Page 13 of Cold Light of Day

Dad had courage ... at one time. The thought lodged in her gut and sparked disappointment.

“Howisyour dad?”

“I hope he’s the same as he was when I left.”

“You haven’t seen him since you got back?”

“Nope. I came straight from the airport to the office to review incident reports—well, after Carrie and I helped rescue the girl. I was on the plane, and we landed, and then the ambulance took her to the hospital. I took Grier back to his truck.” She instantly wished she hadn’t added that part. “I’ve been busy and haven’t been home. You know I can’t afford to let anything fall through the cracks.” Or she would lose her job.

She was hanging on by only a thread. Autumn shook her head, her loathing of politics growing by the minute.

“You’re worried about Wally, but don’t be. He’s had it in for your grandfather for years. Then your father. And now he’s taking it out on you. He’s just making noise.”

“Sitting at that table in Anchorage, facing a committee, didn’t feel like noise, and now I’ve lost my certification.”

Her grandmother set her teacup down. “You don’t need it here. Besides, we’re a small town with not much crime to worry about.”

Autumn considered the incident reports she’d read that covered the last two days she was gone.

Area caller reported slick roads.

Officer responded to a disorderly male.

Officer assisted a citizen in retrieving personal property.

Report of suspicious activity. And then Hank Duncan...Bigfoot could have taken his dog.

And on and on it went. Small crimes still took time.

Autumn scraped a hand down her face and stood. “Night, Birdy.”I’m going home to face the biggest threat in town. My father.

Holding the bag with the boxed-up dinners—Dad’s favorite, Alaskan king crab—she headed across the street, quiet this time of evening except for the local bar, aptly named the Rabid Raccoon, a block down. Raccoons weren’t native, but someone had tried to introduce them a few decades ago and it didn’t take. The Rabid Raccoon was where she’d picked up her dad, drunk, after he’d gotten entirely too rowdy and blasted the town—probably didn’t even remember what he said. Though the trouble with Wally hadn’t started there. The incident was one more misdeed, one more mark againsther, not Dad.

She angled for the back alley where Tanya said she’d parked the Interceptor. One of the security lights had gone out, leaving the alley entirely too dark. A dog barked, and she glanced up and down the street, taking in her surroundings. A raucous group spilled out of the Rabid Raccoon, and a young couple exited the Lively Moose, their daughter between them, and climbed into their four-wheel drive. The child yawned.

Yep, it was definitely time to head home and face what came next. She stepped into the alley. A man exited the bar and headed down the boardwalk. She caught a glimpse of his sweatshirt and blue jeans and stopped in her tracks. She stepped out of the alley to get another look at him, but he was gone. A sense of familiarity washed over her—and not in a good way—but she shook it off.

Even so, unease crept over her as she entered the alley and rushed to her vehicle. Autumn was glad nobody was around to watch her fumble with her key fob. So un-police-chief-likeof her. She almost dropped the boxed dinners. Finally settled in her vehicle, she drove through the alley and onto Main Street and drove slowly, letting her gaze shift back and forth, searching the shadows, but she didn’t catch sight of the man again.

Then she accelerated and drove three miles out of town, turning onto the drive to the house she shared with her father that overlooked where the Goldrock River spilled into the Lewis Inlet. At least she had one thing to look forward to—the home had a million-dollar view and Dad had gotten a deal on it. From the wraparound deck located on two hundred feet of waterfront, she could watch the sun set, the clouds gather, and fishing boats and sometimes cruise ships pass by, along with sea life. The thoughts helped her relax, and once inside the house, she set the bag holding their dinner on the kitchen counter, then glanced around the living area, dining room, den, and up the staircase, hoping she’d see her father standing there with a smile. But she was asking for too much.

Miles Long—his parents had a terrible sense of humor—was the Shadow Gap police chief until two years ago when an accident left him with a mangled arm. Autumn had taken his place in the interim until she was officially put in the position a year ago.

Dad had been her rock, holding their family together after everything that happened surrounding Mom’s death. She’d been an attorney, and Dad, the Topeka police chief. He’d whisked them away, leaving his job to move them to the farthest place on earth. At least in her child’s mind, Shadow Gap, nestled in a secluded fjord in Southeast Alaska, had been at the ends of the world.

He’d claimed that Topeka held too many memories. Now that he was no longer chief, something was eating him alive, and every day she watched him sinking deeper into the mire.

Autumn made coffee, just in case, and plated their dinners.Now she would go in search of Dad. Once she found him, she would use Alaskan king crab as a peace offering for a thousand mistakes, especially not rushing right home after she landed today.

Dread built in her gut at what she might find.

Please let him be sober.

She moved through the house, then finally walked out onto the deck and spotted him sitting on the last step near the rocky beach. She hiked down the steps and eased onto the one just above him. A chilly gust whipped past her, bringing with it the hint of alcohol. While she wasn’t surprised, her heart sank.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the strokes of magenta in the sky dipping down between the purple mountains, and beyond those, the snowcapped peaks—miles and miles of them.

The view took her breath away every time, and truly, she had nothing to complain about. Only blessings, really.

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