled back. “We need an answer now . We can’t afford to wait.”
“ You can’t afford to wait? Mr. Hatley, with all due respect, you didn’t lose a loved one. How do you think Miss Mildred feels about now? She’s been wronged more than anyone in this room. You’re worried about business? She lost her only sister. I think you should sit down and think about that.”
I wasn’t sure my reprimand would work, but Carter finally nodded and sat back down. No one could’ve been more surprised than me. The rest of the group followed his lead, and the meeting progressed as it should after that. The council cut the proceedings short, recessing until the following week when we all hoped things would be calmer. The only business we conducted was to approve sending Miss Mildred a condolence card and flowers for the funeral.
Afterward, people stood around talking, debating whether everything that could be done was being done. Chief Michaels brooded over it for a few minutes before gruffly thanking me and leaving the building.
“You did a good job,” Tim Mabry said as he approached me with a big grin plastered on his face. He took out his nightstick and patted the palm of his hand with it. “We could’ve handled it. There was no reason to worry.”
“I don’t think two police officers launching themselves on a group of townspeople in front of TV
There was no one I could talk to about it. According to my mother, my grandmother had been able to find things when she was young, but she had died before I was born. Though my mother had never had the gift, she’d understood it, and her unique perspective had helped me as I grew. But she was gone too—thirteen years this past April. It was only Gramps and me.
I knew Gramps understood about finding things, but I was having a hard time working up to explaining exactly what had happened at the beach during the storm. I’d hoped to make peace with it in my own mind before talking to him. I didn’t want to burden him with the information. He’d been there for me through some terrible dark places. I was old enough now to figure this out for myself.
Chapter 4
The other members of the Duck Town Council were all in place around the big, U-shaped table before I sat down. There weren’t enough chairs to accommodate the crowd of people who’d gathered for the meeting, so many were standing at the back of the room. One of them was Kevin. I waved to him through the crowd. He didn’t wave back, but he nodded and smiled.
I took the gavel that had been donated by the League of Women Voters and brought the room to order. Everyone quieted for the Pledge of Allegiance and the reading of last month’s minutes. Then we came to the public forum part of the agenda where citizens were allowed to speak.
“What are we doing about finding Miss Elizabeth’s killer?” Mark Samson, owner of the Rib Shack, called out.
The room erupted with loud chatter. I banged my gavel, but no one paid any attention. The whole town seemed to be talking at the same time, demanding answers I knew the chief didn’t have. The other council members looked worried and kept sneaking furtive glances toward the door, as though they wanted to leave. Nancy calmly typed all of it into her laptop.
“Someone is out there stalking people in Duck,” yelled out Carter Hatley, owner of Game World. “What are we going to do about it?”
I got to my feet. If the gavel wasn’t going to do any good, maybe yelling back would. “The chief is doing everything he can,” I explained loudly. “The SBI is here investigating. I know you all are upset. I understand your anger and frustration. But coming in here and disrupting the town meeting won’t help.”
I noticed as I spoke that a few strangers with TV cameras were sneaking into the back of the meeting room. I guessed I’d see myself on TV later that night.
“Mayor, this is bad for business,” Carter yelled back. “We need an answer now . We can’t afford to wait.”
“ You can’t afford to wait? Mr. Hatley, with all due respect, you didn’t lose a loved one. How do you think Miss Mildred feels about now? She’s been wronged more than anyone in this room. You’re worried about business? She lost her only sister. I think you should sit down and think about that.”
I wasn’t sure my reprimand would work, but Carter finally nodded and sat back down. No one could’ve been more surprised than me. The rest of the group followed his lead, and the meeting progressed as it should after that. The council cut the proceedings short, recessing until the following week when we all hoped things would be calmer. The only business we conducted was to approve sending Miss Mildred a condolence card and flowers for the funeral.
Afterward, people stood around talking, debating whether everything that could be done was being done. Chief Michaels brooded over it for a few minutes before gruffly thanking me and leaving the building.
“You did a good job,” Tim Mabry said as he approached me with a big grin plastered on his face. He took out his nightstick and patted the palm of his hand with it. “We could’ve handled it. There was no reason to worry.”
“I don’t think two police officers launching themselves on a group of townspeople in front of TV
Similar Books
