Lost in the Echo Read Online Free PDF

attention, and it might not be the kind of attention we want. Understood?”
    Most people in town had handguns or shotguns for home-protection, despite the fact that the last break-in was more than twenty years ago. There were also a good number of hunters in town, with high powered rifles and compound bows. Griffin doubted any of them were amateurs when it came to weaponry, so he had no concerns about the lot of them being armed.
    Frost received nods all around.
    “All right then.” She clapped her hands once, forced a smile. Then she turned to Griffin and tilted her head toward the door.
    He stepped outside and checked the sky again, expecting to the see the giant creature swooping down on him.
    The sky was empty. Only endless blue and the sun.
    “It’s gone,” he said, and it seemed as if everyone released a collective breath.
    “Head to your homes,” Frost said. “Lock your doors, close your windows and be safe.”
    She stepped back, allowing people to file through the door. Griffin spotted Phillip Beaumont, aka Monty to locals, and his daughters. Monty had a hand on each girl’s shoulder, keeping them toward the back of the market. Both girls had a dazed look in their eyes. Griffin couldn’t blame them, after everything they had just been through. Losing their mother in the car wreck, after the first shift. Being abducted by those things in the desert world. It was enough to leave the most hardened person dazed.
    Monty saw him coming and tried to perk up. “Griffin.”
    Griffin shook his hand. “Are you headed back to your house?”
    Monty cringed at the idea. “Think we’ll stay here for now. I don’t want the girls… We don’t want to be there right now.”
    Griffin only nodded. He understood. He remembered how hard it had been to be in the house after Jess had died. Virtually everything he looked at had conjured a happy, but painful memory. Even her back issues of Martha Stewart Living had twisted an emotional knife in his heart.
    “Do you need something?” Monty asked.
    “I’d like you to look after my daughter, and Radar and Lisa, if you don’t mind. I know it’s a lot to ask, especially after what’s happened, but I don’t want them to be alone right now.” Griffin didn’t like the idea of leaving Avalon with anyone else, but Monty was a good father. He wouldn’t shirk his duties as easily as Julie had.
    Monty glanced past him, noticed Frost talking with Dodge, Winslow and Kyle, then his eyes slid back to Griffin. “What’s happening?”
    “We’re heading down to the depot to see if we can find any weapons.”
    Monty nodded again. “Weapons are good.” He lifted his shirt just a bit, so Griffin could see the piece tucked into his belt.
    Griffin offered a smile and gave Monty a pat on the shoulder. “We’re hoping to find something a little more...substantial.”
    Monty returned the smile, chuckling a little. “Listen, I wish I could help, but…” His eyes shifted down at his girls. “They have to come first. I’m not sure I could—”
    Griffin said, “I understand. Believe me, I understand.”
    Movement shifted Griffin’s attention to his side. Winslow and his wife, Carol, were approaching. He caught the tail end of their conversation. “Don’t worry,” Winslow said to Carol. “We’ll find a way out of the Echo.” The tall scientist then seemed to notice Griffin’s attention and snapped forward, adjusting his glasses. “Griffin. A word?”
    Griffin stepped away from Monty and the girls.
    Winslow said, “Kyle is going to stay here and tend to some of the injured, so it will just be you, me, Sheriff Frost and Pastor Dodge on this latest errand.”
    Griffin just nodded.
    “Now with that out of the way,” Winslow said, his voice going low, “please pardon the intrusion, but if I’m not mistaken, you would like someone to help your daughter look after the boy and the girl.”
    That wasn’t quite what Griffin wanted, but he could tell from the underlying meaning