Red Tide: The Flavel House Horror / Vampires of the Morgue (The Ian McDermott, Ph.D., Paranormal Investigator Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the Columbia River, all the way north to the town of Ocean Park.
    Ian noted that just above the town of Ocean Park was a housing community called Seaside Estates. It was the northernmost inhabitable area of the peninsula. He also made note that once they’d driven past downtown Long Beach, he could take a side road that would prevent them from having to drive into Ilwaco. As Ian plotted his course, he saw that he’d be going through a little town called Chinook. From Chinook, it looked like only another five or so miles east to the bridge that crossed over the Columbia River to Astoria, Oregon.
    Ian pulled his Jeep over to the side of the road. He’d become enthralled with the map of the area and decided to take a good, long look at it. As Ian studied the map to better orient himself, he started taking mental stock of what he knew versus what he didn’t.
    He knew that the Pacific Ocean was less than a few football fields west from the highway they were on. He also knew that if they were to head east on most any connected road, it would lead to Willapa Bay. Ian thought to himself that he’d love to take the time soon to drive the entire peninsula just to see what could be seen. Last night while he was perusing through some information pamphlets regarding the places to see and things to do, he’d been especially intrigued by a small pioneer township formed in the 1800’s. Oysterville was located on the northern Willapa Bay side of the peninsula. It was famous for its namesake: oysters. Ian prided himself on being a consummate consumer aficionado regarding devouring and subsequently evaluating a plate of fresh, lightly-battered and seasoned pan-fried oysters.
    Ian put away his map and pulled out onto the road heading to the town of Long Beach. After less than ten minutes, he and Scout were driving through the main downtown area. As he drove, Ian admired the many different gift shops and clothing stores, restaurants, bakeries, candy shops and such that lined both sides of the main street for an area that spanned a couple of blocks.
    Ian was somewhat startled as he noticed that many of the stores and shops were all decorated for Halloween as he mused, I’ve got to start paying attention to what’s going on in the world, beyond just my work.
    Ian was especially intrigued by a store on his right called Marsh’s Free Museum .
    “Scout, we’ve got to make time to check that place out. Looks strange from the outside. Imagine what might be inside.” Ian chuckled at that thought.
    Moments later, just about a mile south down the road, Ian noticed from another glance at his map that he’d soon be making a turn to the left. It would be easy finding his way to the bridge that crossed the Columbia over to Astoria from there. He also noted that to the right was a sub-area of Long Beach called Seaview.
    “I tell you, Scout, for a relatively small area, this peninsula sure is chock full of little townships.” Scout didn’t bark but glanced momentarily over at Ian, his head bobbing a bit up and down as his body swayed from side to side, primarily due to the Jeep’s worn-out shocks. It appeared to Ian as though Scout was nodding in agreement.
    After leaving the Long Beach area and before reaching the little town of Chinook, Ian smiled as he spoke, “Look, boy. On your side, those red-colored swampy fields … Those are cranberry bogs. That’s something you don’t see every day. Well, unless you live here I guess. Funny, I didn’t notice them when we came through here yesterday.”
    Ian prided himself on his keen powers of observation, a necessary trait in what had been his line of work. It was absolutely essential in his new endeavor as a private investigator of sorts.
    “Another thing I bet ya don’t see often around here, especially this time of year anyway, is two straight days without rain.” Ian glanced through his windshield up at the sky. It was completely cloud-covered, but it didn’t look too ominous. The cloud