First In Series Sampler, Volume 1

Chapter 7

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IT APPEARED STANLEY needed to feel self-important. He made Morgan go through her entire timeline once again, even though Jenny had written everything down. The man could have easily looked at her notes to find his answers. It was clear he was trying to discover a way that Morgan had gotten to the island, killed Meredith, and then backtracked so Sirena saw her. He was about to go through the whole process again when Jenny stood up, shaking her head.

"Enough, Stanley. Morgan has gone through this more times than she needs to, and she"s never varied from her account. There are other things that you and I need to do rather than sitting here, putting Morgan through this again. Let the poor girl come to grips with her aunt"s death."

Stanley stuttered and stammered, offended that his partner had cut him off. But Jenny didn"t budge, and she held the door open, motioning for Stanley to go. After he walked out the door, she turned back to Morgan and Dylan.

"I can"t tell you two how sorry I am about Meredith"s death. She was a good friend, to most of the people on this island and to me. We will deeply miss her. Dylan?"

"Yes?"

"Are you staying here with Morgan?"

Dylan glanced at Morgan before he answered, noting that the younger woman was looking dazed and exhausted.

"Yes, if Morgan doesn"t mind, I"ll stay here. There are things we need to talk about. Things Meredith would want her to know and do."

"Good. Morgan, I don"t want you to feel afraid, but I also don"t want you to be on your own, at least until you get a feel for the island and our citizens. Someone murdered your aunt, and without the guidance of somebody who knows who"s who, you could step into danger."

Jenny looked back and forth between the two and came to a decision. "Dylan, you call me if anything, and I mean anything, seems out of the ordinary. Out of the ordinary for this island." Jenny didn"t stay any longer, ignoring the confused look Morgan gave her. Dylan would be the one to answer her questions, and that"s the way it should be. But right now, Jenny had to calm her partner down before he started more trouble than he knew he was getting into. And one of the first things she wanted to investigate was just who Sirena really was.

Silence filled the kitchen after the two police officers left. Both Morgan and Dylan seemed lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts about Meredith. It was Dylan who broke the silence first. Reaching across the table, he grabbed Morgan"s hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"I failed your aunt. I"m so sorry, Morgan. I wasn"t there when she needed me."

Morgan looked up from her coffee with surprise at his words, and she hastened to assure him she didn"t hold him responsible for the actions of somebody else against her aunt.

"Oh, Dylan, there"s no way you would have known somebody would kill Aunt Meredith. No more than I could. If I had known, I could"ve been here so much earlier, and maybe I could"ve prevented it. No, there are just some things in life that happen that you have no control over."

Dylan gave a slight nod of agreement and was silent for a few moments, as if carefully picking out his next words.

"Meredith was so looking forward to seeing you. There were so many things she wanted to tell you, things she wanted to show and teach you. I think she knew there was trouble brewing."

"What do you mean, trouble brewing? Wasn’t this a random act of violence? How could she predict this?"

His statement surprised Morgan, but he didn"t answer her right away. Morgan was getting an uneasy feeling when he finally broke the silence.

"Let me ask you a question. Have you noticed that your visits down here have been longer each time, and you"ve been more reluctant to leave?"

Morgan gave Dylan a curious look, wondering what he was getting at. Rather than answering, she just gave a shrug of her shoulders, and he continued.

"You know your aunt shares a lot with me, and I couldn"t help but notice as you were taking on new jobs that you were slowly but surely working your way from the north to the south. And you always took jobs near the ocean."

"Have I? It wasn"t intentional. It"s just the way the jobs came–"

"But you turned away jobs for out west or in the middle of the country. Whether you realize it or not, you were following a family calling to come home."

Morgan shook her head, wondering if the shock of Meredith"s death had affected Dylan more than he realized. This all sounded way too hokey for her, and she protested, but he continued not letting her get a word in edge-wise.

"Before you dismiss my observation, you need to see something." Getting to his feet, Dylan motioned for Morgan to follow him out of the kitchen. She pushed her chair back and indulged the older man, following him down the hallway that led to her aunt"s study. Dylan walked in first, turned the overhead light on, and then pointed to the corkboard Meredith had set up behind her desk. It was a map of the United States from Maine to Florida. Meredith had put push pins in the map all along the coastline, and when Morgan stepped forward, she saw they were places where she had worked over the last few years. She looked at Dylan and then back at the map, surprise registering on her face.

"I never realized it. But you"re right; I have stayed close to the ocean."

"And each of your jobs has been getting shorter and shorter, as if you"re being pulled down here. Didn"t you feel that, Morgan? Didn"t you feel the pull to come to the island?"

Morgan stepped away from the corkboard, not sure how she wanted to answer Dylan. To be honest, his intensity was making her nervous. Too much had happened today to deal with something else.

Dylan saw her reaction and hastened to reassure her he wasn"t crazy.

"These were all things your aunt was going to tell you. Maybe I"m speaking out of turn, or maybe I"m saying things too soon, but we need to talk about what"s going on. For now, let"s just concentrate on getting you settled in. This is your home now, Morgan."