No...He couldn’t die...Not like a dog on the side of the road.
He caught a flash of yellow as his killer turned and walked away in the darkness.Only a moment before a black wave engulfed him forever.
ONE
Four months later
T
ripp released the handle on his chop saw and pulled off his safety glasses as the sheriff department SUV slowed to a stop near the open bay doors of his workshop.
A moment later, his friend Sheriff Rafe Torres stepped out in a spotless uniform, sunglasses shading his eyes against the glare of the bright morning sun angling over the trees on the east side of the property.“Morning,” he called out.
“Morning.What are you doing up here at this time of day?Am I in some kind of trouble?”Rafe never came up this way in uniform unless he was on official police business.
“Depends on whether you’ve got fresh coffee ready or not.”
He arched an eyebrow.“Wow.What kind of operation are you running that you can just take coffee breaks whenever you want?You’ve only been on the job a week.”
His longtime buddy shrugged.“One of the few perks of being in charge, I guess.So, you got coffee or what?”
“Sure.Come on back.”He led the way through to the small kitchen at the rear of the workshop and started a pot.
“Damn, you need to install air conditioning.It’s like a damned oven in here.”Rafe sat in a chair at the small wooden table Tripp had built.Red alder.Made with mortise and tenon joints, no nails, and sealed with three coats of high-gloss varnish.
“I installed bay doors that—I’m not sure if you noticed with your highly developed cop’s observational skills when you walked in—are both currently open.Along with this conveniently placed window, also open to allow for cross ventilation.”He gestured to the window behind them above the small sink.
Rafe grunted.“That thing’s more like a porthole than a window, so I’d say your design is flawed.Might hit the low nineties today.”
Tripp shook his head, though low ninetieswashot for the island even in August, especially this close to the coast.Thankfully those sorts of temperatures weren’t common, and usually only lasted for a few days in a row at most during a strong ridge of high pressure along the coast.“Living on the mainland for so long made you soft.”
“Has not.And most of us over there have aircon, because we’re more civilized.”
“Aww.Should I make your coffee iced?Or better yet, we can go into town and get one of those fancy caramel frappamachino things with a big dollop of whipped cream on top for you instead.”
“Heathen.It’s called a Frappuccino, and don’t knock the whipped cream.It’s delicious.”
