Love at First Light (Lost Harbor, Alaska #6) - Jennifer Bernard Page 0,1
of antiseptic had joined the flowers and grasses of the meadow, all just as strong as before. He knew from experience that almost dying could change a person. Could it enhance his sense of smell? Would it do other things to him?
When he woke up next, the medical crew was gone. His girlfriend Charley sat near his bed, tapping something into her phone. She must have come straight from an appointment with a client, because she always wore white during her life coaching sessions. She said it gave her patients a sense of calm.
A tailored white linen dress, in this case. Nothing like the one in his vision. But why quibble over details?
It seemed pretty clear what he had to do next.
Chapter One
Two months later
This wasn’t the first time Ethan James had found himself in trouble with the local authorities. As a private investigator, sometimes he worked with them, sometimes he got on their nerves. But they didn’t usually arrest him and toss him in jail.
Welcome to Lost Harbor, Alaska, where before last night he’d mostly been worried about bear encounters.
“We have a new police chief,” the arresting officer informed him as he fingerprinted him. “She runs a very tight ship. Sorry, man. Blame her, not me.”
“Chief Maya Badger. Yes, I know. She’s the one—“
“Nope.” The sergeant threw up a hand to stop his explanation. He was friendly enough, with a sunny smile and a fringe of white beard, like a Santa in uniform. “I’m just doing my job. Letter of the law. Following orders. Not my fault. Filling out reports. Dotting I’s and crossing T’s. Just the way she likes.”
Obviously this guy was hellbent on putting him in that cell. Ethan gave in and handed over his personal items, which didn’t amount to much—wallet, rental car keys and phone. He hadn’t even checked into the Eagle’s Nest yet. That was where he’d stayed on his previous trips to Lost Harbor; but those had been financed by clients. This trip was different.
Very different. He chuckled to himself as the sergeant steered him into the small holding cell tucked into a corner of the bullpen area of the police station. Its door had a small window, with bars in place of the glass. At the back of the cell there was another window that looked out on the inviting grove of birch trees behind the station. At least there was a view. If he had to spend a night in jail, he could do worse.
He spread his arms wide, realizing he could nearly touch both walls. “It’s a good thing Lost Harbor has such a low crime rate so I have the place to myself.”
“We’re a little cramped for space here,” the sergeant explained. “They’re building us a new station, but for now, it is what it is.”
“I’ll have to come back in a year and get arrested again,” Ethan said dryly as the cell door closed behind him. “I promise to rewrite my Yelp review.”
“Funny. Okay then, Ethan S. James. Enjoy your night.”
“It’s off to a great start, can’t lie.”
The officer snorted and shuffled off. Ethan realized he hadn’t been granted the traditional one phone call, but since it was three-thirty in the morning, he’d just suck it up until Maya Badger showed up.
She’d asked him to come here, after all. True, she hadn’t asked him to hack into the police station’s database and pull all the records related to one “Spruce Grouse,” aka S.G. But old skills never went away, and with an antiquated system like Lost Harbor’s, he could hardly be expected to ignore such a tempting opportunity to get a head start on this case.
He settled onto the bench that lined the back of the cell and stretched out his legs. His right leg was aching vaguely, with a kind of desultory whine, like a kid asking “are we there yet?” He rubbed it automatically, out of habit, even though what he really needed was a hot bath and a bed.
“You’ll have to wait, buddy,” he murmured to his leg. “Behave or I’ll switch you out for a pirate peg leg.” He’d gotten into the habit of talking to his troublesome limb when he was a kid, and had never quite shaken it.
“Eh?” shouted Sergeant Santa.
“Nothing,” he called back. “Can you keep it down? Gonna try to get some Z’s. Any chance you got some of those eye masks, like on a plane? It’s so damn light in here.”