Page 34 of Cold Light of Day

Autumn should have talked to her sooner. She pressed a hand to her temple. When would the ibuprofen kick in?

“Don’t worry. I’ll find you contact information,” Tanya said. “In the meantime, you might want to see this before you go to your meeting, in case someone brings it up.”

“What is it?” Autumn turned to stare at the television screen secured to the wall.

“KTOO-TV. The news out of Juneau.”

An anchor offered details about the shooting and manhunt,and tacked on to that story was a brief video of divers arriving back at the marina with the body they’d recovered. Normally people got excited when their community made the news—but that, of course, depended on the story. Autumn wasn’t happy about this one. She caught a brief glimpse of Grier on the boat just before he ducked below deck. Then...another man’s face in the background caught her attention.

She sucked in a breath. “That’s him.”

The news went to a commercial break.

“Grier Brenner?”

“No. Listen, Tanya. I need you to contact the station and get me the footage.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, but just get me the footage, please.”

Tanya stood and rushed around her desk. “I’m here to help. I’ve been here for decades, and believe me, I’ve seen it all. You can tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing.” Autumn headed for the door. “I’m not sure.”

“Chief Long.” Tanya’s tone stopped her in her tracks.

She turned, surprised to see how intimidating Tanya could be when she decided to stare down her own boss.

The look broke through Autumn’s resolve, and she blew out a breath. “I’ve seen a stranger around town.”

Tanya arched a brow. “Nothing unusual about that, but if it bothered you so much, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m saying something now. I’ve seen him at odd times. Late at night, I see the same guy.”I think he’s watching me.She’d keep that to herself for now.

Brows furrowing, Tanya moved around her desk again to answer the phone. “I’ll get on it. Take a deep breath and remember to take one day at a time. One step at a time. Just do the next thing. Go. Focus on your meeting.”

Autumn thought of Birdy’s words—the Scripture over her office walls—“The path of the righteous...”

Lord, help me to walk that path. Whatever it is, whatever it looks like.

She wasn’t even sure.

Pushing through the door and into the drizzle, Autumn realized she was relieved that she’d told Tanya about the stranger. At the very least, she had taken her seriously and hadn’t made light of it. And like Tanya had mentioned, strangers in town weren’t unusual, but with two bodies now, and Ross getting shot, the Shadow Gap Police Department needed to remain on high alert and wary. Apparently not every stranger was a tourist simply out enjoying their time in Alaska.

Walking on the boardwalk, Autumn tried to push aside the feeling that danger was closing in. She needed to focus on the next thing—her meeting with the city council. But try as she might, she kept seeing the guy’s face in the video. A shiver crawled over her. Where had she seen him before?

Autumn lived in Topeka until she was ten, and then they moved to Alaska. When she was twenty-one, she started going to the Caribbean every year, and then five years ago while there, she got her scuba certification. She thought by going back to the Caribbean, she could overcome her fear after what happened with her mother. So she’d traveled a little, but where had she seen this man in her travels? Why was he showing up here and now in her town? Even if his face hadn’t seemed familiar in a disturbing way, she would have been suspicious of him anyway because of his nocturnal activities and the feeling he was watching her.

But enough about him—she was already late to the meeting. She hurried across the street and headed for city hall, only a block away.

The sky decided to open up and drench her right before she stepped inside. Of course.

She pushed through the last door down the hallway and into the conference room. Two of the five council members were already in the middle of a heated discussion bordering on anargument, and she couldn’t have been more relieved that she was practically invisible. Mayor Cindy White sat at the end of the table and watched.

Autumn took a seat at the opposite end of the table and returned the mayor’s apologetic smile.

Wally and Easton were arguing about how best to deal with the road damage after the mudslide, though they’d already set protocols in place. The conversation eased as Wally realized Autumn had arrived, and Easton stopped as well. Her palms slicked.

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