A Timely Vision Read Online Free PDF Page B

daughter. She married a musician she’d met in Manteo one summer and moved to New York.
    My gaze snagged on Kevin Brickman, who was wearing a black poncho, his hood still pulled up on his head. He’d either been staring at me first or caught me looking at him and decided to look back. I couldn’t be sure which. He nodded and I nodded back. Shayla was going to be very disappointed when she finally met him. I didn’t see him as a tea-leaf, palm-reading kind of person. He reminded me of Chief Michaels in a strange sort of way. Maybe he’d been involved with law enforcement, and that’s why they’d bonded so quickly.
    “We’ll divide up into three teams to search the beaches and the neighborhoods. Remember to keep in constant contact with this office. Mayor O’Donnell will be here taking those calls.” The chief looked around at his task force. “Any questions?”
    “I don’t want to stay here and answer the phone,” I complained, surprised he’d thought of it. “I want to help look for Miss Elizabeth.”
    “That’s not a question, Your Honor,” the chief responded. “We need you here to coordinate everything. Besides, we have to keep our mayor safe.”
    He sort of smiled and patted me on the head. I felt sure that if he’d had a lollipop, he’d have given it to me. The group started breaking up and heading for the door as though it were all decided. With Chief Michaels leading the pack, I had no one to complain to about it.
    “Think you can handle the excitement?” Kevin asked.
    “I didn’t mean it would be less exciting. I want to do something more than answering the phone.”
    “You’re the mayor.” He shrugged. “Delegate.”
    He was right, of course. I saw Nancy Boidyn, our town clerk, at her computer. She looked up with terror written on her pretty features. We’d spoken before about her dislike of storms. Many times I’d wondered why she lived on the coast where we were famous for our violent weather.
    “Nancy, would you mind staying here and answering the phone?”
    “I’d love to, Dae. Thanks.”
    I’d already taken a breath to qualify why I thought she should stay, but it wasn’t necessary. She grabbed on to the life preserver of coordinating the search and clung with both hands. “Great! Thanks. I’m going out to look for Miss Elizabeth.”
    “What will I tell the chief if he asks where you are?”
    “Tell him I needed some fresh air. I’ll call if I find anything.”
    I walked out of town hall feeling guilty for not doing what was expected of me. But I felt even more responsible for trying to find Miss Elizabeth, despite the chief seeming to think I wasn’t up to the task. Just because I was mayor didn’t mean I couldn’t do the important things. Two of the men who’d gone out to search were on the town council. No one had tried to stop them.
    The wind was gusting hard, blowing sheets of rain down the street. The sky had turned so dark it looked more like midnight than midafternoon. I turned to go toward the new housing development, a short walk from Miss Elizabeth’s house, and almost walked into Kevin. He seemed to be waiting for me.
    “Where are you going to look first?”
    “Why? Are you afraid I can’t take care of myself too?”
    “No. Remember me? I’m the one who suggested your little rebellion.”
    “Why are you here then?”
    “You know your way around. You were the first to report that Miss Elizabeth was gone. I thought you might be the one to find her.”
    His idea had some merit. “I thought I’d try looking around those new houses being built close to where you live. Maybe the storm came up, and she ducked inside one of those for shelter.”
    “Sounds like a plan.”
    I didn’t have time to question why he’d chosen to go with me instead of the groups of officers. I focused on finding Miss Elizabeth and tried not to think about him walking alongside me. The fact that I had to try to ignore him made me even more aware of him.
    Once we got past the