she was beside a large body of water, the Gulf. In the Pacific Northwest the ocean was angry and churning all the time. So strange that it was called Pacific, meaning peaceful. There was nothing peaceful about that ocean or the rugged people who haunted the forests and tolerated the mist and the cold.
She shuddered again, pulled up her covers, and, after battling her racing mind, she finally fell asleep again.
In the morning, her phone rang, waking her up. The room was bright. With no job to get to, she’d actually slept in until nine o’clock.
Amazing!
“Kiley. You were supposed to call me yesterday. I start wondering when I don’t hear from you.” Newman sounded slightly annoyed, maybe a little urgency to his voice.
“It got to be late, and—”
“Fuck sake, Kiley. It’s three hours earlier there. If it was midnight, and I know you go to bed early, it would only be nine o’clock here. That’s acceptable for a phone call.”
So she’d gotten caught. “Sorry, Corbin. I was exhausted and nearly passed out.”
That part of the excuse was correct.
“You going to get me that story for next Friday? I’m saving a big spot for it, and I have nothing to fill that hole if you don’t come through.”
“I’ll make it. I always do.”
“You make me nervous. All this sneaking around.”
“We live in a digital age. I can write from anywhere,” she informed him. That wasn’t the real reason, of course, but it was logical.
“Well, I still think you should check in with the police there, and have them touch base with Portland’s finest. You’re alone, unprotected.”
“What makes you think I’m all alone? I do have certain social skills.”
“Oh, that’s right. You were a serial dater in Portland. Forgot about that.”
The comment hurt. He used to tease her about never getting out of the house, chiding her that there was more life than in the romance books she read every waking second she could. It was of no use trying to explain it to him. She’d rather crawl into a book and live there and would do it in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.
“You worry too much.”
“Well, when my lead investigative reporter runs clear across the country because she thinks someone is after her, I do worry. I’ve got a paper to run. Everything you do in Florida you could do here.”
“Except I don’t think it’s safe.”
“Don’t you think your imagination is getting the better of you? I mean, we did that story last year about the chief of police in Vancouver. He was related to half the town, and nothing happened when he got fired and then went to prison. Then you write about a women’s shelter and supposedly get all sorts of calls…”
“They were real calls, not supposed calls, Corbin.”
“Honey, ex-husbands are a dangerous lot, I’ll grant you, especially when their wives take off in the middle of the night with their kids. I’m not condoning any of that, but just consider you are over-reacting, won’t you? And if not, why don’t you get the authorities involved?”
“Because then they’d want my sources, Corbin. You taught me that.”
“They might even help your story, give you information about some of these Joes. They could do drive-bys and keep you safe. You know they do that.”
“I’m safer here.”
“In Florida?” Corbin sighed. “You sure you’re not just running off with some beach bum, taking a little vacay in the sun?”
“No, the threats were real. My dead cat was real. My slashed tire was real.”
“But you’ve never been physically accosted. That’s what I’m saying.”
“I won’t dignify that comment. Corbin, you know a woman has the right to protect herself, and I’m feeling I need protection. Not in Portland. I need some distance for a while.”
Whether or not there was anyone after her, she didn’t want to tell him she’d had a meltdown at the hands of a stranger, on whose enormous chest she’d unloaded her tears. Finally, she added, “Besides, a couple of goons in leisure suits would stick out like a sore thumb.”
“You’re blowing smoke up my ass, Kiley. Haven’t you ever been to Miami?”
“So what’s gotten you so irritable, Svengali?” It was the name all the girls in the dorm had given him. Kiley knew he liked having women throw themselves at him every day. She imagined he would feel virtuous if he didn’t partake, and got off on it occasionally.
“We have another missing girl. I would have put you on that case. It could just be an immigration issue or mix