Page 45 of Chain Reaction
It was a picture of her.
CHAPTER 20
Thirty minutes later, the Coast Guard arrived and cleared the ferry to continue. They would take over the search for the missing passenger.
During the rest of the boat ride, Raven couldn’t get the photo out of her mind.
Why did that man have her picture? It seemed to prove that the snapshot from Syria also hadn’t been a coincidence.
Had someone known she’d be called in to investigate this? Had this person lured her here for a reason?
Raven had no idea. But she didn’t like the thought of it.
She and Jake had already talked about it, but they’d reached no conclusions. They’d decided they would tell Cassidy, however. She needed to be in the loop about this.
They finally arrived on the mainland. The rest of the trip would be on land.
During the drive, Raven needed something to occupy her thoughts. She pulled up the Facebook post Eleanor had made and studied the photo of the ordnance, along with all the comments people had posted.
It was unlikely she’d find something here, but it was worth a try.
She scrolled through the comments, taking care not to skip over any.
By the time they arrived in Emerald Isle, she still hadn’t found anything of note.
But she wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet.
The sleepy beach town looked much like those of the Outer Banks she’d driven through to get to Lantern Beach, only not as developed. Beach cottages lined the sandy roads and only a few stores and restaurants had been erected.
Jake pulled to a stop in a public parking area. Numerous sheriff cruisers were already on site as well as a news van.
As soon as they climbed out of the Tahoe, a man from the sheriff’s office approached them. He introduced himself as Sheriff Myron Williams.
“You must be Jake and Raven. We’ve been waiting for you.” The sheriff nodded toward the beach and the police tape surrounding it. “We’ve cordoned off the entire area for about a three-hundred-foot radius.”
“Smart thinking,” Jake said.
“We’re waiting for a K-9 to get out here to see if this is truly an explosive or not. Unfortunately, the nearest one is in Raleigh, and they’re still a couple of hours out. There was a big incident downtown this morning that has everyone tied up.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Jake muttered.
“We’re using a lot of manpower to keep this area safe,” the sheriff continued. “We’ll do it for as long as we need to. But we’d like to wrap this up, especially if it ends up being nothing.”
“Understood.” Jake offered a curt nod.
“Very well,” Sheriff Williams said. “Follow me.”
He raised the yellow police tape, and they ducked underneath, headed toward the beach.
Anticipation rippled inside Raven as she wondered what they’d find.
Just ahead, nestled close to the dune, she spotted another bomb, one that looked very similar to the one in the picture Eleanor had posted online.
Raven’s throat tightened.
They paused beside it.
As soon as they did, she heard the sound.
