Chapter Nine
The drive north began on a sunny day when the skies were clear and the cool breeze off the ocean made every mile a pleasure. Skirting along Hwy 1, I experienced a feeling of freedom in me I’d not felt in many months. I considered the upcoming trip a celebration of my first year in Rio Marinas. Perhaps it was a strange way to celebrate, leaving town for a long weekend, but this was what I needed to do. Lawton wasn’t particularly happy with my decision, but I managed to plan the trip when he was in the midst of his legal battles with the State. He hadn’t seen much of me in a week as it was, and with the threat of more television cameras poking their way about town and hounding Lawton for pictures, I decided that I’d be safer if I split town altogether. In the months since that
